Bee D’Vine Brut Honey Wine: If someone handed you this excellently intriguing honey wine and told you it was made from an obscure Italian white grape varietal, you’d probably believe them.
Unlike heady mead or cloyingly sweet concoctions made with honey, this straw-colored beverage — sourced in 2013 from orange blossom honey in Yolo, Solano, and Tulare counties and aged for 10 months in barrel — is just like a dry wine without the tannins, offering the petrol characters of Riesling, the brisk grassiness of sauvignon blanc, and the warmth of chardonnay. It’s nutty nose is simply sexy, and it’s flavors are bright and light.
There’s also a slightly sweeter but equally well-made demi sec version, as well as the accompanying book about honey wine history, which harks back to old Ethiopia.
See beedvine.com.