HOOKER’S HOUSE BOURBON

STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY

FINISHED IN PINOT NOIR BARRELS

“the spirited side of wine country”

100 proof Sonoma-Style American Whiskey

Using a two-step barrel aging process, the spirited folks making Sonoma’s own Hooker’s House Bourbon import the good stuff from Kentucky distilleries, then age it in hand-picked pinot noir barrels for a flavor that’s entirely unique. The four-year-old bourbon “finished” for nine months imparting subtle wine and oak flavors and nuances. According to creator Fred Groth of HelloCello/Prohibition Spirits, the result is deep flavors of coffee, caramel, black cherry, vanilla and baking spices.

So what’s with the name? Let’s turn our history books back a page to General Joseph Hooker, a Civil War veteran best known for his love of stiff drinks and friendly ladies. Hooker’s House Bourbon refers to the handsome soldier’s Sonoma home and is also, of course, a cheeky reference to the frisky gals Hooker brought along during some of his military campaigns to raise morale among the men. Among other things. These agreeable ladies became known as “Hooker’s Brigade” and later, just “Hookers”.

At 100-proof there’s not doubt this is one stiff drink. Just the way the captain would have wanted it.

Available through Prohibition Spirits locally at Bottle Barn, 3331 Industrial Drive  Santa Rosa, 528-1161, $36.

Fresh, Natural and locally produced Limoncello di Sonoma is on sale at all 9 Mollie Stone’s Markets in the Bay Area this week.

Never had it before?  We will be doing in-store tastings of Limoncello di Sonoma this week.

Thursday Nov 3 – 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM. GREANBRAE Store

Saturday Nov 5 – 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM. TOWER Store

Saturday Nov 5 – 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM. CASTRO Store

Drink Limoncello di Sonoma and share the Love at the following Mollie Stone’s locations

The Creators of HelloCello Limoncello di Sonoma introduce BelloCello, a hand crafted orange-flavored brandy made with certified organic ingredients and infused with the exotic Damiana flower, used for centuries as a mood-enhancer and aphrodisiac.  Enjoy it on it’s own or create euphoric cocktails.

We spent the day with Sondra and Mark creating the next great Fig cocktail – the Fig Kiss.

HelloCello’s new FigCello is now available at the girl and teh fig in Sonoma.  Try the new Fig Kiss cocktail

Made with hand picked black mission figs and a secret recipes of 14 botanicals.

BelloCello is a beautiful unique organic liqueur born in Sonoma, California.  She is an orange flavored artisanal brandy infused with the sensual Damiana flower. Damiana has been used for its mood enhancing and aphrodisiac powers for thousands of years.  BelloCello is the first domestic spirit to take advantage of the euphoric flower.  The Damiana flower provides a floral and slight spicy note on the pallet, which marries perfectly with the intensely orange flavor base of BelloCello.

Limoncello di Sonoma and her BFF BelloCello

Bellocello is hand crafted with certified organic ingredients including distilled wine country grapes, sweet oranges and then slightly sweetened with agave.  These ingredients are passionately infused with the mystical pleasures of the Damiana flower to create a beautiful and sensual BelloCello experience. We know you will LOVE it!

She’s nice alone and plays well with others.

BelloCello Chocolate Orange Truffle Cocktail

• 1 oz BelloCello, Orange and Damiana Brandy
• 1 oz Godiva chocolate Vodka or Creme de Cacao
• 1 oz  Charbay vodka
• Served up in a chocolate rimmed martini glass and orange twist.

Sexy Manhattan

• 1 oz BelloCello, Orange and Damiana Brandy
• 2 oz Knob Creek Bourbon
• Served up in a 5 spice rimmed martini glass and garnished with candied spiced orange peel

We are so excited that Sunset Magazine included Limnocello di Sonoma on their annual Holiday Hot list.

Fred and Amy Groth felt inspired while sitting on the terrace at a Sonoma Valley winery while on a vacation in 2008. They loved the natural beauty, people, culture and history of this coastal county just 45 minutes north of San Francisco.

The Limoncello Family: Cooper, Fred, Isabella, Amy Alex

The more they explored Sonoma County, the more they fell in love with it and also how close it resembled their favorite travel destination, Italy.  Sure it was a culture built with wine as it’s back bone, but it was also home to dozens of small entrepreneurs making cheese, olive oil, bacon, and all other things that make life worth living.  With all the similarities between Sonoma and Italy the one they thought was missing was Limoncello.  That delightful Italian lemony aperitif that when served ice cold makes you feel like the angels are dancing on your tongue and make you gaze into your lovers eyes for hours after dinner.  Why weren’t people making and enjoying Limoncello along with all these other amazing wine country things?

