We gathered round last night for our annual Wine Geek Dinner–a tradition started by my dear friend and local owner of wine distributing company Elysium Fine Wines, Trevor Martin. Each year, he sharpens his retired knives, retrieves the remnants of techniques learned back in the days of culinary school and working the line, and delivers … Continue reading
Even in all my travels to places foreign or remote alike, I have never been too far from the circuit. Work, family and friends were all push of a button away. For the first time, well… ever, really, I am literally on a deserted island with no way to communicate to the outside world. … Continue reading
I have long wanted to go to Austria. Perhaps it was the obsession I had with great mountains and culture that painted the screen in The Sound of Music when I was little. Or it could be my adulthood love affair with its peculiar, vibrant wines of Gruner Veltliner and Zweigelt, Blaufrankish and Muskateller. Regardless … Continue reading
“Perhaps all romance is like that; not a contract between equal parties but an explosion of dreams and desires that can find no outlet in everyday life. Only a drama will do and while the fireworks last the sky is a different colour.” –Winterson, The Passion This oft-puddled city could drown in a sea of … Continue reading
I always tell people that there is something about Geneva–an uncanny quality to it that feels like I have been here before… in another era altogether. Whether its turning a corner to find a building or street I could have predicted was there or generally feeling like I am home, Geneva represents something truly unique … Continue reading
The Paris of my imagination lives in Montmartre. Here, the history is palpable, permeating even the thick layers of tourists like me who threaten to obscure it. The very sound of the click beneath my heels, as my boots touch cobbles that once felt the feet of Degas, Renoir and Lautrec, bring a smile to … Continue reading
Not long ago, Sunset Magazine called Colorado the ‘next wine country’. I consider this, still hanging on the words written long ago by New York Times’ writer, Stephani Jackenthal, who tasted a ‘sturdy’ Syrah that was reminiscent of the Rhone Valley, and I wonder to myself about the one question I get asked just about … Continue reading
I kept the eye from rolling as I approached True Food, seeing first through the windows a green beverage being delivered to a very thin, slightly sweaty woman who seemed to have no time to shower between workout and lunch. The eyeball went fully back, however, when I saw a very attractive, energetic staff clad … Continue reading
How can the new year influence the way you taste wine, beer and spirits? What kind of resolutions might those look like? Perhaps it is as simple as forcing yourself to take a note each time you taste, venture into new countries and grapes… or not fear to ask more questions. If we aren’t constantly … Continue reading
Nov 2012… While some places may remain forever uncrossed on the bucket list, Puerto Vallarta was not one of them. In my mind, it was just another tourist-driven Mexican city. I had been to a few already–Playa del Carmen, Cabo, Cozumel… so I ignorantly thought I had done the tourist town gig. I wasn’t in … Continue reading
