Wine Shop

Invited to a dinner party where neither host nor hostess drinks wine, we're happy to pack a few bottles to get the group through the evening - if only to insure the night isn't a dry one.  Saturday at 6p found me rummaging about in our wine cellar for a few things to bring to the home of a couple of dear but non-drinking friends. Seven of nine would be imbibing.  I rather quickly scooped up a couple of sparklers to serve as starters. One of these, the Cantine Ceci "Otello" Vino Spumante, $22, was a reject from a September column on fizzy reds  and turned out to be huge hit. Can't think now...

It's as American as the fedora and the double-play ball, and once as common as either in cities and towns from Boston to Seattle. The speakeasy, in existence well before the era of Prohibition, operated under the radar if not actually underground. It was a place where laws governing the sale and use of alcohol could be stretched, skirted, or frankly ignored. Eighty years later, alcohol may be widely available but it's still tightly regulated by states. In Massachusetts, the retailer or restaurateur with a new idea for connecting with customers quickly learns there's precious...

It's as American as the fedora and the double-play ball, and once as common as either in cities and towns from Boston to Seattle. The speakeasy, in existence well before the era of Prohibition, operated under the radar if not actually underground. It was a place where laws governing the sale and use of alcohol could be stretched, skirted, or frankly ignored. Eighty years later, alcohol may be widely available but it's still tightly regulated by states. In Massachusetts, the retailer or restaurateur with a new idea for connecting with customers quickly learns there's precious...

The city's Licensing Board in a 2-0 vote Tuesday night rejected a request by Star Market to sell beer and wine at its Chestnut Hill store. Star Market representatives brought a petition signed by about 2,500 shoppers backing the license request. But opponents filled the City Hall hearing room, brought their own petition and spoke, one after another, during the 90-minute hearing. The board was not persuaded that allowing Star Market to sell alcohol was in the best interest of the community, Martina Jackson, chairwoman of the Licensing Board, said Wednesday.

FLORENCE — “If it’s supple, then it’s fresh,’’ says Antoinette “Toni’’ Mazzaglia, squeezing the talon of a rooster’s foot a butcher has handed her. We all take a squeeze, feeling the flesh give way to the pressure of our fingers. We then turn from the meat shop and wander over to the site of the next lesson: balsamic vinegar. While Tuscany beckons food lovers with glowing visions of olive oil, cheese, and wild game, the reality here in the region’s capital can be far from appealing.

In 1991 Antonella Tacci and Raimondo Lombardi left corporate jobs in Milan to make wine fifty miles south in the commune of Rovescala. The little town has barely 1000 inhabitants, but more than 150 farms and a reasonable claim to be the birthplace of the bonarda grape. At their winery, Azienda Agricola Martilde , bonarda gets special attention - though in fact the varietal grown in the region( Oltrepo Pavese ) isn't bonarda at all but croatina. They also work with barbera, uva rara, pinot noir, malvasia and riesling italico.

The picture at left was taken at Local Vines and Gourmet , an appealing and very welcoming little wine shop in Cohasset, Massachusetts. I made the trip to get a peek at what Truro Vineyards owner Dave Roberts assured me was one of the best selections of New England wine he knew of. The store has been open just seven months. Owner Debbie Hardey says she's happy to put the spotlight on New England wineries because she believes the quality is higher than most people imagine and that the properties deserve to be more well-known.

The city's Licensing Board in a 2-0 vote Tuesday night rejected a request by Star Market to sell beer and wine at its Chestnut Hill store. Star Market representatives brought a petition signed by about 2,500 shoppers backing the license request. But opponents filled the City Hall hearing room, brought their own petition and spoke, one after another, during the 90-minute hearing. The board was not persuaded that allowing Star Market to sell alcohol was in the best interest of the community, Martina Jackson, chairwoman of the Licensing Board, said Wednesday.

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 darling of...

I   will find myself a great little wine shop . . . and I will be loyal to it. It's indisputable that there are more ways to buy wine today than ever before - and it isn't just because of the Internet. Even if the Web and the e-commerce it enables had never happened, there would still be warehouse discounters like  Costco and B.J.'s, direct sales from wineries (where legal), and wine clubs mostly managed by third party behind-the-scenes fulfillment companies like Signature Wines.

Invited to a dinner party where neither host nor hostess drinks wine, we're happy to pack a few bottles to get the group through the evening - if only to insure the night isn't a dry one.  Saturday at 6p found me rummaging about in our wine cellar for a few things to bring to the home of a couple of dear but non-drinking friends. Seven of nine would be imbibing.  I rather quickly scooped up a couple of sparklers to serve as starters. One of these, the Cantine Ceci "Otello" Vino Spumante, $22, was a reject from a September column on fizzy reds  and turned...

The picture at left was taken at Local Vines and Gourmet , an appealing and very welcoming little wine shop in Cohasset, Massachusetts. I made the trip to get a peek at what Truro Vineyards owner Dave Roberts assured me was one of the best selections of New England wine he knew of. The store has been open just seven months. Owner Debbie Hardey says she's happy to put the spotlight on New England wineries because she believes the quality is higher than most people imagine and that the properties deserve to be more well-known.

In 1991 Antonella Tacci and Raimondo Lombardi left corporate jobs in Milan to make wine fifty miles south in the commune of Rovescala. The little town has barely 1000 inhabitants, but more than 150 farms and a reasonable claim to be the birthplace of the bonarda grape. At their winery, Azienda Agricola Martilde , bonarda gets special attention - though in fact the varietal grown in the region( Oltrepo Pavese ) isn't bonarda at all but croatina. They also work with barbera, uva rara, pinot noir, malvasia and riesling italico.