Eve's Wine 101

Chinola® Liqueur Awarded Double Gold Medal 

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MIAMI (PRWEB) – Chinola®, the handmade beverage crafted from distilled spirits and fresh passion fruit, is honored to announce its Double Gold Medal win by the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC), the oldest and largest competition of its kind. The Double Gold award is given to those who received a gold medal rating by all members of the judging panel, a highly competitive honor that’s given among the finest products in the world.

“We are extremely grateful to be awarded such an influential accolade by one of the top competitions in the world. We take pride in not only the quality of our product but our philosophy and authenticity. It is a great honor to stand out and be recognized in this year’s competition, especially because we are the only Latin American and Caribbean liqueur to receive this award,” said Andrew Merinoff, Co-founder and Chairman of Chinola.

The SFWSC received a record-breaking number of entrants this year and all those who participated were judged by some of the most well respected experts in the spirits industry, led by Executive Director Anthony Dias Blue and Head Judge Wilfred Wong.

As a brand, Chinola® (chee-noh-lah), recently grew its presence from six to twenty states and launched internationally in less than a year. Gaining widespread popularity since arriving on the spirits scene in 2015, Chinola as the passion fruit is referred to by locals in the Dominican Republic, has a unique blend creating an old-world artisanal style liqueur that balances tart and sweet essences with tropical aromas. The result of this blend is an unparalleled taste and versatility that can be enjoyed on its own or mixed with any spirit to create a high-quality cocktail.

For information on where to purchase, visit shopChinola.com/shop. For cocktail recommendations and other news, visit Chinola.com and follow Facebook @ChinolaOfficialPage and @Chinola on Instagram.

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About Chinola®
Chinola® passion fruit liqueur is a handcrafted beverage made from distilled spirits and fresh passion fruit. Chinola®, recently awarded with the Double Gold Medal by the 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, is a creative collaboration of hospitality experts, spirit industry professionals, and a multi-generational master blender. Their dream was to create an old-world style liqueur from fresh fruit and in 2013, they discovered the magic of the Dominican passion fruit locally called ‘chinola (chee-noh-lah)’. The fruit’s unique tartness is balanced perfectly with natural sweetness and tropical essence which makes it ideal for creating sensational cocktails. Chinola is produced in the Dominican Republic with a commitment to authenticity and sustainability practices. Available in the United States, Australia, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, Follow the journey by visiting Chinola.com and follow us on Facebook @ChinolaOfficialPage and @Chinola on Instagram.

Reviewing Hall Wines At Home

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My experiences with Hall Wines over the years have included tours at both the Hall, Rutherford Hill winery and the original winery, that has had some incredible updating, on Highway 29. We also attended a Hall Cabernet Release Party that was really a showcase of all Hall wines and the wonderful local food. I try to share their press releases quite a bit as well. I had not, however, reviewed any of the wines from home in a long time. That changed when I received these two bottles for review. Both were very good and only make me want to visit them again.

2016 Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

16.1% alcohol

Observations only: Love a deep punt and a heavy weighted bottle, always makes me think the wine has extraordinary value. The color was a deep garnet with a crystal clear edge.

Aroma: Black pepper tickled my nose at first, and then a lot of black plum, crushed black cherries, red peppercorn, toasted oak and pipe tobacco.

Flavor: Very spicy up front with some redder fruit mid-palate, that same black fruit as on the nose, tri-color pepper, rich, tannic, dark with a long and drying finish.

Wine.com shows these scores: Robert Parker/The Wine Advocate 97, Wilfred Wong 96, Jeb Dunnuck 95, Vinous/Antonio Galloni 94, Wine Enthusiast 94.

From Wine Spectator, July 15,2020 issue, 96 points, release price of $185. Tasting notes: A beauty, with creamed plum, braised fig and melted black licorice notes that are long and deep, gliding through effortlessly and ending with a swath of espresso, loam and smoldering tobacco details.

Hard to resist now, but will cruise in the cellar. Best from 2021 through 2035. 6,600 cases made. — JM (James Molesworth, senior editor.)

My conclusion: Not to disagree with any of our experts, I’m somewhere between Galloni and Wong. Great wine!

Walt Wines 2018 Pinot Noir, Bob’s Ranch, Sonoma County 

Observations: Dark cranberry in color with a dark gold edge. We had this with Pork Wellington and it was perfect.

Aroma: tart red cherry, earth, crushed leaves, round.

Flavor: red to dark cherry, red currant, very round mouthfeel – which I felt would come from the nose – long and tingly finish.

My conclusion: Though not a big Pinot fan I do appreciate the excellent fruit and care that went into this wine. I would not and did not stick up my nose against it. Would definitely drink again. And again.

Jeb Dunnuck 92 points, “…it offers an outstanding bouquet of bright black cherry and mulberry fruit intermixed with Asian spices, violets, and pine/foresty notions. Ripe, medium to full-bodied, and beautifully textured, this terrific Pinot Noir has plenty of classic Sonoma Coast complexity and elegance and will keep for 5-7 years.” $85

From Wine Spectator: This wine not rated, two other 2018 Walt Pinots, both from Santa Lucia Highlands, Rosella’s Vineyard and Sierra Mar were awarded 92 points each and the release price on both were $75.

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.