Want to purchase the right bottle to have fun the vacations? We asked the experts at three Bay Area bottle shops for his or her recommendations.

Barrel Shoppe, Lafayette

You might find just a few spirit blends here, but most of Barrel Shoppe's bourbons, ryes, whiskeys, and tequilas are single-barrel, single-source—and almost every bottle is exclusive.

“We wanted a store where we handpicked everything,” says founder Matthew Hagel, who opened the shop in March after 30 years as a distributor. “There is a story behind everything. When someone buys a bottle, we want someone to be able to take it to their poker game or as a gift and say why they bought it, something personal about the bottle, rather than just saying, “It was on sale.”

The exact same ingredients put into a bourbon's mash have dramatically different flavors depending on the specific barrel in which it was aged. The new Riff Bourbon barrel #24496, for example, has lots of sweetness, while #23463 is more traditional oak.

“The exact mash bill, distilled the same way, barreled at the same ABV, everything is the same except one might be higher and one might be lower in the rickhouse,” says Barrel Shoppe expert Carter Krznaric. “This gives each barrel its unique quality.”

Recommendations: For beginners who wish to delve into the bourbon world, Krznaric recommends New reef #24496 ($60) for a sweeter taste at a less expensive price than others. One of the most well-liked sellers is the Smokey Hill Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey ($80)which was named Best Small Batch Bourbon on the 2024 ASCOT Awards. At the highest he suggests Hillrock Bourbon Solera Aged Cask 1 ($170), available exclusively in store.

Details: Barrel Shoppe is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to six p.m. at 3430 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette; Barrelshoppe.com.

Barrel Shop, Berkeley

Cask Store was born from a straightforward idea: If you're in a cocktail bar and discover something delicious and latest constructed from liquors and ingredients you've never heard of, then that is the place to seek out those items for yourself.

“If you make an Old Fashioned but also want something on the rocks to sample the nuances, we have a bottle that fills that gap. Or if you want that rare, esoteric thing, we can get our hands on it,” says manager Chris Banks.

The flagship Cask debuted in San Francisco in 2008 under the ownership of Future barsa nightlife concept group behind upscale spots like town's Bourbon & Branch and Berkeley's Tupper & Reed. The company has since opened a second store in Berkeley's Elmwood neighborhood, with a taproom serving limited-edition beers and wines and shelves filled with bottles in every shade of the alcohol rainbow.

The Elmwood location has a large choice across all spirit categories, from international and domestic whiskeys to gins and absinthes, rums, brandies, vermouths and amaros. There are treasures from far-flung places, including “Clairin rums from Haiti, which are all about terroir and made by individual farmers who grow their own sugar cane,” says Banks.

A heavy reliance on local producers is obvious in selections like Home Base Bourbon, made by two sisters within the East Bay, and apple brandy from Petaluma's Barber Lee Spirits. Western gins particularly seem to return from a magical realm, with a Freeland Spirits Forest Gin constructed from Oregon chanterelles and Douglas fir suggestions, and a botanical gin from Suncliffe with juniper berries that (based on the maker) are “shaken from the twisted trees” . Sedona – a slice of high desert beloved by mystics and adventurers – then dried right into a landscape characterised by swirls of energy, towering cliffs and infinite Arizona skies.”

The small taproom has the texture of a speakeasy and is all the time filled with locals having fun with rare pours and the shuffleboard table. Free weekly tastings are drawing much more people, with recent events featuring Japanese Nikka whiskeys, Italian Sirene spirits and canned cocktails from New York's famed cocktail bar Death & Co.

Recommendations: Connoisseurs of brown spirits will enjoy this Johnny Drum Private Stock from the Willett Distillery in Kentucky ($55 for 750 ml), whose caramel-marzipan flavor stands as much as bourbons twice its price.

For something more esoteric, Banks recommends this Siembra Azul Tequila from the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico ($77 for 750ml). Interesting fact from Cask's employees: “During the fermentation of the agave, they play Vivaldi and Mozart to the yeast. I’m not sure what the effect is, but this is a delicious product so we won’t argue!”

