December 20, 2019

VALDUBÓN Reserva Vino Tinto 2014

(Ribera del Duero, Spain) $31

Earthy, soft, and mouthfilling, with delicious notes of vanilla and cherries. Utterly easy to drink.

88 points KM

Available at Solano Cellars

Where in the world did apples originate?

A. Peru

B. Kazakhstan

C. China

D. Nova Scotia

All of those Fujis, Romes, Deliciouses, and Granny Smiths in your market can be traced back to one place where apples still grow wild—Kazakhstan. According to Gastro Obscura, the ancestor of the domestic apple is the Malus sieversii, which grows wild in the Tian Shan Mountains. Scientists believe that Tian Shan apple seeds were transported out of Kazakhstan by birds and bears long before humans ever cultivated them. By the time humans did begin to grow apples the Malus sieversii was growing in Syria. The Romans discovered it there and then spread the fruit around the Roman Empire. Wild apple forests still exist in Kazakhstan in protected patches within National Parks.

Chernobyl Vodka—No Kidding

In the please-tell-me-it’s-not-true department comes this: a new “artisan vodka” is being made in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s “Exclusion Zone,” according to The Smithsonian. The Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in the Ukraine exploded in 1986,… Continue reading

VALDUBÓN Reserva Vino Tinto 2014

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