Slow Roasted Chicken

Ever since he came back from a trip to northern Italy, JC's been into slow roasted meat.

He stayed at the Meroi Estate in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The restaurant adjacent to the winery offers great local food, even chefs from Michelin Star restaurant come dine at the restaurant to get inspired.
He can't forget the food he had there, especially the simple yet flavourful slow roasted meat.

This is JC's recreation.
No sauce, no brine. Simply roast chicken with low heat for one hour.
Tender, juicy and delicious!

Wine is Starlite Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (Meroi wine is sleeping in the cellar).
Ripe fruit, dried fruit, smokiness of oak and freshness of herb.
Kept its pleasant quality even several days after we opened it. Great wine.

Gevrey-Chambertin tasting

Gevrey-Chambertin is red wine producing village in Cote de Nuits, Burgundy. Their wine is made exclusively with Pinot Noir.

The village of Gevrey-Chambertin used to be called just Gevrey. The prestageous vineyard "Le Champertin" was added to the village name. This set the trend and other villages followed (Puligny and Chassagne Montrachet, Vosne-Romanee, etc.).
Wines from this village are generally full-bodied with good structure and ageing potential.

There was a tasting event for this beautiful red wine.

Domaine Marc Roy Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Prieur 2016
Pronounced aromas of violet, raspberry, red cherry and plum, cedar.
Soft texture.

Domaine des Beaumony Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Cherbaudes 2015
Raspberry, cherry, plum, herb, incense, with silky texture.
This producer is moving towards organic.

Nuiton-Beaunoy Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Clos du Chapitre 2015
Raspberry, plum, cherry, strawberry, coffee, mushroom.
Silky texture and long finish.

Domaine Harmand-Geoffroy Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Lavaux St-Jacques 2016
Apple skin, strawberry, plum, spice like clove or cinnamon, cedar, charred wood.
Good wine, would be even better with tamed tannin after further bottle ageing.

Domaine Henri Magnien Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Champeaux 2016
Pronounced aromas of strawberry, raspberry, ripe cherry, liquorice candy, sandalwood.
Fine-grained velvety tannin.
Fluid-like texture with long finish.

Domaine Henri Magnien Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Les Cazetiers 2016
Aromas of coffee candy, fresh coffee beans and cedar first, then fresh and ripe fruit of strawberry and cherry.
Tannin is high but not aggressive.
Rich wine with concentration and long, pleasant finish.

There are 9 Grands Crus in this village and some of Premier cru sites are said to match Grands crus with its quality, and this Lez Cazertiers is one of them.
It was indeed a great wine with complexity and depth. Definitely my favorite of the day.
However, other people had other favorites. They all were beautiful wines.

Christmas sewing

This time of the year I somehow feel the creative impulse.
What works for me is that it's Christmas time!
I made men's shirts x 2 as Christmas gift.

Fabric I chose is NANIIRO, double gauze from Japan.
Double gauze is hard to work with because it's soft and frays easily. However, NANIIRO's double gauze is relatively easy to sew so I use this fabric for garment making often.

I use books or magazine as a weight to fix a pattern on fabric as I cut them. It is heavy and wide enough to keep the pattern in place.

The pattern is from a book "Otoko no Shirts no Hon (Men's Shirts Book)" by Ryuichiro Shimazaki.
I made maybe more than twenty shirts from this book and always get praised. I highly recommend this book!

Freeman Vineyard and Winery

Freeman Vineyard and Winery is a winery in Sonoma.

They specialize in Pinot Noir: in fact, to start the winery, they traveled and searched for a land which could produce their ideal Pinot Noir. They found this area and Ken and Akiko Freeman established this winery in 2001.

The winery is in mountains but only 30 minutes or so scenic drive from Sebastopol.

They showed us the small but beautiful and functional winery.

Inside the fermentation vessel. Dry ice is used to control the temperature.

This is pneumatic press.
A bag inside is inflated and presses grapes against the wall of the cylinder.
Grapes can be pressed gently with this machine.

Then we got to taste wines in the cellar.

The wines were beautiful. They were big but elegant.
Concentrated fruit, herb and spice, with gentle and reliable structure.

JC's favorite was Yu-ki Estate.
My favorite was Akiko's Cuvee.
Yu-ki Estate was tender and Akiko's Cuvee was more complex.