The couple who were living in Boulder Colorado at the time had been married for 13 years and had three small kids at the time thought “wow, wouldn’t it be amazing to live hear someday”   I think we even toasted with a glass of Glorria Ferrer bubbles and said we were going to live here some day,” Fred remembers.

Back in Boulder while trying to juggle professional careers, kids and an active lifestyle the Sirens of Sonoma kept calling to them.  Fred was the Director of a technology group at an environmental consulting firm for 15 years.  Amy was running her own successful wedding and event planning business since college.  Their children Isabella, 5 years old and  4 year old twin boys, Cooper and Alex kept them on their toes.

They decided to make a huge leap of faith.  Let’s move to Sonoma and start crafting the first local organic Limoncello in the world! And the dream started to became reality.  This was not an easy plan. The Groths sold their house and most of their clutter, quit their long standing careers and said goodbye to friends and family.  They created a business plan and researched all there was to know about Limoncello and how to go about making it legally.  This included Fred taking a trip to the Amalfi Coast of Italy and Capri which are considered the birthplace of Limoncello.  Fred met with the big Limoncello producers that you see on the shelves in US stores and the small mom-and-pop producers.  Fred loved the idea of the small boutique producers who were passionate about making quality small batches of Limoncello that were often never enjoyed outside of their towns.

Their friends and family who lived in Colorado thought they were crazy for ditching everything they had.  Fred insists that it was not a mid-life-crisis, but more of a mid life awakening, even if it did happen at the big 4-0.  They had been doing the same thing for so long.  Now it was time to see and ask themselves what they wanted to do for the next half of their lives.

Within six months of their visit to Sonoma and their desire to follow their dreams, the couple had moved to the town of Sonoma.  We thought we just needed to get there and get integrated into the culture and the rest will follow.

Waking up in Sonoma was like a surrealistic dream Amy remembers.  I can’t believe we did that. The decision and move was invigorating.  This couple quickly got settled with schools, new friends and a new way of life.  But there was a still lot to be done.  For the next 9 months the couple worked through the complex federal, state and local laws that regulate alcohol production.  They worked on product branding and sourcing for all the necessary raw ingredients.  Fred took a hands-on distilling class through the ADI and they talked to anyone in the wine industry that would listen.  “I was absolutely amazed at how helpful everybody was” Fred remembers, “Everybody wanted us to succeed.”

Limoncello di Sonoma is sold in an award winning bottle

After talking with people, Amy and Fred decied to create a unique California lifestyle version of Limoncello that Sonoma would be famous for one day. They scrapped all the family recipes brought back from Italy and found on the internet.  They decided to use distilled organic wine country grapes (Brandy) instead of a harsher Neutral Grain Spirits like Everclear. Instead of processed sugar they selected raw organic agave.  They found local organic Eureka and Sorrento lemons which are very similar to the variety used in Italy.  These great local organic ingredients were bottled in a fresh and sunny bottle design with an Italian retro feel  that Amy helped create.   Limoncello di Sonoma was born.

The Groths and their kids do everything from crafting, bottling, selling, distributing and educating.  Fred notes there is a lot of difference going from making a gallon of Limoncello to creating several hundred at a time.  In order to create each batch about 3500 lemons need to be hand peeled. In order to get this accomplished they have Big Peel parties where all their friends gather at their Limoncello laboratory in Sonoma and enjoy an afternoon of drinks, food, music, laughs and of course peeling.  The events have turned into quite a party with as many as 100 adults and an equal number of kids popping in to peel lemons.

After having Limoncello di Sonoma out for less than a year, Amy and Fred are excited and happy at their accomplishments.  Their Limoncello can now be found at 60 amazing establishments in Sonoma and Napa.  They have a fond following from restaurants like Bouchon, Girl and the Fig and the Carneros Bistro.   Local markets like Sonoma Market and Whole Foods have been supplying  locals and visitors with their liquid sunshine.  In the 2010 World Spirits Competition Limoncello di Sonoma was awarded the highest medal of any Limoncello in a blind taste test including six from Italy. In addition their packaging and website have also won awards.

“Looking back I am amazed at what we have been able to accomplish in a short time” states Amy.  “Its amazing how a big dream and a lot of passion can change your life”. Salute!