Binny's Blog

“Americans are allergic to bad vintages,” observed one person in Bordeaux during a recent trip. I couldn’t disagree. The view here is often absolute: a vintage is either good or bad. And people don’t want to drink “bad” vintages.

As we gear up to focus on Bordeaux for the month of September it seems fitting to recap the annual Binny's en premier trip.

A group of our wine specialists recently visited Illinois Sparkling Wine Company. Founder and lead winemaker Mark Wenzel walked us through the vineyard and shared his family's story

Back in 2014, the Binny’s Beer Team had the pleasure of attending Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp #110 in Chico, designing a spicy IPA that came to be known as Ryeday the 13th. Fast forward to 2017, we were pumped to return to camp, this time in Mills River, North Carolina.

Our Cigar Team recently hit the road to Santiago to visit the La Aurora factory in the beautiful country that is the Dominican Republic.

Known as Napa Valley’s homecoming, Premiere Napa Valley is the annual tasting and futures auction that raises money for Napa Valley Vinters to invest in and support the Napa County community.

The Beer Buzz team hit the road to check out the 2016 Great American Beer Festival.

The taste of bourbon is a bit too austere for some. Fret not; there are some wonderful cocktails that can soften it up a bit. One such example is the Minneapolis Hustler. This cocktail has much in common with a classic cocktail from years past known as the Oriental Cocktail.

Give this unconventional bourbon cocktail a try. The key ingredient in this drink is Orgeat syrup, a sweet and nutty syrup familiar to Tiki devotees like myself, but a mystery to many. Do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle tout suite. This delicious almond syrup is the magical ingredient in dozens of tropical drinks, most famously the Mai Tai.

The mint julep has been a smash for centuries due to its potent yet supremely refreshing profile. It is now utterly unthinkable to let a Derby Day go by without enjoying a Julep or two. For those of us who have watched as mint has taken over our herb gardens this is just the starting gate for a Julep filled summer. That is definitely a hands down win!