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WINE MARKETING IN PINCH TIME SILENT SELLOFFS Latitude Beverage Company has scored nicely with Ku Dé Ta.Now Kevin Mehra is quietly talking up Ninety Plus Cellars. First the plains then the moat now Kevin Mehra is ready to scale the walls of the wine castle. Sipping Starbucks on the Needham... Read More

Syrah or shiraz as it’s called in Australia and some elsewheres, is bursting its erstwhile boundaries, and emerging all over the world’s wine scene. It remains, however, a dominant grape only in southern France and in Australia. Since I’ll be focusing on Australia today in response to a visit from... Read More

. . . the point is that the Marlborough style . . . now appearsto set the standard by which the market measures virtuallyall Sauvignon Blanc.  Sauvignon Blanc’s reversal of fortune from shunned outcast to darling of the American dinner table owes everything to a style that emerged full blown... Read More

. . . smoked beers are more than likely,every bit as old as smoky whiskey, and were once much more widespread. The first time I had Victory Brewing’s St. Victorious doublebock, I noticed a difference from other doublebocks I’d had. It had an extra dimension to it, a richness that... Read More

Last month we discussed vodka a spirit overlooked in the states until the 1950s, when it took the nation by storm.  Tequila suffered a similar fate – didn’t gain notoriety here until the “Great Experiment”, when any liquor was good liquor.  Surely you’ve tried a Tequila Sunrise or a Margarita,... Read More

Vodka.  How does one begin to wrap one’s mind around the subject of vodka?  The simple word “big” is far too small to describe this behemoth of a spirit.  Speaking with the people who sell vodka – the producers importers wholesalers retailers, bar and restaurant owners – and those who... Read More

  Dimi Lezinska the Grey Goose global brand ambassador, recently accompanied Francois Thibault on a visit to Boston. Francois, who goes by the title maitre de chai (translation: cellar master), played a key role in the development of Bacardi’s Grey Goose. With Dimi serving as translator, we got the lowdown... Read More

DAN AYKROYD • 56 • Actor Musician, Importer, Investor / Diamond Estates Winery & Spirits, Ltd. This upstanding son of Canada has long stood tall as a stalwart champion of bold and worthy causes.  First was humor, as Saturday Night Live’s Purvis Buckle and Ghostbusters’ Ray Stantz; then there was... Read More

Every third week of February the producer consortiums representing these appellations invite journalists from around the world to experience a full week of in-depth tastings. The Chianti Classico, Montepulciano, and Montalcino events focus on presenting information and tastes of barrel samples of the new vintage as well as samples of... Read More

Let’s examine some background and discussions from the program that seem of general interest.  The technical presentations had a narrower focus and for the wine tasting you had to be there. The contributors to those segments of the program I shall extract included: for the Association, Kip Kumler of Turtle... Read More