Sparkling Wine

For the jaded bar scenester, the prospect of heading outside the city is daunting. Too many bars are mired in outmoded mixing habits and ingredients. But on the plus side, you’ll occasionally find a spot like Tempo in Waltham where the things that seem old hat in town - house-made infusions, kitchen-driven mixing ingredients, classic-cocktail excavating - are tinged with a genuine air of enthusiasm and a refreshing lack of pretension. Not that Waltham is some barren outpost. The stretch of Moody Street where you’ll find Tempo is a veritable hot spot.

Enjoying good wine in the great outdoors is fun, but toting glass bottles on the trail is no picnic. Enter the new crop of alternatively packaged wines in cartons, cans and other trail-ready options. Sure, for actual hydration you'll want to tote along water or whatever energy drink you favor. But for that moment when the hike is done, the mountain bike path conquered, or you're just relaxing and grilling a few steaks on a lazy Sunday, these wines make it easy to blend libations with explorations.

The Boston Beer Co. is getting ready to release its second batch of Infinium, a new style of beer it created jointly with the world's oldest brewery. Infinium is a champagne-like beer that Sam Adams brewer created with German brewer Weihenstephan , founded in 1040. ( Here's a piece I wrote about Infinium last year , when it was first introduced.) This year the beer has been dry hopped with Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops, which should give Infinium a more pronounced citrus character.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent Valentine's Day is approaching, which reminds of us two things: It's time to be romantic, and winter is half over. There are a number of places, far and near, to warm up to the romantic cause with Valentine packages, and here are some:  The White Barn Inn up in Kennebunk Beach, Maine, is running a romance package for the romantic month of February, which includes a night's stay in a deluxe room adorned with chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne to wash them down with.

Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, the Russell family, who founded and own the local vineyard, hosted a Pinot Noir barrel tasting over the weekend with L'Espalier and Sel de la Terre chef Frank McClelland , McClelland's sommelier Erik Johnson , and Tyler Balliet and Morgan First, the wine lovers who run Second Glass. Bill Russell tells us that L'Espalier was the first restaurant to buy Westport's sparkling wine.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent Valentine's Day is approaching, which reminds of us two things: It's time to be romantic, and winter is half over. There are a number of places, far and near, to warm up to the romantic cause with Valentine packages, and here are some:  The White Barn Inn up in Kennebunk Beach, Maine, is running a romance package for the romantic month of February, which includes a night's stay in a deluxe room adorned with chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne to wash them down with.

Down on the Farm . If you share her picky-picky perfectionism, you’ll love it, too. Wannabe farmers can get their hands dirty throughout summer and fall at the Avon acreage harvesting gorgeous strawberries, blueberries, peppers, tomatoes, watermelons, and more. Napa East Massachusetts, Rhode Island : If you drive the entire 182-mile Coastal Wine Trail from Westerly, Rhode Island, to Truro on the Cape in one day, you may not have time to visit all nine wineries.

We’re loosening the purse strings this New Year’s, exploring off-the-beaten-path sparkling wine. It’s a category that rewards the expenditure of a few extra dollars in a most remarkable way, since most wine-making countries harbor an undervalued cache of little-known regional bubblies. Learn about them and you’ll find your way to some distinctive sips, which provide their own reason to raise a toast. Americans with any sense of adventure have encountered prosecco, the softly fruity, sudsy sip from Italy’s Veneto region, and cava, its only occasionally more serious-minded cousin and...

LENOX -- The chocolate-dipped strawberries and iced sparkling wine were waiting when we checked into our room at the Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club for a "Romance Package" getaway that included breakfast and dinner and use of the spa and pool. When we booked in January, we had imagined snowdrifts outside that would make the steamy pool all the more inviting inside its 20-foot wall of glass. But as we drove out the Mass. Pike, the ground was brown and bare.

Ten years is a long time to be in love -- with a woman and with a country. For our honeymoon, Julie and I had gone to France and now, 10 years later, we were to celebrate those twin strokes of genius (that is, marrying and going to France) with a return visit, this time to the source of the essential ingredient in any celebration among consenting adults: the Champagne region. "In Champagne, sparkling wine is not just an aperitif, as in the United States and the rest of France," said Ivan-Paul Cassetari, manager of Chteau de Courcelles,...

