I’m not off the plane from Boston for 24 hours when the luncheon room manager at the Palm Aire Golf Club & Resort spots me wearing a UMass Lowell hockey shirt and shouts across the room, “Hey, that’s my hometown!” It was 7:45 a.m., eight minutes before tee time on a gorgeous Florida morning in […]

As a young boy, I remember spying through a keyhole on Uncle Frankie and Dad making wine in the darkened wine cellar of our Providence home. It’s how I learned to sing in Italian. The messy sight actually looked fun to a boy of nine years old. The cement floor was a blood red sea […]

Some of the best wines in 2013 were some of the best values of 2012 and should remain so. Here’s a watch list for the months ahead. Be patient because even bargain wines are sold at a discount from time to time: California, Washington, Oregon Yes, you can afford a bottle from Caymus Vineyards for […]

The holidays have come and gone, sad to say, and so have some great wines. Two reds and two whites stand out among the best I’ve tasted in recent weeks: California’s 2007 Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Belle Glos Clark and Telephone Vineyard Pinot Noir were truly fantastic, living up to their 90-plus ratings. Both […]

Aren’t you glad the Mayan calendar had a typo in it? Instead of the world ending on Dec. 21, 2012 — as predicted by Mayan chieftains centuries ago — some experts now say the Long Count calendar was off by only 5,126 years. If my math is right, the apocalypse will now occur on Dec. […]

On Saturday night, while the Wine Goddess put the finishing touches on her Italian wine-and-goodies basket for Lowell General Hospital’s annual Sun Santa fund-raising drive, I left the house at 6 p.m. to present a wine-tasting seminar to 19 Cambodian Americans. They are young college professionals, some of whom have graduated and are working as […]

On the first day of Christmas my true love said to me ….Well, we know how that turns out and it’s memorable. ‘Tis the season for joyous spirits, most appreciatively for wine, whiskey and scotch. Events are popping up all the time and here are a few that have come across my desk. 1. Andover […]

The Wine Goddess had something up her sleeve and it wasn’t a 2003 Brunello di Montalcino. “What to do you plaon doing today?”, she asked as I leisurely read The Sun on a beautiful November Saturday morning while eating a bowl of my favorite cereal, Wheat Chex. “It’s movie day,” I replied. “I’m going to […]

I’m concluding my research this weekend and will be releasing the Thanksgiving Day wine recommendations of several Greater Lowell’s top wine merchants on Thursday, Nov. 15. I’ve visited with Andrea DiFiore of Andover Liquors, Dickie Rourke of Tutto Bene Wine & Cheese Cellar, and Jay Cahill of Harrington’s Liquors in Chelmsford. I’m also speaking to […]