Aged 24, Takamatsu passed the toughest exam in the wine industry; not bad for a Sydney barista who decided to become a sommelier just three years ago.

The annual Pinot Noir Auction in Oregon’s Willamette Valley is an event designed to highlight the exceptional quality and uniqueness of Oregon’s most popular wine. But at last year’s showcase, something unexpected happened.

For the first time, four Oregon Chardonnays were on the auction block. While the average price for a five-case lot of Pinot Noir was just over $10,000, and the mean price was $8,500, the white wines sold for $9,000, $10,000, $13,000, and $15,000. In other words, the Chardonnays bested the establishment reds by several measures.

Let's raise our glasses and toast to cheaper wine.

The price of wine is expected to drop to its lowest levels in five years thanks, in part, to a surplus of California grapes.

Todd English apparently can’t get enough of Las Vegas. Not only does the bad boy celebrity chef plan to open a food hall inside Area15, the entertainment complex opening in May, but now he plans to revive Todd English’s Olives at at the Virgin Hotel, opening in the former Hard Rock Hotel space this fall.

The bar from True Food Kitchen marks a first for the brand.

Booking your next trip to Munich for Oktoberfest? Drop your credit card and refill that liter “Das Boot,” because there’s a much closer option for enjoying German brews and bratwurst while immersed in Bavarian charm, and it doesn’t even require a passport.

Napa Valley Wine Train, which wines and dines passengers on trips between the city of Napa and St. Helena, wants to make several winery stops legal in the eyes of Napa County.

An application filed with the county Planning Division asks for stops at Robert Mondavi, Louis M. Martini and V. Sattui wineries. In addition, the Wine Train wants recognized evening stops at Grgich Hills Estate.

The drinks sector is one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus (Covid-19), with China accounting for some 35% of global luxury goods sales. db analyses the impact of the outbreak.

Not booked your holidays yet? Here are some great ideas for wine regions to visit this year, from the Prosecco road in northern Italy to California beyond Napa.

While Texas will forever be a land of bourbon and beer, a South-of-the-border spirit is thriving in the Lone Star State.

No, not mezcal (though the agave spirit has thrived in America over the last few years). It’s sotol, a spirit akin to mezcal, but distilled from the Desert Spoon plant.

Joseph Elevado returns to Las Vegas to helm the kitchen.

Citing their “long-standing shared values and a passion for pushing the limits of potential,” Hennessy today announced it was partnering with the NBA to become its official spirits sponsor.

Congratulations, Mr. Coco. The venue at the Palms took home Nevada’s lone 2020 Nightclub & Bar Award win—for New Bar Concept of the Year—awarded by the Nightclub & Bar Media Group.

From Burgundy to Napa, the venerated rocker has experienced the power of wine all his life

While most of the rare annual releases come out in the fall, we here at The Bourbon Review believe that bourbon hunting is a year-round sport. There are special releases hitting shelves as we speak, and plenty that are only a few months away. Don’t let winter weather keep you down – here are seven new whiskeys to watch for in 2020!

Chinese officials plan to spend €60m to build a huge wine museum that resembles a modern take on the St-Emilion skyline, in partnership with Bordeaux’s Cité du Vin.

The INAO has reportedly backed down from its decision to exclude 64 Burgundian communes from being able to use the AOC ‘Bourgogne’.

The new supper club features Art Deco touches, table-side presentations, and entertainment

There’s Tantrum Yoga—a guided release of our inner child with temper tantrums (yes, you read that right) alongside other outside-the-box practices like Goat Yoga, Yoga Raves, and Drunk Yoga.

On Feb. 2, 2020, better known to Americans as Super Bowl Sunday, draft beer sales at major chain restaurants declined 1.3 percent compared to 2019, according to food and beverage technology company BeerBoard.

Rachael Lowe began working in restaurants as an undergraduate student, and fell into an assistant sommelier position at NYC’s Café Gray while attending the graduate food studies program at NYU. She moved out west and worked for Thomas Keller before returning to her native Chicago in 2010. She took over as beverage director at Spiaggia in 2014, and now oversees a 700-bottle list focused on Italian wines.

Plans to revise the historic Burgundy wine-growing label have been met with fury by French vineyard owners - and promises of a protest in Paris on Thursday.

Another year, another round of over-the-top Super Bowl booze commercials to talk about with your friends and coworkers — if you showed up to work, that is.

Vegas Uncork’d, the culinary festival from Bon Appétit, will not return in 2020 after typically taking over Mother’s Day weekend for the past 13 years.

