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MassPack To Appeal Cumberland Farms Ballot Petition Decision

The Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Package Stores Association (MPSA) have by unanimous vote determined they will appeal the decision by Attorney General Maura Healey to certify the Cumberland Farms Ballot Petition. Despite strong opposition by all three tiers within the alcohol beverages industry, Attorney General Maura Healey has...
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Carmenere

by SANDY BLOCK, MW THE CARMENERE STORY has mythical overtones (a star grape in 19th Century Bordeaux, believed extinct, then rediscovered in Chile in the 199Os) but the reality is that for many years the grape has stirred strong passions, calling forth divisively negative, as well as positive, reactions among...
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DRINKING THE DOURO DRY

by HARVEY FINKEL FOR A SMALL COUNTRY, Portugal is prolific and complex in its wine production.  While it is among the most pleasant places I’ve visited, the difficulties of the spoken language and the unfamiliar legion of indigenous grape varieties can be initially daunting, until meeting the accommodating people and...
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THE LAST WORD

PINK LADY’S ENDANGERED COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH THE LAST WORD 3/4 ounce of gin 3/4 ounce of Chartreuse 3/4 ounce of maraschino liqueur 3/4 ounce of fresh lime Shake ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. SPRING SURE TOOK its sweet time arriving this...
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German Hefeweizen

by ANDY CROUCH SPRING HAS ARRIVED but as I write this snow is falling lightly out the window, promising another backbreaking afternoon of shoveling. The thought of summer is fleeting at best. But soon the summer beer drinking season will be in full swing. For my money, there is no...
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OAXACAN OLD FASHIONED

by PINK LADY WE LUPEC LADIES love our tequila, and we feel equal adoration for another agave spirit hailing from Mexico: mezcal. For many decades mezcal got a bad rep here in the US as tequila’s inferior cousin, made cheaply and featuring a giant booze-soaked worm as hallmark. But oh,...
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DAVID STARE’S DRY CREEK VINEYARD HE WENT WEST

by HARVEY FINKEL LET US GO THEN, you and I, returning to the early days of yesteryear, at the dawning of the modern vinous age on the Pacific Coast, when David Stare trekked from eastern Massachusetts to western California, the wine grail image ever before him, to establish Dry Creek...
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CHILE

by SANDY BLOCK WHEN I BEGAN visiting Chile in the 199Os, familiarizing myself with its wines and regions, the country’s industry was just beginning to emerge as a player on the international scene. Chileans were starting to address the needs of the export markets, which required planting popular grape varieties...
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McManis Family Vineyards

by Harvey Finkel WE DON’T THINK about it much, but the family farmer has been historically, and even to some extent currently, the producer of our wines.  Over the last 2O years I had periodically noted in passing one of these, though larger that the postage-stamp properties of yore, producing...
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The Flowering of Irish Whiskey

by LEW BRYSON AFTER YEARS of being a two brand market, Irish whiskey’s growth has attracted other players to the game. First there was Cooley, with their TYRCONNELL and KILBEGGAN brands. Then TULLAMORE DEW returned, back in America after years away. When Cooley was sold to Beam, the sons of...
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