Lost Sonnet Meritage 2007 Napa Valley, CA This is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and merlot. One sip at the Trader Joe’s tasting table, and I was sold on it being worth the $9.99 (hey, that’s expensive for TJ’s wine!). The nose is very appealing, with a scent of warmed spices and vanilla
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Terrenal Macabeo and Chardonnay 2009 Carinena, Spain The nose of this wine reminds me of donut peaches and a certain friend from the produce department at Safeway that used to always cut me samples of them. The taste is not nearly as exciting as that whiff or that memory. This is my first experience with
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Starrlight Meadery Traditional Off-Dry North Carolina     Mr. Gourmez’s first, and only, thought on this honey wine from Starrlight Meadery in Pittsboro, was “popsicles.” I would disagree. It smelled like green apples and tasted, unsurprisingly, of honey and flowers. This is a dry mead, so it wasn’t nearly as sweet as I’d expect from
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Bin 90 Lindeman’s Moscato 2010 Australia I purchased this wine mainly because I was curious how the Australian moscato differed from other muscat wines I’ve tried. The answer would be not much. It’s very sweet, and I definitely consider it a dessert wine. There is a lot of pear and vanilla with lesser notes of
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Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine I’ve been enjoying this spirit out in the occasional cocktail, and I’m excited to have finally bought a bottle to try on its own. I’m drinking it on the rocks, and it interestingly divides into rivulets on first contact with the ice. Honestly, that makes me scared to drink it! The moonshine
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Benjamin Prichard’s Sweet Lucy Bourbon-based liquor Kelso, TN This liquor smells like Wild Turkey American Honey liquor, another bourbon-based one. That’s a rather good sign as I love that stuff. The color is rosy amber. It tastes like some sort of ice cream that I can’t put my finger on, or rather, it tastes like
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Tres Generaciones Plata 100% Agave Mexico There are many, many inviting flavors in this tequila. You really ought to sip it on its own at least once. It could do well in a traditional margarita (only lime and triple sec), but I wouldn’t use it in any cocktail more complex than that. You don’t want
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The Kraken Black Spiced Rum 40% alcohol content 47% alcohol content (apparently, I can’t do math), 94 proof I’m always interested in trying spiced rum; okay, I’m interested in trying any spirit or mixer I haven’t before. I needed some dark rum for a recipe, and this bottle caught my eye. How could it not?
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Alamos Torrontes 2009 Catana, Argentina This is the perfect white wine for me. It’s very tart with plentiful grapefruit and acidity at first, but that gets bathed and soothed with a vegetal greenness: leek? celery? Vanilla pops in with a slight tang of eucalyptus to help wash things down.

Shelton Vineyards Madison Lee Red Wine Dobson, NC I like Shelton Vineyard’s pinwheel logo—it has a bit of renaissance flair to it. This is the first time the filter on my wine aerator has come in handy; there’s a lot of silt in the bottle. It smells of Dove dark chocolate (you know, that somehow
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