Booze News: The Mother of All Wine Clubs; Stay Tuned for Creme Yvette

Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin -- and now Avec Eric -- fame, and his sommelier, Aldo Sohm, who was named "Best Sommelier in the World" last year, have launched a wine club. Avec Eric Perfect Pairings affords you two bottles along with recipes for $59.99 per month, plus shipping and handling.
[Grub Street]

Tequila Ambhar, imported by Santo Spirits of Austin, has launched in the U.S. Hand-crafted at a small distillery in Jalisco, Mexico, it's a traditional style of tequila, that comes in Platinum, Reposado, and Anejo.
[PR Web]

You can make a real Aviation cocktail now that Creme de Violette is being imported again. Next year, Creme Yvette will also be brought back. Rob Cooper of Cooper Spirits International, which imports St. Germain, will re-release the discontinued liqueur.
[Washington Post]

Chivas Brothers has a new brand director for Beefeater and Plymouth Gin, but gin sales are still slow. Global gin sales rose by 0.6 percent in 2008, but much of that increase was derived from the Philippines, a relatively low-priced market.
[Just Drinks]

Orange wines are making it into the mainstream. The term refers to wines with colors that range from pink to vivid orange, linked by a technique of leaving freshly crushed juice in contact with grape skins for several days or more, which adds color and structure.
[NY Times/The Pour]