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by ANDY CROUCH Double India Pale Ale is what happens when you leave a perfectly respectable style in the hands of fanatical American brewers. Once referred to as Imperial IPA, a borrowed reference from the strong stout style, these outsized IPAs once exploded with a tongue melting cacophony of hops,... Read More

by HARVEY FINKEL I have lately enjoyed two sparkling wines for which the word “exquisite” was coined. Neither is of a run-of-the-winery genre. Both deserve wider renown, and you deserve to know about them. The first of the pair, addressed today, comes to us from England, not noted for its... Read More

by PINK LADY We are more than happy to bid farewell to 2O2O, and welcome the New Year with a cocktail that fits our current mood: braced for a dark winter, fortified with a strong spirit, slightly embittered but nonetheless well-appointed and pretty to look at. We present to you... Read More

by SANDY BLOCK, MW Syrah occupies that hazy and crowded middle ground of red grape varieties somewhere between the grace and finesse Pinot Noir often flashes, and the powerhouse intensity of Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s no lesser of a grape variety than these two acknowledged superstars. Held back only by lack... Read More

by PINK LADY As we find ourselves in the home stretch of 2O2O, we can’t say we’re sad to see it go. Mixing up a bowl of punch is our preferred way to celebrate the Season of Giving, and though the groups gathering around our respective punch bowls might be... Read More

by HARVEY FINKEL, MD We are now greeted by a new report of a cure for hangover. We get one of these about once a year. This one, from the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland by Eriksson, et al., was published in the journal Alcohol and... Read More

by HARVEY FINKEL Hot. Abundant. Splendid. Costly. Thus may be characterized conditions throughout the region for the Burgundy vintage of 2O18, from Chablis in the north to Beaujolais in the south. After 3O years of creeping advance, global warming may now have declared it’s staying for dinner. The preceding winter... Read More

by PINK LADY As we gather around for our Thanksgiving festivities this year, why not raise a glass of one of Massachusetts’ most iconic cocktails, the Ward 8? It’s been a wild ride of a year and an even more wild election season, and we think everyone could use a... Read More

by ANDY CROUCH Vermonters are notoriously supportive of their locally made products, be it cheese, maple syrup, or beer.  Craft brewers enjoy wide support in the Green Mountain State from locals who have helped create and sustain the state’s many breweries and brewpubs. For many decades, if you went into... Read More