The Tasting Panel magazine

July 2017

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82  /  the tasting panel  /  july 2017 CRAFT SPIRITS The Gallo company could have gone solo from there; it certainly has experience launching brands and has excellent resources and talent upon which to draw. But they believed the entire California brandy community would benefit if they all worked together. "We know we don't have all the answers, so we hoped to make this a more collabora- tive effort," Gallo explains. That collaboration took various forms, both inside and outside the company, in the development of Argonaut, Gallo's debut line of craft brandies. Argonaut Saloon Strength, Speculator and Fat Thumb are scheduled for a July soft release in San Francisco. Even though trade input influenced Argonaut's conceptualization, the cau- tious single-market rollout is deliberate. "If we go out to too many markets at once, we can't learn," Ernest said. "We want to make sure we get it right." Saloon Strength, developed with cocktails in mind, wholesales at about $28 and is available only in one-liter bottles. The more complex Speculator, with its silky mouthfeel and floral notes, will stand up in cocktails, but consumers may prefer to enjoy it neat. It retails for $38. The blend in Fat Thumb (so named for greedy merchants' "fat- thumbed" pinches of pros- pectors' gold dust) exhibits flavors and texture akin to a traditional Cognac. Its pastry yeast notes marry well with orange flower and Muscat elements. Fat Thumb retails for $50. Chances are, Gallo won't have to tweak much before introducing Argonaut to other markets. The Gold Rush–themed branding befits a California brandy, and the packaging is clever. There's also high quality in the bottles. Those aged brandies the Gallos have been hoarding for decades are a component in all the blends, and everything you could possibly want to know about them is on the innovative back label. You won't need cheaters to read about it, either; Argonaut's proof, blend percentages, aging and distilla- tion methods are laid out in a legible table format. The California Brandy Summit As they contemplated the question of how to stimulate demand, the Gallo team lit on the idea for the California Brandy Summit. They decided to take a "rising tide floats all boats" approach by inviting the modern pioneers of California craft brandy, producers who had been going it nearly alone for decades. Gallo hoped they'd be willing to share their experiences; the produc- Argonaut's back label lists every- thing you want to know about what's in the bottle. PHOTO COURTESY OF E&J GALLO Brandy Summit attendees at the historic McCall Distillery near Fresno with their formal declaration to elevate California brandy.

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