Gourmet-Alcohol

A bite-sized take on a classic Southern dessert, these hummingbird cupcakes are sure to win your heart! Filled with pecans, chopped fruit, and topped with smooth cream cheese frosting, you won’t be able to stop at one! One of the unique things about hummingbird cake is that it’s filled with coconut and pineapple! If you love tropical fruits, this is the dessert for you! A few more recipes I think you’ll love are this pineapple upside down cake , coconut cream cake , and key lime poke cake ! Hummingbird Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting If you’ve never had hummingbird cake before, you’re in for a treat! There’s a reason it’s been popular since the 70s! It’s similar to carrot cake in terms of spice and texture, but filled with coconut and pineapple for a pop of tropical flavor. In cupcake form, it’s even better! These delicious spiced cupcakes are so good, you won’t be able to stop at one. All of the tasty mix-ins these cupcakes have make them so amazing! Plus, they’re supremely...

Images Courtesy of Anita Oberholster, Tom Collins and Elizabeth Tomasino The Researchers Are Giving Wildfire-Plagued West Coast Wine Producers Hope. Smoke taint is one of the greatest threats to America’s West Coast wine regions, with wines from over half the vintages of the last decade affected. In the age of climate change , as wildfires become an increasingly regular part of life, the need for more research into the effects of smoke on grape growing and winemaking takes on new urgency. Enter three researchers: Anita Oberholster at the  University of California, Davis ; Tom Collins at  Washington State University  and Elizabeth Tomasino at  Oregon State University . Individually, Oberholster, Collins and Tomasino had already been working on topics related to smoke and wine, but when the three applied for and received a four-year Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) grant in 2020, they combined forces, bringing research experience from their respective ...

Image Courtesy of Lucy Beaugard The Historic Rosé Producer Has Never Chased Trends. For many wine lovers in the United States and beyond, Domaines Ott rosé —in its iconic amphora-shaped bottle—influenced their impression of one of the essential products of Provence . The plurality of Domaines Ott is derived from three properties: historic Château Romassan in Bandol ; Clos Mireille, a former monastery at La Londe Les Maures; and the windswept flagship Château de Selle in Taradeau. “Domaines Ott has been producing rosé for more than 100 years,” says Cyprien Roy, communications manager at Maisons Marques & Domaines USA, Inc . representing Louis Roederer, owner of Domaines Ott. Though often credited for elevating the popularity of high-end Provençal rosé around the world, the company is “not in it for producing wines that are trendy,” says Roy. Domaines Ott was founded in 1912 by Marcel Ott, a young agronomist from Alsace who found enough viticultural inspiration in Provence t...

Image Courtesy of John Fedorowicz The Winery has Championed Paso Robles Since its Days as a Cow Town. Though today it’s a globally recognized wine country full of stylish tasting rooms and lined with vines as far as the eye can see, Paso Robles , California , was little more than a dusty cowboy town when Chuck and Marilyn Hope bought land to plant vineyards here in 1978. Four decades later, Hope Family Wines produces a wide range of internationally distributed brands that are respected for both quality and affordability as well as market-leading creativity. “We became one of the larger farmers in the area,” explains their son, Austin Hope, who went from a kid playing in vineyards to a visionary for the family’s wine portfolio almost 30 years ago. “There wasn’t anyone here at the time. We went through the whole cycle of the wine industry.” They grew Zinfandel during the height of the White Zin craze, empowered the region’s Bordeaux boom and were an early adopter of the Rhône g...

Image Courtesy of ZUCCARDI VALLE DE UCO / WINESELLERS LTD Letting the land and fruit of Argentina’s Uco Valley speak through wine has been a painstaking process of research and study. “ Zuccardi Valle de Uco is Uco Valley ,” says Sebastian Zuccardi, director of winemaking and third generation of the Zuccardi family. The winery has focused on elevating the Uco Valley region while positioning itself as one of its most iconic wine producers. The Zuccardis’ innovative spirit guided them to the Uco Valley in the early 2000s. Since then, they have explored it thoroughly, from a macro to a micro perspective. As a result, their winery is currently praised for its wines made with grapes from acclaimed appellations such as Altamira, Gualtallary and San Pablo. “As a family,” says Zuccardi, “what we did well was create something with deep roots by first understanding the region, then purchasing land, learning more about the region and finally building a winery.” In 2009, Zuccardi and his tea...

Image Courtesy of Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin From Humble Beginnings, Drumshanbo has Grown into a Gin Juggernaut. When Pat (PJ) Rigney first created the prototype for Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin in 2014, he had visions of a gin flavored with botanicals from around the world, reflecting his own lifetime of travel , but distilled in Ireland, where his own heritage lay. “This is my life’s work,” says Rigney, now managing director and founder of The Shed Distillery , located in Ireland’s western province, Connacht. After more than three decades working in the spirits industry, including representing legacy Irish brands such as Bailey’s Irish Cream and Irish Mist , Rigney set out to create his own brand, specifically a gin that would be “delicious, exotic, but with lots of layers to it.” He collected a recipe of 12 botanicals, including Ireland’s meadowsweet and Chinese “gunpowder” green tea, and distilled the gin in Ireland in copper pot stills. He named the brand Drumshanbo...