Mark Spivak’s second book, Moonshine Nation: The Art of Creating
Cornbread in a Bottle, was released by Lyons Press on July 15.
Moonshine is corn whiskey, traditionally made in improvised stills
throughout the Appalachian South. While quality varied from one producer
to another, the whiskey had one thing in common: It was illegal because
the distiller refused to pay taxes to the US government. In the first
half of Moonshine Nation, Mark traces the history of moonshine from the
Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-94 through the present day. The second part is
devoted to profiles of modern, legal moonshiners, many of whom have
amazing stories to tell.
In Bizarre Beverage News, Mark meditates on the battle between Jack
Daniel’s and George Dickel over the definition of Tennessee whiskey,
ruminates over the significance of a new laser device that will allow
police to intercept drunk drivers, and examines research suggesting that
the mere mention of words describing alcohol is enough to produce an
intoxicating effect on the people hearing them.

Binny’s Beverage Depot

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History–

The post Quench! – Encore Presentation – Moonshine Nation appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Throughout the centuries, the role of women in the whiskey business has
been schizophrenic. Women have primarily taken over distilleries during
emergencies, when men in their families died or went off to war. Despite
the fact that women in positions of leadership performed as well or
better than men, their accomplishments didn’t lead to a situation where
they were promoted any faster—at least, not until the recent
breakthroughs in the area of equal rights. Mark talks with Fred Minnick,
author of Whiskey Women, a fascinating book that traces the role of
women in the liquor business. On Bizarre Beverage News, Mark discusses
the bogus reports of a global wine shortage, and examines yet another
case of trademark infringement: Jack Daniel’s is suing Popcorn Sutton’s
Tennessee White Whiskey for using a square bottle and a similar label.

LINKS:

Whiskey Women—Link to: http://www.fredminnick.com

Binny’s Beverage Depot—Link to: http://www.binnys.com

Mark Spivak on Amazon—Link to:

The post Quench! – Encore Presentation: Women and Whiskey appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Canadian whisky has had a rough time in the U.S. over the past three or
four decades: derided by many as “brown vodka,” it was shunned by
mixologists in favor of spirits that had more dramatic flavors, such as
bourbon and Scotch. The trend is now reversing, although progress is
slow. Mark speaks with Davin de Kergommeaux, the world’s leading expert
on Canadian whisky, who offers both insights and recommendations. On
Bizarre Beverage News, Mark examines the growing feud between
Brown-Forman and Diageo over the definition of Tennessee whiskey,
reveals the latest in a series of strange flavored vodkas, and probes
the unusual technique a Chilean winemaker uses to improve his product.

LINKS:

Binny’s Beverage Depot—Link to: http://www.binnys.com

Mark Spivak on Amazon—Link to:

The post Quench! – Encore Presentation: The Rodney Dangerfield of Whisky appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The role of sulfur in winemaking—and its effects on consumers—is one of the most misunderstood topics in the world of wine. Many wine drinkers believe that they are allergic to sulfites, that red wines contain more sulfites than whites, that European wines have lower sulfite levels than American ones: the misconceptions go on and on. Mark tackles this subject and reveals the truth, and what he has to say will surprise you. On Bizarre Beverage News, Mark reveals the country’s highest restaurant corkage fee, investigates the wine investment opportunity that eluded the panel of Shark Tank, and explores whether bad wine was the cause for Beethoven’s deafness.

LINKS:

Binny’s Beverage Depot—Link to: http://www.binnys.com

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History—Link to:
http://www.iconicspirits.net

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Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is one of Italy’s great wines, and the Tuscan winery Avignonesi is perhaps its greatest estate. Americans tend to confuse it with Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, but anyone drinking it for the first time will be charmed by its balance, elegance and value—it sells for roughly half the price of its more famous neighbor, Brunello di Montalcino. Mark speaks with Virginie Saverys, the Belgian-born attorney who purchased Avignonesi in 2009 and embarked on the task of making an excellent wine even better. On Bizarre Beverage News, Mark discusses the new legislation to allow direct wine shipments to Massachusetts, investigates the fact that beer is once again the most popular alcoholic beverage in America, and explores a Japanese spa where visitors can take a bath in red wine.

LINKS:

Avignonesi—Link to: http://www.avingonesi.it

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History—Link to:
http://www.iconicspirits.net

Moonshine Nation—Link to:
http://www.amazon.com/Moonshine-Nation-Creating-Cornbread-Bottle/dp/0762797029/ref=sr_1_2_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406545749&sr=1-2&keywords=iconic+spirits

The post Quench! – Avignonesi: The Jewel of Vino Nobile appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

As you prepare to open that prized bottle of Lafite or Petrus, a dark thought may cross your mind: It might not be Lafite or Petrus at all. Counterfeit bottles were once as rare as fine wine itself, a phenomenon restricted to rogue wine merchants and sommeliers in Europe who were trying to make some extra cash. In the past decade, however, wine prices have skyrocketed to unprecedented heights—and so have the fakes. Much of the credit for bringing the problem to the public’s attention goes to a collector named Bill Koch, who has filed a series of high-profile lawsuits against the con men who perpetrated these frauds. Mark speaks with Maureen Downey, a California consultant who has worked with Koch and other collectors in their efforts to eradicate counterfeit wine. In Bizarre Beverage News, Mark profiles a new wine dating service, designed to match up single and lonely wine lovers around the globe.

