Were there really men over forty-years-old dancing in my family room to Eraserhead? (Or was it Tortoise Head or maybe even the more discerning, Porpoise Head?) Eddie’e CD collection from the eighties strewn across every available counter top? Middle-aged women discussing random acts of body piercing in my kitchen? An impromptu lecture on getting really…
First Tasting of Cuvees before Public Release to be Held on April 19, 2014 in The Funk Zone Master Sommelier Brian McClintic and Sommelier Eric Railsback, partners of Les Marchands Wine Bar & Merchant, the award-winning wine bar and retail shop in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, announce the 2nd Annual 2014 Santa Barbara County Wine Futures Tasting. On Saturday, April 19,…
This week I queried some wine experts on their favorite wine, and what they were doing when they first had it. Their answers made me more than a wee bit thirsty. Years ago, on what used to be a favorite spring outing – to the Amador Vintners Festival – we were referred to the Fiddletown…
Pinot Days 2013, as with Pinot Days of previous years, was a huge success. It never ceases to amaze me how many vintners, both small and large, attend this event to pour their creations for those who come to taste these wines. The wineries that are present at Pinot Days range from very small boutique…
His name wasn’t Andre, but since I didn’t ask if I could use his name I have taken poetic license just to give readers a catchy title. It was mid-evening—just shy of eight o’clock— on a Friday night, holiday lights twinkling at us on Towne Center Drive, bracing (only in the SCV) Santa Ana winds…
I’m challenging myself this week to learn more about Kosher wines, recommend a few non-kosher wines and basically soak your holidays up through New Years, whether you’re lighting Menorah candles or Christmas trees. I’ve had the Kosher Manischewitz wine at a couple of Bris ceremonies: Fruit juice that a newborn boy could happily suckle off…
CARMEL, CA Inspired by the culinary bounty of California’s Central Coast, Holman Ranch Tasting Room, located at 19 E. Carmel Valley Road in Carmel Valley Village, is working Edible Monterey Bay to invite local culinary chefs and artisans to demonstrate how wine can be best complemented with fresh culinary products found throughout the Central Coast….
Dinner with close friends is always a special affair. Tonight we enjoyed Pork Tenderloin Cordon Bleau with mushrooms and mustard cream sauce. Pork tenderloin is one of the best pork cuts. For me, it is the “Chateaubriand” of pork. As for the wine …we paired our feast with a lovely white Burgundy … What? White…
The difference between a large wine tasting event and a small one should be fairly obvious to a wine 101er. However, at the latest incarnation of Pinot Days, an event where only wines made from the Pinot Noir grape are offered, we enjoyed a mid-sized tasting that incorporated the best of both worlds, satisfying every…
We’ve all heard the tired cliché, red wine with meat and white wine with fish. I’m just curious as to who made these rules? In all my travels, I have yet to find where it is etched in stone that these rules are steadfast. I seriously doubt the wine gods consented to such mindless twaddle….