Akiko studied art history but became winemaker to support her husband.
It is sweet of her, but tasting her great wines, I think she was destined to become a winemaker anyway.

Spinning thick yarn

It had been hot in October. It was still warm in November but recently it started to feel cool, so it's time to spin.

I cleaned a storage, a.k.a. my room, and found fibers of white wool and grayish brown mohair. I carded them together and started to spin.

I was trying to spin thick yarn but it was difficult. Every time I aimed at thicker yarn, it became bumpy.
It's interesting that when I was a beginner, I couldn't spin thin yarn. Now I get used to spinning, I can't make thick yarn. This seems to be happening to many people.

I somehow managed to finish spinning bumpy yarn, so washed in hot water and dried them.

It's about 500 yards of yarn. Hopefully it's enough to make a vest... 

Madeira Wine tasting

Madeira wine is a fortified wine from island of Madeira, Portugal.
Madeira wine might have a lower profile comparing with other fortified wines like Port or Sherry, but it has a unique feature.

Madeira wine goes through a process called Canteiro.
After fortification, wine is matured in a cask for minimum two years in the warm area. The finest example would be aged for some decades.

This process imitates its history: in the 17th century, ships heading to India from Europe picked up wines at the island of Madeira. After experiencing repeated heating and cooling during the ocean voyage, people found that the wine tasted better than the wine matured on the land.
Canteiro was developed to imitate this process.

There was a tasting of Madeira wine in San Francisco.
It was a rare occasion to get to taste so many Madeira wine, so there were many participants, even came from far away.

The styles of Madeira range from light and dry to sweet, full-bodied wine, but all of them have refreshing acidity. The volcanic soils of the island contribute to this.

Among the wineries, the producer most memorable for me was Pereira d'Oliveira.
Sercial 1989 White flower of acacia. Acidity of citrus fruit.
Terrantez 1988 Interesting aroma of milk coffee and fruit zest.
Boal 1977 Rich sweetness of creme brulee and coffee. Freshness of citrus zest.
Malvasia 1990 Bitter-sweet burned caramel. Full-bodied.

Tinta Negra 1929
This one was gorgeous.
Espresso, coffee and leather.
High acidity is balanced with the sweetness of vanilla ice cream.

I have a sweet tooth but many of sweet wines, fortified or late-harvest, are too sweet even for me. But, somehow, I can fully enjoy the sweetness of Madeira wine.
Dry style has its character and becomes addictive.
They are good wines and I hope they become more popular.

Halloween Bento

It was Halloween.

I usually don't participate this event, but this year I did something: I made Halloween Bento!

I'm not good at making artfully decorated bento, but I saw a picture of chopped finger bento (sausage on rice) on the net and I was still clumsy but tried to copy it.

The original used ketchup for blood. I used umeboshi instead because JC loves umeboshi, but it didn't really look like blood (JC even asked if it was meant to be blood).
Next time, I should follow the original faithfully...

Self-sowed Melon

I do gardening with home-made compost.

Compost is composed of decomposed organic materials.
As the materials decompose, heat is generated. Unwanted weed seeds and bacteria are killed with this heat. Theoretically.

Somehow my compost doesn't become hot enough to kill seeds.
Past years, I witnessed plants like potatoes, tomatoes, and even chili pepper emerged from compost which was scattered on the garden.

This year, I found yellow squash look-like plant was growing in my vegetable garden.
I don't have any recollection of throwing yellow squash seed since I eat them all, but I have no objection growing it in my garden, so let it grow.

After a while, it didn't look like yellow squash.

Watermelon...?
I waited more and found out...

It happened to be cantaloupe melon!
I grew melon from a seedling some years ago but never saw it self-sow.

I cut it into half and tried.

Not much meat...and a little sour... but it definitely tasted like melon!

Lunch with Benanti

Benanti is a winery on the foot of Mount Etna, Sicily.

The history of wine making in Sicily is long, but overall impression of Sicilian wine had been high-yield, low-quality wine.
It was the end of 20th century some wineries started to focus on the higher quality wines, and Benanti is one of the pioneers of high quality Sicilian wine.

Giuseppe Benanti believed in the potential of the land and began investing in vineyards in 1980s, that were almost neglected by his father's generation.
Since taking over the business from their father Giuseppe in 2012, twin brothers Salvino and Antonio pushed the quality of wine making even higher.

