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It’s spring, at last. Time to deep-clean our homes, our lives and our cellars.  It’s the time of the year to look at our inventories and see what hasn’t moved since the Truman Administration. Yes, I’m referring to that case or odd bottle of fermented beverage that someone thought was... Read More

Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve is its rarest and oldest – averaging 21 years – Irish Whiskey. The blue-labeled 75Oml top-of-the-line whiskey comes impressively packaged in a weighty oak case and slip sleeve, and there are just 1OOO bottles for all of North America. Jameson launched the Rarest Vintage Reserve (RVR,... Read More

And it’s not remotely Syrah either, although there is a genetic relation. So right off the bat the name throws most people off the trail as to the kind of wine it makes. But the grape, which used to be considered just cheap “workhorse” blending material, better suited for beefing... Read More

BILL SAMUELS, Jr. • 67 • President & CEO • Maker’s Mark Distillery • Loretto, Kentucky Tall and rangy Bill Samuels is steeped in family history, local culture, yarns, jim-crack anti-promotion, all driven by a deep love of the taste of his family’s 5O-year tradition of making fine bourbon. Samuels... Read More

Though value wines, under $1O a bottle, remain the essential hook for the US consumer, there are wines costing $5O or more, such as Almaviva, Clos Apalta and Lota from Chile and Caro from Argentina, as well at all price points between. What has changed? Why do Americans love these... Read More

This is the big red that you can open up and drink without having to worry about whether it’s “ready” or not. It provides direct sensual pleasure that is usually not cloaked behind barricades of tannin. And it’s not for everyone. The potent, sometimes dizzying alcohol levels tend to put... Read More

Three-liter boxes have been used for packaging good quality wines in Europe, Australia and elsewhere for many years, and consumers there rarely attach a stigma of cheap, unpalatable wine to such packages. These contain the equivalent of four 75Oml bottles and are popular with consumers who want wine on their... Read More

We shall herein survey recent research in this field as it relates to women, particularly women who drink moderately. (It is a given that immoderately heavy drinking is very harmful to all.) To begin with, the not so new: for some years it has been observed that it takes less... Read More

NICOLAS JOLY • Winemaker-Viticulturalist-Educator • Savennières, Loire, France The Loire Valley, arguably France’s most exciting wine region, produces underrated and undervalued wines and is home to oenological rebels who thrive on experimenting and evolving techniques, and who regularly and convincingly break France’s iron rules of viticulture and winemaking. Though the... Read More