Dead or Just Missing
With the recent demise of Wine X magazine coming as little surprise to most people in the industry, it raises a question or two about the market they were supposedly catering to. The twenty-one to mid-twenties age group is an often-ignored segment of our market. The scarborough wine market report’s... Read More
Who Likes Hot Beer?
The jury’s still out on which category malternatives fit into. Just when you think they’re yesterday’s news a new flavor comes out, or a new package, or a new positioning, and suddenly malternatives are hot again. That’s the nature of “hot”. It’s that fast-moving part of the market, whether it’s... Read More
All Beer is Renderred Luxury by Definition
We don’t need it, but it certainly enriches our lives when used in moderation. Be it a can of Budweiser while out fishing or the reward of a well-aged barleywine to cap a family celebration, beer lets us know that we are not simply automatons seeking the barest wares of... Read More
Ponti’s First Pint of Guinness
Since I had already waited so long to finally try my first taste of Guinness, I figured why not wait just a little bit longer and go straight to the source. Next stop: Dublin, Ireland’s Guinness Storehouse, located on the expansive 64-acre grounds of the St. James’s Gate Brewery. It... Read More
A Couple of Cape Codders
BILL and DENISE ATWOOD • 54/51 • Chef/Owners • The Red Pheasant, Dennis, MA Patti Page sang about it in 1957 – “If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air, quaint little villages here and there.” How many of us today remember Old Cape Cod? Bill and Denise Atwood... Read More
Always Hungary For Dessert Wine. Tokaj Rules!
This April, I traveled east across the vast Great Hungarian Plain to visit this corner of the world little known to Americans. Near my destination, the Zemplen hills rose to the north of the train and vineyards appeared in their foothills opening their skirts to the Great Hungarian Plain. The... Read More
Tequila’s Sunrise
The LEADERS of the PACK To hear anyone in the spirits industry talk about tequila, it’s clear that 2OO6 was a pretty spectacular year. High-end premiums continued the steady surge in numbers that the spirit has not seen since 2OOO. “What happened in other categories is finally happening to tequila:... Read More
Wine Pairing Primer
ONE of the most common questions I get in my wine beginnings class pertains to food and wine pairings. To begin to understand how food and wine react differently (depending on what kinds are used), one basic piece of the puzzle needs to be understood first: wine is a condiment.... Read More
Harvey’s Cote D’or Diary
Among the loveliest of wines, Burgundy can be understood and purchased wisely only by close contact and tasting. There is no better way – no more foolproof way – of accomplishing this than by visiting the source, all the more important now that fine Burgundies have become luxuries. So I... Read More
How Does A-B Do It? On Organic Beer
Those are the opening lines from the first article I wrote on organic beer, over ten years ago. How things have changed. “Organic beer” doesn’t sound funny at all any more, any more than “organic carrots” or “organic coffee” does. The Amish, well . . . we assume that hasn’t... Read More