It’s no surprise that people in Washington state want liquor reform and the privatization of liquor sales, and that is made evident with the support of two initiatives, Costco backed Initiative 1100 and Initiative 1105, both of which failed last year with 53% and 65% of voters voting against them, but with how close I-1100 was is proof that people are tired of the monopoly that the Washington State Liquor Control Board has on liquor within the state. Even with people being tired of that monopoly and wanting privatization, many didn’t agree with the manner in which I-1100 and I-1105 proposed it be done, which is why it may not have passed. Washington Governor Chris Gregoire herself was opposed to both I-1100 and I-1105, but she went on to say “Do I think that we should reform liquor? Yes. And I would expect the legislature to pick up where the voters left off and still do something important in that area.”

With that said, sponsors for Initiative 1183 announced today that they estimated they turned in nearly 350,000 signatures to qualify the the new liquor privatization initiative for the November ballot. According to The Seattle Times, “I-1183 would close state liquor stores and sell their assets, including the liquor-distribution center. It would allow private stores to sell liquor and create licensing fees for sale and distribution of liquor based on sales revenues. Costco is the main backer, providing most of the more than $950,000 in cash and in-kind contributions raised so far.” Like last year’s Costco Wholesale Corp. backed I-1100, Costco is promoting I-1183 along with the Washington Restaurant Association, the Northwest Grocery Association and the Washington Retail Association.

As with last year, a group called Protect Our Communities will campaign against the measure and they will use scare tactics and false figures of how readily attainable hard liquor will be for minors and the increased amount of drunk drivers on the road. I’m already looking forward to their campaigns …

Mutineer will be watching this one with interest. Stay tuned.

Alex Prud’Homme, author of the new book “The Ripple Effect”, stopped by The Daily Show last week to talk about just how important of a resource clean water will be in the 21st century.

From the interview:
Prud’Homme: Between drought, flood, and self-poisoning, I think the human race is in for a tough time water wise.
Stewart: And the bad news?
Prud’Homme: No one’s paying attention.

I can say with great enthusiasm that Mutineer Magazine is certainly paying attention, with lots of great water content in the pipeline (pun intended) for upcoming issues. Stay tuned for more!

Founded in 2006, Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is an artist collective that takes its name from Walter Benjamin’s landmark 1935 essay. They sell a lot of random things from handcrafted soap to clothing to jewelry, but they also produce two really cool liquors, ROOT and SNAP, both of which are certified USDA organic. ROOT is a pre-temperance alcoholic Root Tea and SNAP is a spirit distilled from the ingredients traditionally used to make ginger snap cookies. Both also have really cool stories and I urge you to check out their website and watch the videos they’ve created for each of them.

I stumbled upon the above video of building a terrarium with the bottle you’re left with after enjoying the delicious ROOT and wanted to share it as I think it’s a cool concept and they do a really nice job on all the videos they create to promote their products. If you aren’t interested in building a terrarium, you might at least find the video entertaining. If you do plan on making a terrarium with your empty ROOT bottle or any other bottle, be sure to check out the ROOT website for directions and tips on how to do it correctly.

Note: Please also consider the environment and local laws pertaining to wildlife conservation or property rights when harvesting plant life for your terrariums. While it may be tempting to harvest mature mosses or ferns from state parks or other wooded areas, not only may it be illegal, but the delicate ecosystems required to sustain them are not easily recreated in a bottle.

A couple of weeks ago our motley crew of Mutineers from Washington to Virginia descended upon Murphys, California for the first annual Mutineer Magazine Staff Retreat. We tasted wine, played bocce and strengthened bonds over long meals and forty-two year old Scotch. It was a great weekend and I am excited to share some of it here with you.

Raising a glass at the Tanner Vineyards Tasting Room. The Syrah and Viognier here were just lovely, though a little dangerous on my empty stomach.

The historic Murphy’s Hotel.

Mutineers Brian, Julie and Ryan getting their bocce on.

