Osocalis Distillery in Soquel, California

"Old world techniques, new world fruit, rare alambic brandy."  This is the USP of Osocalis Distillery in Soquel, California.  Osocalis is the original Native American name for Soquel, a small town in the greater Santa Cruz area.  Considered a small, artisanal outfit, Osocalis Distillery uses an antique alambic Charentais still, which was imported from Cognac.  They utilize grapes and apples from the cooler coastal regions of California to produce fruit intense brandies.  Their brandies are based primarily on Colombard and Pinot Noir, though they also distill a wide array of wines such as Marsanne, Riesling, Syrah, Grenache, and Semillon.

"Our Rare Alambic brandy is blended from brandies distilled from several varietal with empahsis on Pinot Noir, Semillon and Colombard. The Rare is blended to show the richness, fruit and floral qualities of California Alambic Brandies and the base of the more precocious Pinot Noir provides a strong, youthful platform on which to ground the blend. The Blend consists mostly of youthful brandies of ~6 years in barrel but also includes older stocks to add finesse and structure. The latest bottling, Lot V, is our best Rare Alambic yet. K&L Wine called this their Spirit of the Month: '...If you buy only one new spirit for this New Year, make it Osocalis brandy!'"

"From older stocks of Colombard, Chenin Blanc, Semillon and Pinot Noir. For us, the brandies of Colombard from California have fantastic finesse and show the true potential of California Alambic brandies. However unlike the precocious Pinot Noir, Colombard takes decades to show its full potential. Thus, our XO is blended from brandies that have been in barrel for decades. While by old world standards our stocks are still young, our XO shows the rich development of Rancio with hints of orange peel, dried apricots, walnuts, cacao and a rich leatheriness."

"Our Apple Brandy is produced from over a dozen varieties of apples all grown in the cool coastal mountains of Northern California. We use everything from the local produced Hauer to a large component of crabapples. Indeed, we began distilling here in Soquel to take advantage of the long apple growing tradition on the Pajaro Valley. While our base cider is more reminiscent of of the ciders from the Basque coast, we use the traditional French distillation and aging techniques of Calvados. Apple is a difficult spirit to tame: it starts life with a fire and vengeance and must be coaxed and cajoled over many years to yield its pomey essence. Indeed, it takes almost a decade in barrel to soften and supple and come forth the apple character so loved on the French Atlantic coast. Our apple brandy has taught us patience, but after 15 years of waiting, we finally released our first bottling in 2010"

Where to buy Osocalis brandy in the greater SF Bay area:
Beverages and More, 70+ locations in California, and on the Web
K&L Wine Merchants, 3005 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA (650) 364-8544
K&L Wine Merchants, 638 4th Street San Francisco, CA (415) 896-1734
K Wine & Spirits, 708 Capitola Ave, Capitola CA (831) 475-9487
Forty-First Ave Liquors, 2155 41st Ave, Capitola CA (831) 475-5117
Draeger's Market, 222 E. 4th Ave. San Mateo, CA (650) 685-3725
Draeger's Market, 1010 University Ave. Menlo Park, CA (650) 324-7739
Draeger's Market, 342 First St. Los Altos, CA (650) 948-9196
Beltramos, 1540 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA (888) 710-9463
The Jug Shop, 1590 Pacific Avenue San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 885-2922
Weimax Wines & Spirits, 1178 Broadway, Burlingame, CA (650) 343-0182
Los Gatos Brewing Company, 130 N. Santa Cruz Ave. Los Gatos, CA (408) 395-9929
Camino Restaurant, 3917 Grand Ave Oakland, California 94610 (510) 547-5035
Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Avenue Santa Cruz, CA 95062 (831) 429-6994
Deer Park Wine & Spirits, 783 Rio Del Mar, Aptos, CA
Delarosa Restaurant, 2175 Chestnut Street San Francisco, CA 94123 (415) 673-7100
Farallon Restaurant, 450 Post Street San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 956-6969
Flora Restaurant, 1900 Telegraph Avenue Oakland, CA 94612-2202 (510) 286-0100
Heaven's Dog, 1148 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103-1515 (415) 863-6008
Jardiniére, 300 Grove Street San Francisco, CA 94102-4419 (415) 861-5555