There was a lunch event with Mr. Salvino Benanti in San Francisco.

Etna Bianco 2016
This wine is made with Carricante.
Clean mineral and quince. Savoriness from lees contact.

Etna Rosato 2017
Grape is Nerello Mascalese.
Fresh red fruit like cranberry. Refreshing citrus.

Etna Rosso 2015
A blend of Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio
Cranberry, strawberry and decayed rose.

Nerello Cappuccio 2015
Floral and red fruit.
Texture is smooth and easy to drink.

Nerello Mascalese 2014
Red berry, rose, spice, smokiness and incense.
Big wine with a sense of decency.

Serra della Contessa 2013
Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio from a single vineyard.
Just ripe red fruit, not overripe. Finish is long.
Elegant on the nose and richer on the palate.

Rovittello 2013
Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio
Fresh and dried red fruit. Good tannin and long finish.

These are all good food wine. Especially with pasta, of course.

Rum Festival in San Francisco

Rum Festival is an annual event held in San Francisco.
This event includes tasting of rums from all over the world, cocktail competition and seminars.

The winner!

For people, especially for those whose first encounter with rum was Rum and Coke, rum can mean cheap, mediocre spirit (in Rum and Coke, flavor of coke is overpowering so low-quality rum can be used).
However, the quality of rum has been improved recent years and there are more and more premium products, and I got to taste some of them at this event.

Rum is a versatile drink which can be made into a craft spirit by choosing the ingredients, condition of maturation or material of container carefully.
Many small producers are focusing only on these premium rum.


My favorites were Diplomatico and Plantation.
I also found a unique producer who is relatively new to the spirit world.

John Drew Brand is a producer from Florida.
Jonathan Drew is a founder of renown cigar company Drew Estate.
After selling the company, John Drew Brand, new business focusing on craft spirits, was established in 2015.

Dove Tale Florida Rum
This rum is made with Florida sugarcane molasses, distilled and matured in Bourbon barrel for 2 to 4 years in Florida.
Sweetness of caramel, butter and vanilla.
JC thinks this would make good Hot Buttered Rum.

Dove Tale Puerto Rico Rum
This is made with the same molasses as Florida rum, but distilled and matured in Puerto Rico. Believe it or not, it's cooler in Puerto Rico than Florida, therefore the spirit is aged longer, 4 to 6 years.
It has more fruit and spice than Florida Rum.
It's interesting to compare these two rums which are made with the same ingredient and matured differently.

Rum is a spirit usually used in cocktails, but these premium rums can be enjoyed as straight.

Liberty shirt

I probably have a poor man's mentality.
At meal time, I save my favorite dish aside until the last and when I buy something, I hesitate to use it immediately.

This fabric is Liberty I bought years ago.
I planned to make my cloth, but it's so beautiful that I couldn't bring myself to put scissors to this fabric. I don't know if it was because I was afraid that I might have destroyed it, or I wasn't sure the best way to use this fabric. Anyway, that's who I am.

However, I also understand that leaving this beautiful fabric on the shelf is a total waste, so I finally decided to make a shirt for myself.
The patters is from Japanese sewing magazine "Style Book."

The design is too flashy...?
Well, I'll wear a jacket on it so it should be fine.

Many of colorful cotton fabrics at fabric stores are not suitable for garment construction unless otherwise it is meant to be for cloth making.
Those fabrics are usually too stiff and don't create nice line as a garment.
I didn't know this when I started sewing and I learned costly lesson after a pile of failure.

Unlike them, Liberty has variety of designs and their soft textile makes beautiful cloth.
It is indeed expensive but in my opinion, it pays off.




Liberty is so beautiful that even the leftover can't be thrown away.

I made pocket chiefs with it.

Tasting wines from British Columbia

Production of wine is spreading to all over the world: you can find new wine regions which weren't known for wine until recently.
China is becoming a big wine country, not only as a consumer but also as a producer. Jean Charles Boisset is collaborating with Indian winery. Chile is expanding its wine production to the southern limit, which is the area thought to be too cold for wine production.
Stories of these new movements are found often in wine news.

Meanwhile, there are regions which has been producing wines but don't get enough attention to match its quality. There are also people who support these areas and promote them to get recognition which they deserve.

Kascadia is a wine merchants with a focus on British Columbia. It is a young company and held a tasting event (probably their SF debut?) the other day.

