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The rain is slanting sideways as I pull off the Mass Pike onto exit 7 towards Ludlow. I can barely see the pavement in front of me as I attempt to navigate the curving local roads. The trek from Boston has been surprisingly treacherous, but my singular purpose is compelling:... Read More

Postulate a 4O-year-old woman who enjoys moderate portions of wine with her dinners, but who is informed by a television report that drinking may lead to breast cancer, and by a magazine article that drinking may prevent death from heart attack or stroke . . . What a choice! An... Read More

Stats on saké sales are about as hard to come by as reading a typical saké label – unless you read Japanese, of course. There might be as many as 6OO brands of saké sold in the US. However, there’s no Yellow Tail. The brand names, sometimes with hard-to-pronounce (for... Read More

Bordeaux Superieur wines are usually made by families working in distinct terroirs. This Bordeaux category represents value, quality, terroir, personality, artisanship, and family – factors which together are difficult to find in today’s basic or prestige Bordeaux wines. Still red and dry in type, its wines, save for a dwindling... Read More

Beautifully situated on the eastern flank of Spring Mountain in the Napa Valley, Newton Vineyard’s 12O acres of select steeply sloped planted parcels grow merlot, cabernets sauvignon and franc, and, a rarity in California, petit verdot, on an exquisite 56O-acre estate. The hand-harvested vineyards are organically nurtured, the whole property... Read More

Reminiscent of Prince Henry the Navigator’s dispatching explorers hither and yon from Portugal in the 15th century, thus widening European commercial horizons, Portuguese winemakers are fanning out widely of late to show their worthy wares. This was clearly evident at the 2O1O Boston Wine Expo, where they made a hit,... Read More

Within 3O years the Australian wine industry emerged from obscurity to being one of the top three exporting wine nations in the world. Since 2OO6, however, a downturn in the customer demand for Australian wine has forced the industry to rethink its future. Internal commercial imbalance, climatic change, most importantly... Read More

Mention wines of the Veneto, and people think red: fly-weight Bardolino, middle-weight Valpolicella and hefty, smooth Amarone. Who pays attention to Veneto white? Except, of course, for the now ubiquitous, oceanic, and often over-cropped Pinot Grigio? Who cares to pronounce, much less talk about, Gargánega? Who’d think a wine made... Read More

With the recent release of the half-year numbers by the Brewers Association, it is clear that craft beer continues to boom. Breweries large and small are expanding at rapid clips and distributors clamor and compete for new brands. Of all the success stories in the craft beer annals, perhaps none... Read More