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A Cecchi Checkup

The Cecchi family has been making and selling wine in Tuscany for more than a century, now in Umbria, too. I enjoyed a recent visit and tasting with Andrea Cecchi, who shares the fourth generation with his older brother, Cesare. Andrea, who holds a master of enology degree, is in...
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Matt Steinberg

Matt Steinberg is a rare breed in the beer business, an individual who understands the intricate details of how to both brew and sell beer. Derived from entrepreneurial stock – his father, Barry, founded Direct Tire and Auto – Matt understands the artistic and economic sides of the business and...
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Endangered Cocktail: The Blinker Cocktail

Though LUPEC Boston ladies are egalitarian imbibers, rye whiskey holds a special place in our hearts,largely because the spirit itself was endangered for a good chunk of the last century. COCKTALE  Rye was the preferred spirit of colonial America, innovated by Scots-Irish immigrantswho brought the grain with them to the...
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A Tale of Two Breweries

The culture and influence of American craft brewing is quietly moving across the world. From upstart Danish micro brewers to quirky Japanese extreme ale producers subtle changes are taking place in the way we all think about beer. These operations are often run by beverage alcohol industry veterans who are...
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J. Polep Profiled

J. Polep Distribution Services’ new wine and specialty beverage division is built on knowledge business savvy and a customer service sensibility which has been honed for generations. With warehouses in Chicopee and Woburn Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; West Haven, Connecticut; and Manchester, New Hampshire, the company that was originated by...
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Get BarSmart

Countless are the careers that can be furthered with an advanced degree. A Master’s degree after all, signals not only a higher, more specified level of expertise, it indicates an effort to go above and beyond in the proverbial quest for knowledge and, perhaps above all, it signifies commitment. Policy...
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Profile: The Ramlers

DOUG & JENNIFER RAMLER  BOTH 38Chef & Manager/OwnersCape Sea Grille Harwich Port MA When Jennifer and Doug Ramler bought the Cape Sea Grille in 2OO2, the outgoing owners had run it since 1994; before that it’d been Café Elizabeth, The Smith House and The Talbot House, going back to 194O. ...
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Catena Malbec

Image is all important in the wine business. Unless there are positive identifications with a country or region some of its wines may be of outstanding quality, but consumers and critics alike remain indifferent. What’s interesting is how often the emergence of a regional industry from obscurity is associated with...
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Some of Antinori’s Wines

After a tasting some years ago three of us were schmoozing –  a winemaker from California, one from Italy and me. The Californian commented that my house must be very old. He “wowed!” when informed it was first occupied in 1913. His “old house” had been built in 195O. Then...
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