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By HARVEY FINKEL We have been enjoying wine for a very long time, perhaps 9OOO years. Its sensual and spiritual enrichment of our lives was probably noted from the beginning. It seems, though, the emphasis has changed, now largely focusing on the health effects of moderate consumption, perhaps unfortunate, for,... Read More

By Andy Crouch Craft beer has long been defined by change but the beer industry has never seen anything like the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bars, restaurants, and other on-premise locations remain shuttered across most of the United States and throughout the commonwealth. Public officials are pleading with... Read More

By SANDY BLOCK,MW Among the first places I check on a restaurant wine list: where’s the Chenin Blanc? And, no, it’s not primarily because I don’t want to spend a lot of money, although that’s part of the equation. It’s more an acid test, no pun intended. If I’m seeing... Read More

By HARVEY FINKEL The iconic grape of central Italy is undoubtably the Sangiovese, which reaches its apogee in central Tuscany. But it was not ever so, nor is it everywhere. So variable is the variety, depending on clone, conditions, and treatment, that we can pick out a few foci of... Read More

By PINK LADY While we love to bend the elbow, kick back with a cold one, sit crooked and talk straight over a sip, we’re not just here for the cocktails. It’s the colorful stories that have kept us in this game, and we love a cocktail story that begins... Read More

By ANDY CROUCH Hard seltzer has taken the beer world by force. Not spirit or wine based but also not beer like in character, these flavored malt beverage (FMB) products—ranging from colorless and near flavorless in nature to cloyingly sweet and neon hued—have long existed around the periphery of the... Read More

By HARVEY FINKEL High, dry, and sandy. But Jean Bousquet visualized vines when he first visited the then-desolate Gualtallary Valley of the Tupungato District of the larger Uco Valley in western Argentina’s Mendoza Province thirty years ago. Told he was crazy, that he was buying a beach, “all sand, no... Read More

By PINK LADY Here in Massachusetts, where 21.5% of the population claim Irish ancestry, St. Patrick’s Day is a month-long holiday. It is a bibulous moment to be sure, with many revelers reaching for anything green to wear, Guinness by the gallon, and as many green-hued libations and sweet treats... Read More

By SANDY BLOCK, MW As recent years have seen a vast increase in people following a vegan discipline, the question often arises: Which wines taste best with this dietary alternative? Pairing vegan dishes is uncharted waters for many wine pro’s. In my experience though, it’s as inaccurate to suggest one... Read More

By HARVEY FINKEL Everyone likes fizz. That’s clear from the hundreds of millions of bottles of bubbly wine made, sold, drunk, and splashed about in celebratory mania worldwide. Some is plonk, but here and there are pockets of production of high-quality Champagne-method (now usually called classical-method) sparkling wine, some that... Read More