Introducing Jardesca

My buddy Duggan McDonald, former San Francisco bartending superstar and current partner in Campo de Encanto pisco, stopped by last week to show me his newest project: a wine-based aperitif called Jardesca, made from California grapes and locally-grown herbs. "What a great idea," I said, "You know we're launching one too, right? We should work together." It seems great minds think alike. Dave Smith, from St. George, and I made a 100% California-based white wine aperitif last year, but we've yet to get our labels to the government, so our final product is sitting in a warehouse for the moment. Duggan's Jardesca, however, is ready to go right now! We're planning to do a few launch parties later this summer when the weather is more appropriate for white wine spritzers, but the Jardesca is so tasty you might want to make an exception now.

I love what white wine aperitifs can do in a cocktail and Duggan is a wizard with his mixing. He brought his bag of tricks to our tasting bar, beginning with fresh basil and lime. He muddled those two ingredients with some simple syrup, added some ice cubes, poured in about three ounces of Jardesca, and topped it off with some soda water. Poof! Cocktail heaven. Kyle and I were spinning. On it's own, the Jardesca is fresh and floral with plenty of snappy acidity. It can function in place of a normal dry vermouth as well, but I love it over ice with a twist.

We've got it in stock.

Jardesca California Aperitiva $26.99

-David Driscoll