HOME

In recent years, we’ve been seeing some encouraging vital signs stirring in the long-struggling vodka-dominated gin market. But no one was quite ready to expect the pulsing upswing of beverage business interest or the extent of new upscale brand investment, successful new brands, growing customer recognition, and downright swellegance that’s... Read More

AS THE HOLiDAYS NEAR and the New England weather turns to its usual snowy state, ’tis the season for heavier dishes and big red wines to grace our tables and warm our souls. In a bygone era, the end of the meal was when the cigars came out and the... Read More

Greg Graziano, who makes wine in the Redwood Valley, one of the state’s most northern appellations, is doing something about that imbalance. He has both the name and the grapes. Greg is the proprietor and winemaker of a 2O,OOO-case winery called Graziano Family of Wines, which produces four different labels,... Read More

What do Mojitos, Cosmopolitans, Yellow Tail, and Pinot Noir all have in common? Besides being alcohol beverages, they are examples of drinks that went from being merely popular to virtually defining the cocktail culture of this decade. Every year scores of new products are released with the hopes of becoming... Read More

Flying back from Oaxaca to Boston, my seatmates voiced commonly held myths about mezcal and its infamous worm. Some misconceptions stem from false associations with mescaline and drug culture. mezcal, like tequila, makes you giddy and happy, not depressed and anti-social. The worm absorbs poisons and toxins. The worm is... Read More

If there is an icon of mainstream beer, a thing that symbolizes the kind of beer that craft beer drinkers love to hate, it is the can. Beer cans are practically synonymous with American light lager beers, despite the popularity of imported nitrocans filled with Guinness, Abbot and other beers.... Read More

Like any other good thing that really gets rolling, Cinco de Mayo is getting complicated. First it was a memorial to Mexican pride, a battle won against the French invader. Then it was a touchstone for Chicano pride, something to encourage Mexican-Americans to be proud of the Mexican part of... Read More

SCOTT HOLLIDAY • 43 • Wine Buyer/Bar Manager • Chez Henri • Cambridge, MA The holiday Monday (eve of The Fourth) is a day Scott Holliday suggests to drop by for a chat at the bar at Chez Henri, because he predicts it will be a ‘slow night’. Not really!... Read More

Ask a brewer in New England for a Ray McNeill story and prepare to either be uplifted or appalled. On one hand, stories abound of his generosity to other brewers, with heaping contributions of freely given technical advice or much needed raw ingredients donated in a pinch. On the other,... Read More