Tag Archives: Alcoholic beverages

Pandemic spells alternative for marooned Coast Guard cadets

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Cadets on the U.S. Coast Guard Academy are being credited with saving a mission that had been endangered by the coronavirus pandemic this summer time

By

PAT EATON-ROBB Related Press

September 16, 2020, 3:03 PM

four min learn

NEW LONDON, Conn. — Branyelle Carillo was dealing with the prospect of a summer time marooned by the pandemic on the Coast Guard Academy in New London when she was known as up for a mission: The usCoast Guard cutter Munro, certain for a patrol of the U.S. maritime border with Russia, had misplaced a tenth of its crew to quarantine and wanted reinforcements.

Inside two days, Carillo and 15 different college students from the academy, a few of whom had by no means been on a ship earlier than, have been a part of its crew. She and 10 different second-year college students, often known as third Class cadets, have been despatched to affix 5 seniors, or 1st Class cadets, who had earlier been assigned to the cutter.

“The checklist got here out and we simply received up and went,” she stated. “They only voluntold us. It was thrilling.”

The Munro had been embarking from California in late June for the patrol when one in all its crew members examined optimistic for the coronavirus. Contact tracing resulted in 14 shipmates being ordered into quarantine for 2 weeks.

Capt. Blake Novak stated that didn’t go away him with sufficient service members to sail. He got here up with the thought of changing them with cadets, having heard that a lot of the fleet was canceling internships and summer time shadowing alternatives due to the pandemic.

“We have been the one choice to be up there and patrolling; there was no backup possibility,” Novak stated. “I wanted to be there.”

The cadets, examined and coronavirus-free, took over the menial jobs on the 418-foot Munro, comparable to washing dishes and cleansing its small boats.

However in addition they turned certified to deal with the ship’s strains, change into lookouts and carry out security duties comparable to firefighting. They obtained preliminary coaching in the right way to steer the cutter on the helm.

The cadets helped launch the boats that boarded fishing vessels, saved a watch out for Russians and have been charged with stopping the ship from working into the pods of orcas and different whales they might spot alongside the best way.

“There was this one time we have been doing a boarding and there was a blue whale that breached out of the water, proper subsequent to the boat,” stated 19-year-old Cadet Tyler Huynh, of Mount Laurel, New Jersey. “I used to be on lookout for that. It was simply so sick, nevertheless it was additionally sort of scary as a result of it was so shut.”

The cadets spent 52 days at sea, touring from the Arctic Circle to Hawaii to take part in naval workouts. They explored an uninhabited island that was crammed with sizzling springs and hung out alongside a Russian patrol boat, speaking with it utilizing simply sign flags.

The tender ages of the cadets, starting from 19 to 22, turned out to be a bonus in a single crucial scenario, Novak stated.

The ship was spending an off day in port at Dutch Harbor on Amaknak Island in Alaska when the captain received phrase of a giant storm headed their method. The cutter needed to go away in the course of the evening to remain forward of the climate or be caught in port for 4 days, doubtlessly lacking the beginning of the Pacific Rim workouts.

A lot of the crew had been attending a barbecue on shore, the place alcoholic drinks have been served. A 12-hour “bottle to throttle” rule meant that solely those that weren’t ingesting that day have been allowed to carry out the roles wanted to get the Munro underway.

“We have been all nervous, as a result of it was simply us and possibly three different certified individuals who weren’t drunk dealing with the strains,” stated Carillo, 20, of Aberdeen, Maryland. “So we simply needed to determine it out. We have been nervous.”

The cadets stated the expertise on the Munro, made potential solely due to the pandemic, was life altering.

Cadet Malia Haskovec, of Dumfries, Virginia, had been planning a profession on shore, maybe inspecting personal boats. Now, she needs to be out at sea doing regulation enforcement.

“Seeing the journey, the thrill, the onerous work the grit and willpower that’s required to be underway, I simply sort of fell in love with it,” she stated.

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Sazerac House celebrates New Orleans cocktail culture

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Visitors to New Orleans who want to learn more about cocktails will soon have a new place to go. No, it’s not another bar.

The Sazerac Company, a Louisiana-based spirits maker, is opening the Sazerac House on October 2.

Described as an “immersive exploration of the spirited culture of New Orleans,” the six-story building houses multiple floors of exhibits as well as a gift shop and the company’s headquarters.

“We have created three exhibit floors that will showcase the history and traditions … of the cocktail itself, featuring the Sazerac cocktail as our namesake,” said Miguel Solorzano, the general manager. He said they expect 275,000 visitors the first year.

