Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/960891
30 / the tasting panel / april 2018 1 JAB Clear, legible label, solid branding. 2 JABS Eye-catching label and memorable branding. 3 JABS Creatively inspiring in both packaging and branding. 4 JABS A near work of art and meaningful branding. 5 JABS A masterpiece in packaging and new benchmark in branding. PHOTO: DOUG YOUNG Our Wine Editor, Jessie Birschbach, Certified Sommelier—or JABS, as we call her in the office—uses her experience as a sommelier and her background in marketing to rate retail wines/spirits/beer on both the inside and outside of the bottle. For this reason, we are nixing the traditional rating system and simply employing the "JABS" rating system to assess packaging and brand identity. As for the inside of the bottle, you can be sure that these wines/spirits/beers have met the reasonably high yet unpreten- tious standard of simply being delicious and drinkable. APRIL Flâneur 2015 Cuvée Constantin Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley ($40) Purple flowers and bright wild berries dominate in this awesome, medium- bodied, unfiltered Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. Seventy-five percent of the fruit comes from the winery's organic, dry-farmed estate vineyard in Ribbon Ridge, with the remainder sourced from a sustainable vineyard in the Eola-Amity AVA. The black-and-white sketched image on the label represents the Flâneur, a Parisian character who walks at a pace slow enough to be led by a turtle. V.E.S. Gin ($99) Scotch and whisk(e)y tend to dominate the conversation when consumers think of luxury spirits, but Australian-based spirits company V.E.S. aims to bring clear spirits into the ultra-premium category with its new gin. Based on a 1,000-year-old recipe, the 45% ABV spirit includes organic botanicals like pepperberry, finger limes, coriander, and cranberries; its base spirit, meanwhile, is made from sugarcane grown in enriched, nutrient-dense soil. The small-batch gin is crafted in Hunter Valley, Australia, using traditional copper-pot distillation and a multiple-filtration process. Its crystal bottle is a splurge, but V.E.S.'s claim that the gin won't give you a hangover makes it well worth the price. V.E.S. is currently available in New York, California, and London, with expansion planned for later this year. —Jesse Hom-Dawson The Lost Chapters 2013 Zinfandel, Napa Valley ($30) Strawberry jam and roasted coffee finish with a nice hand- ful of gravel, while the label could be a title card in the Game of Thrones opening sequence. SCOTTO CELLARS Shimizu-No-Mai Pure Eclipse Sake ($159) Only 28 percent rice grain remains in this incredibly silky, citrus-tinged, and lush Daiginjo sake. This release is made shizuku style, meaning gravity is the sole pressing method utilized (this occurs in just 1 percent of all sake production). A lychee-dominate mid-palate gives way to the orange-edged finish, and the bottle is a sexy matte black. Surely the eclipse name was inspired by the fact that sake like this doesn't come around too often. TERLATO WINES We're raising a glass to the promise of April showers bringing May flowers, because we need rain! (At least here in California.) Please welcome Managing Editor Jesse Hom-Dawson as she reviews the spirit of the month! For information on submitting samples, email jabs@sommjournal.com.