Ashley Teplin of Media-ANT doing her part to secure victory for the women’s team. She also makes a mean pan of shiitake laced breakfast potatoes.

Mutineers walking the trail to Natural Bridges just outside of Murphys, California.

Friend of Mutineer Corbie and Mutineer design wizard Julie looking for creatures.

The Aphrodisiac cocktail, an intoxicating blend of sparkling wine, hibiscus, coriander, anise and ginger from Mineral.

Some fellow Mutineers have been living in Murphys since last September. If I’ve heard about one thing since they arrived, it has been the vegatarian restaurant Mineral. The thing that intrigued me about this restaurant is that only one of the guys is vegetarian and yet, they all rave about it. I knew that if a group of bacon loving young men loved this place, than it must be somewhere worth checking out. On our last day in Murphys, my Editor in Chief Alan set up lunch for me, Phil our designer Julie and her boyfriend Ryan. I have to tell you, that this is one of the best meals I have ever had the pleasure to sit down to.

Also, this is not a review, simply an account of one incredible lunch.

The Cherry Bombs were my second favorite dish of the meal. I can’t find a proper description, but as far as I could tell it is chile and cheese that has been battered, fried, topped with a cherry and served with balsamic jam. That description seems too simple. I feel like something as vibrant and exciting as this was deserves to be written about with neon and punctuated with sparklers.

The cheese and cracker plate consisted of delicious thin toasts served with Bellwether Farms Crescenza, olive oil and olive dust. It was creamy with lovely bitter olive notes and the toasts had a pleasing snap.

This Kumquat Sparkler was just delicious. I wish I knew what was in it, because I think I’d like to make it at home.

Continue Reading »

As we reported back in February with “Could Georgia See Sunday Alcohol Sales” …. well, the answer is YES! Bill 10 just passed through the House with a vote of 127-44 after passing through the Senate last month where it had failed to hold up for the last 5 years. All that is left is for Governor Nathan Deal to sign it into law and he has already indicated that he would sign it if it passed. The bill has faced intense opposition in the past from not only religious groups, but from teetotaler and former governor of Georgia Sonny Perdue who threatened to use his veto power against it. The current governor, Governor Deal has stated that while he doesn’t drink, he believes in democracy and that it should be up to the people to decide if they want alcohol available in their communities on Sundays.

Bill 10 in itself doesn’t make off-premise Sunday alcohol sales legal, rather it leaves it up to local Georgia communities to decide whether they should be allowed. Also important noting, alcohol is currently sold in restaurants and bars on Sundays … meaning that if people want to go out and drink and possibly overindulge (which we at Mutineer do not encourage or condone), they aren’t allowed to do so in the safety and privacy of their home unless they purchase it the day before. To me, that is very important. Religious groups and even politicians who oppose Bill 10 claim that it will “encourage and promote greater alcohol availability” according to Representative Randy Nix which, in my opinion, isn’t true. If you’re an alcoholic and have lived in Georgia all of your life, I think it’s safe to assume you know there are 6 other days of the week where they can buy all the alcohol they want or they can go to their local sports bar on Sunday and get plastered.

Of course, with religious groups such as the Georgia Christian Coalition losing their cause, they have planned to find the referendum on a local level.

To Georgians everywhere, welcome to the 21st century and congratulations on being treated like adults.

“We are out of the dark ages” said Representative Joe Heckstall and we agree.

(Santa Rosa, CA, April 5th 2011) — Rosé Avengers & Producers (RAP) announced today that it is partnering with Mutineer Magazine to help raise funds for its Clean Water Crusader campaign in support of A Child’s Right. A Child’s Right is a nonprofit relief organization that provides clean drinking water for children living in orphanages and street shelters as well as those attending schools and visiting children’s hospitals in impoverished urban and semi-urban areas in underdeveloped countries. To learn more about the campaign, visit Mutineer Magazine.

