Whiskeyphiles are accustomed to hunting for rare bottles—the tiny production of the 18-year-old Sazerac rye, for instance, seems to sell out almost instantly upon release. Big brands, however, like Maker's Mark, are always reliably present on liquor store shelves. But rumors have been circulating since March that mega-distiller Beam Global Spirits and Wine might run out of bottles of one of their higher end brands, Knob Creek. An ad that ran in Monday’s Wall Street Journal confirmed that, yes, there is officially a shortage. Knob Creek, a Bourbon, has strict aging requirements—it must sit for nine years in barrel. In 2000, the distillery underestimated how much whiskey they’d need to make (who could have anticipated that a huge recession would cause us all to drink more Bourbon?) and now, they are completely sold out. The next batch will be ready for bottling in late October and will hit the market soon after. It’s a great reminder that even highly commercial whiskey must be raised with love and care—that it doesn’t come out of a faucet. Thankfully.

At the recent F&W Classic in Aspen I had a chance to sit in on a seminar with bacon-obsessed Australian wine fanatic Dan Philips, an F&W contributing editor and the owner of the Grateful Palate. While telling the crowd about what’s new in Australian wine (Philips predicts Grenache will become the next Shiraz), he also provided some fascinating insight into the thinking behind wine labels. Philips, who has his own line of Australian wines, told us that when he marketed his Barossa Valley Grenache as “Barossa Grenache Red Wine,” he couldn't get it to move off the shelves. But when he renamed it “Bitch” Grenache and gave it a pink label, he sold 8,000 cases in two months.

The 2009 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen wrapped up this past Sunday, but I figured I'd blog about one or two highlights from it anyway. One of them, not to blow my own horn, was the slightly crazy blind-burger-pairing-old-world-vs.-new-world-wine-smackdown that I ran as one of my seminars on Friday. 

What I did was pick three pairs of wines, one from Europe and one from the U.S. in each case, and pair them with a series of mini-burgers prepared by Ryan Hardy, the immensely talented young chef at Montagna at the Little Nell. The audience—more than 120 people; the room was jammed—tasted each pair of wines with the appropriate burger, then voted on which wine worked best. It was a hoot, unsurprisingly, helped along substantially by the insanely good burgers.

The winners? With a crabcake slider served with a tarragon aioli, the fave wine was from Italy: the 2007 Nino Negri Ca'Brione ($35), a lightly honeyed, spicy, richly citrusy blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Incrocia Manzoni (a hybrid of Pinot Blanc and Riesling), and, even weirder, a small proportion of Nebbiolo fermented without its skins so the juice remains white. White Nebbiolo, you bet. Regardless, it was a lovely wine, and if you happen to be serving crabcakes with a tarragon aioli, go for it.

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Rabelais Books, a terrific bookstore in Portland, Maine, that specializes in books about food and wine (surprising how we love that around here, huh?) has released its first catalogue of rare and antiquarian food, wine and spirits books. It's great fun to glance through, even if you can't throw down $1,800 for a first edition of Agoston Haraszthy's 1862 classic Grape Culture, Wines and Wine-Making.

(As a side note, the catalogue also includes copies of the out-of-print and rare 'in bocca' series of Italian cookbooks, which I recall coming across during my own stint in the rare-book business, back in the early 90s, for about $35 rather than $450, alas. Here's a comment from Mario Batali on the in bocca series from an article in the NY Times, if you're interested).

It takes talent to match just the right wine with a dish. Some would also argue that it takes talent to match the perfect handbag or heels with a dress. That makes Elisabeth English, the owner of Nantucket's Current Vintage, super-talented. After selling her interest in Provisions (the island’s beloved sandwich shop) to Amanda Lydon and Gabriel Frasca, English opened this wine-and-fashion boutique. The year-old shop has a tightly edited selection of more than 150 wines with an emphasis on boutique labels and a particularly exciting selection of American Pinot Noirs and Burgundy. English also stocks vintage and designer clothing, jewelry and shoes. Here, she shares her picks for what to wear and drink at quintessential Nantucket summer outings:

’Sconset Picnic
Clothes: Vintage 1950s sundress and ankle-wrap espadrille
Wine: Domaine Bart Rosé, Marsannay, France

Madequesham Clam Bake
Clothes: Vintage 1960s Lilly Pulitzer floral maxi and a pedicure
Wine: ’07 Curran Grenache Blanc, Santa Ynez, California

Hulbert Avenue BBQ
Clothes: Vintage 1970s Jordache jeans, embroidered Mexican top and gladiator sandals
Wine: ’05 Kangarilla Road Shiraz-Viognier, McLaren Vale, Australia

As I seem now to do every year, I stopped last week in Boulder before heading up to the F&W Classic in Aspen for the annual pre-Aspen wine dinner that Travel & Leisure's contributing wine editor Bruce Schoenfeld throws. As usual, it was a crazy grab-bag of wines (and people), many of them extraordinary (both the wines and the people).

