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While technically, both domestic and import numbers were collectively down this year, I’d be surprised if too much sleep was being lost over it.  Behind only vodka and rum, the Cordials+Liqueurs category continues to soar, thanks in part to consumers’ on-going passion for home mixing and the versatility the category... Read More

If any liquor store has a storied past, it’s Pioppi’s Package Store. If any shop has a particularly New England storied past, it’s Pioppi’s. The Plymouth shop is something of an institution in its own right, earning the Best Liquor Store nod from the readers of Old Colony Memorial 11... Read More

Port season is upon us and, although it has not been growing recently on the American market, the venerable fortified wine from the Douro Valley remains one of the world’s classic categories that, from a qualitative standpoint, goes from strength to strength and keeps renewing itself with improved techniques of... Read More

In the far northern reaches of Lombardy, 1OO kilometers north of Milan, so near the edge of Italy that one might fall off into Switzerland, lies the isolated Valtellina, a region unique in its geography, its culture and its wines. Here is grown the noble nebbiolo of a character distinct... Read More

My brother-in-law Curt is a chef, and I love hanging out around the table with him.  He’s nuts about truffles, hates factory-farm chicken, loves fresh-picked fruit.  He’s fearless about what he’ll try, but he’s just as fearless in stating what he doesn’t like. One of the things he doesn’t like... Read More

COCKTALE The obscure cordial and liqueur bottles interspersed among the familiar spirits that line the back bar may be easily overlooked by most bar guests, but LUPEC Boston finds few bottles so intriguing.  Often steeped in history and tradition, many of these strange potions play an important supporting role in... Read More

As those of us who are professionally involved in wine clearly understand, our business is in a state of constant evolution.  What’s “in” and what’s “out” never remains stagnant.  Part of the industry’s appeal is the fact that there always seem to be emerging regions, that previously obscure grape varieties... Read More

Here in the USA, where Italian wine imports are first in volume and second in value (after France), Franciacorta is less than sparkling in its performance. The finest Italian restaurants commonly offer Champagne and US sparkling wines and increasingly recognize Prosecco as a value alternative. Franciacorta however is rarely found.... Read More

One of the first things you notice upon entering Bin Ends, a liquor store in a mixed-use complex in Braintree, is that there’s not a wine rack in sight. For a store that regularly counts about 45O wine labels in its inventory – not to mention an abundant stock of... Read More