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 […]

Lowell’s own boxing champion, “Irish” Mick Ward, was at the top of his game at Tutto Bene Wine & Cheese Cellar, where he signed 120 bottles of 2010 Uppercut Cabernet Sauvigon. Ward posed for pictures with fans and wine lovers who purchased 113 bottles during the 2-hour signing session. According to Tutto Bene co-proprietor Dick […]

The Wine Novice, right, tries out the Nicosia Vulka Bianco. It was delicious. The Wine Goddess, my wife Mary Lee, was excited. The Wine Butler, Mike Pigeon, was equally so. The occasion was the Harrington Wine & Liquors’ 20th annual Wines of the World Tasting held at the Chelmsford Radisson on Nov. 1. It turned […]

I received a call on the Wine Novice hotline recently. It was from my brother John who lives in Providence. “I’m leaving for North Carolina for a week,” he said in the message, “and I want you to check on Uncle Sully and bring him some wine. He’s out of it. And visit your mother […]

Former world boxing champion Micky Ward will be making an appearance Saturday at Tutto Bene Wine & Cheese Cellar in Lowell to sign a limited number of bottles of the 2009 Uppercut Cabernet Sauvignon. Ward, whose story was captured in the movie The Fighter, will be on hand from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., according […]

On Page 216 of Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel, A Farewell to Arms, is, in my opinion, one of the greatest descriptions of love, longing, loneliness and human endurance ever written on a single page of civilized literature. Three-quarters down the page Hemingway delivers the coup de grace of what eventually becomes a profound human tragedy […]

Why does a short vacation away from home nearly always heighten the flavors in the food we eat and the beverages we drink? Why are the warm days and cools nights of autumn always resplendent with fun and adventure and even romance? I asked the Wine Goddess that very question. We were sitting in comfortable […]

The Wine Novice asked Andrea DiFiore, store manager at Andover Liquors, for a list of red wines (with her own descriptions) for the following functions: an informal dinner-party, a formal dinner party at your boss’s house (or someone else you might want to impress); and that special memorable event. These 14 wines, ranging in price […]