Johnny Cash•I've Been Everywhere
By Kathleen Wilcox
I’ve been diving into this deliciousness all weekend, plotting out day and weekend trips. I was super excited to find “Drink the Northeast” in my mailbox this week, because I knew I’d discover under-the-radar producers, and rediscover old friends who I haven’t spent time with in years.
As advertised, this is indeed The Ultimate Guide to Breweries, Distilleries, and Wineries in the Northeast. I traveled through Connecticut, Rhode Island, Long Island, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, sipping from micro artisanal producers who forage for their ingredients, and established regional icons who helped put farm-to-glass on the map on the East Coast.
Carlo DeVito, a friend and colleague, wrote it, and there’s no one better suited for the task. Carlo is the author of more than 20 books, including “East Coast Wineries: A Complete Guide from Maine to Virginia,” “Big Whiskey,” “The Spirit of Rye,” and “The New Single Malt Whiskey,” plus he helped co-found the Hudson Berkshire Beverage Trail, and has made wine himself across the Northeast.
The book is a great jumping off point if you want to know where to go get the best hand-crafted booze in the Northeast, but also if you’re a history geek (guilty as charged over here) who wants to know how distilling, brewing and winemaking has evolved in every state for the past, oh, 300 years or so.
Cheers to old friends (holla Barr Hill Gin, Zero Gravity, Whitecliff, Allagash, Jimmy Carbone), and nice to meet you newbies (Black Rabbit Brewing, Copper Pig, Seven Birches Winery, Throwback Brewery, Sebago Brewing). I hope to see all of you soon.
If you’re thirsty for more, go and Drink the Northeast yourself. Cheers! @cddevito2