When we visited the Dry Creek Valley last fall, we gave a full report on Mazzocco Sonoma winery and winemaker Antoine Favero along with our stay at its onsite Briar Cottage: Perlises Pick: Mazzocco Sonoma in the Fall of 2025 – Part 1 – Eve’s Wine and Spirits 101 Perlises Pick: Mazzocco Sonoma in the…
Two more spirits for review today from the recent Bar and Restaurant Expo are the new Ole Smoky Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey that’s barrel aged for four years, and one of their popular flavored whiskies: Salty Caramel. Most people are familiar with their moonshine brand. I had seen the jars everywhere myself. I honestly had…
I was recently offered the opportunity to try the same wines from Robert Hall in Paso Robles that were made two different ways: Regenerative Organic and Conventionally Farmed. If you know me you know that I have the unpopular opinion that I don’t care how the wine is made, organic or not, I just want…
We covered our first Access Live in 2024, missed it in 2025 as it was held in Denver, now we are thrilled to have had the event back in here Las Vegas this past February 2026. It’s an event for members of the wine and spirits industry that my husband Eddie (our photographer) and I…
Very pleased to be trying four new-to-me wines from the Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez: a Blanc de Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon all with the same winemaker and farmer though different vineyards. When I received the samples I also asked the owner who happens to be the farmer, James Ontiveros, for…
If you’ve been reading this series from the beginning about our latest visit to the Dry Creek Valley (and if you haven’t, why not?), you may recall that we added one more winery to our itinerary. When we were visiting with winemaker Antoine Favero at Mazzocco Sonoma, he graciously suggested that we pay a visit…
Have you heard of Saini Vineyards? We have to admit that we hadn’t until last spring when we were planning our self-made tour of historic vineyards in Sonoma County. Unfortunately, our schedule filled up quickly but we were determined to make it happen on our next visit to the area, and we did! Two of…
A few weeks ago, at the grand re-opening of D’Agostino’s Trattoria in Las Vegas, I was introduced to Fallendown Tree Vineyards proprietor and vintner Jeanne Burmeister. It was a busy night for Jeanne as her wine table was very popular. I enjoyed their award-winning and very balanced Sangiovese, Syrah and Malbec all from Monterey County,…
This past summer I was in Portugal for the second time. During both visits I searched out wines from the Alentejo DOC to drink as they are always winners for me. Fancy my thrill at being offered two wines from the area to review when we got home. I ran a news release from the…
I’m not a big tequila person, truth be told, but it appears I have a lot more friends into tequila than ever before. Anejo has been my choice, over Blanco and Reposado, due to the longer barrel aging. Of course, Extra Anejo is even better – for my taste. When faced with some tequila-lovers coming…