A Taste of Wine

San Sebastian, in Spain, is an upscale lifestyle hang-out for the rich and famous and a lot of “wannabees.”  I have never been there, but I came very close when I visited the new look at the Sheraton Carlsbad’s posh …

So how’s the family?  If it’s the Family Winemakers of California, they’re doing just fine thank you.  For the 5th consecutive year, this association of wine producers with an active membership of 550 California wineries, will be coming to the …

  There’s something remarkable going on at Bistro West and West Steak and Seafood in Carlsbad.  It’s excellence aligned, with top tier wine presentations and food unequaled in freshness and taste on the restaurant landscape.   In a way it’s …

Big, stately and beautiful are the first descriptors that come to mind when recalling my trip to Sonoma Wine Country recently.  So big, it cannot be limited to one column. It demands a two part recollection.   After all, Sonoma …

  Carol Shelton of Carol Shelton Wines in Sonoma appears more a cherubic schoolteacher than a wine diva, making and romancing that zesty Zinfandel that is the 3rd most-planted wine grape in California.  Last I counted and tasted, she had …

Crisp and rich with the flavors of tropical fruit, the appreciative guests raised their just-poured 2010 Chardonnay as one, and saluted the lone host of the evening, celebrating his 90th birthday.  Mike Grgich, the maker of the wine, and many …

  In 1999, after a decade long frustrating search, Gordon Sumner and his wife found a 650 acre estate on a hill in Tuscany, Il Palagio.  Now this has little interest to you until I tell you that this man’s …

A wealth of new releases, poured in double the number of wine shows and winemaker appearances in restaurants, resorts and wine bars, have swept into the market.  This has given consumers more choices than ever.   In California, the size …

  Well that was fast!  What with San Diego’s new restaurants, resorts that were being bought and sold then re-made, wine bars that sprouted up on virtually every urban block and wine events doubling in number, what’s a wine writer …

In the fast-moving world of wine and food the only thing that is constant is change.  My personal pillar of fine wine and fine dining in the San Diego area is no exception to this dynamic.  The Grand Del Mar …