The theme last night was wines and spirits from Don Quixote in Los Alamos. Don Quixote is the only licensed distillery in NM, and they make some very fine products using local ingredients. The master distiller is Olha, a Ukrainian woman, whom Susan has really come to admire for her sense of and remembrance of flavors.
We began with the wines; first their Manhattan Project White, made of French Colombard, light fruit and quite dry. Next was the City Different Malvasia Bianco, a beautiful aromatic white with rich complex flavors, then the Manhattan Project Red was 100% un-oaked Cabernet Sauvignon with very nice fruit and soft tannins, and not tasting at all like the usual CalCab. From a childhood memory, Olha has created Gypsy Rose, a wine made in an old Ukrainian style from rose petals, no grapes involved. It’s quite rich, and lightly rose petal-perfumed. The final wine was their Rio Blanco White Port from three white grapes, which spends two to five years in barrel and was interesting and tasty.
Then on to the spirits, which were bottled under the Don Quixote label, first a Blue Corn Vodka (they make a ‘Ukrainian’ style also), then a Spirit of Santa Fe Gin with local and distinct botanicals, not tasting much like a normal gin, but enjoyable. They produce a Pisqo in a wood-aged style, which was nice, but not at all like the clear Piscos I’m used to. We finished with the Malvasia Grappa, with nice aromatics and much, much better than the one I remember from their first release a year or two ago, not as rough and more aromatic. We bought a bottle to try with our other grappas.
It was an enlightening and enjoyable tasting. We then headed to Andiamo! for dinner.