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Any owner of a retail beverage business who pays the bills at the endof the month knows finding ways of reducing those dollars floatingout the door or flying away electronically is a “no brainer.” But a nobrainer is a lot easier to put into action if the owner has a... Read More

You can hardly blame a wine novice for feeling shy on their maiden visit to a wine shop, where difficult to pronounce labels and a confusing range of price tags abound.  Even the seasoned consumers are sure to have their moments, wistfully murmuring “if only picking out Grand Cru Bordeaux... Read More

L. Knife & Son Companies has been in business since 1898 and consists of over 2O wholesaler divisions across 14 states, including the Craft Brewers Guild in Massachusetts.  At a time when the craft beer business is booming, Director of Communications Dave Mevoli has overseen a smartly sophisticated system of... Read More

Beer, on its own, is a stand-up drink. We LUPEC ladies can’t argue. But, you know how we get, always looking to transform our beverages into cocktails. One favorite is the Black Velvet, also the chosen moniker of one of our newest members. The drink mixes two unlikely bedfellows, Stout... Read More

One of the handful of elite wines of central Italy, probably the oldest, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, has to contend with a cumbersome name, some ambiguity about its informing grape, and a reputation that faded during the 198Os.  But as a recent seminar and tasting with the Consorzio del Vino... Read More

Spain’s red wines have been on fire in the US lately, with each year of the past several experiencing double digit sales growth. Blind tastings of Spanish reds, at whatever price point, continue to provide revelations of remarkable quality. What’s less widely known though is the dramatic improvement in Spain’s... Read More

On book tour mid-January, Eric Asimov, the new york times’ “Chief Wine Critic”, made a whistle-stop at Harvard Coop in Cambridge to reading from his first full-length wine book, How to Love Wine: A Memoir and Manifesto.* The book came about during Asimov’s current post as wine critic, held since... Read More

Consider the Martini.  Iconic, misunderstood, misconstrued.  Of the all drinks in the cocktail cannon, the beverage you are often served as a martini could not be further from its classic incarnation.  Here’s why: 1 A Martini is a drink, not a glass.  Referring to the stemmed, conical-shaped vessel that traditionally... Read More

Although happy to collect the taxes, our federal government has been most uncomfortable admitting that alcohol can provide any benefit, particularly to health.  Divisions of the government, like the National Institutes of Health, and organizations it helps support, such as the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization, try... Read More