Last week, I spent several delightful days with my daughter in Maryland.  As always, it involved lots of good food and wine!  Of note was our visit to a wonderful wine bar in Frederick called Vini Culture.  They feature three enomatic systems (also known as “cruvinets”) that dispense more than two dozen wines.  Customers load money onto a card and…

During my travels on the West Coast last month, I was introduced to Treasure Island and the growing collective of urban wineries that have made the island home.  The site of a former U.S. Naval Base, Treasure Island is a man-made isle set between San Francisco and Oakland, accessible from the Bay Bridge.  The first winery began operations in 2007…

This year I returned to the Passport to Pairings event that I found so enjoyable in 2014.  It was at the Thomas Bennett House, again, and – can you believe it – almost identical weather with overcast skies and a high temperature in the 40’s.  Not normal for early spring in Charleston!  The format was different this year in that…

Yes, indeed!  On a recent trip to Cincinnati, I had the pleasure of dining at Abigail Street, a wonderful tapas-style restaurant.  Perusing the menu, there was a section titled “Wines on Tap” (more about that below). We asked our server about the wine of the day and learned that it was a Cabernet Franc made at a local vineyard called…

On the second full day of the conference, I selected a session on the terroir of Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County boasts one of the most diverse climates and largest number of grape varietals grown anywhere in the world.  The region is home to a topographic feature not found anywhere else in the contiguous U.S., a pair of mountain…

We were off to Vina Robles bright and early for a 10:00 a.m. seated seminar focused on Paso Robles AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas).  Paso is the largest non-county AVA in California and is in the process of applying for 11 sub-AVA’s. Among the wines tasted was Ancient Peaks Winery’s 2011 Oyster Ridge Bordeaux blend, named for the 13 million year…

The 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference kicked off July 9 with a pre-conference excursion to Paso Robles, an area I have never had the opportunity to visit. The rolling countryside is absolutely beautiful, planted with vineyards and other crops. Our first stop was a seated seminar hosted by Niner Wine Estates and included Castoro Cellars, Hug Cellars, Giornata Wines, Eberle Winery,…

For the first couple of weeks after the trip to Italy, I tried to behave myself, conserving calories and dollars.  However, that can last just so long!  My daughter, Hilary, visited me in Charleston the last weekend of October and we had great fun, as always, eating and drinking our way around town.  Among the highlights were lunch at 39…

Saturday’s day trip was to Spoleto, home of the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds, conceived by Gian-Carlo Menotti in 1958. Charleston is home to the US version of the famous music festival. Spoleto is an ancient city built high on a hillside, dating back to 240 B.C.  Today, the city is accessed via a series of escalators that easily take…

Last month I visited my home town of Cincinnati to visit friends and attend the Western and Southern Tennis Masters tournament. The culinary highlight of the trip was a wine tasting dinner at The Summit, a restaurant operated by the culinary arts program at  Cincinnati State.  The wines were presented by Vintage Point, a distributor with an eclectic collection of…