June 2025

Built in conjunction with local geospatial experts MapHQ, and based upon AMW’s original Wine Map of Marlborough, the freely available digital platform overlays topography, temperature, rainfall and soil data onto high-resolution photography, accompanied by commentary from winemakers and viticulturists. The result is a fascinating exploration of how terroir shapes style and variety across the region’s …

Appellation Marlborough Wine’s reveals interactive wine map Read More »

Draft beer is not selling particularly well these days. What is capital-B Big Beer doing about it? Fighting over tap handles. Backing legislation in Congress to offer tax breaks on draft systems. Complaining about Zoomers. These tepid efforts have not restored draft beer’s sales. Shocking, I know. I thought for sure that availing qualified hospitality …

Draft Beer Needs a Boost. Big Brewers Should Follow This Blueprint. Read More »

Whether it’s at a local café or a big chain, cold foam has conquered coffee menus across the U.S. From Starbucks’ vanilla- or lavender-flavored versions to the fluffy sweet cream at buzzy coffee shops like Los Angeles’s Maru, coffee fans line up to get lattes and cold brews topped with a cool layer of foamy …

At NYC’s Experimental Cocktail Club, a Coffee Cocktail for the Cold Foam Era Read More »

Like many things in the booze industry, it started with a press release. Arriving in my inbox in late March, it described a “technically complex” yet “fun” cocktail consisting of olive oil-washed Grey Goose, Lustau Blanco vermouth, and G.E. Massenez Garden Party Dried Tomato Liqueur, garnished with goat-cheese-stuffed charred olives. This was the Pizza Martini …

The Continued, Misguided Attempts to Make Pizza-Flavored Booze Happen Read More »

Today, we explore a group of compounds that’s a point of contention in the wine industry: mineral salts. During wine production, when a mineral acid interacts with a base, mineral salts form. Just like everything else we’ve discussed in this series, these compounds ultimately affect a drinker’s perception of a wine. And one of the …

Wine 101: The Composition of Wine Part V: Mineral Salts Read More »

For the past decade, tequila has been on an absolute tear in the United States. In 2017, there were just six brands selling over 1 million cases per year in the U.S. Last year, there were over a dozen. But according to new data from The Spirits Business (TSB), agave spirits sales could be slowing …

The 10 Most Popular Tequila Brands in the World for 2025 Read More »

Winners of the 50 coveted Best in Show medals at Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2025 have been revealed, following yesterday’s publication of the full results of this year’s competition. From vine to bottle and then to a London warehouse, waiting to be one of the many bottles tasted by 248 top wine experts from …

Decanter World Wine Awards 2025 Best in Show: Top 50 wines Read More »

UC Davis ‘Hilgard631’ wines include Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon… For the first time in its history, UC Davis said it is releasing wines produced by students, teaching staff and other faculty members for public sale. Its new nonprofit wine label, Hilgard631, has been more than 10 years in the making and follows a state law …

First for UC Davis as student wines released for sale Read More »