British Columbia is a wine producing region in western Canada. The history of wine making in British Columbia is said to start when missionaries arrived in Okanagan area in 1859.
Being at the higher latitude, I expected that the majority of wines would be white (in fact Canada is known for Icewine made with Riesling or Vidal), but I discovered great red wines from this region at this tasting.
Many of the wineries in British Columbia are located in Okanagan Valley DVA (Designated Viticultural Areas). Okanagan Valley is in the rain shadow of Cascade and Columbia mountain ranges, and the climate is desert-like. Bordeaux varieties grow well here under the long day length.

Painted Rock Estate Winery was founded by John and Trish Skinner in Okanagan Valley.
They saw the potential of this area and planted the first vines in 2005.

Cabernet Franc 2015
Red fruit, potpourri, vegetal. Gentle tannin.
One of the best sommelier in Bordeaux called this "exciting wine."

Syrah 2015
Full-bodied with powdery tannin and soft acid.
Fruitiness, spiciness and savoriness. Great wine.
By itself, this wine was my favorite out of three.

Red Icon 2015
This is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon.
Red and black fruit, flower, spice and herb. Tannin is soft.
Good food wine. This big wine shows its elegant side with spicy food.

Mr. John Skinner was at this tasting. He had a great personality and the great stories to tell.

Another wine which was memorable was Perseus Merlot 2016.
Plum, mint, spice and ripe pyrazine. Silky tannin.
Their Pinot Gris was very good, too.

Vista D'oro 2008
This is a unique fortified wine. Fresh walnuts are soaked in the port-like wine for long time.
Nutty, sweet wine.

There were other wines from Meyer Family, 50th Parallel Estate and The Hatch. It was dark and I couldn't take pictures but they were all good wines.

It's always fun to explore something new, but rediscovering something being taken for granted and almost forgotten is just as exciting!

Yuzu Kosho making

This year I couldn't find plum and didn't make umeboshi, therefore I wanted to make something else instead.

Yuzu citrus gets ripe in winter.
Right now, they are still green and small, but already have the aroma.
This green yuzu can be used for cooking and I decided to make yuzu kosho.
Yuzu kosho is a spicy paste originated from Kyushu (southern Japan).

Ingredients needed are only three: yuzu skin, green chili pepper, and salt.
My ratio is 10: 10: 3.
I got about 10g of zest from one yuzu.

Grate yuzu skin. Squeeze yuzu juice and add them to the zest.

It's recommended to use a mask, glove and eye glasses to process chili peppers.
Remove hats from chili peppers. Cut them open and remove seeds.
Chop them into small pieces. I started to cough at this point so I used a food processor for the rest of  the process.

Mix chili peppers, yuzu zest and salt, and grind them together in the food processor.
Let it rest in a fridge for a month or so.

This is good condiment for Nabe (hot pot) or Udon.
It can be used with grilled meat, too.

I licked it. Of course, spicy! but has good flavor.
The saltiness is quite noticeable but it would be tamed with time.

Global Warming

Global warming is something you can't ignore whatever your interest is.
For wine, there is a serious concern that grape varieties which are popular today might have to be replanted for more heat tolerant varieties.
I don't want to even think about the possibility especially for places like Burgundy where the grape varieties are almost synonym to the region itself.

Emmanuel Rouget Vosne-Romanee 2015 
Emmanuel Rouget is a nephew of Henri Jayer, a legendary wine maker of Burgundy.
The wine had purple flower, strawberry, cherry, raspberry.
Good acid and powdery tannin.
Just enough fruits which were juicy but not over ripe.
Alcohol was high but didn't feel that high. Well integrated.

Domaine Anne Gros Richebourg Grand Cru 2015
Fresh aromas of cherry, raspberry, pear, green tea, tarragon.
Fruits were riper on palate.
Powdery tannin was balanced with the richness of fruits.
Even the small presence of VA adds broadness.

I was lucky to have a chance to try these great wines.
I'm sure they can make excellent wines with different grape varieties, but hope it wouldn't happen.

I'm not a scientist and have no idea about what would happen next, but the world experienced the warming trend in the past too. For example, there was a warming trend in medieval time which lasted for some years, followed by cool weather which eventually led to the Great Famine in the 14th century.
Therefore this can be a condition which happens and goes away once in a while, and I hope this global warming would settle down sometime soon.

