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Reviving Greece

Jupiter created the Earth and, in an afterthought, He threw the leftover handful of pebbles over His shoulder into the sea – thus forming Greece and its 15OO-island archipelagos. ‘Was last least?’ some Greeks grumbled. It’s been a rocky ride historically for the Greek people – devastation, subjugation, holocaust, rapacious...
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Those Gimbels Guys

This is just some of the history belonging to Gimbel’s Liquors in Brookline’s Washington Square, presently celebrating its 4OTH anniversary. Longevity in the retail business is no easy task to accomplish. Few stores survive ten years, let alone forty but Gimbel’s has stood the test of time even as neighboring...
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Clarendon Hill Reds

Wine production got its start 167 years ago in McLaren Vale, 22 miles south of Adelaide in South Australia. Its ups, of its many ups and downs, can be credited to men named Reynell, Hardy, Kelly, Manning, and Penfold. Now we can add a rather un-Australian name to the illustrious...
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Loire’s Sauvignon Blancs

Of course, the French drive us a bit insane with how inconsistent their wines remain despite the supposed guarantees of the AOC system, and Loire Sauvignon is no exception. But when a Sancerre or Pouilly-Fume hits its target there is something so clean and penetrating about its flavors that whatever...
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Craft In A Can

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....
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Roberto Pighin

ROBERTO PIGHIN • 4O • Azienda Fratelli Pighin • Friuli, Italy There’s pinot grigio and Pinot Grigio; one’s a shameless, faceless bar pour from the Veneto flatlands, the other’s the proud, delectably suave and intriguing aperitif from the high plains of Friuli and Collio. Roberto Pighin’s father, Fernando, began making...
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Teaching Staff About Wine

Being knowledgeable about wine is more than just knowing the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio or who the latest hot cult producer is. Wine, like the rest of the table, is primarily a sensory experience and understanding it begins with the nose. As wine professionals – whether in...
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Direct Shipping Ruling

The ruling concerns only wine, not beer and spirits, and throws out as unconstitutional New York and Michigan’s restrictions on direct wine shipments from out-of-state if in-state vintners can ship their wines within and beyond state borders. It will not open the floodgates and let wineries immediately start shipping their...
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Zins At My BBQ

Readers can pull off such a tasting themselves, though the dimensions of it all can get out of hand. Participants (mostly consumers, a few trade folks) bought into this event by pledging a small fee and contributing one or two bottles. The tasting took place in a naturally lit room,...
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