September 24, 2007

CONJUNCTION, CONJUNCTION, WHAT’S YOUR FUNCTION . . . Thought I’d share that classic School House Rock tune with you, because it’s been going around and around in my head ever since I decided to write about Wine Education. Education, education, what’s your libation? Whether you’re new to the wine world... Read More

MICHAEL AHEARN • 34 • Head Bartender • Stella • Boston’s South End Michael could be having a bad day – worked ’til 3, up at 6 to mind sis’ kids, bar’s a mess, distributors are delivering waaaaay too early – but he’s upbeat, animated, witty, and his hair looks... Read More

WHOA! Yes, we’re talking about barrel-aged beers, but this isn’t about oom-pah bands and whirling dirndls and whoopee. This is about brewers who are using wooden barrels to add new flavors and depths of complexity to beer, a truly innovative move that represents the best traditions of American brewing –... Read More

A large part of the attraction wine holds appears to be the fact that it offers great potential for discovering exciting new taste experiences. Whereas the amazing diversity of products available once appeared to paralyze most of us with indecision, today we are embracing it fully. Not only have more... Read More

Here is a wine full of flavor and elegance, intense, focused, long in both finish and life span, evoking fruits, flowers, even minerals, yet amazingly transparent and ethereally light. No other wine possesses this combination of qualities, no Riesling grown elsewhere either. Can we explain? Is it the slate-rich soil,... Read More

What do Mojitos, Cosmopolitans, Yellow Tail, and Pinot Noir all have in common? Besides being alcohol beverages, they are examples of drinks that went from being merely popular to virtually defining the cocktail culture of this decade. Every year scores of new products are released with the hopes of becoming... Read More

That’s right, readers: thirsty devouts planted the first vineyards in New Mexico – possibly in the new world – in Socorro, New Mexico in 162O! These friars came from New Spain (now Mexico) with the first Spanish colonists in 1598 led by Don Juan de Onate. The friars ministered to... Read More

IT HAS BEEN AWHILE since the British and the United States have clashed in a violent fray. Since the 18OOs, England has been our staunchest ally. Through thick and thin we have stood side by side, until now. The bond between our two countries is under threat, being torn asunder... Read More

DAVID HUNT • 57 • Winemaker-Owner • Hunt Cellars • Paso Robles, CA Restless, confident and proud, David Hunt is an affable jokester and self-promoter, a lively, coaxing conversationalist with a Carolina drawl. He’s also a fanatic in the lab and crush-room, an inveterate tinkerer when blending. His Hunt Cellars... Read More

If you have any solid answers, there are some very large brewers who want to meet you. They have a problem that is defined by these questions. Two of the world’s largest brewers think they may have found some answers already: Heineken and Anheuser-Busch. They’re making major moves into the... Read More