Category Archives: EMPTIED BOTTLES

Here reside my bottle breakdowns. These reviews provide information about each wine’s context: history, geography, value, etc., and composition: from appearance and aromas, to sweetness, acidity, tannin, body, length, flavors and quality within its type. Each review features a chart where I rank the wine’s qualities (e.g. light, medium, or full bodied) according to the Wine and Spirit Education Trust’s tasting guide. These are snapshots of a wine and reviewer. Don’t be surprised if the wine and your perception of it change. Use this data to buy and taste wine with purpose.

Stop worrying if a wine is bad or good. Judgment only describes the judge. Instead, treat each wine, each bottle, even each sip as a meeting unique unto itself. Find new wines here to stretch your mind and palate.

Open bottle. Open mind.

Ninkasi Brewing Company, Nuptiale R&D Cream Ale, 5.7%, Eugene, Oregon USA

Posted on June 18, 2013 by waywardwine

Medium intense gold, white rim, minute fizz. Moderate aromas of orange juice, cassis or dark berry, flan. Snappy acidity, some bitterness, average medium body. Amped up flavors of tart fresh squeezed orange juice with pulp, clove, grassy hops, cream. Long … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, EMPTIED BOTTLES | Tagged Beer, cream ale, Eugene, Ninkasi, Nuptiale, Oregon | 3 Comments

Laphroaig Whisky, Quarter Cask Single Malt, Islay Country: Scotland UK: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #25

Posted on June 17, 2013 by waywardwine

We harbor an illegal alien. I worried that customs would confiscate it at the ferry terminal. Traveling on foot could have hurt it. Letting it loose in Belfast’s hostel risked too much. But now, at the Giant’s Causeway, it can finally … Continue reading →

Posted in Scotland, Whisk(e)y, WINERIES WANDERED | Tagged Ballantines, Belfast, Bells, Charlton Heston, Dewars, Glenlivet, Great North of Scotland Railway, Ireland, Islay, Johnnie Walker, Laphroaig, Quarter Cask, Scotch, Scotch whisky, Scotland, Single Malt, Single malt whisky, Teachers, Whisky | 4 Comments

BELFAST BRIEFLY: Crown Bar, Hilden Brewery, Parliament, Whitewater Brewery: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #24

Posted on June 10, 2013 by waywardwine

Welcome to Northern Ireland! Home to Belfast and beer Mecca: The Crown Bar: In last week’s post, trains, buses, and ferries took us from Aberdeen to Skye Island and then south to Belfast in Northern Ireland…in three days. Our Belfast … Continue reading →

Posted in EMPTIED BOTTLES, Ireland, WINERIES WANDERED | Tagged Aberdeen, Beer, Belfast, Belfast Ale, Belfast Black, Cask ale, CLOTWORTHY DOBBIN, Crown Liquor Saloon, Gin Palace, Hilden, Hilden Brewing Co, Hobbit, Ireland, Lisburn, Mecca, Northern Ireland, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Real Ale, Scullion's Irish Ale, the titanic, Titanic, Titanic Quarter Belfast, Troubles, Ulster Museum, Whitewater Brewery, zombies | 2 Comments

GLENDRONACH DISTILLERY VISIT AND REVIEW: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #21

Posted on May 27, 2013 by waywardwine

This Memorial Day: we enjoy getting burned by Americans but make up for it with Whisky and wildlife. Enjoy: My wife and I had traveled Southern and Eastern Scotland for weeks. By now, our trip hummed on a tight daily … Continue reading →

Posted in EMPTIED BOTTLES, Scotland, Whisk(e)y, WINERIES WANDERED | Tagged Barrel, BenRiach Distillery, Cask strength, Dean's Shortbread, Distillation, Duncan Taylor Scotch Whisky Ltd, Food, GlenDronach, GlenDronach Distillery, Huntley, Huntley Castle, Huntly, Ireland, Oloroso, Pernod Ricard, Scotch, Scotch whisky, Scotland, Single malt whisky, Whisky | 9 Comments

FROZEN FIRE: BrewDog, Tactical Nuclear Penguin, 32% Alcohol Beer Review: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #20

Posted on May 20, 2013 by waywardwine

Last week’s review found favor with BrewDog’s wine-like 11.1% alcohol Imperial Red Wheat ale. It’s time to triple it. BrewDog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin should do the trick. Born from the flames of competition, Brewdog and German brewer Schorschbräu vied to … Continue reading →