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…

Some of my friends and I chose to skip the opening reception Wednesday night and instead had dinner at Mattei’s Tavern in Los Olivos.  It is a charming restaurant housed in a building that used to be a stage coach stop dating to 1886. We shared a variety of dishes including grilled avacado, beet and peach salad, grilled wild salmon,…

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,…

Francine Lubera of Baltimore, Maryland, recently earned her title of Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW), an internationally recognized certification denoting a high level of wine knowledge and expertise. The Society of Wine Educators, a non-profit organization, founded in 1977, authorizes the certification, publishes the materials, and administrates the testing. Francine had been interested in wine for years and became the…

People have different perceptions upon tasting a particular wine. What I love, you may not care for. What I find too sweet, you may find just right. What seems too tannic to me is perfect for you. Most people are aware that our tongue and palate are able to identify the five primary categories of taste, which are sweet, sour,…

Charleston was buzzing with activity as the 2014 Wine and Food Festival took place.  One of the events I attended was billed as Passport to Pairings, held at the Thomas Bennett House, and sponsored by an innovative company, Rewined, that repurposes used wine bottles into wonderful candles.  Each guest received a candle and mine is Carmenère-scented, one of my favorite…

As you stand in front of the shelves at your local grocery store or wine shop, you can’t help but notice the shelf tags with ratings for certain bottles.  What do they mean?  Should you pay attention or not?  Although based on a 100 point scale, popularized by Robert Parker‘s Wine Advocate newsletter decades ago, it is really a 50…

Life has been busy with the holidays and all.  I think we have all been a little out of sync with Thanksgiving being so late.  The annual Grower Producer Champagne seminar was held in November, hosted by Harry Root of Grassroots Wines and facilitated by Marie Sauer of Sauer Grapes.  The wines presented were another “killer” line up.  It is…

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…