Quench! Mark Spivak

In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a solemn occasion, both a cultural and religious holiday; here in the U.S., it tends to be a celebration of unbridled drunkenness. What does it look like to bartenders? Mark speaks with Charles Steadman, managing partner of Jack’s Grumpy Grouper in Lantana, Florida, to get an insider’s view of […] The post Quench! – St. Patrick’s Day appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

No one knows exactly when bartenders morphed into mixologists, but one thing is certain: The cocktail culture has exploded across America over the past decade, and now plays a major role in our social life. Mark speaks with Brian Van Flandern, former head mixologist at Per Se in Manhattan and currently a consultant specializing in […] The post Quench! – The Mixology Revolution appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

About 20 years ago stories began circulating about corporate executives who had cashed out and opted for the simpler life of a winemaker, usually in the Napa Valley. Charles Massoud had most of them beat by a decade. In 1983, while still working at IBM, he purchased an abandoned potato farm on Long Island’s North […] The post Quench! – Paumanok: Fruits of A Corporate Dropout appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Cachaça is the national spirit of Brazil, distilled from sugar cane and sometimes referred to as Brazilian rum. They make a staggering 1.5 billion liters of it, 90% of which is consumed at home. Despite the fact that cachaça is the world’s third-largest spirit by volume, many Americans haven’t heard of it—if they have, it’s […] The post Quench! – Cachaça appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

On a global level, Bordeaux wine is still the benchmark against which all other wines are measured. There’s no doubt, however, that the category has disappeared from the cellars and dinner tables of Americans over the past two decades. Mark looks at some of the many reasons for this reversal of fortune, including price, style, […] The post Quench! – Is Bordeaux Vanishing? appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Pisco is the signature spirit of both Peru and Chile: a brandy distilled from wine, unoaked and clear, clean and refreshing. It’s currently experiencing explosive growth in the U.S., expanding by as much as 80% annually. In a belated celebration of National Pisco Sour Day, Mark speaks with mixologist Duggan McDonnell, a partner in a […] The post Quench! – Pisco appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Many consumers wrestle with the question of what to do with leftover wine. What’s the best way to preserve it overnight, so that it remains as fresh as it was when the bottle was opened? Although Mark admits to some bafflement over this dilemma (the problem of leftover wine doesn’t exist at his house), he […] The post Quench! – Wine Preservation Systems appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Over the past five years, wine drinkers have become less dependent on ratings. Part of the shift in attitude is due to the Internet, as a spate of new websites has encouraged consumers to share their opinion about the wines they drink. Americans are relying less and less on publications such as the Wine Spectator […] The post Quench! – Form Your Own Tasting Group appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Wine purists wax poetic about the romance of the cork, but using corks to seal wine bottles is actually a relatively new invention. Even so, when the screwcap (or stelvin) closure became popular several decades ago, traditionalists had a hard time accepting it. The screwcap reminded many of low-grade wine consumed by drunks in convenience […] The post Quench! – Screwcaps, Bag in Box, Tetra Pak and Can appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Alsace is one of the most baffling categories in the universe of wine:Critics and experts constantly rave about how magnificent the wines are, yet nobody drinks them. Mark investigates some of the factors that may contribute to this conundrum, and talks with Lisa Klinck-Shea, brand ambassador for the Helfrich winery in Alsace, to get her […] The post Quench! – The Mystery of Alsace appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

As we approach the New Year, Mark devotes this show to a comprehensive look at wine with bubbles. He begins by recommending Prosecco and Cava in the $12-16 range; surveys a handful of entry-level French Champagnes worth buying; and reminisces about some of the greatest Champagnes he’s ever tasted: Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes D’Or, Charles Heidsieck […] The post Quench! – Champagne and Sparkling Wine appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Mark finishes the first annual Quench! Awards with a handful of the most superlative spirits he tasted during 2013. As with last week’s wine awards, these aren’t necessarily best-of-category selections, but rather the spirits that stood head and shoulders above the rest: Glenrothes Select Reserve Scotch Whiskey ($50) Canadian Club Sherry Cask ($30) Angel’s Envy […] The post Quench! – The Quench! Spirits Awards appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

As we move toward the end of 2013, Mark looks back on a year of intensive tasting and selects the outstanding wines he sampled over the past twelve months. He singles out four wines—two whites and two reds—as being the most exceptional bottles of the year. The selection process was both personal and subjective, but […] The post Quench! – The Quench Wine Awards appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Do consumers play a role in creating beverage trends, or are they merely the tail wagging the dog? It turns out to be a mixed bag: wine trends tend to be consumer-led, while spirits marketing is usually top-down. To support this theory, Mark analyzes at some of the most successful wine trends of recent years […] The post Quench! – Wine and Spirits Trends appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

For the beginning wine collector, commercial auctions are an excellent way to build a cellar, since they give drinkers access to older vintages not usually sold in retail stores. It’s important to choose an auction house that carefully inspects incoming consignments and places importance on the provenance of the bottles. Mark interviews Allan Frischman, vice […] The post Quench! – The Wine Auction Market appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

On this holiday roundup, Mark begins by chronicling several interesting recent wine experiences: a meeting with the daughter and granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, and a review of their wines from the House of Mandela; and a description of a tasting conducted by Napa’s Mira Winery, which compared land-aged wine to wine aged at the bottom […] The post Quench! – Wines for Thanksgiving appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Throughout the centuries, the role of women in the whiskey business has been schizophrenic. Women have primarily taken over distilleries during emergencies, when men in their families died or went off to war. Despite the fact that women in positions of leadership performed as well or better than men, their accomplishments didn’t lead to a […] The post Quench! – Women and Whiskey appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

So you want to be a wine collector? Are you aware of the perfect storage conditions for your wines, to avoid having your collection develop premature senility? Can you curb your momentary enthusiasms and not end up with the world’s foremost assemblage of Albanian Grenache? Can you thread your way through the intricacies of Bordeaux […] The post Quench! – Wine Collecting and Storage appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

For Jews and non-Jews alike, kosher wine is a topic filled with many preconceptions and misconceptions, beginning with the age-old jokes about Mogen David and Manischewitz. . A number of consumers are ignorant of the process by which a wine is made kosher. Many others only see kosher wine being sold at holiday time, and […] The post Quench! – Kosher Wine appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

In a relatively short period of time, Numanthia has taken its place near the top of Spain’s red wine hierarchy. Located in the Toro region, in Castille y Leon, Numanthia is made from a clone of the Tempranillo grape called Tinta de Toro. The secret to the power and elegance of the wine is the […] The post Quench! – Numanthia: A Great Spanish Wine Estate appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.