Adventures in wine: Drinking the bottle less-tasted

Steve Freedman is a wine explorer and tour guide. And anyone who wants to come on a journey with him is welcome.

"One of my great missions is to get people to explore new paths in wine," said Freedman, owner of Amherst Wines & Spirits. "It's a big world when it comes to wine."

For more from the Gazette's Beer & Wine section, see Food and Drink below.

Outreach, friends and beer: Suds tastings grow in popularity

On a recent Wednesday evening, about 30 beer aficionados gathered at TrüBeer, drawn by a tasting hosted by Lefty's Brewing Company of Greenfield.

Macro taste on a micro level: Northampton Brewery celebrates 25 years

The other day, when confronted with an overwhelming array of craft beers at a local bar, a long-time colleague of mine smiled meekly as the server asked her what she wanted.

"I'm a Miller Lite kind of girl," she explained.

Having worked closely with her for years, I knew this to be far from true.

Hadley couple start Carr's hard cider business

I once had a friend who lived on Mount Warner in Hadley where, in the woods behind his house, was a large, abandoned orchard on the northern slopes of that modest mountain.

I have a treasured picture of my wife taken during a picnic with my friend in that orchard with the Connecticut River sweeping behind her. It was Sept. 10, 2001, the day before everything changed.

Rock band Train makes tracks in wine world

Backstage with the rock band Train before a performance at San Francisco’s hallowed Great American Music Hall may not be quite what you expect from a Grammy-winning, multiplatinum group.

What's missing from the dressing room: groupies, bling and that we're-about-to-trash-this-place vibe. What you get instead: a small table set with a few glasses and a bottle of the band's Save Me San Francisco wine.

In defense of rosé: going beyond the 'Kool-Aid stuff'

A couple of times a year I feel the need to rise to the defense of rosé wines. It’s because they don’t get the respect they deserve.

True, a decade or so ago a spate of soft, sweet, bland rosés and "blush" wines - Kool-Aid stuff - flooded the market and hurt rosé's reputation. But today there are dozens of rosés that are dry, crisp, complex, intensely fruity and wonderful matches for food.

Gadget helps with wine's totability

Camping for me is a pretty wine-intensive affair. There is lots of cooking, eating, hiking and sitting around the campfire with friends, playing music or retelling old stories. And all these activities go better with a glass or two of wine.