Lifestyle

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. Saying that Chilean wine equals value wine is “like sticking fingers in a wound,” explained Rodrigo Soto,...

31 May, 2018
This story originally appeared in California Winery Advisor. Adam Lee has worked in all aspects of the wine industry. He has worked at a wine store, on the floor of a restaurant in Austin, Texas, for a distributor and wrote about wine before starting his first winery, Siduri. Experience working in all facets of the wine business has provided Lee with an advantage; he knows all of the benefits and challenges the industry poses. The biggest challenge a winery faces is selling the wine. When Lee started Siduri in 1994, he focused primarily on direct sales, with most of the sales sold on futures. Times were different then. “Pinot Noir was still in its infancy in the wine drinkers consciousness and growing a mailing list was easier than it is today,” Lee explained. Wine reviews, mailing lists, and direct sales helped his brand grow until they were large enough to work with a distributor. Thanks to a couple fortuitous events, Siduri followed this path. After a few bottles of wine, Lee was very relaxed and generously confident and left a bottle of his wine for Robert Parker, which resulted in a good review.  Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant Owner Debbie Zachareas was at EOS Wine Bar at the time and began selling the wine. By 1996, Siduri grew to almost 900 cases and entered the three-tier market. “It was a lot about getting to a certain size about where you needed a distributor.” By 2015, Lee sold Siduri to Kendall Jackson. While he remains the winemaker, the new ownership freed Lee from the business side of things. As a result, Lee gets to spend more time in the vineyard. “The growing and picking is the most important part,” according to Lee and he was thrilled to spend more time there. With the time in the vineyard, Lee began thinking about the legacy he would leave for his children. He and his wife Dianna liked the idea of leaving them something small that would not be a burden but rather something they could choose whether or not they wanted to grow. In 2017, named after Lee’s grandmother, Clarice Wine Company was born.
17 May, 2018
Visiting a city for a first time, a city tour may be on one's agenda. Perhaps it is self-guided, perhaps it is with a tour guide. Perhaps you will focus on architecture or perhaps you will focus on historical monuments. For me, I like food tours. I want to explore a city and learn about the cuisine(s), what were its influences and what is both traditional and contemporary to eat (and drink). With Dubrovnik Food Story, it is a food tour and more! It is also a history lesson, a cultural tour and it is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Dubrovnik Food Story is a family-run business owned by two sisters, Marija & Ana. Marija, who graduated from Management in Tourism and worked in travel agencies and hotels, started offering food tours as a side business and started  Dubrovvnik Food Story in 2013. Ana, who graduated with a degree in Aquaculture where she studied Mariculture, got her tour guide license and joined her sister in 2016. Both share passion for food, tradition and hometown and the food tours are a fusion of local history and gastronomy. We met Ana near the 15th century Onofrio Fountain, across from the 14th century Pharmacy in the Old Town of Dubrovnik. She greeted us with a plate in her hand and we met the others in our group. All tours are generally two to eight people (10 max).
05 May, 2018

More than 35 years ago, Don and Rhonda Carano founded Ferrari-Carano and broke ground in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley. Second generation Italian-Americans, Don and...

03 May, 2018
Sitting on the Old Wall of Dubrovnik, overlooking the harbor on one side and the mountains on the other, we sat down for our first meal in Croatia. Add to that delicious food at Restaurant 360, a newly minted Michelin Star restaurant, it was a magical first evening in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Restaurant 360 Dubrovnik is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Restaurant 360 is literally set within the great walls of Dubrovnik itself. Located just outside the Ploče gate, we entered the contemporary space surrounded by the old stone walls. We were escorted downstairs and across a patio where we saw the open kitchen where the chef was at work. And then we were escorted back up some stairs to the tables along the wall.
28 April, 2018
There are dozens of movies in which drinking wine or making wine are a central theme. There are comedy-dramas, buddy-movies and romance movies about wine. Often how wine is portrayed it not realistic and misleading. There is the fantasy of living on a vineyard, the romanticism of falling in love in a vineyard, the comedy of wine tasting with friends. But very few portray the reality of life on a vineyard, the challenges winemakers face, combined with their passion. The new film Back to Burgundy, a French film by acclaimed director Cédric Klapisch, is all of that and more and that is why it is the Please The Palate pick of the week. I love a movie that engages me, that tells a good story and develops characters that I care about. Add to that a beautiful backdrop and Back to Burgundy is all that and more. So much of the writing that I do is sharing the stories of people in the wine industry. I meet winemakers around the world and many, especially from European countries, are the third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh, or even more, generation in their family to make wine. They share stories about the land, the place, their families, their histories and their futures.
21 April, 2018
If you have only one day in Santiago, what is the best way to see it? A food tour where you walk through the city, visiting markets, restaurants, street vendors and get an introduction to the culinary culture of Chile. After all, food is something that we all share. It is a way to look at the world. Food is a way to get to know another culture. Our guide was Colin Bennett, an American who lives in Santiago. Originally from the mid-west, Colin came to Chile to teach English and ended up staying. About eight years ago, Colin started FoodyChile. We met in the Plaza de Armas in the center of the city. A map lies in the ground in the center of the plaza showing the now dry Rio Ma Pocho that runs through the city of Santiago. Colin explained Chile's history to us, from the indigenous Ma Pocho who gathered foods like shellfish, pinenuts, beans and mushrooms to ingredients brought to Chile by the Spanish. We began walking and soon was in Portal Fernandez Concha. A hotel in the 1860's, today the promenade is filled with a row of hot dog vendors. The Chilean hot dog, with lots of toppings, is Chile's own national junk food.
19 April, 2018
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