The twelve wines of Christmas 2011: part one

Much like the little elves busy helping Santa at the North Pole, we’ve spent the better part of the year hard at work tasting of hundreds of wines — all so that we can serve up this listing of bottles worthy of only one thing: drinking your way through the…

Behind the bar with Brian Smith at Pinche Taqueria

Brian Smith, the barman at Pinche Taqueria who will also be behind the stick at the resurrected Squeaky Bean when that restaurant opens next year, began his love affair with the bar before he was even legal. “I’ve been bartending at home since I graduated from high school,” he admits…

Taking a break at the Wazee Supper Club

Happy Place: Wazee Supper Club, 1600 15th Street, 303-623-9518. The Hours: Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. The Deals: $2-$3 draft beer and shot specials; $2.50-$5 appetizers. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out…

Silver Vines Winery opens in Olde Town Arvada

Brothers Jeff and Danny Chayer are originally from Minnesota, but they’ve spent the past four years working in the Texas wine industry. “He was a winemaker,” Danny says of Jeff. “I was a manager of one of the wineries.” There, they learned the ropes of the craft, and, Danny says,…

Lone Tree Brewing opens today

Lone Tree Brewing Company opens today at 4 p.m., bringing Denver’s craft beer revolution to the southeastern suburbs. Two years in the making, the brewery is owned by business partners Jason Wiedmaier, a high school teacher and former Dry Dock Brewing employee, and John Winter, a homebrewer who met Wiedmaier…

Avery adjusts its brewing schedule to deal with cramped quarters

Avery Brewing, which jumped its first hurdle on Tuesday on its way to building a brand new, multi-million-dollar facility in Boulder, has adjusted its brewing schedule slightly to deal with cramped quarters and a rising demand for its beer. Instead of releasing Maharaja imperial IPA in March, Avery will brew…

Beer and shots hit the spot at Park and Co.

Happy Place: Park and Co., 439 East 17th Avenue, 720-328-6732. The Hours: Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight; Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight. The Deals: $1 off all draft beers; $2 off wines by…