Revenge of the Schist
“I really don’t want a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Chardonnay,” I told the waitperson in a restaurant and pointed to a wine on the list. “Please bring me this one listed under Gravel over Clay.” This is the fantasy of a diehard wine terroirist: to have wines identified by soil... Read More
Back to Burgundy
The Hospices de Beaune provides convalescent and medical services to the citizens of Beaune, the medieval town which is in the heart of the Burgundian wine industry. The Hospices uses the auction of wines made from grapes in its vineyards to help fund its work. Hence the motives of the... Read More
Gone Hunting
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
Rogue is Different
This Oregon brewery is perhaps the smallest brewery that you will find in beer stores and bars across the country – widely scattered high-end beer stores and bars, but national nonetheless. Being national certainly hasn’t hurt them, as they get picked in more “best of” lists than almost any other... Read More
Those Gimbels Guys
This is just some of the history belonging to Gimbel’s Liquors in Brookline’s Washington Square, presently celebrating its 4OTH anniversary. Longevity in the retail business is no easy task to accomplish. Few stores survive ten years, let alone forty but Gimbel’s has stood the test of time even as neighboring... Read More
GABF
The 24th annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the largest event yet for the Brewers Association, offered beer lovers an unparalleled sampling opportunity and contained a number of surprises for brewers as well. The awards ceremony itself took more than two hours to complete, a perhaps unwanted record for the... Read More
Tequila
LARGELY THROUGH EXPOSURE TO NEW LUXURY TEQUILAS, innovative marketing programs and the overall popularity of spirits, consumers have developed discerning palates. Today, people bandy terms about like blanco, reposado and anejo. They look for 1OO% blue agave distinctions on labels and sip tequilas from martini glasses or swirl them in... Read More
Mining Minerals!
The sommelier proclaimed, “Minerals!” I scratched my head. Minerality is the OM of wine tasting. But what do minerals smell like? In elementary school, I grew some minerals in science class. They didn’t smell of anything. But wine professionals frequently use the terms “mineral” and “minerality” to describe something about... Read More
Red Wine Delivering
Recent research has demonstrated that some of the polyphenols of wine appear to extend life span by mechanisms new to us. Maybe Ponce de Leon should have sought the fountain of youth in the vineyards of his native Spain instead of sloshing through the swamps of Florida. Be aware that,... Read More
New England Brewing Tales
Several of these breweries only recently entered the Massachusetts marketplace and each is striving to get its story out there. FOR THIS Six-pack of Local Breweries, I visit one-man operations, contract breweries, and some small craft breweries. Each of the breweries profiled here is distinctive, either for focusing on a... Read More