Details: The Berkeley Bottle Shop is at 3185 College Ave. Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to eight p.m. and Sunday until 7 p.m. open. The taproom is open Tuesday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to eight p.m. and Friday through Saturday until 10 p.m. caskstore.com.

Vineyard Gate, Millbrae

Operating in downtown Millbrae since 1999, this cozy, artisanal wine and sake shop focuses on small-production wines made with minimal intervention. But you’ve to be here soon. The bottle shop will close in just a few months, giving Bernardo time for his soon-to-open sake café and audible bar on San Francisco's Nob Hill – Japanese tea by day, sake by night.

Recommendations: At Vineyard Gate, Bernardo recommends wines ($35-$65) from The wave. a small winery in Point Richmond run by Dani Rozman whose vineyard is positioned within the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The wines from Domaine Antoine Lienhardt in France and Envinate in Spain are also value a glance – and a tasting.

Details: Open 10 a.m. to six p.m. Wednesdays, until 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 1 p.m. to six p.m. Sundays at 238 Broadway in Millbrae; Vineyardgate.myshopify.com.

Originally published: December 17, 2024 at 9:00 am PST

The semi-finals of the 2024 European Championship have been decided.

After France and Spain secured a spot within the last 4 yesterday, England and the Netherlands followed them with victories today.

Both quarter-finals were close and dramatic in other ways. England once more looked tedious and unimaginative for much of their match against Switzerland, but they prevailed because of Bukayo Saka's sensible individual goal – which cancelled out Breel Embolo's opener – and a few heroics within the penalty shoot-out.

The Dutch, meanwhile, overcame a deficit against Turkey to succeed in their first European Championship semi-final in 20 years. This means the team will face England in Dortmund on Wednesday.

Our authors analyze crucial topics of debate.

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England's penalty secret? It's all in regards to the bottle

At first there didn't appear to be much in there.

Cole Palmer had just scored England's first penalty within the shoot-out against Switzerland and Manuel Akanji strolled forward to reply. Jordan Pickford, the England goalkeeper, also trotted over before suddenly turning around.

Pickford had forgotten something – his water bottle, which was oddly wrapped in a towel. After picking it up, he walked back to his goal and placed the bottle, still within the towel, next to the side netting.

After making Akanji wait a little bit longer by moving forward to examine the penalty spot, Pickford settled on his goal line. Akanji took a brief run-up and fired the ball along with his right foot, but Pickford was one step ahead of him. He lunged to his left, saved the penalty and England had a lead they’d never relinquish.

Luck? Not necessarily. In fact, this was a triumph of deception by England and their team of analysts, who had studied every Swiss player's penalty, noted where they sometimes took it and printed out their results for Pickford to stay on his water bottle.

The evaluation was captured by a photographer on the spot, but Pickford took no risks within the moments before Akanji's penalty – hence his decision to wrap the bottle within the towel.

And England's coaching staff had clearly done their homework well. They had realised that Akanji was prone to shoot to the precise, so Pickford could best take his possibilities by drifting to the left – which he did.

Having got it right the primary time, it was surprising that Pickford didn’t follow the recommendation of his bottle on all penalties.

Fabian Schar took the second, but as an alternative of feigning to leap to the precise after which actually jumping to the left – as his bottle suggested – Pickford did the other, feigning to the left and jumping to the precise. Schar's penalty, because the bottle had predicted, landed to his right, where the goal was empty.

Pickford let his strategy run wild on the last two Swiss penalties: Xherdan Shaqiri shot to the precise, but was too well placed and his shot narrowly eluded Pickford's fingertips.

The only penalty where the bottle turned out to be incorrect was awarded to Zeki Amdouni on the fourth shot. Pickford stood firm and jumped low to the left as he had been instructed, but Amdouni outsmarted him by going right.

Fortunately for England, that one save was enough and if their semi-final against the Netherlands on Wednesday also goes the total distance, it should be no surprise if Pickford's bottle and towel make one other appearance.

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Saka is the star – but where is Kane?

