Singani Seminar

We may not have been on the set, but that didn’t mean we didn’t have the director’s chair set up for Steven Soderbergh yesterday as part of our Singani seminar at Mission Wine & Spirits. It’s been about six years since Steven filmed Che in Bolivia and fell in love with the spirit, to the extent that he started a brand and an import company just to fulfill his own personal drinking needs.

Using my Burbank backyard to talk, sip Singani, eat lunch, and do a deep dive for the rest of the staff, I think it was a pretty persuasive event. “It’s almost like a cigar,” our Pasadena store manager Vahi stated; “In that you’re trying to figure out what you’re tasting and if you like it, but after a few sips it’s all you want to keep drinking.”

For those of you unfamiliar with Singani 63, it’s a Muscat grape-distilled spirit from Bolivia, that drinks like something in between Pisco and eau-de-vie. I’d lean towards the latter, as you definitely do not need to mix Singani in order to enjoy it. With it’s intense aromatics and combination of fruity/floral flavors, there’s enough going on to keep your interested straight out of the glass. Plus, it’s so damn soft on the finish it’s almost like air.

If you followed the blog and our Instagram over the summer, you may remember my Singani running challenge, where I would run the same number of miles as the amount of Singani cocktails I drank the night before. Part of the charm of Singani is that—if you don’t mix too much sugar into it—you can pretty much wake up fresh as a daisy the next day. Something about the internal processing feels cleaner than other spirits.

For 30 days, I came home from work, drank usually three Singani 63 and soda cocktails (with a twist), then ran three miles without a hitch the following morning. Always interested in research, Steven hung around after our staff seminar to see the plan unfold in person. If you notice the Sole 63 treadmill model, with the exact same color branding as Singani, I think there’s a pretty obvious co-marketing opportunity here.

-David Driscoll

The Morning After

Yesterday was election day in America, which means the cable news channels will be packed with pundits today, each giving their take on what politicians should have done in hindsight.

Looking at the governor’s race in Virginia, it’s pretty clear what happened: one of the candidates ran on politics, while the guy who won talked about solving real problems for the public. Pretty easy decision, right?

Taking in the data—the political swing of the state, the fact that Biden won by 10 points last year, etc—most people thought it was McAuliffe’s race to lose. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past year, it’s that doing little things that actually help people can be pretty effective in overcoming just about any obstacle.

In the end, you don’t need every voter on your side to win. In fact, going after every voter is a losing proposition because you cannot please everyone. You just need more votes than the other candidate, which is understood in politics, but it’s never really been a business strategy for retail. In the sales market, you want the entire pie.

But in 2021, I’m not sure that’s a winning agenda for independent wine and spirits retailers. If you’re not pissing a few customers off, you’re probably not doing your job right. If you’re not spreading the whiskey wealth, helping everyday shoppers get their fair share of the allocated nightmare that is the Bourbon market, then you’re irritating your base. If you put limits on bottles, or favor loyalty programs to reward your best customers, you anger the most passionate collectors who tend to be vocal about their disdain.

In coming back to retail exactly one year ago today, I decided Mission was going to focus on solving some of these problems for everyday shoppers, those who don’t spend every waking minute on the internet, hoarding as many bottles as they can find. As it turned out, that message resonated with enough people for us to win. We didn’t win all the votes, as we’ve certainly angered some people along the way, but—as I mentioned above—you can’t please everyone. Looking at the numbers year over year, we’re in a pretty good position based on our strategy.

Listening to Van Jones on CNN this morning, he talked about Bill Clinton’s strategy after Democrats lost big during the midterm congressional elections back in the nineties. He said Clinton regrouped by doing lots of small things that resonated with everyday voters and made them feel seen. I would argue for that same strategy in retail today.

Answer emails in a timely manner, help customers get the bottles they want, be kind and compassionate, and be as fair as possible. Take the heat when people get huffy about their Bourbon, but stand your ground and remain consistent. You may not get all the votes, but you’ll probably still win the race.

