Issue #4: Ammunition Is Firing Up
Happy National Rosé Day!
Here the WaPo covers five things to know about rosé and five bottles under $20.
Now on to today’s main feature: Ammunition, a wine and whiskey company out of Northern California. I’ve had the pleasure of tasting both the wines and whiskey, and it’s really solid stuff.
But it wasn’t until I chatted with co-founder Andy Wahl when I really took a liking to the brand. Wahl is a lover of history and is using the Ammunition brand to help tell the story of Northern California. And if you know me, you know I’m a sucker for history.
Let’s get into it.
Loading Ammunition to the California Wine Industry
Wine drinkers might be surprised when they learn that 70% of wineries don’t actually own the land where their grapes are grown.
And I think that’s OK to learn. Grape growers grow grapes, and then winemakers make wine.
I somewhat knew about that, and then I chatted with Andy Wahl, the co-founder of Ammunition Wine & Whiskey and a man who grew up in the Russian River Valley. Now that he’s started his beverage company (back in 2013 with co-founder Bill Kerr) and started sourcing grapes from across the Northern California landscape, he’s found vineyards that have been around since the early 1900s.
“I wanted to tell a story that could help understand the wild west nature of northern California and its community,” Wahl said.
Wahl told me of an incredible analogy that he learned from someone in Ireland that fits in almost any type of art:
“You get five chefs, the same ingredients, you’re going to make five different meals. It’s the same thing with whiskey and wine making. I get the grapes, and personify that in my wine making.”
Wahl waxes about how the grapes and grains grown by American farmers are the ammunition toward great wine and whiskey.
There is way too much history in the Russian River Valley that Wahl has learned for me to tell here after a short phone call. But I do hope to visit him and someday fully tell that story. Until then, this will do.
For now, Ammunition distributes to 30 states and bottles about 30,000 cases of wine. Now, they’re also doing about 20,000 cases of whiskey. (It’s good stuff. Ammunition finishes its Bourbon and Rye whiskies in barrels that once held its Pinot Noirs and Cabernet Sauvignons. (The result is a very nice light wine-like finish on the whiskies.)
Here’s a tasting note from The Tasting Panel, which gave Ammunitions’s straight rye whiskey a 95: "...this Sonoma County rye whiskey is a voluptuous beauty with plump, candied scents of butterscotch and nougat. Round medium-bodied, chockful of flavors that include peach, walnut, cocoa, and black cherry. The clean yet spiced cedar finish is extended and warming without a rush of alcohol. The aftertaste is striking and memorable."
Wahl was told at one point that once you get past the first 10,000 cases of booze, it’s easy to get to 30,000 cases and then it gets difficult for a while. But after that, you should be able to generate a big cash infusion to help grow. Wahl said they hope to get to the 100,000-case mark in the next three to five years.
They’re hitting the U.S. hard, but Ammunition might have the most ground to gain overseas. Rather than hit the States big time, they’re heading to countries like Spain.
“The big category is to expand to some other countries,” Wahl said. “Spain is a big purchaser of bourbon. Do I want to put some in Kansas where there are 800 accounts, or can I get a container ship to Spain or France, where — even with the increase in tax — there are so many people looking for whiskey?”
Once Ammunition gets to the 100,000-case mark, there should be a recapitalization event that helps buy out former investors and catapults the company into its next phase.
But even before that point, Wahl said they’ve earmarked several brick-and-mortar wineries and distilleries to potentially take over and help establish a more substantial cash flow. Don’t be surprised if Ammunition ends up with many vineyards, farms, distilleries and wineries.
“Being vertically integrated, that could solve a lot of issues,” Wahl said.
Literary Libations
Another edition of Literary Libations coming at you, where I share a drink pairing to go with whatever book I’m reading because a good reading session deserves to be accompanied by a good drink. -Alyssa
The Vacationers by Emma Straub
I recently read The Vacationers by Emma Straub, a book with a beautiful summery cover that had been sitting on my shelf for years. The novel takes place in Mallorca over two weeks, where a dysfunctional family unit spends their holiday in a rented house. This was one of those “books about nothing” sorta plotless stories.
But it mentally took me to Spain, which alone made the read worthwhile. And I’m pleased to report that we are staying on the wine cocktail train. Last issue, I had a recipe for a Vinho Verde Spritzer, this week I’m presenting you with a Sangria! Hear me out, this is not a sweet, loaded-with-sugar, gives-you-the-worst-hangover-of-your-life Sangria. This is a traditional recipe, and I actually prefer it without any added sugar. Of course, feel free to toss in a few tablespoons of white or brown sugar if you fancy.
Vacation Sangria
1 bottle of Spanish red wine (Grenache, Tempranillo, Rioja)
½ cup brandy
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (or bottled juice if you’re feeling lazy)
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
½ apple, cored and chopped
Method: Add all ingredients to a pitcher and stir. Taste and adjust as needed. If possible, allow to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before drinking. If consuming right away, mix ice cubes into the pitcher to help chill
A few things to sip on
As we head straight into Father’s Day next week, take a look at this article from VinePair about underrated bourbons. Maybe some good gift ideas. (Here's overrated too.)
I also liked this piece from Punch about third-shift bars in Detroit.
Orange Wine was hot for a second, but we’re apparently on to the next thing! Black Wine? According to the New York Times, yup.
What Pat’s Drinking
The opening day of my softball season was last week… and Long Drink is my drink of choice in the dugout. We won, by the way, 22-17, on our way to a hopeful championship.
Glenlivet is pushing this cocktail for Father’s Day… and it’s a solid take on a classic.
Glenlivet Whiskey Sour
2 parts The Glenlivet 12
1 Part Lemon Juice
.5 Parts Simple Syrup
.5 Parts Egg White
3 dashes of Angostura bitters
Method: Add The Glenlivet, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white to cocktail shaker. Shake with no ice for 15 to 20 seconds. Add ice to shaker and shake again until chilled. Strain into rocks glass over ice and finish with bitters.