“People travel from all over the world, not only for our food, our culture but drinks,” he said.

Visitors can walk through and learn about the city’s cocktail culture and the various spirits the company makes, especially those used in the signature New Orleans drink called the Sazerac.

Tasting is encouraged at the Sazerac House. Free samples will be given to visitors, and there will be special classes and tastings daily.

The Sazerac House will officially open to the public Oct. 2.

The renovated building sits just across palm tree-lined Canal Street from the French Quarter.

On the first floor is a distillery where the company will make rye whiskey, the key ingredient in a Sazerac. The custom-built still stretches up to the second floor and is visible to tourists walking outside.

But the first batch won’t be ready to drink for six years as it has to age first. Distillery supervisor David Bock said the goal is to give visitors a feel for how the whiskey is made.

“We are going to show you how to do it on a small scale,” he said.

Three of the floors are open to visitors while other floors will house things like the company’s headquarters. There’s an extensive rum exhibit which walks visitors through the origins of rum production and its close association with Louisiana’s sugar production.

Visitors will also get to see how Peychaud’s Bitters — another key ingredient to a Sazerac — is made and see it being bottled.

The bitters gets its name from creator Antoine Amadie Peychaud, who owned an apothecary shop in New Orleans in the 1800s. The exact ingredients in Peychaud’s are proprietary but in the room devoted to bitters, visitors can sniff various dried herbs and botanicals like star anise or fennel seed that can be used to make bitters.

“I like to think of bitters almost like salt and pepper for a cocktail,” said Bock.

Over the decades the ingredients in a Sazerac cocktail have changed slightly. But served in a chilled old-fashioned glass with a twist of lemon peel, it’s still a staple in many bars and restaurants across town.

It’s one of a handful of cocktails closely associated with New Orleans though much more upscale than the hurricanes and hand grenades dispensed in plastic containers or souvenir glasses just a few blocks away on Bourbon Street or the daiquiris served at drive-thrus.

The Sazerac House joins the Southern Food and Beverage Museum as a more high-brow way to learn about the city’s food and drink culture.

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Follow Santana on Twitter @ruskygal.

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Like wine from France’s Rhone Valley? Head to Walla Walla

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Southeastern Washington has been producing high-quality wines for decades. But in the past five years, the wineries of the Walla Walla Valley have drawn international accolades for the reds — particularly syrahs — produced from the unique soil just across the border in Oregon.

Grapes grown in the six square miles known as The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater absorb the minerals from the distinctive basalt cobblestones, resulting in savory, earthy wines that have been compared to those of France’s northern Rhone Valley.

In 2014, The Rocks was designated an American viticultural area, a sub-region of the 2,000-acre Walla Walla Valley AVA. The Rocks’ unique terroir is a combination of basalt gravel and sediment deposited during the Missoula Floods at the end of the last ice age, more than 13,000 years ago.

My husband, son and I ventured to the area in August to taste some of these distinctive reds, as well as wines from the greater Walla Walla Valley.

Walla Walla, settled by Christian missionaries in 1836, was a regular stop along the Oregon Trail. The area long has been known for its famous sweet onions, but wine grapes have taken center stage over the past 20 years.

More than 120 wineries now dot the golden fields of the valley, and the resulting tourism has transformed Walla Walla, which has grown to a population of about 33,000. There are 39 tasting rooms in downtown Walla Walla alone, with more clustered near the airport and south of town.

Most of the tasting rooms we visited in Walla Walla proper featured only one or two wines sourced from The Rocks, 10 miles to the south, with varietals from elsewhere in the Walla Walla Valley that were delicious in their own right.

The Maison Bleue Winery sources 40 of its 80 acres from The Rocks, focusing on Rhone varietals such as syrah, grenache and viognier. A sibling label, Pambrun, uses vineyards in the greater Walla Walla Valley for Bordeaux varietals. The land was dedicated to apples until the late 1990s.

As the climate has warmed, Maison Bleue has shifted from merlot to syrah, which also picks up the minerality better from the cobblestones, said tasting room associate Mike Collins.

The tasting fee at Maison Bleue is $15, with wines generally in the $60-$65 range.

A couple of blocks away is the Seven Hills Winery, which features a flight of cabernet franc, merlot and cabernet sauvignon for $10. The winery boasts the oldest merlot vines in the area, dating to the 1980s. We were partial, however, to the 2017 grenache from The Rocks ($40).

