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New England Drinks, Wine to Cider | |
| New England is as famous for what it doesn't (or didn't) drink as for what it drinks. | ||
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The Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, affirmed that Bostonians would not drink taxed tea. Though New Englanders' taste in drinks is largely the same as that of most Americans, there are some specialties. In the autumn, fresh apple cider (non-alcoholic) is the beverage of choice throughout the region. Cranberry juice, from berries raised in the bogs of southeastern Massachusetts, is usually mixed with sugar or other liquids to ease its tartness. Maine's Poland Spring water is now bottled and shipped throughout the country. The urge for better, more distinctive beers led to the rise of Boston's own Samuel Adams lager, and also Schooner, both premium brews. Despite its rocky soil and uncooperative weather, enterprising New England vintners have identified hospitable micro-climates for the culture of hybrid and vinifera wine grapes. You should definitely sample the vintages offered by Rhode Island's Sakonnet Vineyards and Newport Vineyards, Chicama Vineyards on Martha's Vineyard, Haight-Brown Vineyard near Litchfield, Connecticut, and Hopkins Vineyard on Connecticut's Lake Waramaug. Nashoba Valley Winery, near Concord, Massachusetts, harvests fruit from its own orchards and produces delicious colonial-style fruit wines. By the way, some old-time New Englanders still call carbonated soft drinks "tonic," and the neighborhood food shop where you buy a tonic is a "spa." Each New England state has somewhat different laws regarding the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Details. |
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My favorite wine for
a turkey dinner. Nashoba Valley Winery is
near my home town of Concord MA.
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