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FOR A GUY who barely squeaked by in high school and totally finessed college, Jeff Marx at 67 can say in all honesty: “I was one of the very lucky people in this industry.”  When Jeff retired from his job as Global Sales Advisor in early 2O14 after a 42-year... Read More

ON MARCH 17 jolly drinkers around the world will don green garments, shout “Erin Go Bragh”, and use St. Patrick’s Day as an excuse to get day drunk.  It’s a huge day for festivities in Beantown to be sure but, as anyone who’s seen Boondock Saints, Goodwill Hunting, The Departed,... Read More

ATTENDING THE 3Oth Annual Wine Tasting of Ruby Wines, Inc., I wondered amid the cheerful bustle about the beginnings of this family company, and set up a breakfast meeting with CEO Bob Rubin to return to yesteryear. In the beginning was the soda company, and it was in Lynn.  Bob’s... Read More

MICHEL BOISSYChief Juice GuyFreshbev Craft Juicery IF YOU’VE EVER tried a margarita with fresh squeezed juice and agave nectar instead of sour mix, you know what a difference it makes in taste.  So why don’t more bars and restaurants get serious about citrus?  That’s what Michel Boissy, CEO and Co-Founder... Read More

HANGOVERS are mysterious.  Their engendering mechanisms and complex, intricate, unpleasant nature are largely unknown.  Prevention and cure have been more the province of speculation than science, of myth than medicine.  We are, accordingly, grateful for any small addition to our knowledge.  Here is one. Danish researchers wondered whether the severity... Read More

It’s almost impossible to discuss Barbera without also considering Nebbiolo. Despite increasing recognition, it remains one of the least respected red grape varieties in the world, an image problem related largely to the relationship it has with its nobler cousin in their Piemontese homeland.  There is no question that Nebbiolo... Read More

ANCIENT WISDOM teaches us that stressed vines make good wine.  Our focus today, Abbazia di Novacella, carries this advice about as far as anyone can, short of committing viticide, thereby achieving laudable elegance and longevity in its wines.  In fact, vines here live no more than 25 years, so stressful... Read More

The bibulous among us have so much more to thank France for than just wine: dry vermouth (also sometimes referenced as French vermouth), cognac, armagnac and calvados, as well as a whole host of other delightful proprietary liqueurs without which our cocktails would be simply too tart or too boozy.... Read More

CRAFT BEER IT IS DIFFICULT if not impossible for people new to craft beer to remember a time, seemingly ages ago, when flavorful beers were a scarce commodity.  Back then, the occasional pint of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or bottle of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, now derided by some hardened... Read More