Santa Barbara, CA — California Wine Festival, a nationally recognized event series, is proud to announce its return in 2024 to celebrate over 20 years of bringing attention to the beautiful wines, foods, and landscapes of California. Founded in 2004 in Santa Barbara, California Wine Festival aims to highlight the best of California’s wine regions and…
Thrilled, yes thrilled, to cover the Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas for the first time last month. It was one of the largest shows we’ve ever covered. So big that we had to take a day off in between the three days offered to us! Day one I got a little more than half…
Eddie and I visited Napa Valley this past holiday season. One of the wineries we booked a tasting with was Clif Family Winery off of the main drag, Highway 29 in St. Helena. It would become one of the most remarkable tastings we have had over the years. Let me set the stage by first…
Palm Springs, CA. – Canopy Wine Lounge, an elegant oasis in the heart of Palm Springs, celebrates its official Grand Opening! Conceived by Owner Noah Mamet, former U.S. Ambassador to Argentina and Palm Springs resident, along with Alejandro Bulgheroni Family Estate Wines, this new venture managed by Director of Operations Ellis Delahousay, Winemaker Joshua Kelly, and Managers Phil Barrood and Liz Swartz, promises a…
The Haven at Copia offers luxe terrace views, innovative cocktails, and small bites as only the CIA can Napa, CA, – The CIA at Copia is adding a new late night destination to the Napa community: The Haven, which debuted on July 28, will be The Culinary Institute of America’s first cocktail-focused bar across all of…
It’s been some time since I’ve tried wines from Colorado, probably since I took my certified course as an American Wine Specialist® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA) a few years back. So when I was offered the opportunity to taste wines from the label The Ordinary Fellow, hailing from Southwest Colorado, I thought,…
We’ve covered the Bar and Restaurant Expo and the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas for a few years now. Before I retired Eve Bushman Consulting I sat in many of the classes to keep up with the latest in the industry and share those updates and ideas with clients. I learned a lot, and…
All I knew about Moraga Bel Air wines is that they were founded in 1989 and that the vineyards are indeed in Bel Air, California. When they offered to send me one of their whites and a red, and join in on a Zoom meeting with their new winemaker Paul Warson, it was a great…
One of the challenging questions I’ve been asked is which wine to serve with a specific dish. As I’ve never served as a sommelier in a restaurant, where they know exactly which wines to pair with their menus, I turn back to my lessons through the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), trial and error,…
Before tasting the latest Riesling from Smith-Madrone I was reminded of a time years ago when I attended a Riesling class and food pairing. The wines were from one winery in the Mosel region of Germany (grown on steep hillsides similar to Smith-Madrone) and I remember that only the last couple of wines we sampled…