-David Driscoll

Single Barrel Compass Box Is Here

We’ve been pushing Compass Box to do a single barrel program for years, so this is a very exciting arrival. Other than a handful of retailer one-offs (like the 5th & Harrison release John Glaser and I put together all those years ago), there hasn’t been a way for bars, restaurants, and retailers to participate directly.

But that changed earlier this year when Compass Box began re-racking their Great King Street blend into various barrel types, maturing the whisky for an additional two and a half years, and allowing retailers to select their favorites. 

We were lucky enough to get access to barrel #1: a Sherry-seasoned butt that added just the right amount of richness to the already delicious Glasgow blend. 

The Sherry is immediately palpable on the nose, melding with the peat to create an earthy, sultry aroma that moves lithely between caramel and campfire smoke. At 49% ABV, there’s some pop on the palate, but that sherried sweetness is still front and center, sitting on your tongue like a big gob of richness before letting the peat back in for one last dance. 

For $49.99, it’s a hot smoking deal and I’m sure all you Compass Box fanboys (like me) are going to be very, very, very pleased.

Compass Box Great King Street "Mission Exclusive" Single Sherry Butt Blended Scotch Whisky $49.99

-David Driscoll

Terroir Defined: Visiting Jonata & The Hilt

“This soil is only good for growing asparagus,” Drew Stapp, the regional sales manager for Jonata and The Hilt, said to me with a smirk as we looked at one of the Jonata vineyards in Ballard Canyon; “That’s what a prominent winemaker from Bordeaux once said to us when he visited the property.” 

“Or maybe a golf course,” I said with a grin.

Looking at the sandy soils, in some vineyards so loose and dune-backed that you think you’re at the beach, it’s not hard to understand that point of view. The rolling hills of Ballard Canyon would indeed make for a tremendous golf course, and asparagus is known to thrive in sandy soils. Yet, we were looking at rows of healthy Syrah vineyards.

Had I not already tasted a number of stupendous vintages from the winery, I probably would have been skeptical as well. At one point during our vineyard tour I found myself asking how the vines could even support the weight of the grapes in such an unfettered terrain, let alone produce quality fruit. 

Yet, the team at Jonata—lead by winemaker Matt Dees—purposefully sought out the sandiest soils on the estate, believing that those nutrient-starved and desert-esque plots would force the vines to dig deeper into the earth. As he states in one of the company’s educational videos: “Sand is a very poor soil; there’s nothing going on, but there’s also nothing to keep a grapevine from augering in twenty feet, so the vines just keep going until they find water.”

It was mid-October, but there was still fruit hanging from the vines as we moved through the rows. My friend Adam grabbed a cluster of Syrah and said to me: “Look how unbelievably small these berries are! They’re so concentrated.” Indeed they were: dark, dense, each bursting with incredible flavor as I popped a few in my mouth.

“The problem that everyone else saw with sand, we now see as our biggest blessing,” Dees adds; “It’s what makes the wines of Jonata taste like Jonata.” In fact, it’s the lack of plentiful water in the soil, combined with deep-rooted vines, that results in a small, yet concentrated grape size.

“Do you know how many of these you need to make an entire vat of wine?” Adam asked rhetorically. 

Drew pointed at the grid-like markings in the vineyard as we emerged from one of the rows; “As you can see in this plot, we’ve actually cut into a square around each individual vine. That’s done to cut off any roots that grow outward rather than straight down.” 

As a result of these sandy soils, Jonata is now producing some of the finest wines along California’s Central Coast, boasting a bevy of varietals that include Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Sangiovese, with a unique character that the Jonata team attributes directly to the soil and vineyard locations. Or, as wine nerds refer to it: terroir. 

