Wine and Spirits Travel

I have traveled to many places in the world checking out wine and spirits, but when the invitation to go to England with Beefeater and Plymouth came, I was more excited than you can imagine. Gin is my go to spirit and the thought of spending a week drinking it as part of the job was a good one. I’ve worked with Pernod Ricard on a number of trips, including Jacob’s Creek in Australia and Perrier Jouët in Paris . They always do things top notch and this trip was no different. They sent a limo to take me to the airport for the short flight to Chicago, where I was flying British Airways . Since I had a business class ticket and had a few hours, I went straight to the BA lounge. I hadn’t had lunch so I was hoping to catch a snack. I found a lot more in a large buffet with many choices. I settled on a little spinach lasagna, which was excellent, and a small, fudgy brownie. When it was time to board, I saw my first airplane “pod.” It was a bit odd at first and took a while fo

New York appears to have been on the receiving end of some of the worst weather this year and my friend Lynn and I felt some of that on day two in the Hamptons, but it didn’t put a damper on the spirits we needed to sample.   We met Andrea from the Hamptons Visitors Council at the Golden Pear in East Hampton. It was one of four locations for this bakery/deli/coffee shop which seemed to have quite the selection.  I settled on a blueberry scone and we talked a bit about the Hamptons, which encompass quite an area that includes towns such as East Quogue, Hampton Bay and Sag Harbor. As she said, each hamlet has its own personality and it’s one of the few areas in the world where celebrities often mingle with locals because they consider themselves locals here. Lynn and I drove around a bit before our lunch at Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett. I have to admit that I thought it was just a local pub, but I was very impressed with the food and drink selection. We star