Next, we stopped by the wine incubators near the Walla Walla Regional Airport, where five small buildings offer tastings from up-and-coming winemakers. The selection at the Eternal Wines Boutique Winery ranges from $39 for the 2016 Rocket Man red blend to $69 for 2015 Eternal Passion, a syrah and cabernet blend. Down the path, SMAK Wines focuses exclusively on rosès.

We found some of the best wines south of town, closer to The Rocks’ vineyards.

At Saviah Cellars, we loved the 2016 The Stones Speak syrah ($55). It and other 2016 reserve syrahs were scored in the 90s by critics such as Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Enthusiast and Wine & Spirits. The 2016 Barbera, for $30, was a very good value.

Valdemar Estates, a new U.S. outpost of a 130-year-old Spanish winery, offers tapas and a spectacular view from its patio along with excellent wines from both Spain and the Walla Walla Valley.

Va Piano Vineyards was highly recommended, and while the wines are not inexpensive, they are very high quality. We especially liked a trio of 2016 syrahs: from the Stoney Vine Vineyard and Les Collines Vineyard (each $65), and a blend of the first two ($50).

The Watermill Winery is in the heart of The Rocks district in Milton-Freewater, and produces affordable, delicious dry reds. We picked up a bottle of the Hallowed Stones 2017 syrah and Hallowed Stones 2017 estate cabernet franc (each $40), and the 2017 carmeniere ($30).

As Walla Walla’s wine industry has burgeoned, so has the number of good restaurants in town. Standouts include TMACS, with an American menu and full bar, and Bacon & Eggs, a breakfast cafe where we were pleasantly surprised to find a number of spicy Mexican dishes such as migas and chilaquiles.

Taking a break from wine tasting, we learned more about Walla Walla with visits to two museums: the Whitman Mission National Historic Site, which tells the story of the area’s founding by white settlers, and the Fort Walla Walla Museum, which chronicles the rise of agriculture in the valley.

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Swiss celebrate once-in-a-generation winegrowers’ festival

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Swiss residents and tourists alike are partying like they haven’t since 1999.

The town of Vevey has kicked off the 12th “Fete des Vignerons,” or Winemakers Festival, the latest installment in a centuries-old tradition of celebrating vineyard workers — which nowadays takes place only once a generation.

Festival organizers have pulled out the stops for the celebration in Vevey, a lakeside town near Switzerland’s famous terraced vineyards that are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. In 2016, the U.N. cultural agency classified the festival itself as part of the “intangible cultural heritage” of Switzerland.

Among the big-ticket items in the 100 million Swiss franc ($100 million) budget for the festival is a purpose-built arena — big enough to hold 20,000 people, or more than the entire town’s population. Towering over Lake Geneva, the venue is hosting an Olympics- or Super Bowl-style show with dancers, music and other festivities. As many as a million people are expected in Vevey while the festival runs through Aug. 11.

Above all, it’s a colorful, timeless celebration of Swiss-ness tied up in a festival for winegrowers. People dress in costumes to represent facets of life in the vineyards: insects like ants and grasshoppers; or pests like raisin-pecking starlings; young lovers frolicking among the vines; droughts and storms that confound winegrowers.

During the kickoff parade on Thursday, kids in butterfly or ladybug costumes marched through town, while marching band players took a break from the Swiss sunshine with glasses more often filled with cold beer than wine.

This year, organizers are going high-tech with what’s billed as the world’s largest outdoor LED-lit stage.

“It’s been 20 years that we’ve been waiting for this moment now, and it’s crazy!” said Vevey native Fanny Rupp, a 31-year-old physical therapist wearing a wide-brimmed and traditional dress.

With an arm draped over her father’s shoulder, they sang a few bars of the festival anthem “Ranz des Vaches” — a nostalgia-rich Alpine song popularized by 18th-century Geneva philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Some 5,500 dancers, actors and extras are working at the festival, which features parades, music and lots of alcohol consumption. But the centerpiece is the awards given to winegrowing standouts.

The festival has its roots in a competition that began in the 17th century to ensure quality wines from the region, with a grading system that often got censorious — with some winegrowers who didn’t pass muster all but shunned. The festival began a more upbeat approach by “crowning” standout winegrowers in the first formal festival in 1797.

A show playing nightly represents a “year in the life of the vineyard,” with 20 scenes culminating with the harvest.

While the winegrowers are the honorees, the festival is really a celebration of Switzerland and its amazing natural environment, featuring each of the country’s 26 cantons, or regions.

Frederic Hohl, the festival’s executive director, said many Swiss living abroad have booked tickets to attend the celebrations.

“Honestly, we can say that Vevey will be the capital of Switzerland for one month,” he said.

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