Links:

Maureen Downey = http://www.chaiconsulting.com

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History = http://www.iconicspirits.net

Moonshine Nation = http://www.amazon.com/Moonshine-Nation-Creating-Cornbread-Bottle/dp/0762797029/ref=sr_1_2_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406055762&sr=1-2&keywords=iconic+spirits

The post Quench! – Encore Presentation: Fine, Rare, Expensive and Fake appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Mark reports on a remarkable tasting of aged rums from the Bacardi Facundo Collection: four selections from the family’s private reserve, now released in a limited edition. He also examines the American renaissance in hard cider, revealed in a new website by blogger Tom Wark called The Cider Journal (ciderjournal.com). Turning his attention to wine served at 30,000 feet, he probes the fact that airline passengers spend more money on alcohol than anything else while aloft—despite the fact that their choices are predictably awful. On Bizarre Beverage News, he reveals the startling fact that French employers are now allowed to ban wine from the workplace, looks at the one country where wine is still made by treading the grapes by foot (Portugal), and evaluates the reviews of a new and influential wine critic: a Shiba Inu living in Manhattan.

LINKS:

Binny’s Beverage Depot—Link to: http://www.binnys.com

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History—Link to:
http://www.iconicspirits.net

Moonshine Nation—Link to:
http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Spivak/e/B007QASMAC/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1404673935&sr=1-2-ent

The post Quench! – The Art of Rum appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Mark is back from the Telluride Wine Festival, and files a full report on that less-than-satisfying experience. The rest of today’s show is devoted to a collection of the Bizarre Beverage New stories that piled up over the past several weeks. Some highlights include: an all-nude wine festival, coming up on August 16 in (where else?) the Poconos; the latest in a series of trademark infringement lawsuits filed by E & J Gallo; the contents of the White House wine cellar; the recent Italian wine scandal, in which bottles of Brunello di Montalcino were refilled with plonk costing $1 per liter; how an obscured blogger forced the brewing giants to disclose the ingredients in their beers; Veuve Clicquot’s 50-year experiment to age Champagne at the bottom of the ocean; booze-flavored ice cream, and the manufacture of trendy goat cheese by prison inmates.

LINKS:

Binny’s Beverage Depot—Link to: http://www.binnys.com

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History—Link to:
http://www.iconicspirits.net

Moonshine Nation—Link to:
http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Spivak/e/B007QASMAC/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1404673935&sr=1-2-ent

The post Quench! – Bizarre Beverage Roundup appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

A large number of facilities that produce alcohol report ongoing occurrences of paranormal activity. Is there something about these places that attracts ghosts, and keeps those ghosts coming back? Mark speaks with Brock Wagner, one of the owners of Saint Arnold Brewery in Texas, the country’s largest craft brewer, about frequent ghost sightings in his building; he then talks with Amy Preske from Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky, which has had instances of hauntings for many years. Both places have been featured in depth on Ghost Hunters, as well as similar TV shows.
On Bizarre Beverage News, Mark revisits the issue of trademark infringement, and reveals that the Champagne producers pursue over 1,000 legal cases each year.

LINKS:

Saint Arnold Brewing Company—Link to: http://www.saintarnold.com

Buffalo Trace distillery—Link to: http://www.buffalotrace.com

Binny’s Beverage Depot—Link to: http://www.binnys.com

The post Quench! – Haunted Breweries and Distilleries appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

If you fantasize about owning your own winery, you’re not alone—after the desire to open a restaurant, winery ownership is one of the most common fantasies in the human psyche. The cost of admission, however, is
steep: between $5-10 million in Napa, and even higher in some parts of Europe. Mark explores the growing category of fractional vineyard ownership, which allows you to become lord of the manor (although briefly) for a comparatively small amount of cash. He reviews the leader in the category, the Napa Valley Reserve, and also examines The Ranch on Soda Rock, The Lodges at Calistoga Ranch, O. Fournier and La Vida Buena in Argentina, and Wine Estate Capital Management. On Bizarre Beverage News, Mark comments on a trio of stories: why the Chinese poured 13,000 bottles of Spanish wine into an inflatable swimming pool, Italian prisoners making wine on the island of Gorgona, and what your alcoholic beverage of choice says about your politics.

LINKS:

Binny’s Beverage Depot—Link to: http://www.binnys.com

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History—Link to:
http://www.iconicspirits.net

The post Quench! – Fractional Vineyard Ownership appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Mark Spivak’s second book, Moonshine Nation: The Art of Creating Cornbread in a Bottle, will be released by Lyons Press on July 15.
Moonshine is corn whiskey, traditionally made in improvised stills throughout the Appalachian South. While quality varied from one producer to another, the whiskey had one thing in common: It was illegal because the distiller refused to pay taxes to the US government. In the first half of Moonshine Nation, Mark traces the history of moonshine from the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-94 through the present day. The second part is devoted to profiles of modern, legal moonshiners, many of whom have amazing stories to tell.
In Bizarre Beverage News, Mark meditates on the battle between Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel over the definition of Tennessee whiskey, ruminates over the significance of a new laser device that will allow police to intercept drunk drivers, and examines research suggesting that the mere mention of words describing alcohol is enough to produce an intoxicating effect on the people hearing them.

LINKS:

Binny’s Beverage Depot—Link to: http://www.binnys.com

Moonshine Nation—Link to:
http://www.amazon.com/Moonshine-Nation-Creating-Cornbread-Bottle/dp/0762797029/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402859616&sr=1-1&keywords=moonshine+nation

Iconic Spirits: An Intoxicating History—Link to:
http://www.iconicspirits.net

The post Quench! – Moonshine Nation appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.