Barefoot's Red Blend Makes a Good Impression on Mark and Lynn

Barefoot wine has traditionally made very solid wines at a very reasonable price point allowing for the regular wine conisseuar the chance to have a "house wine" with real consistent quality on an everyday basis.  With one of their most recent releases,  Impression Red Blend, Barefoot has made a wine of a more complex nature than in the past and hints of an evolution in "everyday wines" that is a bit of a breakthrough.  Chocolatey, with a hint of cranberry; this wine helped keep us warm and optimistic during the recent snows on Long Island. Call it artisinal everyday wines....

Atsby Vermouth earns a place of honor at Mark and Lynn's bar...

Lynn and I had initially read about Atsby Vermouth in Edible East End magazine and were intrigued since we not only use red vermouths a lot in our cocktails we enjoy drinking them slightly chilled in the summer or as an alternative to heavier ports in the winter. We use the typical red vermouths widely available in liquor stores and while most are ok hardly any are really interesting or outstanding in our experience (though Noilly Pratt is a cut above most that we have had). 

Enter Atsby Vermouth made with a variety of botanicals; French Lavender, Chinese Anise, Basil which makes for an uncommonly rich drinking experience.  Atsby is the very definition of New York sophisticated libations; taking something rather ordinary and dismissed and raising it to a kind of art form.  Lynn and I love drinking Atsby by our Jotul Stove as the fire blazes and we unwind from the cold, hard winter of Long Island...