The famed art fair, Frieze, returns to LA this week, at the Santa Monica Airport — and features not just a full lineup of galleries, programming, and partnerships… but also a delicious lineup of pop-ups from local restaurants.
wine
Sommsation made Miami Art Week a thrilling weekend with one of the most exciting moments that merged art and sips in the most phenomenal way.
Toast to the Season: A Culinary Symphony with Cloudy Bay Wines and Josh Cellars’ Sip Sensations!
Celebrate your holiday feast with Cloudy Bay wines. Begin with the vibrant Sauvignon Blanc paired with shrimp or goat cheese. Let the Pinot Noir complement your roast turkey, its red berry notes enhancing the savory experience. Finish on a sweet note with the luscious Chardonnay alongside a rich chocolate dessert. With Cloudy Bay as your guide, savor the perfect symphony of flavors this festive season. Cheers to a memorable celebration!
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc + Baked Goat Cheese with Roasted Cranberries
The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is zesty & vibrant, gently balanced by stony saline notes. Serve it alongside a warm baked goat cheese appetizer for an dreamy start to your holiday meal.
Cloudy Bay Te Wahi + Roasted Carrots with Thyme
The complex, sophisticated and powerful flavors of Te Wahi serves as the perfect counterpart to a rich vegetable side dish, like roasted carrots with thyme.
Cloudy Bay 2021 Pinot Noir + Thanksgiving Turkey
Versatility is the calling card for Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir, and it’s silky tannins and fine acidity mean it pairs especially well with meat. Concentrated yet elegant, Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir will not only complement your Thanksgiving turkey, but elevates it for a truly mouthwatering combination.
Cloudy Bay Te Koko + Apple Tart
Layered with fruit notes and a refreshing acidity, Cloudy Bay’s Te Koko an ideal match to an apple tart or similar fruity-filled dessert.
Elevate your holiday gatherings with Josh Cellars‘ sensational sips! From a cozy Red Wine Hot Chocolate to a sparkling Cranberry Holiday Spritz, let their signature wines be the star of your celebration. Sip on the festive Apple Cider Mimosa or dance with the French24 twist. Embrace the season with the Autumn Sangria—a delightful blend of fruit, cider, and spice. Crafted for effortless entertaining, these recipes guarantee you delicious moments from Thanksgiving through the New Year!
Red Wine Hot Chocolate
- 1 part Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1 part semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 part milk of choice
- Vanilla extract and sea salt to taste
- Marshmallow and cocoa powder
Combine in a saucepan over low heat. Once the chips are melted, remove pan from heat. Stir in vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt. Top with frothed milk and marshmallow. Garnish with sprinkle of coca powder.
Autumn Sangria
- 1 part apple
- 1 part orange
- 1 part lime
- 1 part cinnamon or cinnamon sticks
- 1 splash of apple cider
- 1 bottle Josh Cellars Red Blend
- 1 part sweetener to taste
- Ice
Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher. Let set for 1-3 hours. Serve and garnish with cinnamon stick and apple slices.
Apple Cider Mimosa
- 1.5 oz bourbon
- 3 oz apple cider
- .5 oz honey
- Josh Cellars Prosecco
Shake all ingredients and strain into a coup with graham cracker rim. Top with Josh Cellars Prosecco.
Cranberry Holiday Spritz
- 1 part Josh Cellars Pinot Grigio
- .5 part lemon Juice
- .75 part cranberry spiced simple syrup (simple syrup with cranberries and cinnamon)
- Top with ginger beer
- Sugar covered cranberries to garnish
- Ice
Combine all but the ginger beer in a shaker. Shake and strain into a rocks class or a tall glass and top with ginger beer. Garnish with the cranberries.
French 24
- 1 Oz Tequila
- ¾ pomegranate juice
- 2 oz grapefruit soda
- Top with Josh Cellars Rose Prosecco
Combine tequila, pomegranate juice and grapefruit soda in a glass. Top off with Josh Cellars Rose Prosecco.
“Every year the Las Olas Wine & Food Festival brings together a diverse community, top culinary talent, and some of the best wine and spirit brands to help raise money for an important cause.” remarks Patrick Cassidy, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Florida. “Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is committed to supporting local communities through these types of exciting events where we can give back and make a difference, while also enabling more consumers to experience our great brands. We are proud to support this year’s festival and the mission of its host, the American Lung Association.”
Whispering Angel
The best-selling rosé in the US, this celebrity favorite rosé boasts a sophisticated, yet uncomplicated style that’s credited with launching the “rosé Renaissance” 15+ years ago. Perfect for any celebration, the fruit-forward, creamy palate is balanced with a crisp acidity and notes of red berries, florals and discreet hint of spice. An apple tart, or dessert of your choice, complements Whispering Angel’s tasting notes perfectly.