Located north of the 246 highway between Buellton and Solvang, only 84 of the 586 total acres at the Jonata ranch in Ballard Canyon are planted to vineyards—all of which are in the property’s sandiest segments. As Drew mentioned during our visit, conventional wisdom was put aside from the very beginning when it came to winemaking, and that outside-the-box philosophy has been cleverly worked into the marketing as well. The label’s tête de cuvée is a Cabernet blend called El Desafio—the defiance—and the 2017 vintage just received a whopping 97 point score from renowned critic Antonio Galloni. 

So much for asparagus.

We moved to the top of a hill, looking east into the estate, and Drew opened a bottle of the 2016 Todos Ballard Canyon blend—a Syrah heavy blend that also features Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Sirah, Petit Verdot, and Sangiovese. As we sipped it, all of the concentration we had tasted earlier in that Syrah cluster was imminent on the palate. The fruit produced within these sandy soils are like tiny neutron stars, packed so densely with intensity of flavor that they literally burst upon contact, and that character translates directly into the wines.

It’s uncommon to find such a direct correlation when it comes to terroir. Having worked in the wine industry for more than a decade, I can count on one hand the experiences that painted such a clear picture in my mind, and I was about to have two of them in one day. As we finished our tour of Jonata, I jumped in Drew’s truck for the drive out to The Hilt—Jonata’s sister winery—at the base of Radian Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills AVA: some of the most rugged and difficult conditions for growing grapes in the region.

The Barn at The Hilt Estate is located just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, near the historic intersection of Highway 1 and Santa Rosa road, and next to the estate’s Puerta del Mar vineyard. Having tasted numerous wines from the nearby Bentrock and Radian vineyards, I was shocked to learn that both are completely owned by The Hilt, and make up the cepage of their estate wines. Known for their racy acidity coupled with richness and texture of fruit, they’re two of the premier sites in the state for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. 

Heading down the road toward Radian, I quickly realized why Drew needed his gigantic four wheel-drive pickup truck for the tour: we were about to head up a steep dirt road into the heart of the vineyard, a drastic change of elevation on a site that quickly moves from 300 to 700 feet in elevation. 

I exited from the cab and stepped down into two inches of pure white dust. It immediately flew into the air, covering my ankles and shins with powder. “We might as well be walking on the moon!” I said to Drew, who laughed in agreement as I reached down to pick up one of the many stones nearby.

“This is all diatomaceous earth,” Drew responded; “It’s the remnant of an ancient sea.”

The most famous chalky vineyard soils that I know of are Chablis and Champagne, both prized for their heavy limestone content which helps preserve acidity in the grapes. It’s part of the reason both wines have extra zip in their Chardonnay, and a mineral-driven flavor profile in the best expressions. 

“That hillside over there might as well be the white cliffs of Dover,” Adam added, as we looked down from the top of a vista. 

From the top of Radian, you can see the chalk sloughing off the hillsides in every direction, like white paint that’s been added to a Bob Ross landscape. In between the vineyard rows and the shadows, the diatomaceous terrain makes itself readily apparent.

Drew opened a bottle of the 2017 The Hilt Estate Chardonnay in order to put the wine into context, and I immediately felt the energy wash over my tongue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ve never tasted a more electrifying white wine from California in my entire career. The vibrant, lively acidity comes through in the Radian vineyard fruit is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced until now. 

The wind whipping off the Pacific also plays a role in shaping the character of the grapes. “We’re basically in a big wind tunnel here,” Drew said, as we stood looking west toward the ocean. “As the wind hits the earth, it kind of recreates the soil; it’s constantly regenerating.” The wind also cools down the vineyard after its daily sun exposure, keeping the grapes from ripening too quickly and preserving the acidity. 

Having focused almost entirely on The Hilt Estate Chardonnay up until this point, I was absolutely flabbergasted when Drew popped a bottle of the 2017 The Hilt Estate Pinot Noir, with its heavy Radian component. The aromatics were astounding, the wine was fresh and energetic on the palate, and the mineral, iron-like flavors on the finish were simply haunting. At one point, I stood in the middle of Radian vineyard just completely dumbfounded, looking at the white dust all over my black Nikes, gaping at the jagged hillside, taking in the strength of cool wind against my face, while sipping on two of the most beautiful and compelling wines I’d tasted all year.

