Wine Enthusiast Magazine

There’s something exhilarating and strange about the energy of an airport bar. The transient nature of the whole endeavor puts it in a place between normal life and adventure. It’s the purgatory of the travel experience. You’re not quite where you’re going, but you’re definitely not at home either. There’s a wide range of quality in the offerings for tipples. I’ve seen everything from lengthy lists of my favorite glass pours to the simply bifurcated decision of red or white. However, what it never fails to serve up is, unequivocally, some of the best people watching in modern life. A glass of something offers us a moment to pause in an effortlessly civilized fashion and observe the everyday. We’re all alone at home so much these days. When we do leave, our life…

More than 500 of the most influential movers and shakers in the wine and spirits industry gathered for the silver anniversary of Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Star Awards at the Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square on January 27. Not only was the black-tie gala packed with trade industry star power, but celebrity musicians shared their congratulations through recorded messages including Dolly Parton, Jon Bon Jovi and Zac Brown. Actress Issa Rae made an in-person appearance to accept the award for Innovator of the Year in recognition of her Prosecco brand Viarae’s runaway success—one of 15 Wine Star Award winners of 2024. THE AFTER-PARTY After all the trophies had been handed out, guests and Wine Star Award winners took in beautiful views of San Francisco riding up 32 floors in glass…

Fans of global cuisines will want to snag a bottle of brown sugar-based rum. This nascent category reflects a wide range of cultures that use brown sugar in various forms for cooking. Think India’s jaggery, Japan’s Kokuto or panela, piloncillo, chancaca and rapadura—just some of the names used in Mexico and Latin American countries. “It’s many names for the same thing,” explains rum expert Peter Holland—in short, cane juice boiled down to an unrefined sugar (as opposed to refined white sugar), and sometimes packed into shapes like cones (panela/piloncillo), bricks or balls (jaggery). In this solid form, it offers numerous benefits to rum makers, he notes: “You’ve got a source that can be more readily stored, and takes up less space, has a smaller carbon footprint to transport and generally retains…

A few weeks into harvest’s 14-hour workdays, all the grapes start blurring together. But then there’s Petite Pearl. And it’s the type of grape that can make even the sleep-deprived harvest interns poke their heads out and wonder: “What is this?” Its dense clusters of small, blue-black berries are unlike almost anything else on the crush pad. It’s truly “in a lane of its own,” says Tyzok Wharton, winemaker at Carboy, which has four locations throughout Colorado. When they first started working with the grape in 2017, they weren’t quite sure what to do with it. They set out to make a rosé but they ended up doing a sought-after single-varietal red. Petite Pearl was bred in Minnesota by Tom Plocher, owner of Plocher Vines. His goal was to create a grape…

Puerto Escondido, on the Oaxacan coast, has emerged as one of Mexico’s hottest travel destinations. In recent years, a wide variety of design-driven boutique hotels has opened along a seemingly endless coastline, drawing artists, celebs and influencers in equal measure. Accordingly, a spirited culinary scene has emerged as well, reimagining the region’s traditions and ingredients with a global perspective. Helmed by chefs Shalxaly Macías and Quetzalcóatl Zurita (a native of the region), Almoraduz was a pioneer in this new wave of comida costeña oaxaqueña (Oaxacan coastal cuisine). Beets are a year-round staple in Oaxaca, seen in empanadas, tostadas, salads, juices and more. Here, the sauce includes Japanese-inspired ingredients for a dish that falls somewhere between aguachile and tataki. The burnt chile adds an intriguing contrast of pungency and char. TUNA TATAKI WITH…

Chinola brand passion fruit liqueur is made from ripe passion fruit, cane sugar and neutral spirit, and—to this food editor anyway—is the best offering of passion fruit in alcohol form. It’s a bar staple for any tropical drink lover. #notanad THERE’S SOMETHING TRANSPORTIVE ABOUT PASSION FRUIT. Maybe it’s because most people from the U.S. (save for Hawaii) didn’t grow up around its intoxicating aroma, reminiscent of flowers and musk—maybe an air of mystery. Its sharp taste sings of the tropics, as if a citrus party were crashed by mango, guava, lychee, vanilla and tamarind. Until recently, it was hard to find passion fruit except in artificial form or combined with too many other fruits and a lot of sugar. Now, you can find 100% passion fruit pulp, frozen pieces and juice at…