Lail Vineyards J Daniel Cuvee 2002

Napa Cab is not always my favorite, but there are some wines I really love.

Lail Vineyards J Daniel Cuvee Napa Valley 2002

Robin Daniel Lail of Lail Vineyards is a great grandniece of Gustave Niebaum, a founder of the Inglenook Vineyards in Napa.
After the closure during Prohibition Inglenook was improved by Niebaum's great-nephew John Daniel Jr. and their wine was highly appraised.
Inglenook had changed hands since and is now owned by Francis Ford Coppola.

Robin Daniel Lail, with the famous vineyard Napanook which she inherited from her father John Daniel Jr, produced wine with Christian Moueix at Dominus Estate. The partnership was later resolved and Robin Daniel Lail started Lail Vineyards with her family.

This wine is made with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pronounced aromas of cooked red berry and cherry, cassis, dried rose, green tea, vanilla, coffee candy, rich black diamond (compost).
Sweet and bitter coffee beans in after taste.
Tannin is very soft.

It's opulent but not typical big Napa Cab.
This wine shows more tender side of Cabernet Sauvignon.

We had this with T-bone steak. Good pairing.

Riesling from Maximin Grunhaus

One cool summer day of San Francisco (it's cool in summer in SF!), I had a chance to try 2016 vintage German Riesling.

I like Riesling. Some people say they don't like Riesling because it's sweet, and every time I hear that, I protest that not all Riesling wines are sweet and even if it's sweet, it's good, decent, enjoyable sweetness as long as the wine is made well.

Maximin Grunhaus, the producer from Ruwer, was this tasting's my favorite.
Ruwer is a small district in Mosel (formerly known as Mosel-Saar-Ruwer), one of Germany's 13 delimited wine-growing regions. This cool region in general produces lighter style of wine.

Maximin Grunhaus owns three vineyards on south-facing slope by the Ruwer river. This estate, including the vineyards, had belonged to a monastery St. Maximin for long time until it was confiscated by Napoleon.
Most of wines produced from here are Riesling.

I love the classic design of German wine label

Maximin Grunhaus Monopole Estate 2016
Refreshing citrus and citrus zest. Sweet aromas of white flower.

Maximin Grunhaus Herrenberg Kabinett 2016
Beautiful aromas of honey suckle and ripe stone fruit.
Hint of smokiness.

Maximin Grunhaus Abtsberg Spatlese 2016
Mikan (sweet and somehow rustic Japanese orange) and other citrus flavor.
Intense aromas of tropical fruits like guava or papaya.
Really good wine.

There was slight sweetness of residual sugar, but it was well balanced with acidity and quite pleasant.

Once & Future Tasting

Tasting of Once & Future with Joel Peterson at Solano Cellars.

Joel Peterson is the founder / wine maker of Ravenswood Winery of Sonoma.
Ravenswood is especially known for its high quality single vineyard old vine Zinfandel which helped to promote serious red Zinfandel in California (sweet white Zinfandel was more popular back then).
As winery grew bigger, it needed to make high volume wine to keep the sizable business going.
This wasn't what Peterson wanted to do as a wine maker.
He sold Ravenswood and started over again.

Once & Future is a small-lot winery where Peterson makes wine in the way he envisioned when he took first step in wine making decades ago: old world style with Californian twist.

Mr. Joel Peterson and his wine

Oakley Rd Vineyard Mataro Contra Costa 2016
Mataro is the another name for Mourvedre.
Vines were planted in 1800 and dry farmed.
Plum, strawberry and tobacco.Tannin is soft.
Mourvedre is the grape with high tannin and its varietal wine is usually very harsh when young. Probably because of sandy soil, this wine is very smooth and easy to drink.

Forcini Vineyard Zinfandel Russian River Valley 2016
Forcini vineyard is in warmer part of Russian River Valley AVA.
Ripe and juicy. Savoriness of cheese.
Texture is soft.

Bedrock Vineyard Zinfandel Sonoma Valley 2016
Wine is made with grapes from 128 year old vines.
Floral and ripe fruit. Nut, coffee and velvety texture.

Teldeschi vineyard Zinfandel Dry Creek 2016
According to Peterson, Teldeschi might be the best vineyard site for Zinfandel.
Strawberry, cherry and tobacco.
Jammy with freshness of mint.