Among the standouts? First, a 1982 Associated Vintners Dionysus Vineyard Riesling, notable partly because it was the first single-vinyard Riesling bottled in Washington State—or so I was told—and partly because it was actually still quite alive, with appealing lemon and stone notes. Later, a 2000 Contino Graciano had aromas of earth, leather and ripe black raspberries and was lush and inviting; an interesting development from a wine that's always quite tart, tannic and palate-zapping on release. I loved the 1982 Giacosa Barolo Falletto that came my way—hazy red in color, smelling of licorice, roses and caramel, with flavors that recalled dried spices like cardamom and cinnamon—though for some reason not everybody did. (Go figure. Lunatics, the lot of 'em.) And a 1999 Yarra Yering Dry Red #1—from a winery that made news lately by getting sold—had aromas of tea leaves and kirsch, then luscious berry fruit poised on the edge of age but not quite there. A very pretty wine.

The wine of the night, though, by general acclaim, was a 1991 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon, which was just fantastic. Aromas of forest floor, spiced currants and graphite led into layers of soft cherry-currant fruit, silky tannins, and more lingering graphite notes. It had aged gorgeously and was in perfect condition, and isn't even Ridge's top Cabernet (Monte Bello is). The current vintage will set you back $40. Not bad. And I like the fact that Paul Draper, on the back label of the wine, suggested that it would age only five to ten years. As it turns out, a very modest prediction.

F&W Best New Chef 2007 Steve Corry at Five Fifty-Five in Portland, Maine, doesn't just know his way around the kitchen-he's also a huge beer aficionado. (He used to be a professional brewer at Harpoon in Boston and at San Francisco Brewing Company.) He's already expressed his love for Allagash White, and here are three more of his favorite beers and the dishes he pairs with each:

Pilsner Urquell: “After work, I religiously have a European pilsner. Lately, it's Pilsner Urquell, a crisp, refreshing Czech beer. It's great for when I'm coming off a hot shift. I even went to the Czech Republic to try to learn how to recreate it. I like drinking it with spicy food, sausages and cured meats.” It would be great with spicy stewed sausages with peppers.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Liberty Ale: “These are two classic American pale ales that I fell in love with while going to brewing school in California. They have a floral hop fragrance in the beginning and a strong hoppy bitterness at the end. They're aggressive beers, so I don't often pair food with them—but when I do, it's with grilled meats like steaks or pork chops,” for instance a grilled porterhouse.

On another note, if you're a wine drinker who's interested in beer—for instance what brew to pick up if you love Pinot Noir—check out these suggestions from some of the country's top sommeliers, in wine editor Ray Isle's Tasting Room column in the July F&W. —Ratha Tep

The Slow Food movement, with its long list of disciples, has added another group: Italian craft brewers, who are using local fruits and spices, as well as unexpected ingredients like tea or myrrh (instead of hops in some brews). Star Italian brewmasters Teo Musso of Le Baladin and Leonardo di Vincenzo of Birra del Borgo poured their food-friendly beers this week at a dinner at NYC's Convivio (home to a fantastic all-Italian beer list). They also shared their exciting plans for Open Baladin, an Italy-exclusive brew pub and market that will be part of Eataly, the Italian supermarket that Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali's B&B Hospitality Group are bringing to NYC's Flatiron neighborhood. Here are a couple of my favorite beers from the dinner that are now available in the U.S.:

Birra del Borgo Te Ale: This light blend of pilsner malt and wheat malt uses fermented tea leaves, which provide acidity and bitterness.

Le Baladin Al-iksir Ale: A high alcohol content (10%) gives this effervescent beer a dry finish that's balanced by the almond, tropical fruit and malty flavors.

For just some of the restaurants and markets carrying these beers in your area, check out the state-by-state list on the importer's site.-Christine Quinlan