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PANDEMIC PIVOTS THAT ARE HERE TO STAY

by KIRSTEN AMANN Nothing could have prepared restaurateurs and retailers across the state for the disruption the COVID19 pandemic would cause to their businesses. “I had 2O years of knowledge and experience in this industry rendered more or less useless literally overnight,” says owner-operator Lauren Friel of Rebel Rebel wine...
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PREPARING FOR SUMMER-APPETIZING TXAKOLI

by HARVEY FINKEL Grapes grown cool make wines for the hot days of summer. We want to drink dry wines light in body and alcohol that have retained lively acidity with our summer seafood and other dishes that lie lightly. Such wines are hard to grow in Basque Country (Pais...
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ENDANGERED COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH-THE ALEXANDER

by PINK LADY Sweet-toothed tipplers have no shortage of options in today’s beverage world. From candy-flavored vodkas to cinnamon and peanut butter “whiskies” to creamy liqueurs, the list goes on. To try a silky sweet dessert drink from a bygone era, we suggest reviving the Alexander Cocktail. You’ve probably heard...
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HERALDING A NEW ERA OF LAGER

by ANDY CCROUCH Craft beer fans, myself included, have long been heralding a new era of lager. We have preached the gospel of quality lager. We have proselytized the charms and character of pilsners, bocks, and dunkels. We have through sheer force of will tried to make lager a thing....
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AN ELEPHANT AND A SHREW WALK INTO A BAR . . .

by HARVEY FINKEL, MD Tales have long been told of creatures of the wild encountering alcohol, with varying consequences. Perhaps most evocative is the apparently authentic story of the herd of wild elephants that crashed a brewery, consumed its great-tasting, less-filling product, and went on a rampage. African elephants have...
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EXQUISITE CHAMPAGNE

by HARVEEY FINKEL Today we’ll discover the second of the pair of exquisite effervescent wines we began with in this space last month, this one from Champagne, the paragon of sources of such pleasures. It is no surprise that the Brut Nature is a product of Louis Roederer, a grande...
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ITALIAN PINOT GRIGIO

by SANDY BLOCK, MW Pinot Grigio won’t go away. Ignored by critics, disdained by sommeliers and most wine professionals as boring, damned with faint praise (“mild, fresh, clean”), it still captures a sizable share of the wine drinking public’s purchasing dollar. What accounts for the unusual staying power of this...
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A FRESH LOOK AT MODERN DAY DOUBLE INDIA PALE ALE

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,...
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