for every batch of his Boysenberry Sour. This brew, the best staple at Helton (yes, better than the pilsner), is made for sipping or flat-out crushing under the desert sun. It’s bright and crisp with a rounded tart- ness and the lush, mellow fruit of the ber- ries blushing through. This sour is complex yet cohesive. Somehow, it seems to take on a new personality based on the food you eat while enjoying a bottle or two. Sours are a difficult style, and Helton has ce- mented his year-round staple as the most memorable version made in Phoenix. EEEEE Arizona Sake’s Desert Snow arizonasake.com By now, many drinkers have heard the leg- end of Atsuo Sakurai, a sake brewer who traded Japan for Holbrook and painstak- ingly crafts Arizona Sake — at first out of his garage, now out of a modest sake brew- ery. Sakurai’s standard sake, his junmai ginjo, is indeed excellent. But one of his rarer bottles, Desert Snow, is even better. Desert Snow is sparkling. In the bottle, this gray-white unfiltered rice brew looks about as cloudy as fresh-squeezed lemon- ade. All of that extra sediment brings an unreal, milky goodness. The fizz adds lift- off. Sometimes you can find this sake on higher-end menus around town, but you might have to head to Holbrook. EEEEE Sorso Wine Room 15323 North Scottsdale Road, #150, Scottsdale 480-951-4344 sorsowineroom.com You’ve got an incredible amount of choices at this independent and locally owned wine room that boasts a selection of 125 wines from Italy, Spain, and Australia, as well as California and Oregon. You can or- der off the menu by the glass or the bottle, or you can take part in what we love best about Sorso: the wine dispensers. Put money on a wine card, then use that card to pick from the 32 wine dispensers around the Sorso dining room. Each wine in the dispensers comes in three sizes/price points — sip, taste, and pour — allowing you to maximize your explorations. Of course, if you’re drinking that much, you should probably eat something, and Sorso’s got you covered with an Italian-leaning menu of bruschetta, salads, sandwiches, Sauvage Bottle Shop 901 North First Street (inside The Churchill) 602-935-4947 sauvagephx.com When The Churchill opened, Phoenix got its first new-age natural wine shop. Over the few years since, Sauvage has trans- formed into something more: an epicenter of cutting-edge wine drinking in Phoenix. Sauvage has channeled the zeitgeist, not by following the national trends but by lead- ing with Chris Lingua’s opinions, tastes, se- lections, and friendliness. Sauvage stocks experimental liquors from Empirical Spir- its and vino from growers who do things the old way, the organic way, which has now become the progressive way. His little shop is like a tiny Valhalla for adults who drink boldly and honestly. Sparkling san- giovese. A deep selection of orange wine. High-end bacanora. Sublime bottles at painless prices. and flatbreads. We recommend sitting out on the patio when the weather cooperates; people-watching at Scottsdale Quarter only adds to the experience. EEEEE Liquor Wheel 3445 East McDowell Road 602-273-7200 liquorwheel.com Should we tell of all the things we should not have done because of products we bought at Liquor Wheel? The answer is a hard no. So let’s talk about the venerable institution itself, which has been around since the 1950s. We’ve been going there since the late ’80s, and if you’re a longtime Phoenician, you’ve probably been there, too. The Aranki family bought it in 1999 and added title loans to its repertoire, but little else has changed. Its offbeat name, which apparently refers to its drive-thru and is emblazoned in blue-and-red neon, has always made the place stand out as the gritty liquor store it is. The location in south-south-Arcadia is perfect for all the low-rent apartments in the area. And the booze selection will appeal to both som- meliers and the average working man or woman. Going back to the Liquor Wheel is as natural as the Circle of Life. 199 SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 | WWW.BESTOFPHOENIX2021.C0M | BEST OF PHOENIX 2021 B E ST S O T LIQ U R OR E f o o d & dr i nk B E S T WINE S H OP B E S T WINE B A R B E S T M A D E-IN-A Z B E V ER A G E