The Boston Beer Co. is getting ready to release its second batch of Infinium, a new style of beer it created jointly with the world's oldest brewery. Infinium is a champagne-like beer that Sam Adams brewer created with German brewer Weihenstephan , founded in 1040. ( Here's a piece I wrote about Infinium last year , when it was first introduced.) This year the beer has been dry hopped with Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops, which should give Infinium a more pronounced citrus character.

Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, the Russell family, who founded and own the local vineyard, hosted a Pinot Noir barrel tasting over the weekend with L'Espalier and Sel de la Terre chef Frank McClelland , McClelland's sommelier Erik Johnson , and Tyler Balliet and Morgan First, the wine lovers who run Second Glass. Bill Russell tells us that L'Espalier was the first restaurant to buy Westport's sparkling wine.

We’re loosening the purse strings this New Year’s, exploring off-the-beaten-path sparkling wine. It’s a category that rewards the expenditure of a few extra dollars in a most remarkable way, since most wine-making countries harbor an undervalued cache of little-known regional bubblies. Learn about them and you’ll find your way to some distinctive sips, which provide their own reason to raise a toast. Americans with any sense of adventure have encountered prosecco, the softly fruity, sudsy sip from Italy’s Veneto region, and cava, its only occasionally more...

Down on the Farm . If you share her picky-picky perfectionism, you’ll love it, too. Wannabe farmers can get their hands dirty throughout summer and fall at the Avon acreage harvesting gorgeous strawberries, blueberries, peppers, tomatoes, watermelons, and more. Napa East Massachusetts, Rhode Island : If you drive the entire 182-mile Coastal Wine Trail from Westerly, Rhode Island, to Truro on the Cape in one day, you may not have time to visit all nine wineries.

It seems there are as many theories about what wines pair best with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as there are recipes for cranberry sauce. OK, maybe not that many - but a lot in any case. You needn’t fear that we’re going to subject you to a lengthy enumeration of said theories; on the contrary, we’re going to shortcut the whole contentious business by providing you with a single infallible guideline that anyone can commit to memory in two seconds: Drink what you like. We arrive at this conclusion on the basis of years of empirical research carried on over many a gravy-stained...

For the jaded bar scenester, the prospect of heading outside the city is daunting. Too many bars are mired in outmoded mixing habits and ingredients. But on the plus side, you’ll occasionally find a spot like Tempo in Waltham where the things that seem old hat in town - house-made infusions, kitchen-driven mixing ingredients, classic-cocktail excavating - are tinged with a genuine air of enthusiasm and a refreshing lack of pretension. Not that Waltham is some barren outpost. The stretch of Moody Street where you’ll find Tempo is a veritable hot spot.

It seems there are as many theories about what wines pair best with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as there are recipes for cranberry sauce. OK, maybe not that many - but a lot in any case. You needn’t fear that we’re going to subject you to a lengthy enumeration of said theories; on the contrary, we’re going to shortcut the whole contentious business by providing you with a single infallible guideline that anyone can commit to memory in two seconds: Drink what you like. We arrive at this conclusion on the basis of years of empirical research carried on over many a gravy-stained tablecloth.

Enjoying good wine in the great outdoors is fun, but toting glass bottles on the trail is no picnic. Enter the new crop of alternatively packaged wines in cartons, cans and other trail-ready options. Sure, for actual hydration you'll want to tote along water or whatever energy drink you favor. But for that moment when the hike is done, the mountain bike path conquered, or you're just relaxing and grilling a few steaks on a lazy Sunday, these wines make it easy to blend libations with explorations.

LENOX -- The chocolate-dipped strawberries and iced sparkling wine were waiting when we checked into our room at the Cranwell Resort, Spa & Golf Club for a "Romance Package" getaway that included breakfast and dinner and use of the spa and pool. When we booked in January, we had imagined snowdrifts outside that would make the steamy pool all the more inviting inside its 20-foot wall of glass. But as we drove out the Mass. Pike, the ground was brown and bare.

Ten years is a long time to be in love -- with a woman and with a country. For our honeymoon, Julie and I had gone to France and now, 10 years later, we were to celebrate those twin strokes of genius (that is, marrying and going to France) with a return visit, this time to the source of the essential ingredient in any celebration among consenting adults: the Champagne region. "In Champagne, sparkling wine is not just an aperitif, as in the United States and the rest of France," said Ivan-Paul Cassetari, manager of Chteau de Courcelles,...