Miles Davis isn't a musician that's commonly associated with beer, but that's not stopping Dogfish Head from crafting a beverage that honors the late jazz trumpeter.

The Delaware-based brewery has released Bitches Brew to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Davis' landmark album of the same name. A dark combination of stouts and honey beer, Bitches Brew is intended "as the ultimate partner for chili or spicy curry chicken," according to Dogfish founder Sam Calagione. He also said it's to be "sipped cool, not cold, from a snifter or red wine glass while listening to the 'Bitches Brew' album."

Originally released in 1970 as a double album, Davis' 'Bitches Brew' was a pioneering marriage of jazz and rock, and also the first album of his career to achieve Gold status. Sony will be releasing two special anniversary editions of the album in August.  Read more...

Sparkling wine with hot dogs? Some bubbly with a burger and fries? These aren’t pairings that most wine drinkers are familiar with — but they should be, says Stefanie Jackel, director of marketing for Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, which recently launched its first ever sparkling wine.

An event to celebrate the new California Brut Sparkling Wine at New York restaurant DGBG yesterday paired the bubbly with a variety of comfort foods from the kitchen of chef Daniel Boulud, including pulled-pork sliders, sausage and hot dogs. The sparkling wine makes a good complement to rich, greasy foods, as the acidity of it cuts the fat, advised Ms. Jackel. One of her favorite foods to enjoy with the Brut Sparkling: fried chicken.

The idea behind these non-traditional pairings is a sparkling wine intended for everyday enjoyment — an affordable luxury at about $10 a bottle. “Why wait for a special occasion?” Ms. Jackel says. Read more...

Wall Street Journal - Every culture has its own lucky number. For the Chinese, eight is considered the luckiest as it symbolizes wealth and good fortune. (It's also the model size for fashion designers, though in New York the luckiest size is probably a two.) Now the wine industry has it own magic number: Fourteen, which is not only the maximum alcohol level of a table wine in this country—but increasingly, among certain professionals, a rallying cry.

Fourteen is the cutoff point between a "regular" and a "high alcohol" wine under federal wine-labeling law. Anything between 7% and 14% alcohol is considered "table wine" and taxed accordingly, while wine between 14% and 24% is called "dessert wine" by the government and taxed at a much higher rate, though in fact plenty of these wines aren't dessert wines at all. Fourteen is also the number cited by some sommeliers who refuse to taste—let alone buy or sell—any wine over this particular  Read more...

Wall Street Journal - There is a glut of wine all over the world—an oversupply so significant that it's compelled Australian winemakers to plow up their vineyards, forced French producers to turn wines into ethanol and brought wealthy Napa vintners if not to their knees then to their bankers in search of refinance. The reasons are various—new vineyard plantings by ambitious producers, increased productivity at a time of plummeting demand, winemakers who have overleveraged their brands.

The bulk wine market—which encompasses everything from wine in the barrel to finished wines in unlabeled bottles, aka "shiners"—may absorb some of this excess but with prices as low as $1 a gallon, it's not going to help winemakers raise very much money, let alone make them rich. Except in the case of Cameron Hughes. Mr. Hughes takes the $100 California Cabernets that have gone begging for buyers and sells  Read more...

Wall Street Journal - In a possible setback for scientists attempting to make drugs out of a substance found in red wine, GlaxoSmithKline PLC said a clinical trial of one drug in cancer patients has been halted due to safety concerns.

Glaxo acquired the drug in 2008 when it paid $720 million for Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company in Cambridge, Mass. The drug, known as SRT501, contains a reformulated version of resveratrol, a substance found in low quantities in red wine.

Glaxo and Sirtris have been testing the drug and others in several diseases, including diabetes and cancer, in the belief that they may provide health benefits by activating enzymes in the body called sirtuins.

The suspension of the trial comes amid recent debate  Read more...

Wine Spectator - Randy Dunn has been one of California's most vocal opponents of high-alcohol wines. Recently, we met to talk about the trend toward riper grapes and rising alcohol levels. He's in the camp that wines shouldn't exceed 14 percent alcohol.

 We met last week, over a flight of six variations on his 2007 Washington state Cabernet, which Dunn is making under the Feather label. The wines Dunn poured ranged from 13.7 to 15.1 percent alcohol, with stops at 14, 14.3, 14.7 and 15 in between. To demonstrate a point, the original wine had been doctored to lower the alcohol levels, using reverse osmosis.  Read more...

Just about every amateur brew master who has made a tub of beer in the garage has dreamed of going pro.

But Los Angeles County firefighters Rob Nowaczyk and Ed Walker, who expanded from home brewing to founding the commercial Fireman's Brew Inc., had an edge over most would-be brewery owners.

"Everyone likes firefighters," Nowaczyk said. "People respect what we do and that we put our lives on the line every day."

That goodwill helped kick-start their brewery into profitability after only about three years. It also didn't hurt that Fireman's Brew donates 5% of its net income to the nonprofit National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. 

 "The fact that I can go into a bar or talk to a grocer and say...  Read more...

Twenty-five years ago, a consultant-turned-entrepreneur began hawking a new beer to Boston bars out of a station wagon. Jim Koch hoped he could build a modest local business with a high-priced brew that was heavier on hops and malt than most domestic beers.

Boston Beer Co., the maker of Samuel Adams Boston Lager, is now a publicly traded company with a market capitalization of about $790 million. Mr. Koch, chairman of Boston Beer Co., has helped foster a revolution in small-batch American brewing.

Today, "craft" brewing, which includes the likes of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and Deschutes Brewery Inc., represents 7% of the dollar sales of beer in the U.S. Craft beer is beer produced in small batches  Read more...

It is a frustrating aspect of wine tasting in Napa Valley: Too many tasting rooms are closed by 5 p.m.

This summer, however, a handful of wineries will change that, keeping tasting rooms open into the evening so that visitors can experience two of Wine Country's best features at once: great wine and glorious sunsets. Most begin new hours May 1, unless otherwise noted.

Silverado Vineyards

Fridays will be the night to be at Disney-owned Silverado Vineyards. From 5:30 to 8 p.m., the winery will open its terrace - a spacious patio with breathtaking views of the valley. Read more...