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WE LUPEC LADIES LOVE OUR BROWN SPIRITS.  And we also like simple takes on classics as a way to invent new drinks. We’d like to raise a glass to member Joy Richard, AKA Bourbon Belle, whose bar Citizen Public House & Oyster Bar took home a People’s Choice award at... Read More

ONE MIGHT IMAGINE that walking into the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission headquarters to meet with Chairman Kim Gainsboro would feel a bit like walking into the principal’s office.  This is, after all, where the letter of the law as it applies to “the sale, purchase, transportation, manufacture, consumption and possession... Read More

Wine is one of life’s great pleasures, and for on-premise operators, it can also be an expensive one.  From spoilage to storage, broken bottles to recycling, a high-volume restaurant can spend a small fortune trying to keep up with consumers’ appetite for wine.  Though packaging innovation has been on-going in... Read More

UMBRIA, called the “Green Heart of Italy”, has long been shaded vinously by Tuscany, its immediate neighbor to the northwest.  The white wines of Orvieto were the first to attract outside notice, then Lungarotti’s array from Torgiano.  Now, however, Umbria has conjured up a wine fit to stand with any... Read More

A VERY OLD SAYING WARNS, “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.”  Perhaps prudent 32OO years ago in ancient Troy, the advice is now seriously out of date, especially pertaining to Giota and Andrea Englisis bearing wine.  Their Athenee Importers Third Annual Road Show recently crossed the US, bearing dozens of tasting... Read More

THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE whiling away a lazy summer afternoon on a boat.  For sailors of all stripes, be they Ralph Lauren nautical or legit Navy blues, the Dark & Stormy is a delightful drink. As with so many great classic cocktail recipes, the origins of the Dark & Stormy... Read More

IT MAY HAVE TAKEN AMERICA a while to catch up with the wine-drinking habits of Europe, but with record-breaking growth in 2O12 and a $34.6 billion dollar industry on our hands, it’s safe to say the US has arrived.  We may be sipping and swirling wine but, as our own... Read More

WINE PUBLICIST Elizabeth Kane Tate of Ekt Communications organized an “intimate” wine tasting in a new setting via Skype.  Tate’s email invitations (not e-vites) hinted that this novel venture will become a practical standard in wine-marketing and communication.  The wines were real, the tasting conducted communally via long-distance.  Tate’s invitation... Read More

ARGENTINE MALBEC CONTINUES TO SOAR on the American market.  What’s surprising to me is that after what appeared to be a slight quality slump a few years ago, there is a renewed energy in the category and an apparent commitment to making more interesting and complex terroir-driven wines – albeit... Read More