As I mentioned before, context and communion on this level almost never happens in the vineyard. I’ve been all over the world—Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Yarra Valley—and I’ve never seen such a clear and direct line drawn between the nature of the soil and its manifestation in the wine itself. 

-David Driscoll

Four New Scottish Arrivals

Fresh off the early arrival of our highly-coveted and rare Kinship single barrel editions, we’re back again this week with four new direct arrivals from Scotland, featuring a diverse range of price points and flavor profiles, but a singular value proposition across the board. With prices this reasonable for single barrel single malt expressions of this caliber and quality, we’re bringing the holiday cheer a bit early this year! That's the value of buying direct.

I’ve been traveling to Scotland for over a decade, selecting single barrels in person, tasting through thousands of casks, and working with suppliers to have them imported back to the United States for finicky retail customers. We’re still just getting started now that I’m here at Mission, but these four barrels are as good as anything I’ve uncovered in my career. If you’re a peat fan, a Speyside fan, a rare bottle collector, or just someone who loves good whisky, we’ve got something for you in this new line-up.

Caol Ila 9 Year Old "Hepburn's Choice" Single Sherry Butt 46% Single Malt Whisky 2010 700ml - $59.99

There are few pleasures in the Scotch world greater than the smoky, creamy, oily character of Caol Ila single malt when it’s matured in a fresh Sherry butt, allowing the sweet, fruity, nutty character of the Jerez wine to marry with the whisky over time. Single malt fanatics like myself are often willing to pay a hefty price for that experience (see the current Caol Ila 30 year we have in stock from Kinship), but with this single barrel 9 year old expression, we were able to bring the barrel in directly from Scotland for a price too good to believe. Brimming with soft fruit, peat smoke, salted taffy, creamy vanilla, nougat, and sea brine, this whisky is so fat and textural on the palate you almost have to chew it. The concentration on display from this single barrel specimen is unlike any Caol Ila I’ve ever tasted; it’s so dense and layered in its flavor profile, that you need to taste it over and over again to fully comprehend and appreciate what’s in your glass. Simply put, it’s a bottle you’ll probably want multiples of.

Hector Macbeth 21 Year Old "First Edition" Single Barrel 53.7% Cask Strength Blended Malt Whisky 1997 700ml - $119.99

The term “teaspooning” probably means very little to the average whisky drinker, but for those in the know it refers to the act of adding a teaspoon of one single malt whisky into the barrel of another. For what purpose, you’re probably asking? It’s done before the sale of a barrel to prevent independent bottlers from marketing off the name of the distillery from where it originated. For example, imagine if one of the major Glen distilleries was to sell Mission Wine & Spirits a single barrel of 21 year old single malt, but wanted to ensure that we couldn’t market the whisky as a single malt. By adding a teaspoon of a second 21 year old to that single barrel, the whisky would become a blended malt whisky, and no longer a single malt, due to the addition of a second single malt whisky. We would have to call it something like Hector Macbeth 21 year old blended malt whisky as a result, since we wouldn’t be allowed to legally label it as a single barrel of single malt whisky. Hence, this 21 year old cask strength Highland “blended” malt whisky is a rich, vanilla-laden, sweetly-malted, elegant, yet powerful single barrel expression, bottled at cask strength with no water added. Compared to other 21 year old single malts at that age, it’s also a fraction of the price given that we brought it in direct from Scotland. We can’t tell you where it’s from unfortunately, but hopefully our analogy helps to explain why it’s labeled the way it is. Once you get a taste of this liquid, there should be no doubt of its pedigree.

