It's Wine Wednesday so you might be wondering why one of the nations most iconic bourbon brands is in this headline: Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Wine Connection.
Pappy is one of the most sought after bourbons in the United States. It is hard to find and it is expensive when you DO find it. During a staycation at Marco Marriot, I was treated to a glass in their whisky bar 10K Alley. It was the end of the night and I may've taken it back to my room to cuddle with. That's a story for another time.
The bourbon wine connection
Before Pappy's popularity exploded, wine entrepreneur Dan Phillips met the owner and a friendship began. Dan is the founder of The Grateful Palate wines, made in Spain. This was before Pappy had a cult-like following.
Wanted to collaborate with his new friend, Dan thought it would be cool to put his wines in the used Pappy barrels for a short amount of time, to extract another layer of flavor. He was the first winemaker to do this. Other wineries now follow suit with bourbon barrels, however, many of them leave the wine longer. This can sometimes make the wine sweet, with lots of vanilla.
That is not the case with Grateful Palate wines. Dan was in Southwest Florida last week and brought some of his blends, newly bottled and not yet released. I was fortunate enough to have lunch with him at Otherside Bistro in Bonita Springs to get a preview of the wines before they hit the market.
Check out this video
The Grateful Palate also makes a sparkling where a small amount of Pappy is actually added to help with the secondary fermentation. Very cool. Here are some photos from our lunch and a little more about each wine. These labels are hard to miss. So if you see these anywhere, be sure to try them. You can impress your friends with the Pappy Van Winkle bourbon wine connection.
Poor Boy Wine
Precious Syrah with fried green tomatoes
Southern Belle with escargot
Luchador Tempranillo
