Even though my actual career is writing about wine and spirits and consulting for wine based businesses and events, it seems that I’ve been organizing and hosting a lot more charity wine events than usual.And there is always one winery that has supported all of the non-profit events when asked by me, or by others:…
I love the city of Burgos. This is the historic capital of Castile and the home of the legendary, El Cid Campeador Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, a Castilian nobleman and military leader was instrumental in the recapturing of Spanish lands from their Muslim conquerors. On a personal note, I would like to add that Burgos…
For a long time I have been asked by the GOTN group to do a road trip for one of our monthly adventures. Recently, Gary Stewart (owner/vintner) of Four Brix Winery, offered us an opportunity to come to their tasting room and sample as well as educate us on the art of winemaking. Gary and…
PASO ROBLES WINE COUNTRY ALLIANCE GRAND TASTING TOUR 2013 www.pasowine.com Ever take the trip up to Paso Robles? How many wineries do you visit in a day? Three, four, five? Or do you “power taste” through a lot more? How many could you taste if they were all in one room? Periodically, the Paso Robles…
On February 28 I attended the Paso Robles Grand Tasting Tour at the Bookbindery in Culver City organized by The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. But, before you pull out your wine glasses to join me in your virtual tour, I had also signed up for a seated seminar led by three winemakers. And, lucky…
Recently, we had the opportunity to attend the Buick Discovery Tour event held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village. So, right off the bat, you might be asking: Why is Michael writing about cars? Well, in addition to getting to see and test drive Buick’s new line up of autos, the event was…
I don’t divulge when I’m away on a wine trip – lest you find your way to my house and my cellar keys – so this column is running either before or after I went to Santa Ynez for the weekend. Some of my plans include(d) many stops that readers suggested, visits with winemakers I’d…
Yes, I actually looked up a recipe for spaghetti sauce, sue me. But there are lots of morphs of sauce out there, and I’m always looking for something new – to appease my Wednesday audience, and my family! This one let me use ground Italian sausage, a fave of mine, but also added brown sugar…
Four Brix Winery has just released its first sparkling wine, just in time to kick off the holidays. Affectionately named, Baubles, this bubbly is comprised of 60% chardonnay, 40% pinot noir. Made in the methode champenoise style, Baubles has the petite bubbles that indicate a fine sparkling wine. As with all the labels of Four…
The San Francisco International Wine Competition was held in June of this year at Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. Over 4,000 wines were tasted, and medals were awarded as follows: 202 Double Gold Medals. 363 Gold Medals. 1,358 Silver Medals. 1,613 Bronze Medals. While any medal would indicate that the wine is of high quality,…