Benrinnes 40 Year Old "Hunter Laing Old & Rare" Single Barrel 42.1% Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 1979 700ml - $799.99

Over the years, I’ve probably purchased more barrels of Benrinnes single malt whisky directly from Scotland, than any other unbranded single malt. Other than the rare direct release from Diageo, Benrinnes exists to supply Johnnie Walker with single malt for its blends, rather than to exist in its own right, but that hasn’t stopped me from buying single barrels of it for thousands of customers over the last decade. When allowed to shine on its own in the very best of expressions, I would put Benrinnes next to Clynelish and Macallan any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. It has an inherent richness and oiliness of fruit that rolls over the palate with weight and texture, permeating the senses with beautiful viscosity and concentration. When I saw we had the chance to purchase a single barrel 40 year expression (from my birth year, no less), I jumped all over it. I was so excited to get the sample bottle, I had difficulty settling down to take it all in. The nose is simply otherworldly: deep, rich aromas of wood, earth, caramel, resin, followed by a softness on the palate that is ghostly in its presence. It's bottled at full proof, but after 40 years it's evaporated down to a natural 42.1%. The texture of this whisky is so delicate it almost floats through your mouth, rising up on the finish for an intense wave of wood oils, stewed fruits, exotic spices, and candied malt. If you want to know what old Highland single malt tastes like without the existence of Sherry, this Benrinnes 40 is like a master’s class. It’s everything that makes four decades in wood worth paying for: that earthy, resinous, oily backbone that only reveals itself in the most mature of whiskies. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I first tasted it, and with only 21 bottles available now, I’m hoping those lucky enough to secure a bottle from Mission will experience a similar sense of awe and admiration.

Strathmill 33 Year Old "Hunter Laing Old & Rare" Single Barrel 54.2% Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 1986 700ml - $499.99

Strathmill is one of the many faceless Diageo distilleries that provides single malt for the Johnnie Walker whiskies and other blends, rarely bottled or seen as a pure single malt, and often confused with Strathisla when it is available. Just outside of Keith in the Speyside region, it’s one of the few distilleries left that continues to use purifiers on its spirit stills, pushing the heavier alcohols back down during distillation, allowing the lighter alcohols into the condenser to create a delicate and lithe Highland malt. As part of our recent container, we grabbed every bottle available of this absolutely gorgeous 33 year old Strathmill from Hunter Laing’s Old & Rare series. Bottled at 54.2% cask strength from a concentrated barrel that yielded just 150 total bottles, the nose on this whisky alone is worth the price of admission. Candied stone fruit, creme brulée, oily wood, the purest aroma of freshly malted barley are still alive and well in the glass, despite the age of the whisky. On the palate, the oak strikes first, but soon gives way to more vanilla, lanolin (waxiness), sweet cereal grains, and a richness that reminds of my favorite Glenmorangie whiskies. Tough to go wrong with this one, especially with the beautiful box and packaging. If you need a gift for the whisky lover in your life, it’s hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this immensely.

-David Driscoll

Authenticity

Someone said to me this week:

“Authentic, to me, means that my beliefs, thoughts, actions, and behavior have nothing to do with anyone else’s opinion of who I should be, and nothing do with what I think other people’s opinion of me should be.”

Amen.

Now watch the Anthony Bourdain documentary Roadrunner and see how difficult it can be to remain authentic, even for one of the most beloved “authentic” storytellers in our business. I had a rough time watching the end of that one, cringing over the decisions he made toward the end that betrayed his true character. Seeing your heroes suffer is never easy.

Authentic is a word that gets thrown around quite a bit in the wine and spirits industry, often referring to a producer who does things the old fashioned way, or in a manner that speaks to the heritage of tradition.

But think about the above quote and then think about the world that surrounds “authentic” wine and spirits. Really think about it.

What happens to the most traditional and old fashioned wine and spirits brands today? They get splattered in a billion social media posts by people who are seeking validation and affirmation from other likeminded people. They’re used as props by people who absolutely care about what everyone else thinks, which is 100% the driving factor behind their passion.

Think about all the social posturing that goes on, debating about purity or the details of production. Think about all the fake wine snobs, using authenticity as a cloak for their own ego.

