Gourmet-Alcohol

Dirty Vodka Martini/ Photography by Ali Redmond Forget sugary Appletinis and fruit juice-spiked Mississippi Bourbon Punch . If your drink preferences skew more savory than sweet, the dirty martini belongs in your order queue. With a deep umami kick from a heavy-handed splash of salty olive brine, this cocktail has earned its honored spot in the cocktail canon. Here’s everything you need to know about it.  What Is a Dirty Martini? Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: A martini can’t be dirty unless it’s cut with olive brine, aka the juice from a jar of olives. Brine is defined as water saturated with salt, but depending on your olives, that brine can vary slightly. Other ingredients sometimes include vinegar, monosodium glutamate (better known as MSG), ascorbic acid (that’s vitamin C), citric acid, lactic acid, sodium alginate and more.  A martini, of course, dates to at least the 1880s and has historically been defined as a booze-forward marriage of gin an

Photography by Joel Goldberg and Prop Styling by Charlotte Havelange Our reviewers went on a hunt for discoveries this year and were not disappointed. Out of 21,000 blind-tasted wines reviewed and scored, thousands of bottles were outside the mainstream of wine retail offerings—and a good portion of those received high scores. The Enthusiast 100 puts the best of those discoveries front and center, calling out a savory, brambly Australian Pinot Noir from Giant Steps as the No. 1 wine of the year and a Barolo with scents of pressed roses and pine forest from G. B. Burlotto as No. 2. Wines with high scores and lower prices got special attention, because affordability is an exciting proposition for everyone and can mean wider access. Look for 22 wines at $25 and under, including a racy Spanish Albariño from Rias Baixas and a bone-dry, violet-scented Italian Lambrusco . These 100 offerings were the most exciting wines of 2022, selected because they were compelling and delicious, h