Hold on to your hats! Today is a big day on Food52 -- or should we say Booze52? We're introducing our newest addition to the Provisions shop: wine and spirits! Read on to hear all the details, and find out how to drink better at home.
We love a good cocktail. We’ve got cocktail recipes, spirit guides, and booze pairings aplenty on Food52. We’ve got the very best barware on Provisions, complete with muddlers, handblown wine decanters, and brass bottle openers. But there's an essential ingredient to drinking we've been missing.
And so, we couldn’t be more thrilled to announce (drumroll please): We're now selling wine and spirits on Provisions!
We’re extra excited about our partner, Merchants of Beverage. Founded by a team of wine and cocktail experts, they just opened their (virtual) doors in August; since, they've been on the hunt for the best wine and spirits out there. But they aren’t just looking to sell the finest -- they’re also telling the stories behind excellent cocktails and taking you around the world through wine.
We're stocking both a cocktail collection -- all the ingredients you need to mix up a classic drink -- and a wine collection that showcase the best of a region or varietal. (We think a hand-picked collection is a more interesting way to drink better at home, and it also makes a fantastic gift.)
Take our first wine package: the West Coast Pinot Noir collection, a trio of reds from Sonoma, Oregon, and Santa Barbara. The bottles represent the unique flavors of this storied stretch of land. Each wine was chosen as a beautiful example of the region, highlighting the distinctions in the terroir. The cool Oregon climate dictates a later grape harvest, resulting in more complex wines, but travel south to Sonoma and the wines lighten. As you taste them, you’ll get a sense for how these west coast reds differ from others you’ve tried. We like pouring this collection at a dinner party -- it adds something extra to tell the story behind what you're drinking.
More: Throw an informal tasting at home. Here's how.
The second collection we’re launching is the Last Word cocktail set. Three spirits (gin, Chartreuse, and maraschino liqueur) combine with lime to make the Last Word, a sweet-sour Prohibition-era cocktail. Italian Luxardo maraschino (a dark cherry liqueur) and woody, herbal Chartreuse are two must-haves for a home bar, and the gin comes from the New York Distilling Company, a great American craft distillery. Their Dorothy Parker gin riffs on the classic London Dry, with notes of hibiscus and cardamom -- it’s still crisp, but it's edgier and more unusual.
More: Mix another drink with gin and maraschino.
To drink better at home, you’ll need good recipes (check), a little guidance (check), and the crème de la crème of spirits and wine. That’s why we couldn't imagine launching with anyone but Merchants of Beverage -- they leverage decades of experience in wineries, bars, shops, and restaurants to hand-pick the best and most interesting bottles.
Translation: When you let them pick drinks for you, it means that when cocktail hours rolls around, you can get right to the drinking.
Tell us, what's always in your home bar?
Photos by James Ransom
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