American Wines and Sprits for July 4th

RAEN Winery was founded in 2013 by Carlo & Dante Mondavi, the two sons of Tim Mondavi. After working with their father in building Continuum, they decided to go off on their own and venture out to the West Sonoma Coast to make cool climate Pinot Noir that can stand on its own on the world stage.

Originally dreamed up by Christina Turley during her days as a New York somm, this rosé channels Provençal elegance with California fruit. Made entirely with native yeasts and aged in used French oak, it’s a dry, savory pink wine with plenty of structure and finesse. Notes of wild strawberries, grapefruit zest, and a hint of herb make it ultra-versatile. Whether you’re poolside, fireside, or tableside, it’s the kind of rosé that keeps the party going.

• AVA: California
• 100% Native yeast
• 100% used French oak
• 7 months in barrel
• Bottled unfined
• First Turley Vintage: 2011
• 12.5% ABV

Turley Wine Cellars was founded in Napa Valley by Larry Turley in 1993. Because Larry has never met an old vine vineyard he didn’t like, Turley now makes 50 separate wines from 50 different vineyards, some with vines that date back to the mid-1800s. Often weak and low-yielding, these old-vine vineyards require extra care and attention to harvest fruit that reflects their aged glory. All of the vineyards are either certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers or somewhere in the process. Only natural yeasts are used in the fermentations.  

Rhys Vineyards is one of California’s most quietly revered producers, farming high-altitude Santa Cruz Mountains estate sites with a Burgundian precision that borders on the obsessive. This flagship Pinot Noir draws on six different estate vineyards—Mt. Pajaro, Alpine, Home, Family Farm, Skyline, and Horseshoe—each adding its own thread to a wine of remarkable complexity. Powerful mountain fruit meets supple texture, and berry, spice, and mineral flavors are woven through by a bright, clean line of acidity that makes the wine feel both weighty and alive. The 2018 has had years to open and integrate beautifully. Open it alongside something worthy of its age.

• Practicing Biodynamic
• 100% Pinot Noir
• 100% Estate fruit from Mt. Pajaro, Alpine, Family Farm, and Horseshoe vineyards (Santa Cruz Mountains AVA)
• Various soil types from each site and elevations ranging from 400′ to 1610′
• Hand-harvested
• Native yeast fermentation
• 18% whole cluster grapes were cold soaked for 5 days. They were foot trodden as well twice a day during fermentation.
• Aged 18 months in 30% new French oak. 15 of those months was on the lees
• 13.2% ABV

Rhys Vineyards, founded by Kevin Harvey, produces exceptional Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah in the Santa Cruz Mountains, focusing on terroir-driven expression. With multiple unique vineyard sites and a minimalist winemaking approach, Rhys crafts wines recognized among the best in the world.

Brooklyn’s Forthave Spirits brings serious botanical craft to a classic Italian format, and the result is a red aperitivo that earns its place in any bar cart or cooler. Bitter, fragrant, and beautifully balanced, RED is built for summer drinking in all its forms: long and bubbly over ice with a splash of soda, poured into a nice Negroni, or mixed into a pét-nat Spritz for the guests who want something a little more festive. It’s the kind of bottle that disappears fast at a backyard party.

• Red bitter aperitivo produced by Forthave Spirits in Brooklyn, New York
• 13 organic-certified botanicals featuring bitter orange, gentian, chamomile, and rose
• Produced using organic, non-GMO sugarcane spirit from Brazil
• Botanicals are either macerated or pot distilled to best highlight their organoleptic qualities
• Sweetened with organic turbinado sugar
• 100% natural, plant-based coloring derived from black carrots and hibiscus
• Rhubarb, fresh red berries, and orange peel on the nose transition to a juicy palate of grapefruit, rose, pomegranate, and candied strawberries with gentle but pronounced gentian and mugwort bitterness throughout
• NY Farm Distillery License eligible
• 24% ABV

Founded by friends Aaron Sing Fox and Daniel de la Nuez in 2016, Forthave Spirits produces botanical spirits & liqueurs in Brooklyn, New York, utilizing a library of over 200 botanicals—most of which are USDA organic with the few exceptions that are wild foraged or grown by small, uncertified farms.

Is there a more American summer ritual than a cold Margarita at a backyard cookout? Golden Rule’s Original does it right: inspired by co-founder James Mauk’s transformative first Margarita in Oaxaca—and perfected over years running Tequila Mockingbird, his family’s beloved Mexican restaurant—this is a canned cocktail that actually tastes like someone made it with care. Bright citrus, bold agave backbone, crisp and refreshing without being cloying. Serve it over ice with a salted rim, or crack it straight from the can; either way it’s the easiest, most crowd-pleasing move you can make for your 4th of July spread.

• Ready-to-drink Margarita cocktail produced by Golden Rule in Ventura, California
• 100 ml (3.3 oz) per can (1 serving)
• Blend of blanco tequila, triple sec, and lime juice
• Made using tequila produced from 100% Azul aka Blue Weber (Agave tequilana) distilled by Tequila Selecto de Amatitán (NOM 1459) in Amatitán, Jalisco
• Shake well before opening
• 27% ABV

Golden Rule Spirits was founded in 2018 in San Francisco, California, by cousins James Mauk and Hunter Sprole to offer authentic, full-strength craft cocktails in a compact, ready-to-drink format.

