Charbay, home of "The Still on the Hill" as some people call it. Why? They are located on top of Spring Mountain (just outside of St. Helena) to begin with, home of some of California's best wines, and they make just about everything except beer. Their line up includes wine, aperitifs, ports, vodkas and bourbons. If you have ever been on top of Spring Mountain you know it is an incredible place to visit.

My first question when a package arrived from Charbay was "what is an aperitif?" and according to Wikipedia an aperitif is an alcoholic drink that is usually served to stimulate the appetite before a meal. Aperitifs are commonly served with something small to eat, such as crackers, hummus, cheese or our personal favorite pepperoni or other various finger foods.

Shaken or stirred seemed to be the question of the day. Stirred was the answer in our books. Not quite as messy. Grab a few bottles of these ready-to-drink aperitifs for your next evening with friends! They are a great warm up to a nice dinner with wine. Don't get scared through, it is okay, they are part of the wine family and will not give you that "i mixed" feeling in the morning. You'll still be able to go ride your bike.

The Pomegranate Aperitif is made by infusing organic Pomegranates (same flavor as used in FRS chews and drinks that you see Lance endorsing everywhere) into dry white wine until the entire fruit flavor is extracted. Charbay Aperitifs are made with only 100% fresh whole ingredients. Freshly pressed, organically grown pomegranates and a proprietary blend of pure fruit juices & extracts of real fruit for intense flavor. This leaves you will a healthy 21% alcohol wine based drink.

As mentioned earlier, the Pomegranate Apertif is wine based so you can start your evening with a fun and entertaining beverage, then move onto a sophisticated wine with dinner, and then a port with dessert perhaps (we'll be featuring the Charbay Port later in the year). What says summer better than a cool cocktail served on the rocks with a fruit garnish? The Pomegranate Apertif is also a healthier alternative to the cocktail loaded simple syrups and calories. This is something that most athletes should watch.

We really enjoyed playing around with the mixtures, different recipes and such. I would actually suggest trying a few bottles, one to play with and one to actually serve your guests after you perfected the "mixture".  Great drink that I definitely look forward to sharing some with my friends this summer.

The folks at Charbay are sharing two of their favorite recipes for you and we threw in one of our own. No mixers, no simple syrup, jiggers or mixology required! Just add ice! Whether you pour them over ice in a rocks glass or shake them into a martini, you'll have a perfect drink every time, ready in seconds.

A few recipes:

Pomegranate On The Rocks

• Pour over the rocks and enjoy. We enjoyed a lime with ours.

Pomegranate Bubbles

• 1 Part Charbay Pomegranate Aperitif
• 1 Part Sparkling Wine
• Pour, cold, into a flute-- awesome!
• Garnish with whatever berries you have.( a great trick is adding frozen berries-- it will keep the drink nice and cold..)

Pomegranate Shake

• 2 Shots of Charbay Pomegranate Aperitif
• 2 Large scoop of Vanilla Ice cream
• Drop into a blender and blend to a milkshake consistency.  This makes a great dessert if you happen to have any left at the end of the night.

As with all Charbay wines & spirits, they are free of artificial flavors and colors. Just real fruit and whole-leaf tea which to me is very cool! No sweet syrups or any of the "junk" that comes in mixed drink. Flavors available are Green Tea or Pomegranate. 750 ML (21% abv.)

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