When Saka starts well, England starts well. He was England's best player in the primary half against Serbia within the opening game of Euro 2024, when he repeatedly beat defender Andrija Zivkovic, and he was again today.

It was no coincidence that today's first half was England's best since they began the tournament almost three weeks ago. Saka, moving high and wide in what looked almost like a 3-4-3 formation, faced left-back Michel Aebischer, and he easily outplayed him.

In the primary half, Saka often took advantage of the incontrovertible fact that England were getting the ball to him much quicker than they’d against Slovakia the previous round. Saka got into good positions, delivered crosses and compelled corners. The only frustrating thing was that England were never in a position to convert these crosses into serious shots on goal.

Striker Harry Kane, who tended to drop back throughout the sport and played in defence at times within the second half, was unable to convert any of Saka's passes. Kane was substituted in overtime after unintentionally colliding with England manager Gareth Southgate on the touchline.

Without the ball, Saka needed to run back and mark Ruben Vargas, but he did so diligently. And when England needed him most, Saka scored the decisive equaliser just when his team seemed completely out of ideas.

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Can the Netherlands make it to the tip?

An unconvincing series, a coach not many persons are convinced of, a number of wins where they got here from behind and the sensation that ending in the highest half of the draw is the one reason they’re within the semi-finals… in England's case, that’s, the Netherlands.

And now here they’re, within the semi-finals of the European Championship for the primary time since 2004. So how good are their probabilities of winning only the second major tournament of their history?

Well, Turkey exploited their weaknesses in today's quarter-final, especially in set pieces and crosses, while Austria exploited their poorly organised defence and relegated them to 3rd place within the group stage. But the Dutch even have quite a bit to supply.

When they’re confident and on top form, displaying calm and intensity, they might be great to observe, similar to England did, as was the case of their 3-0 win over Romania within the Round of 16.

Tonight they’d to point out determination and fighting spirit… and likewise some tactical skill from coach Ronald Koeman along with his substitutions within the second half.

Cody Gakpo, who has scored three goals, is clearly a threat (Turkey were coping with him well until he snuck in on the back post to use a weak defence and add to the winning goal via a Mert Muldur own goal). When given time and space in midfield, Jerdy Schouten, Tijjani Reijnders and Xavi Simons can play – after which some.

Denzel Dumfries is all the time a threat as a full-back with plenty of pace after which there’s the massive Wout Weghorst, who could cause some aerial battles from the bench.

England may have quite a bit to take into consideration.

In its current form, the semi-final in Dortmund on Wednesday is simply too exciting to predict a winner.

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Güler leaves … as a star

While a youngster from Barcelona – Spaniard Lamine Yamal – has rightly attracted attention along with his outstanding performances throughout the tournament, a player from arch-rivals Real Madrid has proven equally exciting.

Turkey's Arda Güler didn’t play too often for Madrid last season, mainly resulting from injury, but he finished his debut yr on the Bernabeu in fabulous form (five goals in five games) and took this momentum with him to Euro 2024.

His second assist of the tournament today against the Netherlands was beautiful. Turkey and Güler had come into the sport after a slow start through a series of dangerous set pieces that the Dutch struggled to cope with and the primary goal was a continuation of that.

Receiving a cleared corner on the precise side of the box, Güler was desirous to play the ball onto his preferred left foot and fire it into the box.

With no angle to achieve this, the 19-year-old, who also hit the post with a free kick within the second half, reluctantly swung along with his right… and delivered a fantastic cross that completely stunned goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, who looked like someone who had half-crossed a road only to recoil and hesitate when he saw a bike speeding towards him.

Verbruggen neither jumped as much as win the ball nor ran back to the goal line. He was helpless. Samet Akaydin stepped up on the back post, playing only due to Merih Demiral's suspension, and headed the ball effortlessly into the online.

The tournament could also be over for Güler, but one can feel that this is barely the start of a superb profession for his club and his country.

What's next?

• Spain vs France (Tuesday, 8pm BST; 3pm ET)
• Netherlands vs England (Wednesday, 8pm BST; 3pm ET)