The Bee’s Knees cocktail — a simple sour composed of gin, lemon juice and honey that is one of the few enduring drinks to come out of the Prohibition era — is having a busy time of it. In New York City, the classic drink, or a variation on it, appears on menus at Valerie … Read more
The state of the American wine industry is grim, according to a closely watched report that annually analyzes its trajectory. Winemakers and advertisers are missing out on younger consumers, the report says, by failing to produce wines that fit their budgets and neglecting to reach out to them with targeted marketing campaigns. “State of the U.S. … Read more
As the brewmaster at Virginia Beer Company in Williamsburg, Va., Jonathan Newman has created about 400 different beers, from smoked porters to a sour ale that mimics lemon meringue pie. This summer, he tackled his toughest brewing challenge yet: malt liquor, a budget beer that’s normally mass-produced and known for its alcohol content, not its … Read more
LONDON — What’s the greatest city in the world in which to drink wine? The answer is subjective, but to me it comes down to two: New York and London. Neither is associated historically with a winemaking region, which is part of what makes them so great. Without the legacy of local production, both cities … Read more
In June, two men in Virginia were charged with an unusual form of insider trading: selling information about when and where rare bottles of whiskey were going to appear in state-run liquor stores. To an outsider, their scheme may sound strange. To many bourbon collectors, it is just another cautionary tale from today’s frenetic whiskey … Read more
For years, sparkling wine producers around the world have argued, with success, that bubbly should not be limited to celebrations and festive occasions. It’s a wine like any other, they’ve asserted, and should be opened just as you might for reds and whites, with meals or while relaxing with friends. They’re correct, of course. Champagne … Read more
Wine, and spirits, have been with us for thousands of years, crucial to civilization and ever-changing. New styles arise, fresh points of view emerge and original voices offer provocative opinions. Here are five books on wine and one on spirits that I found most interesting in 2022, in no particular order. ‘To Fall in Love, … Read more
Drinking wine is a fleeting pleasure. You sniff, sip, savor it in your mouth, swallow and move onward. Soon enough, the wine is gone. What sets wine apart are the memories after consumption. Wine’s power to conjure up a moment, an emotion and a sense of time and place is uncanny. I had the privilege … Read more