“Sparkling Burgundy,” Spurgles, Cold Duck From Detroit, Rene Pogel (Spell It Backwards), And Other Australian Oddities: If They Are Your Thing You’ll Never Regret It – Reprise

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Effervescent red wine in Australia was originally known as “sparkling Burgundy” and is often still affectionately referred to as “Spurgles” in accordance with the country’s national need to shorten every name. Ken Gargett confesses that he is a fan and shares a few of his favorites here alongside the history of this fascinating sub-genre.

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The Up-Down-And-Up-Again Wines Of Bouchard Père & Fils In Burgundy

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Once regarded among Burgundy’s top wine producers, Bouchard Père & Fils’s fall from grace was slow, steady, and irresistible. But as Ken Gargett reports, it is now making great wines again.

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Château Pontet-Canet Bordeaux: A ‘Super Second’ Wine Story

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Château Pontet-Canet is a Fifth Growth in the 1855 Classification, but for the last 15 years has been considered the equivalent of a top Second Growth. Ken Gargett is a big fan of the 2015 vintage.

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Gintastic! The Weird And Wonderful World Of Today’s Oddball Gins (Warning: Some Are Just Mad As A Hatter!) – Reprise

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What do truffles, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, trout, elephant dung, and green ants have in common? These items and countless more have all been used to make specialist craft gins. Sure, gin needs juniper. But after that it is open slather. Indeed, it is hard to think of a plant, herb, root, flower, leaf, and much more than has not been used to make gin. And some of them are just batsh*t crazy!

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Bollinger La Grande Année 2014 Champagne Highlights Just How Special The 2014 Vintage Can Be

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We are seeing more and more releases of vintage and prestige cuvees from the great champagne producers. Latest cab off the ranks is the 2014 La Grande Année from Bollinger (and the Rosé from the same year). Ken Gargett tackles questions about it including: where does 2014 rank? Is it a justifiable release? If so, what makes it so?

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Strange Laws In The World Of Wine And Spirits: The Good, The Bad, And The Idiotic – Reprise

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As with every aspect of our lives, the world of wine and spirits is heavily regulated. Growing grapes, making the stuff, distilling, selling, even (perhaps especially) drinking it. Here Ken Gargett takes a light-hearted look at some of the newer and crazier laws and regulations around the world.

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Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru Murcian Lemon Gin: The Fastest Growing Premium Gin And One Of The Most Popular

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Popular? Bombay Sapphire is one of the most widely used gins and the fastest growing premium gin in the world. These days, with the gincredible popularity of the spirit, that means it is one of the most loved and drunk spirits on the planet. Ken Gargett takes a deep dive.

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Splice The Mainbrace! Pusser’s Rum, Black Tot Day, And The End Of A Royal Navy Tradition – Reprise

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The first Black Tot Day was in 1970, the last day on which sailors in the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy were issued their daily rum rations (“tots”). Pusser’s has taken the exact recipe used by the Royal Navy when it discontinued the daily ration on July 31, 1970 and used it to make its rums, the only producer in the world to do so. Here, Ken Gargett fills us in on everything tot – he luckily doesn’t go “sipping the admiral,” though.

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Laherte Frères: Grower Champagne Heaven

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One of the great positives about Grower Champagne is that more and more stars continue to emerge. And one name that has been appearing on the radar more often is Laherte Frères. Ken Gargett takes a closer look and a few tastes.

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Teeling Whiskey: The World’s Best Single Malt, That’s Official – Reprise

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At the 2016 World Whiskies Awards, Teeling Whiskey was awarded “World’s Best Irish Single Malt” and then in 2019 “World’s Best Single Malt.” Ken Gargett takes a look at (and a few drams of) a couple of the company’s wonderful whiskeys and explains what makes them so exceptional.

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