What’s happening in wine and whiskey this week:

This Week’s Unicorn Review Stories

🍷 Chicago sommelier Thomas Kakalios spoke to Gina Pace about his career in the wine world, and offered some of his top wine picks from the various restaurants he oversees.

🥃 LA might be better known for celeb sightings, palm trees, and great Mexican food, but it's also a thriving whiskey city with some top-notch bars that cater to all tastes. Andy Vasoyan listed some of the best spots to visit to order a dram or two.

New Bottle Releases

Woodford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Finish ($65)

This new bourbon, part of Woodford’s limited-edition Distillery Series, is the first Cabernet Sauvignon finish that the distillery has released (other wine cask finishes include Chardonnay and Pinot Noir). Bottled at the same 90.4 proof as classic Woodford bourbon, this is a really well done cask finish that is worth checking out.

Proper No. Twelve Black Reserve ($35)

Proper No. Twelve has its many fans, and just as many detractors. Thankfully, the brand is no longer associated with its celebrity founder, Conor McGregor, and it continues to release some new additions to its small lineup. The latest is called Black Reserve, a blended Irish whiskey that was aged for four years in heavily charred bourbon barrels to bring extra flavors of toasted oak and vanilla to the palate.

Unicorn Whiskey Pick of the Week

Uncharted ($40)

The Ingram Distillery has a gimmick, just like so many other whiskey brands, but apparently it’s one that works well. The whiskey is all “river aged,” meaning that the liquid is matured in a floating rickhouse on the Mississippi River in Columbus, Kentucky, a nod to the way that barrels used to be transported to different parts of the country. The point is to increase interaction between wood and whiskey—in this case, the distillery says that the motion of the river keeps the liquid churning and thereby exposes more surface area to the barrel, and the humidity from the river keeps the casks moist and slows down the angel’s share.

This is not an entirely new concept—Jefferson’s has released its Ocean Aged at Sea whiskeys for years now, sending barrels on container ships across the ocean where they are exposed to different temperatures and humidity levels. There is some science to this, of course, but it's also a good story and marketing technique. And in the case of this new wheated bourbon, Uncharted, the result is actually a really good new whiskey.

Like all of Ingram’s whiskey, Uncharted was distilled elsewhere in Kentucky (the brand does not operate its own distillery, but past releases have been produced at Green River in Owensboro). The mashbill for Uncharted is not revealed, but as mentioned before it is a wheated bourbon, meaning that wheat is used as the secondary flavoring grain (this could be instead of rye, or this could be in addition to a small amount of rye grain). It was aged for a minimum of four years in the river rickhouse.

Overall, Uncharted is a very solid and affordable wheated bourbon. It does not taste green or young at all (perhaps it’s that river magic at work), and there are notes of vanilla, maple, honey, toasted oak, cinnamon, and caramel on the palate. Each bottle is made of 100 percent recycled glass, which is a nice environmental touch, and it comes in two sizes—standard 750 ml and 1 liter (which is just slightly more expensive at $45). If you’re looking for an alternative to Maker’s Mark, or you love wheaters but don’t want to splurge on a bottle of Weller, give Uncharted a try—you won’t be disappointed.

Unicorn Wine Pick of the Week

Hermann J. Wiemer 2022 Seneca Lake HJW Bio Riesling ($45)

Having written about Chardonnay last week, I’ve decided to change course. I’d like to recommend one of my favorite Rieslings from  the team at Hermann Wiemer in the Finger Lakes, New York. When it comes to Riesling, the FLX is ascendant, easily the most exciting source for the variety in this country (though Oregon and Washington can lay claim). In fact, it was just announced that this June the region will host its fourth FLXcursion, an international Riesling celebration that draws producers from all over the world.

Meanwhile—Wiemer. If you don’t know this brand (it was covered by Maiah Dunn), you should get acquainted. Wiemer founded his winery in the early ‘70s and became one of the great early craftsmen of vinifera wines in the Finger Lakes, specializing in Riesling. In 2007, he passed the winery onto his assistant winemaker, Fred Merwarth and wife Maressa, along with Oskar Bynke. No winemaker in the FLX is more dedicated to exploring the terroirs of Seneca Lake.

This is especially true of the home vineyards, Josef, Magdalena, and HJW. This last was named for Hermann and planted by him originally in 1977 (it has been expanded to 33 acres in ensuing years). Merwarth has since converted the vineyard to biodynamics, a long and painstaking process in the Finger Lakes where frost, freezing, hail, and rainstorms, as well as various pest pressures, can present daunting challenges to any regenerative approach. And yet, in 2023 HJW was Demeter certified.

All well and good, but the proof is in the glass. Merwarth remains one of the most thoughtful and meticulous winemakers in the FLX—and indeed, in the country. Among other things, this bottling reflects the care that went into it after an erratic, at times difficult vintage. The wine has an elusive quality—one of my favorite traits in Merwarth’s Rieslings—it’s youthful, attractive, but also a touch diffident, with haunting aromas of honey and Cara Cara orange, golden clarity of flavor, and uncanny, haunting length. Delicious now, it seems to be leaning toward the future, and will age beautifully.