Palisades Petite Sirah Napa Valley 2015
Black cherry, plum and inky.
Big wine with firm tannin.

We were the first ones to arrive at this tasting event, but soon the place was filled with an enthusiastic crowd.
Among them were Peterson's long time friends and his initial investors from when he started the first winery.

His own success once prevented him from making wine the way he wanted.
He put storybook success behind and re-started business where he could be true to himself.

This sounds quite risky and scary to a timid (and lazy) person like me, but looking at him pouring great wines to people who have believed in him throughout his career, I started to feel that life should be lived this way (when I'm born again...).

Pickling Nasturtium

I probably have a condition called "super taster".
It sounds cool but it is not, actually.
I taste bitterness, sourness or spiciness more than other people therefore can't eat food with strong flavors.

Pickling vegetables is fun. It's amazing to see the vegetable changes its shape, flavor and longevity with the simple process of pickling: however, I can't really eat them because they are usually too salty for me.
Nanohana-zuke is a pickled edible flower (rapeseed) which was one of few pickles I liked when I was a kid. I don't know why I liked... maybe those were not too salty or the idea of eating flower?

I wanted to make them but couldn't find the flower here, but there is one edible flower in my garden: nasturtium.

I decided to make pickles with this flower.

Boil water, throw flowers into boiling water and cook for a short amount of time, less than 10 seconds.
Drain and squeeze water from the flowers.
Add salt and diced chili pepper, mix and let them rest overnight.

It didn't taste like Nanohana zuke, of course, but this tastes good in its own way!

JC was somehow inspired by this new pickles and made a pasta dish.

Pasta with mushroom and truffle oil with nasturtium garnish.
The saltiness of nasturtium cut the greasiness of the truffle oil.
The wine for this pasta was Francois Chidaine Touraine Rouge 2017

A red blend of  Cot, Cabernet Franc, Pineau d'Aunis.
Purple flower and fresh red fruit.
Powdery tannin and good amount of acid for the dish.

This Loire Valley producer is known for white wine, but this red blend was really good.
It might not last long once it's opened, but no problem: it's so tasty and easy to drink that you will finish the bottle before long.

Littorai Pinot Noir

 Littorai The Pivot Vineyard 2015

Littorai is a family owned winery with the focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

After studying winemaking and doing apprenticeship in France, Ted Lemon became the first American winemaker / vineyard manager in Burgundy, at Domaine Roulot.

He searched places, after came back to US, where he could make Pinot Noir which would reflect its terroir, and founded Littorai in Sonoma with his wife Heidi in 1993.

The Pivot vineyard is on the rolling hills in Sonoma Coast.

The wine had decent aromas of rose, cherry blossom, herb, medicinal, cranberry, liquorice candy, incense.
Acid is high and tannin is silky.
Smooth, delicate texture.

There is a tiny sign of the lemon and crown on the label.

This is said to be given to Ted Lemon as "prince of Pinot Noir" by fellow producers from France.

St. George Spirits Tour

We went for the distillery tour and tasting of St. George Spirits which is a distillery in Alameda.
Alameda is the island across from San Francisco, and the view of San Francisco can be enjoyed from the parking lot.

The range of products of St. George includes vodka, gin, whiskey, absinthe, liqueur and even shochu!
They are also known for once accidentally creating mustard gas during the production of Wasabi Vodka!

St. George Spirits was established in 1982.
This is their first still.

I love the look of the copper still.
Copper is the preferred material for stills since it reacts with sulfurs and removes them.

They do experimental ageing with different barrels such as maturing whiskey in umeshu (Japanese plum liqueur) barrels.

After the tour, we had a tasting.

Flavored vodkas and gins were fun to try.
All purpose vodka is our staple for cocktail making.

This is the shochu. The label says ramen shop shochu because this is inspired by Ramen Shop in Oakland.
Made with California rice.
I love the label design with the bear saying "roars of bear". It's somehow very funny.

Baller Single Malt Whiskey.
Made with 100% American barley. Aged in casks, charcoal filtered, then matured in barrels which held umeshu prior to this process.
There was a touch of sweetness. Probably from umashu?

Informative tour, delicious drinks and gorgeous view. The guide was friendly and professional.
If you are interested, parking is easy and the distillery can be reached by the ferry from San Francisco.