Posted in food, i *heart*, restaurants, travel, wine, tagged catifish sandwich, Cristal, Hot Picks, Luneau-Papin, Matt's In The Market, Peter Liem, Seattle on July 1, 2008 | 3 Comments »
(Above: Champagne grapes are indeed very cute)
I was in Seattle last week for the Wine & Spirits Hot Picks tasting event, which was held at the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown. Like I did for a similar W&S event held in LA, I participated in a radio show in the days before the tasting (although [...]
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So after a surreal couple of days–wherein I found myself lost briefly on the back lots of Paramount studios where I was to be a guest on the Tasting Room by Tom Leykis (check out the link to the Memorial Weekend Event podcast)–I’m once again in Los Angeles, the sprawling city and twisting highways of [...]
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Posted in restaurants, travel, tagged El Camino Real, El Lugarcito, Hospice du Rhone, Hwy 101, King City Speed Trap, Octopus Tostada, Road Trips, Salinas Valley Billboard People on May 13, 2008 | No Comments »
(image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)
El Camino Real, or the Royal Road, was a meandering roadway established by the Spanish that ran the length of much of present day California from San Diego to Sonoma, connecting the various missions and pueblos along the way, with each outpost about a day’s horseback ride from the next. You [...]
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I guess one advantage to jet-lag is waking up early. At least when you want to be productive. Here it is, 6.30 am in New York and I don’t even have to be at work until 9.30. And for a prosecco tasting at that. So who’s got some breakfast/coffee place recommendations out here? None of [...]
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Posted in i *heart*, italy, travel, wine bars, tagged travel, Florence, Zanobini, Le Lame, Duomo, Perché No, Radiohead on February 19, 2008 | 4 Comments »
I should’ve taken the blue pill…
After a long, long day traveling–delays, canceled flights, and being stuck next to a very stinky fellow passenger for 11 hours–I decided to hit the town.
Apart from a few streets around the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio, Florence is refreshingly free of tourists these days. There are some advantages to [...]
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Posted in italy, travel, tagged Anteprima on February 17, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Leaving today for Italy and unknown blogging capabilities, although I’ll try to update as best I can…
This trip takes me to Tuscany for the Anteprima tastings put on by the various growers’ organizations behind Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino. And of course all the cinghiale I can eat!
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Posted in i *heart*, travel, wine, tagged Anderson Valley, gewurztraminer, Handley, International Alsace Varieties Festival, Navarro, pinot gris, pinot noir, Proust, wine on February 16, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Anderson Valley–a long, wide valley that runs in a northwesterly direction towards the Pacific Ocean in Mendocino County–is possibly my favorite wine region in California. The redwood-lined ridges and gently undulating hills along the valley floor (if you can call it that) are among the reasons I love this place; the creeping, cold ocean mists [...]
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Posted in i *heart*, italy, restaurants, travel, wine, tagged Falai, Massaretta, New York, New York Restaurants, Prune, Ramen Setagaya, Tia Pol, travel, Wine Critic on January 16, 2008 | 2 Comments »
(Above: The bloody mary list is ten deep during brunch at Prune, and each bloody is served with a beer chaser. Mine was made with aquavit rather than vodka, and served with fennel and white anchovies.)
A short post to explain my absence of late. Tasting duties for Wine & Spirits took me to New York [...]
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Posted in italy, natural wine, travel, wine, wine events, tagged Critical Wine, real italian wine, Verona, Vini Veri, VinItaly on December 12, 2007 | No Comments »
Gruppo Vini Veri, a loose organization of Italian wine producers who are part of the growing natural wine movement, have announced the dates of their 5th annual tasting, April 3-5, 2008. As usual, it’s staged during the VinItaly trade fair in Verona; however, the Vini Veri producers very much consider their event–and movement–to be [...]
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