Category: Pairings

It’s difficult for many Americans to imagine the United States without 21 as the federal drinking age. In the U.S., legally consuming an alcoholic drink at 21 years old has become a rite of passage, largely due to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which mandated that all states make 21 years old the legal drinking age. But before then, states’ alcohol laws were constantly shifting. So, how

This is VinePair’s Booze News Weekly Roundup, where we gather the hottest headlines and product releases every Friday for a snapshot of what’s happening in the beverage alcohol industry. It was a pretty quiet week on the Booze News front, but we have updates on marijuana users outpacing alcohol drinkers, the lasting effects of the now-tamed wildfires in Bordeaux, and the latest product releases. News to know: Winemakers remain unsettled

It’d be an understatement to say that no one enjoys Penn Station. When most New Yorkers and out-of-towners trek through the sterilely lit and highly trafficked train station, they have one goal in mind: Get in, and get out. But if there’s one reprieve for travelers slugging their suitcases through the Midtown terminal, it’s Penn Cellars. For most of New York City’s wine cognoscenti, the best bottle shops reside below

Today on the “VinePair Podcast,” Adam, Joanna, and Zach take a look at another reason why wine is struggling in restaurants: The drinking public is unable to perceive value with much of what’s on offer. While restaurants decry the high prices that wineries and distributors charge — and producers and drinkers cringe at the major markups restaurants apply to wine — is it possible that there’s another solution besides just

A lot of people lost their minds in the ’80s. Compared to the decade’s cocaine-addled and clinically insane, August Busch III, the legendary head honcho at the macrobrewer that bore his name, stayed very much in control. But even the steely “Three Sticks” was not totally immune to the siren song of flash-in-the-pan fads, slick marketing, and consumer-goods yuppification then dominating the American zeitgeist. Case in point: Dewey Stevens. Name

Back bars are inadvertent storytellers. The bottles on their shelves provide a glimpse of the spirits industry’s zeitgeist, conveniently grouped by category. After a night of bar-hopping or regular visits to a few neighborhood spots, attentive bar guests can get a sense of which spirits are trendy, which have run their course, and which are eternal. Spirits often occupy a unique space in this story. They can either play a

Martinis and Negronis are great, don’t get us wrong. But some occasions, like a chill night in or day drinking in the park, simply call for more sessionable cocktails. Luckily, when the time comes to dial back the booze, there are plenty of options out there. Some low-ABV cocktails lean into the light and refreshing vibes like bubbly spritzes and thirst-quenching highballs. But that’s not all that’s out there. Others

This episode of The Buildout is brought to you by Farmer’s Gin. It’s brought to you by the same amazing people that brought you Michter’s, and it’s actually the gin that I use at home for my Martinis. It’s clean, crisp, unfussy — perfect for building any kind of Martini that you would like. Farmer’s Gin is made in Idaho at the first organic distillery in the United States. It’s

Recently on the VinePair Podcast, Adam and Zach tackled the idea of tradition in wine. Give it a listen! I haven’t stopped thinking about it, and I thought I would riff a little on the matter, with some historical context. Listen Online Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Follow Keith on Instagram @VinePairKeith. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps get the word

One of the most common conversations a sommelier has with guests include the words “a dry white.” After a little nudging, terms like Sancerre and Chablis might be deployed, as well as “mineral” or “crisp.” These “dry white” conversations can go two ways. Either a guest is looking for something familiar, as close to what they normally drink as possible, or they’re open to something new and need help selecting.