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There are, of course, other reasons Merlot is out of favor with the cognoscenti. There is an awful lot of mediocre, thin, flavorless wine in bottles today with Merlot on the label. The grape’s trajectory through the market has been nothing short of meteoric. Since the overall wine business is... Read More

There’s been a lot of talk lately about avoiding alcohol – the bete noire of many – while still preserving the health benefits of wine, a sort of having your antioxidant and not drinking it too. Grape juice, dealcoholized wine, and resveratrol capsules are being promoted as more temperate, more... Read More

The folks at Miller Brewing have evidently been thinking about that cultural trend, the booming success of both Corona and tequila, and a previously little-known Mexican beer ‘cocktail’ called the chelada: a salt-rimmed glass of light lager with ice and a squeeze of fresh lime. Throw that all in the... Read More

Although low end, bottled in the US Scotch sales appear to be ebbing, in the premium and higher segments, a two percent yearly growth in dollar sales and a 1.2 percent growth of foreign bottled scotch volume are certainly cause for optimism. Some insiders are even predicting that brown spirits... Read More

JOE GOMES • 49 • Spirits Buyer/Store Manager • Blanchard’s • Allston, MA SELF-STARTER After a varied career (construction, high tech, manufacturing, engineering) I’ve been at this store over 17 years. It was a challenge at first: all I knew about wine and liquor and beer was what you come... Read More

Winter beers! Just the tonic for cold weather: big and hearty, sweet and spiced, something special to celebrate the holidays. Just thinking about them makes you feel warmer; you don’t even need a sweater. Brewers move to a different calendar. They do winter beers way before it’s wintertime. “It’s a... Read More

ANDY CROUCH How is the Beer Institute’s relationship with smaller brewers? JEFF BECKER I’d like to say that one of the things we’ve been able to do, at least over the last seven to eight years, is the policy stuff where there is interest among the smaller guys at getting... Read More

If you’re a consumer of single malt whiskies, the American market happens to be a remarkable place to be at the moment, and apparently will continue to be so for some time to come. You’re seeing not only an extraordinary increase of innovation and exciting ideas coming through with the... Read More

In 2OO6 rose grew 7.11% over 2OO5. In the past, the Rose market was fickle, rising one year and decreasing the next. Since 2OO4 sales have rapidly climbed. Though nearly all major markets have shown unusual growth in the Rose category, the US and Japanese markets have become particularly enamored... Read More