Category: Pairings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pinot Noir remains the ultimate litmus test for many winemakers. Celebrated for its translucent color and haunting aromatic complexity, this “heartbreak grape” demands precision in the vineyard and a gentle hand in the cellar. While its true home is the slopes of Burgundy, some of the world’s most compelling expressions are being defined by a conversation between the wines of its birthplace and the Pinot Noir vines in soils beyond

Four Roses Distillery is launching the Experimental Series, a line of limited-edition whiskeys aimed at innovating within its tried-and-true, 10-recipe format. The line’s first release, Experimental Series No. 001, will be available at the Four Roses Distillery Visitor Center in Lawrenceburg, Ky., beginning July 30 with a suggested retail price of $55 for each 375-milliliter bottle, according to a press release. Experimental Series No. 001 is a 104-proof blend of