“We developed our Clean Water Crusader campaign to be a simple win-win proposition,” said Alan Kropf, editor-in-chief of Mutineer. “Beverage companies that raise and donate at least $500.00 directly to A Child’s Right will have its product or logo featured in our fall water relief-themed issue. We’ll also tweet out an interesting water-themed fact out to our Twitter followers on behalf of each company. The top 3 fundraisers make the cover.”

Creative Furnace, producers of Pink Out! SF, is supporting the project with a public relations awareness campaign and fundraising efforts at RAP’s 7th annual rosé celebration on Tuesday, May 10th 2011 hosted by Chef Lam of Butterfly Restaurant at Pier 33 on The Embarcadero in San Francisco. The Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa in Sonoma County, California is sponsoring the fundraising effort by providing a two night wine country weekend getaway in a poolside suite with breakfast buffet and health club admission for two as the evening’s raffle grand prize.

RAP also announced the line up of stellar international rosé producers for 2011, which features an extensive walk-around tasting of 40-plus classic still and sparkling rosés, DJ grooves, and Chef Lam’s rosé-inspired Pan-Pacific appetizers from sustainably and organically sourced ingredients. The event’s TasteLive broadcast, sponsored by CellarPass, features Gloria Ferrer Brut Rosé, Robert Oatley Sangiovese Rosé, and one of the world’s most exclusive rosés, Chateau d’Esclans “Garrus.” Consumer tickets are $35.00 advance and $45 at door if available. Complete details, trade/media registration, and tickets are available at RapWine.com.

2011 Wineries to Date
AIX – Provence, Amorosa Bella, Azurwines, Bugay Wines, Château Beaulieu, Chateau d’Esclans, Château de Brigue, Clos Saron, Cornerstone Cellars, Dacalier Wine Co., Dashe Cellars, Dunstan Wines, Freixenet, Gassier, Gloria Ferrer, Gridley Family Cellars, Isabel Mondavi, Kelley & Young Wines, Kristine Ashe Vineyards, Lorenza Rosé, Midsummer Cellars, Muscardini Cellars, Pedroncelli Winery, Pisoni Vineyards & Winery, Robert Oatley, Segura Viudas, Six Sigma Ranch, Tablas Creek, Urban Legend Cellars

Zane Lamprey on the cover of Mutineer Issue #5

Zane Lamprey, as seen on the cover of Mutineer Magazine Issue #5 and as the host of Mutineer Magazine’s National Launch Party in Hollywood in May 2009, just broke a world record. On February 5th, Zane set a new world record by opening 31 bottles of champagne bottles in less than one minute, smashing the previous record of 27 bottles. The stunt, taped live and in 3D by DIRECTV film crews, took place on the Saturday of Super Bowl weekend in Dallas, Texas.

Opening bottles of champagne with a saber, formally known as sabrage, is a technique used for ceremonial purposes and dates back to just after the French revolution when Napoleon’s men would open their bottles of bubbly with their sabers, their weapon of choice. They would do this to celebrate, be awesome, and to impress young, beautiful women.

Conditions have to be just right to correctly saber a bottle of champagne or else you’ll be asking for a mess. The Mutineers know this well after deciding to saber bottles in our hotel room and got slapped with a hefty cleaning fee. On his feat, Zane said “Sabering 31 bottles in a minute, took a lot of practice, and a lot of champagne. Champagne isn’t cheap, especially for 31 bottles…do you think it’s OK if I send Mark Cuban the bill?”

Stay tuned, as Zane attempts to break his current record on his HDnet television show Drinking Made Easy, which airs every Wednesday at 8:30PM E.T.

The Super Bowl has come and it has gone. With it are a ton of insanely expensive commercials that aired during the big game that people will talk about for a week before forgetting about them. We’ve compiled all of the beverage commercials for your viewing pleasure. If some people had things their way, there would be no alcohol commercials during the Super Bowl. Free The Bowl, put on by the alcohol-hating Marin Institute, held a contest for people to make anti-alcohol videos to raise awareness that alcohol commercials target kids and make them drink more. The winning submission is the last video posted below.