There we sat, perched on a patio a stone’s throw from the inviting aquamarine edge of Lake Tahoe: Uncle Mike, Aunt Cindy, hard-partying “Uncle” Wayne, and a cast of other characters, including my God Son “Smilin’ Jack” Pasha. Actually, Jack was crawling, and not from drinking too much wine; he’s a happy-go-lucky 11-month-old who prefers gnawing on blueberries and chugging […]

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Is it just me or is there something twisted about the union of the screw-cap and wine bottle?For the past several years, the wine media has faithfully covered and taken part in the cork versus cap debate. The July Issue of Wine Spectator magazine includes an article titled “Screw Caps Gain Acceptance.” The story relates that a 2005 poll conducted by WS […]

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Isn’t it great when everything comes together at a restaurant? Good friends, good food, and fine wine to match. It doesn’t always happen that way, but it did last night at Jake’s Famous Crawfish, a 115-year-old restaurant in the heart of downtown Portland, Oregon (www.jakesfamouscrawfish.com). Though I regularly write about restaurants for Main Ingredient magazine, I had never […]

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All right, I have to admit that I was a little skeptical when my Uncle Mike (UM) emailed me about his wine shopping forays to the local Grocery Outlet (GO) in Redmond, Oregon and subsequent recommendation that I give it a try.
The first thing to know about UM is that he is a character. Irish blood runs through […]

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Since it’s July 4th today and I’m feeling very patriotic, I thought it only fitting to blog about the author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. As it turns out, not only was President Jefferson a founding father, but the country’s unofficial elder expert in all things wine.
Though he couldn’t ever really […]

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The first time that I spoke with Nancy Ponzi, I liked her. Her energy arced up through the cell towers, then down to and out through my Blackberry speakerphone. I first caught up with the ever personable Nancy, co-founder of Ponzi Vineyards (www.ponziwines.com), during an interview for Culinary Tourism article later published in Main Ingredient magazine.
A little research and two minutes of […]

Continue reading “I’ve Heard of Pig and Pancakes, but Pork and Pinot? An Interview with Nancy Ponzi of Ponzi Vineyards” »