Category: Pairings

Pairings

Why Is New York City’s Hottest Cocktail Bar Serving Steak Frites?

The ethos at schmuck. is to expect the unexpected. In few ways does the bar, situated in New York City’s East Village, resemble the craft cocktail establishment of yore. Upon entry, French rap beats flood your ears. Tattooed and pierced servers dressed in cut-off uniform shirts pass over the paper menu. Most of the drinks’ names themselves sound like a mumble jumble of syllables and foods. Yet, at a spot

Pairings

The VinePair Podcast: Online Wine Retail Is a Dead End

Today’s episode of the VinePair podcast is brought to you by Mezzacorona. With over a century of winemaking experience in the scenic Italian Alps, their skillfully made and expressive wines will bring this stunning and trendy part of Italy to life in your glass. Whether it’s a bottle of the rich and powerful Domenica Pinot Grigio, the aromatically intriguing DiNotte red blend or the naturally low-calorie wines in the Ventessa

Pairings

There’s a Showdown Brewing Between Anchor’s Old Workers and Its New Owner

The Willy Wonka parallel is hard to miss. There’s the enigmatic foodstuff virtuoso. The iconic factory sitting sadly silent in the middle of a bustling city. The adoring public, watching closely for any activity within. Look, some steam curling from the roof! Lo, signs of workers operating within! Surely any day now the doors will once again swing open to restore delight to a fallen world. When Anchor Brewing Company

Pairings

We Asked 11 Sommeliers: What Wine Did You Serve at Your Wedding?

Though love is timeless, wedding season in the U.S. peaks between May and October. And generally, matrimonial festivities involve a lot of booze. While some couples might opt for generic red, white, and sparkling wine options, oenophiles and industry experts often go all out on baller bottles and niche producers they love to commemorate the occasion. Whether you’re planning your own big day, looking for a bottle for a special

Pairings

8 of the Best Cru Muscadets From France’s Loire Valley

Muscadet is the quintessential seafood washdown wine. Crisply acidic and often briny, it seems made for oysters, its most famous pairing. It comes from the far western Loire Valley not far from the Atlantic Ocean and, not surprisingly, the area’s many oyster beds. Muscadet is the name of the region and the wine, and the grape is the Melon de Bourgogne, which was rooted, as the name suggests, in Burgundy

Pairings

The 20 Most Popular Vodka Brands in the World for 2026

Vodka remains one of the most popular spirits categories in the world. In the United States alone, it ranked as the top spirit by revenue in 2025, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). By volume, the category came in second to ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails. In its annual Brand Champions Report, The Spirits Business ranked the world’s top vodka brands by nine-liter case sales. According to

Pairings

The States That Drink the Most Wine in America (2025) [MAP]

Each year, Silicon Valley Bank releases its State of the U.S. Wine Industry Report, and the 2026 edition predicts that business will continue to decline before eventually returning to pre-Covid levels by 2040. Data on the country’s drinking habits from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) corroborates that forecast. In 2023 — the most recent year with data available from the NIAAA — Americans drank roughly 888

Pairings

Old Fitzgerald Adds 10-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey to its Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series

Today, Heaven Hill Distillery announced the spring edition of the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series, a 10-year-old bourbon bottled at 100 proof that will be allocated to select markets beginning in July. The release is available in 750-milliliter decanters with a suggested retail price of $149.99, according to a press release. Old Fitzgerald’s Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series has biannual releases each fall and spring. The 2026 spring offering — the series’s

Pairings

Is It Time to Retire the Oversized Steakhouse Martini?

A few weeks ago, a friend and I stopped by an old neighborhood steakhouse for after-work Martinis. Settling into one of their bucket bar seats for a tipple sounded like a good idea, partially because the venue opened in 1967 and stayed there while time and the world moved on. They embrace the time warp: Stepping out of the elevator required to access its subterranean dining space immerses you in

Pairings

Guinness and Oysters Are Having a Moment, but This Unexpected Pairing Has a Long History

Oysters and alcohol are a timeless pairing. The briny bivalves are typically served alongside a crisp glass of Muscadet, a flute of bubbles, or a strong Martini. These orders aren’t just aesthetically pleasing, but also classic complements for seafood, providing the perfect edge to cut through an oyster’s silky texture and emphasize its minerality. But at several bars across the country, people are swapping out these delicate aperitifs for a