For me, it’s the great irony about where we’re at in this business.

The authentic drinker is the one taking shots of Fireball and eating hot wings at the local sports bar. That person has no qualms about who he or she is, nor does that person think about the opinions of others in that moment. That person is truly happy and content.

The inauthentic drinker is constantly worried about buying the “right” product, posting photos of bottles they think increase their credibility in the minds of others, longing for the like or thumbs up. That person is constantly agonizing over what other people think about them, painstakingly working to realize the fantasy. That person is truly sad and discontent.

The further you stray from the path of true authenticity, the more miserable you become. To me, it’s heartbreakingly tragic when chasing the world’s most authentic drinking experiences becomes perhaps the least authentic thing one can do anymore. Because, in the end, it’s really just about recreating something you saw somewhere else.

Just ask Tony Bourdain.

-David Driscoll

Adventures In Wine Country

I never intended to become a spirits specialist. The opportunity just sort of fell into my lap while I was trying to learn more about wine. Like a million other people out there, I watched the film Sideways back in 2004 and was inspired by the romance of the industry, so I ended up working in a wine store instead of going to law school. Many of my colleagues at K&L during that era were similarly influenced, and we became lifelong friends.

That’s why, when heading up to the Santa Rita Hills on Wednesday morning, the cool morning air hitting my face as I brought my overnight bag to the car, my former K&L colleague Adam Parry (now currently my Chambers & Chambers agent) opened up the passenger side door and said to me: “Are you ready to get your Sideways on, mate?”

It’s been 17 years since that film came out, but the popularity of Pinot Noir has yet to slow down. The prices continue to rise, the demand never seems to cease, and the quality is only getting better. We were heading to the Central Coast to meet with a number of Pinot Noir specialists—namely The Hilt, Foxen, and Liquid Farm—but there’s a lot more happening in Southern California wine country these days beyond Pinot. Having spent very little time exploring the region myself, I was super excited about the next 48 hours.

Since moving to LA, I’ve made a concerted effort to expand my knowledge regarding the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley AVAs, drinking more local wines over the last year than perhaps the previous five combined. My naivete, coupled with the evolution in the area over the last decade, have left some serious gaps in my wine knowledge that I was looking to fill, but they’ve also allowed for a number of revelations. When you’re confronted with unexpected brilliance, it’s always more exhilarating. Someone pours you a glass of Chardonnay, it blows your mind, and you exclaim: “Where the hell did that just come from?!!!”

Since returning yesterday evening, there’s a lot to tell you about, as well. The quick takeaways that I can give you are this:

• I have no idea when I’ll ever buy a bottle of Napa wine again

• I spent almost $600 of my own cash on winery exclusive single vineyard expressions that completely blew my mind

• There’s so much real, honest, well-made wine between Happy Canyon, Ballard Canyon, and some of the lesser known areas still to explore, that it makes me want to turn right back around this evening and head back up for the weekend

• We’ll be working immediately to source some of the harder-to-find wines directly from the producers starting today, so that you don’t have to drive up there yourself to find them

As to exactly what makes these wines so special, I need to find a few hours to really dig into the details and show you some incredible photos. Stay tuned.

-David Driscoll

Radian Vineyard

Earlier in the year, I tasted a Chardonnay from The Hilt that completely blew me away. It was salty, mineral, with blistering acidity, while simultaneously ripe, fleshy, and textural. I’d never tasted anything like it from California.

Obsessed with learning more, I began digging deeper into the source of all that flavor: Radian Vineyard, a treacherous vineyard on the far end of the Santa Rita Hills AVA, planted in chalky, silty, diatomaceous earth on the steep slopes of a giant wind tunnel that moves west to east off the Pacific Ocean.

I spent over an hour in the vineyard yesterday, sampling both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines from Radian, having my mind even further blown. I’ve never been anywhere like this in California, and I’ve never tasted wines like this from America.

More soon.

-David Driscoll