by Monte Belmonte | Jan 8, 2024 | Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, Monte Belmonte Wines, Uncategorized
By MONTE BELMONTE For the Advocate Dom Pérignon, the Benedictine monk, did not invent Champagne. But if you’ve seen his commercials with Lady Gaga, he will be happy to charge you $250 or more a bottle for it. Champagne is, first, a place. A place which our monk...
by Monte Belmonte | Oct 27, 2023 | Columns, Featured, Food + Booze, Food Booze and Beyond, Monte Belmonte Wines, Uncategorized
By MONTE BELMONTE For the Advocate The 50 year anniversary edition of the Valley Advocate? Wow. I’m honored to be in it! My first recollection of picking up the Advocate was back in 2002, when this future wine columnist was only three years into his (legal) drinking...
by Monte Belmonte | Aug 25, 2023 | Featured, Food + Booze, Monte Belmonte Wines, Uncategorized
By MONTE BELMONTE For the Advocate As someone who worked for a music radio station in western Mass for twenty years, I was ashamed to admit that I had never been to Tanglewood. And as someone who is a day-drinking, BYOB loving, wine-snobby bon vivant, I am even more...
by Monte Belmonte | Jul 17, 2023 | Monte Belmonte Wines, Uncategorized
By MONTE BELMONTE For the Advocate I suppose it is possible that you are turning the pages of this paper and reading this wine column at the same time you are drinking wine. But that seems highly unlikely (perhaps only slightly more unlikely than you turning pages and...
by Monte Belmonte | May 2, 2023 | Articles, Featured, Monte Belmonte Wines, Uncategorized
Perhaps it’s an exaggeration to call it a genius move. But about 15 years ago I institutionalized a weekly wine tasting into my job as a radio host. Every Thursday afternoon at 12:30, I would descend the stairs into the basement of State Street Fruit Store, Deli Wines...