Oro de Coyame Sotol is produced using Dasylirion wheeleri from Aldama, Chihuahua. Maestro Sotolero Gerardo Ruelas. Ruelas is one of the few heritage sotoleros in Chihuahua, carrying on a tradition going back three generations in his family.

The sotol plant, known informally as the desert spoon, was harvested to create a unique spirit that was popular during U.S. Prohibition. After legal alcohol production returned stateside, however, sotol’s popularity dropped off.

Sotol is a distilled spirit of Mexican origin sourced from the family of Asparagaceae; the genus Dasylirion and several species, most commonly: Dasylirion wheeleri, (commonly known as Desert Spoon or, in Spanish, sotol, sereque, cucharilla, or palmilla), a plant that grows in the Chihuahua desert of northern Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, and west and central Texas.

Sotol liquor is a Mexican drink that is known as the state spirit of Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila. Sotol has its own appellation of origin since 2002, and may be produced only in Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango.

The Chihuahuan indigenous people, the Rarámuri, fermented sotol juice into a beer-like alcoholic beverage as early as 800 years ago. In the 16th century, Spanish colonists introduced European distillation techniques to produce a spirit.

The Desert Spoon takes approximately 15 years to mature and yields only one bottle of sotol per plant. It typically grows on rocky slopes in the Chihuahuan desert grassland between 3,000 and 6,500 feet above sea level. Unlike agave, which flowers only once in its lifetime, sotols produce a flower stalk every few years. Once the plant matures, it is harvested like agave plants. The outer leaves are removed to reveal the center core, which is taken back to the distillery. The core can then be cooked and/or steamed, shredded, fermented, and distilled.

They’re flowering succulent plants in the asparagus family, with long, thin, spiny leaves that make the plant overall look like a spiny sea urchin. Varieties of sotol grow throughout Northern Mexico, commonly found in the deserts of Chihuahua or forests of Oaxaca, but the range of wild sotol plants also creeps into the U.S. in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. As a result, sotol is potentially both a Mexican and American spirit, though the tradition of sotol production in Mexico goes back much farther into the past.

Thank you to importer Louis/Dressner for this producer profile: 

(Click here for more on Oupia on Louis/Dressner's website)

Everyone talks about the new quality of wines from the Languedoc. For us, this doesn't mean the ubiquitous varietal bottlings from irrigated flat vineyards but the wonderful wines coming from the best hillside vineyard sites in AOCs like Minervois, Corbières and Coteaux-du-Languedoc. The Château d'Oupia is one of the best.

André Iché inherited an impressive 13th century castle and a large estate in the barren Minervois region. Iché was never a member of his village coop, tended his very old vines and made his wines but sold everything in bulk to local négociants. One day, a Burgundian winemaker happened to be in Oupia, tasted Iché's wines, and was so enthused that he convinced Iché to bottle and market his production.

André expanded his vineyard holdings and started vinifying several cuvées of Minervois of his best grapes, the "Cuvée des Barons" and "Nobilis", aged in new oak barrels. He rebuilt a cellar, and, after much deliberation,  bought and cleaned up some overgrown and steep terraces that had been abandoned since the late 19th century.

The "Minervois Tradition" is 50% Carignan (from vineyards up to 100 years old), 40% Syrah and 10% Grenache. It is aromatic, full and densely colored, with a long finish of dark fruits. The wine is elegant and balanced — it is both enjoyable to drink young and can age 5-7 years. "Cuvée des Barons" and "Nobilis" are 60% Syrah and 40% Carignan, from a selection of old vines in the best plots, and are aged in Bordeaux barriques for 20 months. They are slower to evolve than the "Tradition" and exhibit more elegance and restraint, but similar dark berries and spicy aromas.

Robert Parker has consistently praised this estate and rated the wine a "best buy." He wrote: "Château d'Oupia has produced the ideal bistro wine. Dark, ruby-colored, the wine is wonderfully clean and pure, with an exuberant personality, and gobs of rich, peppery, red and black fruit...Bravo to proprietor André Iché!"

André passed away in late 2007. His daugher, Marie-Pierre, currently runs the estate with the help of Fabrice Lopez and many old timers who know the land like the back of their hands.

Passionate Wine, by Matías Michelini, is a project in constant creative evolution. Since renting an old abandoned bodega in Tupungato and transforming it into a collaborative winemaking facility, Matias has experimented and created wines from various terroirs, always with his characterful imprint of pushing the envelope while holding the utmost respect and admiration for nature; he takes the freedom to innovate, looking to make pleasurable wines while exploring undiscovered terroir.
The bodega was originally owned by Italian immigrants and had been abandoned for more than a decade. He hired street artists to paint it with his wine labels on the walls. One of the artists painted a gigantic gorilla on the exterior wall of the winery, stealing the wines. Soon the winery started being referred to as 'The Monkey’s Place' by the locals. It is in the 'Monkey's Place' that Matias makes another one of his most well-know wines, under the Via Revolucionaria label. 

This profile and tasting notes were edited from the Brazos Wine website, along with the pictures used. For more information please visit: Brazos

Paul Devoille is located Fougerolles,  a former commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Fougerolles-Saint-Valbert. Known for their fruits, especially cherries.

In 1859- Xavier Devoille founded a fruit distillery in Fougerolles, at a place called Charton. Then in 1905 after taking over from his father, Paul Devoille set up his distillery in the rue des Moines Hauts, in a group of buildings that housed a foundry, then a bottle packaging workshop.

With the death of Paul Devoille in 1954. Raymond Gouttefroy his son in law took over. Then 1972,- he passed on the distillery to his daughter Elisabeth and his son-in-law Jacques Veillet who developed exports and participated in trade fairs. In 1992- Hugues de Miscault took the helm of the distillery and continues the development of the house with respect for his predecessors, but adding a touch of modernity and innovation.

In 2019- The Paul Devoille distillery celebrated its 160th anniversary!

In 2020, two new hammered copper stills in the distillation room are added: a 1500-liter column still and a 500 liter still.

Depending on the harvest, 400 to 500 tons of fruit are used each year. The fruits mainly come from French producing regions (pears from the Rhône valley, cherries from Fougerolles and the surrounding area and plums from Lorraine.
The fruits are selected at the height of maturity are put to ferment. After 2 days, thanks to the action of natural yeasts, the sugar turns into alcohol. The natural fermentation of the fruit lasts 5 to 8 weeks.

They distill in a traditional way in copper stills, one of which is more than a century old. At each distillation, their distiller takes only the best of the brandy, where the aromatics of the fruit is the best.; This is called the heating core , or “good taste.

EPV label - Living Heritage Company

In 2015, the Paul Devoille distillery obtained the EPV label, Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant. This state label issued by the Ministry of the Economy rewards companies using exceptional ancestral know-how. It is a great source of pride and recognition for all employees.