What does one do while on a long train from Varna to Skopje? Simple, drink wine. It is unfortunate that as a linguist, I do not speak either Bulgarian or Macedonian. Elena is often quick to remind me that since I speak Ukrainian, it would not be a huge leap to learn the lingua franca…
In this, the second annual Cab Collective, now called the Paso Robles Cab Collective, the media was given a multi-day schedule. I planned on resting my head for two nights at the Hammersky farmhouse, after days that would be spent doing barrel tasting of the 2013 vintages, vintner panel discussions, library tastings, interviewing winemakers over…
Simply Wine Festival http://simplywinefest.com/ What started as a dream fairly quickly turned into an amazing reality. Martha Peretz and her team at Great Festivals Incorporated should be congratulating themselves for putting on a practically perfect extravaganza, the Simply Wine Festival, especially considering it was their inaugural event. Start with the venue itself, the Four Seasons…
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…
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. …
A wise man once said that before one can understand anything properly, one has to learn how to love it. For me, this holds true with both wine and women. It seems that the bulk of my time is spent with the pleasurable task of trying to understand the qualities and complexities of wine and…
The old saying, “a photo is worth a thousand words”, works for a great photographer. For me, I was simply excited about the dozen or so small tapa plates I sampled at the West Los Angeles restaurant, Tapenade, so I took about a dozen photos! (Facebook album link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202058428969687.1073741853.1455706632&type=1&l=7e0bac24ed) My brother Mike and his wife…
Quintessa (All blends using Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Carmenere) 2010 Both aromas and flavors of spiced-up blueberries, freshly cracked green peppercorns, rich Swiss dark chocolate and firm tannins. 2009 Woods after the rain, blackest of blackberries, sautéed mushrooms, black licorice, fresh anise and balanced tannins. 2008 This had…
It’s been awhile since I’ve done one of my one-bottle posts, so today I wrote my title using a little Français for fun, and, because I had tasted a French Bordeaux! See below for my observations on this wine’s Color, Aroma, Taste, Conclusion and Notes. I also tried the same wine with my dinner to…
The Fifth Annual Berkeley Wine Festival Features Dinner Series with Frog’s Leap Winery, Kenwood Vineyards, Chimney Vineyards and a Grand Opening Reception With Over 45 Wines Now in its fifth year, the acclaimed Berkeley Wine Festival held at The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa, will kick off with a Grand Opening Reception on Saturday, March 1 from 4-8 p.m., where…