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By Harvey Finkel THE FRENCH, ever vigilant to declare draconic decrees to preserve the purity of their language, may be about to out-outrage all recorded outrages. As reported in the philology column of The Economist of February 27, French spelling is to be simplified in time for the coming fall... Read More

by Pink Lady BERNARD DE VOTO once wrote: “The proper union of gin and vermouth is a great and sudden glory; it is one of the happiest marriages on earth, and one of the shortest lived.” He was writing about the martini, of course, but if you’ve never twirled sweet vermouth and gin in your mixing glass we recommend you give it a go. Add a dash of... Read More

by Andy Crouch MOTHER NATURE blessed Massachusetts and the Northeast with a relatively mild winter following one that few would forget. We avoided SUV sized drifts, endless yards of hard packed white snow and seemingly never-ending weeks of brutal cold. Having endured even a relatively favorable winter, minds and hearts... Read More

by HARVEY FINKEL SHORT OF VISITING the vineyards – for instruction and pleasure – nothing beats sharing food and wines with their talented creator, especially in company of like-minded diners.  The Massachusetts chapter of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, the Burgundian educational and chowder society, staged such an evening... Read More

By Sandy Block, MW CABERNET FRANC from the Loire Valley remains relatively unknown in the US but is exactly the style of tart flavorful wine that has been coming into vogue in the last several years: fragrant, light to medium in body, with soft tannins and bright savory berry-like fruit. ... Read More

PINK LADY’S ENDANGERED COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH WARM WEATHER will soon be upon us which makes us LUPEC ladies want to reach for a Margarita. It’s one of the very few classic cocktails made with tequila and, when made properly, is as refreshing a cocktail as can be. There’s no... Read More

By BRANDY RAND IN THE CROWDED FIELD of craft brewers, Chris Lohring is forging a path down the road less taken.  By focusing on brewing low-alcohol session beers – at a time when no one knew what “session” meant – Lohring took a risk that has paid off.  As an... Read More

ARTICLE BY ANDY CROUCH GUINNESS STOUT may be Ireland’s most popular beer by a distance, but it is the brand’s signature draft presentation that has long set it apart from competitor stouts.  Whether presented on tap at a bar or at home through a widget-aided can, the secret behind the... Read More

GENEROUS RED WINE, well suited to this season, are the characteristic products of the Southern Rhône. The wines of this vast region are distinguished from those of the smaller, narrower, more contained Northern Rhône, also a primarily red-wine producer, by a forefront of ripe fruit and a lavish lashing of... Read More