frank mangio

About 2 hours drive time from the hustle and bustle of the San Diego coast, spread out like a canvas panorama at the base of  Highway 74, lies a group of desert communities that includes:  Palm Springs,  Rancho Mirage, Palm  Desert, Indian Wells and …

Here in the San Diego area, not much is said or done about two kinds of wine that are  household words back East, where its cold and some times snowy.  Mulled wine and Ice wine will always spice up a gathering and …

When I learned that the legendary Castello Banfi of Montalcino was making a presentation in San Diego and had chosen San Diego’s Solare Ristorante Italiano for a select dinner to pair its lineup of magnificent wines, I circled the date in day-glow red. …

Pop the corks, and let the new year of 2015 begin.  2014 by any wine follower’s yardstick was a beauty.  As we noted in an earlier TASTE OF WINE, the price point for a bottle of wine and a night at a …

It’s not often you find someone who can tell you flat out what he loves about life beside his family, and then go about putting those choices together  to make the world a better place. Skip Coomber and his wife Maureen …

I looked at him quizzically, not really accepting if this concept of “just wine” would go over for an event of the size he was hoping for.  That was two years ago, and I had just met David Frachetti for the first time …

In my last column, I shared some recent experiences in the great desert, from Rancho Mirage to La Quinta.  Palatial resorts, princely restaurants and the hauntingly beautiful Santa Rosa Mountains all caught my attention. In Palm Desert on El Paseo at Portola, a relaxed European style restaurant, …

As wine is the ultimate beverage in France, Italy and the California coast, tequila is the national drink that creates the most pride for most Mexicans. Given that the culture of this adjoining country’s dining and beverage preferences are closely aligned withSan Diego and especially the …

Of all the great wine countries of the world, Spanish wines seem the most mysterious.  There’s a lot to learn. In my two trips to Spain, once to Barcelona in the northeast and Granada, in the south, Barcelonawas easily the most vibrant city. Its all-night wineries …

Saturday March 7th and 8th, the bloom is on the vines of Temecula when more than 30 wineries, together, open their barrels for introductory tastes and bites, for guests with self-guided passports, at the World of Wine event (WoW). I’m up …