Halloween is quickly approaching and although the chill in the air doesn’t seem to be creeping up anytime soon, it still does not mean we can’t celebrate halloween the right way! What’s the right way? Celebrating with some deep reds, scary movies, spirits, and spooktacular cocktails!

Hallow-Wines & Spirits

Ravenswood Besieged Red Blend 2014- This wine is dark and full with notes of blackberry, cherry and baking spices. On the palate is is smooth and delicious with balanced tannins and fruit flavors. This wine is perfect for your halloween festivities and celebrating inside with a scary movie and some truffle popcorn!

19 Crimes Hard Chard 2016- New to the market this fall, the 19 crimes hard chardonnay depicts the first female convict Jane Castings. She was strong and bold in character, much like this wine is. This wine is a golden color with stone fruit, lemon, and a textured palate. This wine makes a good halloween pizza and wine pairing night inside while enjoying a horror flick! 

19 Crimes Red Wine 2016- This bold red expresses vanilla and cherry with subtle flavors chocolate and cedar spice that follow through to the palate.  This wine is very complex and aromatic with striking bold notes and a lingering finish. It pairs well with the sweeter side of Halloween celebrations and can easily be paired with some milk or dark chocolate, and a feel good October movie like Hocus Pocus!

19 Crimes The Banished 2016- This wine is a shiraz dominant blend thats deep purple, with a blackberry and plum nose. This wine is perfect for fall and should be paired with Pumpkin Ravioli with brown butter sauce and chopped walnuts or butternut squash lasagna! 

**19 Crimes’ newly-launched Augmented Reality App. 19 Crimes’ AR app, the first ever from a wine brand, celebrates the convicts-turned-colonists depicted on the mugshots on its bottle labels, giving them a voice to tell their own stories. After downloading from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, simply open the app and hover a phone over one of the three featured bottle labels, Red Blend, The Banished and the newly available Hard Chard, and the convict will come to life, sharing the personal tale of mischief that landed them on a ship to a penal colony in Australia.

The Prisoner 2015- This wine has alluring aromas of cherry, espresso, and cooked fig with persistent flavors of ripe raspberry, pomegranate and wild berry. These flavors linger on the palate and are well balanced for a smooth and luscious finish. Curl up with this wine and one of your favorite fall movies!

The Prisoner Wine Company first created its namesake wine over a decade ago, inspired by the “mixed blacks” made by Italian immigrants that originally settled the Napa Valley. Using grapes sourced from a family of growers in Napa Valley’s premier wine-growing region, The Prisoner incorporates Zinfandel with a unique mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah and Charbono. “The Prisoner crossed a line. He spoke out of turn. He took a stand. His brazen actions bred consequences. But while his chains may hold his weight, his mind wanders unrestrained. For he remains unapologetically bold.”- ThePrisonerWineCompany.com.

Crystal Head Vodka: Produced in Newfoundland, Canada, Crystal Head launched in the US in 2008 and is now sold in over 70 countries around the world. The vodka is filtered through Herkimer diamonds and is completely additive-free and gluten-free. I personally love the bottle this time of year due to it’s skull appearance, but you can also enjoy this vodka on the rocks or mixed in one of the cocktails below! 

Crystal Head AURORA: A slight upgrade in bottle finish and price, with an iridescent finish, the bottle was designed in celebration of the most vivid aerial phenomenon in the world, ‘the Northern Lights.’ To create the aesthetic of the lights’ mysterious visual properties, the skull shaped bottle undergoes a meticulous process to create a uniquely iridescent metallized finish in which no two bottles are alike. 

Cementerio Mezcalero (Mezcal Graveyard): Aged in glass, generally underground, to be unearthed later for enjoyment. A portion of sales proceeds of this mezcal will be donated to purchase tourism equipment of Tzitzio, Michoacán to promote the desentierros mezcaleros’ (mezcal unearthing) traditionally held during the celebration of Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead). $279.99

 

 

Spooktacular Cocktails

CASA CRAZY EYE- Courtesy of Casamigos 

1.5 oz. Casamigos Blanco

2 oz. Lychee Liqueur

.25 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

4 Basil Leaves

Thick rim of salt, sugar, oreo cookie crumbs* (equal parts)

Method: Combine all ingredients into tin shaker. Muddle herbs. Add ice. Shake vigorously for 12-15 seconds. Fine strain into a small martini glass. Garnish Luxardo cherry inside lychee ball (as eye ball) through skewer.

*To add sugar, salt, oreo rim – Wet rim of glass with lime wedge and agave nectar and roll rim through mixture.

CASA CRAWLER- Courtesy of Casamigos

2 oz. Casamigos Blanco

1 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

1 oz. Real Blueberry Purée

8-10 Mint leaves

Method: Combine all ingredients into tin shaker. Add ice. Shake vigorously for 8-10 seconds. Fine strain into collins glass. Add ice. Garnish with pop rocks, mint sprig, and 2-3 sour gummy worms.

Cachaça Zombie –Created by Jane Danger, Mother of Pearl NYC

1 oz Novo Fogo Chameleon Cachaça

1 oz Novo Fogo Tanager Cachaça 

0.25 oz Giffard Triple Sec

0.75 oz lime juice

0.5 oz orange juice

 0.5 oz passionfruit syrup

1 dash Scrappy’s Aromatic Bitters

1 dash absinthe

Method: Shake, pour over crushed ice into a tiki mug!

SMOKIN’ HEAD CAESAR- Courtesy of Crystal Head Vodka

2 oz. Crystal Head Vodka

5 oz. Clamato (Caesar) or tomato juice (Bloody Mary)

dash of Worcestershire sauce

dash of hot sauce

dash of liquid smoke

garnish of your choice

INGREDIENTS FOR RIM GARNISH:

1⁄4 tsp. salt

1⁄4 tsp. pepper

1⁄2 tsp. smoked paprika

Method: Rub the rim of the glass with a lemon wedge and dip in a salt, pepper, and smoked paprika mix.  In a shaker half filled with ice, add in all ingredients and shake well.  Strain into the pre-rimmed glass filled with ice.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! PLEASE PAIR RESPONSIBLY!