The Movie That Helped Put The Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country On The Map Celebrates A Decade Of Cult-Like Popularity In 2014 (SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, Calif.)–In a single sentence, seven words to be exact, the character of Miles emphatically uttered the phrase, “I am not drinking any [EXPLETIVE] Merlot!” and in doing so immortalized the…
Second Annual Sierra Pelona Valley Wine Festival http://www.sierrapelonavintners.com/ Do you know what an AVA is? It is the abbreviation for “American Viticultural Area”, which is an officially designated wine grape-growing region in the United States. Creation of a new AVA has to be approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the…
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…
More Than 40 Chateaux from Left and Right Banks of Bordeaux to Debut the 2013 Wine Futures Vintage, Along with 2011 and 2010 Varietals Exclusive Tastings for the Trade and the Public at Casa del Mar in Santa Monica LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – March 2014: The famed Le Cercle Rive Droite, representing the premier Merlot…
An interesting thing that happens at large wine events: camaraderie grows as wines are consumed, people tend to become chattier and want to share their discoveries of the day. So instead of just keeping track of what I was digging at the Family Winemakers Pasadena tasting, I listened to the buzz coming from Santa Clarita…
This is a continuation from last week’s post, part 2, and shares what we tasted at Lisa Madison’s party. The Tasting For Lisa’s launch party she had enlisted the assistance of executive director, Diane Nozik, to “conduct the guided tasting of 6 handcrafted wines from some of California’s best vineyards”. “We call our parties edu-tainment,…
While it’s fresh in my mind, I wanted to jot down some notes for wine 101ers on the Carmel-by-the-Sea Wine Walk adventure I’m on right now! So I’m sitting in a small outdoor shopping mall courtyard, as I just finished my last tasting of the day, at Wrath. Time to enjoy the cool weather, the…
DAOU Vineyards was next on our list of wineries that I had selected for Jordan and Natasha Siperstein. The DAOU staff welcomed us, as they do all of their guests, with open arms. Lisa Colwell (Assistant Tasting Room Manager) introduced herself and led us to a beautiful private tasting room that was set for a king. …
Santiago, Chile. It has been some time since my last visit. Today I am joined by friend and fellow sommelier, Monseratt Araya. We are in one of her favorite city spots, Cafe Mosqueto. From our patio table, we have a wonderful view of one of the city’s most popular streets. Calle Monjitas, in the Bellas…