Asheville, North Carolina’s Eda Rhyne Distilling makes some of the most thoughtfully crafted amaro in the country, and Amaro Pop! is their summer masterstroke. By carbonating their botanical-rich Amaro Flora, they unlock a whole new dimension of the spirit—the bubbles carry every herbal, floral, and citrus note forward with a brightness that feels made for warm-weather drinking. Brightly bitter, effervescent, and endlessly refreshing, it’s wonderful on its own over ice or splashed with soda for something even lighter. A perfect aperitif for anyone who finds standard Spritzes a little too sweet.

• Ready-to-drink, amaro-based soda produced by Eda Rhyne Distilling Company in Asheville, North Carolina
• The first release from Eda Rhyne’s canned and carbonated ready-to-drink cocktail project
• A perfect marriage of Eda Rhyne’s own Amaro Flora, fresh grapefruit purée, and club soda
• Lightly sweetened with wildflower honey from a local apiary
• Shockingly refreshing and dangerously quaffable, Amaro Flora’s telltale gentian brings together elderflower, cinnamon, and tart berry notes to complement fresh, vibrant grapefruit
• No artificial coloring
• Non-chill filtered; 7% ABV

Eda Rhyne Distillery is the brainchild of farmer-distiller Rett Murphy and his collaborator, Chris Bower. Using ingredients native to the region surrounding their home base of Asheville, North Carolina, Eda Rhyne crafts unique amari inspired by local folk traditions and Appalachian flavors.

SUPERGAY Spirits makes ready-to-drink cocktails for people who are tired of being bored, and the Chili Mango Spritz is a case in point. Mango and guava are layered with the warm, smoky kiss of Espelette pepper, creating a Spritz that’s at once fruity, savory, and just a little bit electric. It’s the kind of can that surprises people who are expecting something predictably sweet—and converts them on the spot. Pack them in the cooler next to the canned beers, and watch them disappear first.

• Ready-to-drink canned chili-mango Spritz cocktail produced by Supergay Spirits in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, under the Two Fruits label
• Each 250 ml can holds two servings
• Base vodka distilled from corn
• Supergay Vodka is combined with mango concentrate, guava concentrate, fresh lime juice, and Espelette pepper
• Sweetened with cane sugar (~4 grams per can)
• Ingredients are macerated together in tank, then chilled and carbonated before canning
• No artificial coloring
• 8% ABV

Born from the belief that craft spirits should have more fun, Supergay Spirits, established in 2020, produces small batch spirits in Yonkers, New York, along with a range of vodka-based, ready-to-drink cocktails. A portion of proceeds go to the LGBTQ+ community and other socially just causes.

Two proud Atlanta institutions—ASW Distillery and Big Green Egg—have joined forces to create a bourbon worthy of any backyard cookout that takes itself seriously. Fiddler’s wheated bourbon is finished with long-seasoned white oak staves that have been smoked, toasted, and charred directly on a ceramic Big Green Egg cooker, imparting layers of smoky, caramelized depth that echo the flavors of whatever’s on the grill. The result is rich, complex, and deeply satisfying—a bourbon that rewards slow sipping but also holds up beautifully on the rocks or in a cocktail. Pour it for your guests who know their whiskey; it will make an impression.

• Wheated bourbon whiskey aged, finished, and bottled by ASW Distillery (in collaboration with Big Green Egg) in Atlanta, Georgia
• A vatting of 2 wheated bourbon whiskeys, 8 barrels total: 6 barrels distilled at MGP in Indiana and 2 barrels distilled at Wilderness Trail in Kentucky
• MGP mash bill is 51% corn, 45% wheat, and 4% malted barley
• Wilderness Trail mash bill is 64% corn, 24% wheat, and 12% malted barley
• The MGP distillate is double oaked in a blend of barrels with #3 and #4 chars for 4 years, followed by barrels with a medium-plus toast for 2 years
• The Wilderness Trail distillate is single oaked in a char #5 barrel
• Each barrel is finished with a minimum of 15 Georgia white oak staves hand-harvested in north Georgia and seasoned outdoors for at least 2 years; staves are then smoked, toasted, and charred in a Big Green Egg ceramic smoker over a mix of oak and hickory wood
• Alluring rosy gold in the glass, this whiskey offers the manifold pleasures of American white oak with a firm hand and a nuanced touch, with everything from fine-grained barrel to sappy, fresh-cut timber, to campfire perfume in a steady parade across the nose. The palate provides a satisfying counterbalance in the form of honeysuckle, ripe plums and peaches, and brown sugar frosting. The finish is long, offering sensations of nutmeg, a last touch of barrel, and spice-toned proof that hints at smoked chilies.
• No added color
• Non-chill filtered; bottled at 50% ABV

Fiddler is the flagship label of American whiskey from ASW Distillery in Atlanta, Georgia. Opened by Jim Chasteen and Charlie Thompson in 2016, ASW is Georgia’s largest distillery and easily its most decorated.