07 Apr Please The Palate April 2026 Newsletter

✨🌸 Spring is in Full Swing — and So Is 2026 🌸✨

If January felt like turning the page, the first few months of 2026 have felt like hitting the ground running. It has been a busy, energizing (and exhausting) start to the year, filled with milestones, recognition, and meaningful work that continues to remind me why I do what I do.

I am honored to share the Please The Palate was once again named one of the Top 100 Wine Blogs in 2026 by Feedspot, a recognition that reflects the consistency and curiosity that drive everything I publish. I was also recently quoted by travel writer Danny Jensen in a feature “The 6 Best Wine Regions in the U.S.” for Yahoo! Travel, highlighting the best wine regions in the United States. This was an exciting opportunity to contribute my perspective to a broader travel audience. Lastly, I was nominated again for the Wine Travel Awards, this year in two categories – “Brightest Journey,” which I was fortunate to win last year, and “Expert Opinion.” I am thrilled to be named a Top 5 finalist for “Expert Opinion,” with final judging by an esteemed panel now underway. Winners will be announced in May.

And the momentum does not stop there. The Festival of Undiscovered Grapes, the event I created to celebrate California’s lesser-known grape varieties and the producers championing them, has also been nominated for Event of the Year (2025-2026) and is now a finalist. It is incredibly rewarding to see this event, built from an idea and a passion for discovery, continue to gain recognition within the industry.

Between the two events, we showcased 113 unique grape varieties, not including the nine more widely planted in California. Even more exciting was the response from attendees, who embraced the opportunity to discover something new. Through the festival’s retail program, which allows guests to mix and match wines with no minimums, we sold 1,888 bottles of wine to the attendees, bringing varieties like Valdiguié, Trousseau, Gamay, Dornfelder, Terret Noir, Counoise, Bourboulenc, Picpoul Blanc, Vermentino, and more into homes across the state. Seeing people welcome these lesser-known varieties into their lives is exactly what the festival was created to do.

The year began at full speed as we planned and executed two Festival of Undiscovered Grapes event back-to-back. In January, we brought the festival to San Jose for the first time, welcoming 66 wineries and approximately 350 attendees – a strong and encouraging debut in a new market. We then returned to Los Angeles for the third consecutive year, where we once again set records with 61 wineries and 417 attendees.

Another moment that meant a great deal to me personally was being recognized, alongside Creative Director Eva Crawford, by the Mayor of Los Angeles, who honored us with Certificates of Recognition for the work we are doing through the festival. This acknowledgement was especially meaningful because of the tremendous effort behind the scenes, including a full rebrand this year, and the collaboration with winery and sponsor partners to deliver even more value to attendees. Together we continue to advocate for the innovators in the wine industry who are diversifying vineyards and producing the exciting wines that make this event possible. And we were proud to support Chrysalis, our charitable partner in the event.

While we have barely come up for air after these event, we are already talking about 2027 and will announce dates soon!

Looking ahead the next few months, the calendar is slowly filling up. This spring, I will be serving as a judge for several prestigious wine competitions. In addition to the Central Coast Wine Competition in Paso Robles, which I look forward to each year, I will also be judging at the Pacific Rim Wine Competition and the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition.

I am also looking forward to returning to Paso Robles for a Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) Media Workshop, an immersive three-day experience with six pioneering ROB wineries. It will be an opportunity to deepen my understanding of the practices shaping the next era of sustainable, high-quality wine and to spend time with the leaders advancing regenerative viticulture.

Up next, you will find updates since the last newsletter. Thank you, as always, for reading, for following along, for supporting, and for being part of this journey.

View the entire Please The Palate April 2026 Newsletter