A new rosé Champagne is set to be launched via a partnership between one of the region’s leading growers and the co-owners of Château Miraval in Provence - Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and the Perrin family.

The new company will DBA as Convoy Beverage Alliance

Look inside at the transformed space and liquor lockers

Public houses have played a significant role in British culture for centuries. These days, there are nearly 40,000 pubs scattered across the cities and villages of the U.K., many of them boasting unique names and decorative signs with hand-painted illustrations.

First word on the new, temporary location on the Strip.

Scarr’s has all the trappings of a low-brow New York slice joint: glistening pepperoni cups, jars of red pepper flakes on the counter and doubled-up paper plates. But it also has a tight, organic wine list with just 11 or so selections that range from Austrian frizzante rosé to a Carignan-Merlot blend from Costières de Nȋmes.

For the past 35 years, Nightclub & Bar Show in Las Vegas has been the nation’s largest expo for bar and restaurant professionals to gain insight into trends, attend talks and workshops, develop relationships with suppliers, and discover industry-disrupting products.

15 NFL teams are fielding official wines, while a few pros have launched their own labels.

A classic steakhouse from Barry Dakake, a famed deli, and local talent including Le Thai’s Dan Coughlin are behind the new restaurants.

Having had a few successful trial runs in Ireland and Australia, Irish whiskey brand Jameson is now launching its coffee-flavoured spirit drink in the US.

The luxury goods giant's moves in Champagne are having wider repercussions for growers and producers in the region.

The Windy City is home to a variety of fantastic cocktail bars with tons of options to choose from no matter what you’re into.

Michelin inspectors have called time on France’s longest-standing three-star restaurant, run by chef Paul Bocuse until his death in 2018, but other venues saw an upturn in fortunes, including the Le Taillevent in Paris.

Dry January has gone from a dieters’ trend to a misguided attempt at proving one’s willpower.

1 OAK calls it quits

We discovered the winery that plays Captain Picard's "Burgundy" retreat—and went behind the scenes.

The Napa Valley accounts for more than a fourth of wine shipped directly to consumers nationwide – and this from a region producing just 4 percent of California wine.

The Arts District, a low-frills buffer between the Las Vegas Strip and Fremont Street, attracts tourists and locals looking for fun in a place devoid of pedestrian congestion, flashing lights and slot machine cacophony.

The rapidly evolving mile-long stretch of Main Street is dotted with cocktail bars, most notably quirky neighborhood trailblazer Velveteen Rabbit, but beer is the headliner here. With multiple suds-specific spots within walking distance, there’s no better place to experience the Vegas craft beer scene.

In a recent report shared by the IWSR, figures reveal that Tito’s Handmade Vodka has overtaken Smirnoff as the best selling vodka brand in the U.S. Following volume growth of more than 20 percent in 2019, Tito’s is now also the best selling distilled spirit in the country.

When it comes to the top-performing category for 2019 there is only one winner.

Trade dispute stems from France's tax on tech firms; larger fight over airplane subsidies continues.

Bordeaux's Cathiard family plans to launch a new venture; the Komes and Garvey families will keep the Flora Springs brand and their other vineyards.

Moore Brothers Wine Co, which operates in three states, ordered 35,000 cases, or a year’s supply, to try to get ahead of the possible duties.

Huevos al plato and arroz a la Cubana with a carmelized banana make the menu along with bottomless sangria

Tao Beach Club at the Venetian will not open for the 2020 pool season. The 18,000-quare-foot daylife club since 2007 on the pool deck plans to go through a massive renovation and expansion before reopening in 2021.

Lyme Bay Winery in Devon has launched a pair of canned sparkling meads in the UK on-trade with the aim of introducing younger consumers to the fermented honey drink.

Nikka and Suntory have both put a hold on some of their aged expressions.

Luxury resort and casino The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas reintroduced the newly designed Vesper Bar on Dec. 20. Named after the Vesper cocktail in the James Bond novel Casino Royale, Vesper Bar has long been staple of The Cosmopolitan’s mixology program, and has served more than 2 million patrons.

It’s no secret that food hall dining is a hot culinary trend, but what about food hall drinking?

Texas is truly at the heart of Firestone & Robertson Distillery.

From eye-catching branding to single-farm mash bills to a proprietary wild yeast strain and more, The Lone Star State is woven into the company’s DNA.

Smoked meats and cocktails make the menu at International Smoke.