Whispering Angel | $25 | Purchase via Drizly
Cloudy Bay
Cloudy Bay’s Sauvignon Blanc has been the brand’s flagship wine since 1985 and put New Zealand on the wine map, forever changing the perception of ‘new world’ wines and Sauvignon Blanc as a variety. The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc has a zesty and vibrant nose. This Sauvignon Blanc pairs perfectly with a charcuterie board, as it contains notes of juicy citrus and makrut lime underpinned by subtle white nectarine and passionfruit notes. The palate is mouthwatering, with ripe vibrant passionfruit and citrus at the fore.
Cloudy Bay | $35 | Purchase via Drizly
Candela Mamajuana Rum
A rum that is locally sourced, created with renewable energy, in a place that practices energy saving techniques all WHILE finding ways to reuse and recycle rainwater – that’s a spirit for the eco-conscious! Plus it’s got an award winning taste, and was called “The Unofficial Drink of the Dominican Republic” by Fodor’s Travel. The name is Candela Mamajuana Rum. From inception onwards towards the journey to getting placed on the shelf, the super premium Dominican spiced rum Candela Mamajuana embodies eco consciousness through and through.
While April poses as the time most eco-friendly time of year with Earth Day on April 22, here’s why this eco-friendly bottle should take precedent on your bar cart no matter what time of year it is:
Eco-Friendly Production
- Locally Sourced: During its production what goes into the bottle is locally-sourced in the Dominican Republic where these ingredients are then
- Renewable Energy: Candela Mamajuana is distilled via a process that is exclusively powered by renewable energy. This energy is sourced from the sugarcane bagasse that’s transformed into biofuel at a waste-to-energy plant on the island.
- Energy-Saving Aging Practices: Following the production of the spirit, the aging warehouse follows suit with natural sunlight lamps and intelligent building materials that naturally cool the building without A/C.
- Reusing Rainwater: The epicenter of Candela Mamajuana also boasts a rainwater collection system which is purified in the water purification plant.
Eco-Friendly Distribution
Reusable Packaging: Thanks to esoSPIRTIS, a zero-waste distributor, Candela boasts reusable packaging and the first rum of its kind in the US to partner with esoSpirits. Candela is proud to own the exclusively Licensed Operators for EsoSPIRTIS technology in the Dominican Republic.
- Philanthropic: Every single case sold contributes a percentage of profits to an Ocean Conservation program in addition to every 1 ecoTOTE depleted, Candela will invest funds to remove 1kg. of plastic out of the oceans.
- Carbon Emission Reduction Practices: With ecoSPIRITS as a partner we’ll be saving 550g of Carbon Emissions per bottle sold. Cheers to that.
Candela Mamajuana has plugged the islands’ favorite booze back into the mainstream with a beautiful bottle and a delish spiced rum that can stand alone or be the best part of your drinking concoctions. Candela boosts all-natural ingredients and is distilled from fresh-pressed sugarcane and rum in its native country, granting the bottle top-shelf priority.
Contraluz
Contraluz is an award-winning spirits company Casa Lumbre launched their latest Cristalino in the U.S. market last year in partnership with global superstar, Maluma. Contraluz boasts a new-to-market filtration process using activated charcoal to produce a colorless, smooth flavor profile without compromising mezcal’s signature smokey taste.
The Knockturnal was fortunate to interview Contraluz’s National Ambassador, Camila Ruiz.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: WHY A MEZCAL COMPANY:
Camila Ruiz: I like that mezcal seems to have a magical, spiritual quality. A spirit that needs an ingredient that’s so connected to the land. The complex flavor it produces. With every sip, you really do taste tradition and history.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WORK WITH CONTRALUZ CRISTALINO MEZCAL?
Camila Ruiz: There are subcategories in spirits that are just trends that come and go. But I had a feeling this subcategory “Cristalino category” was going to be an innovation that made sense as Agave’s next step and I think it’s interesting to drink something aged, but with a clear, light, silky texture.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: WHAT MAKES YOUR MEZCAL DIFFERENT FROM OTHER BRANDS?
Camila Ruiz: The fact that we are the very first Cristalino mezcal with a balanced, approachable and layered complexity makes us extremely unique.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEZCAL COCKTAIL?
Camila Ruiz: That’s very hard for me to answer. It really depends on the night, the season, and also how much sugar I’ve had that day, lol. I like Contraluz Margaritas just as much as a simple Contraluz soda.
THE KNOCKTURNAL: Are there any new exciting projects/news you can tell us about?
Camila Ruiz: As innovators and pioneers, we’re always working on something different, can’t share much, but something exciting is coming from our Casa Lumbre portfolio for 2023!
THE KNOCKTURNAL: ANY ADVICE THAT YOU WOULD GIVE TO SOMEONE STARTING THEIR OWN ALCOHOL BRAND?
Camila Ruiz: Be authentic. Be respectful of the history and people of the spirit you choose. Be sustainable.