Travel

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. To me, the best way to get to know a county and its culture is through its food and wine. Local ingredients and dishes, the indigenous grape varieties and winemaking processes, they all tell so much about a culture, its history and present-day. So, on my first trip to Portugal, specifically to the city of Porto, I dove right in. Located in Northern Portugal, along the Douro river, Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. From the cobblestone streets to the tiled houses to the food and wine, it is no wonder that Porto was classified as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 1996 and recently awarded The Best European Destination by the Best European Destinations Agency. Porto is flanked by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the vineyards in the Douro to the east. The cuisine of Porto uses its natural resources, which include fresh seafood and meats. And there are the sweet desserts, many of which are made with what was described to me as just “sugar, sugar, sugar and eggs, eggs, eggs.”
02 January, 2018
I just returned from my first trip to Cuba. Cuba has been on my bucket-list for years and it was time to finally book the trip before we are banned from going there again. I found a wonderful culinary trip organized by Access Trips. For eight days we stayed in people's houses, drove around in an old Chevy, met with farmers, chefs and artists, visited organic farms and fishing villages and ate in paladares (private restaurants). All the while, we drank daiquiris, a cocktail created in Cuba and hence the Please The Palate pick of the week. The daiquirí is named after a village near Santiago de Cuba. The drink was supposedly invented by an American in Cuba at the end of the 19th century. By the 1920s, it became known in Havana and the owner of Floridita bar put it on the menu. Then the blender arrived and crushed ice was added, as well as maraschino cherry liquor. Ultimately, the drink was made famous by Ernest Hemingway.
02 December, 2017
The recent wine country fires were horrendous. Beginning October 9th and raging for three weeks, the destruction was devastating. More than 160,000 acres (250 square miles) have burned in Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties. 100,000 people have been displaced. 43 people have died and more are still missing. More than 8000 structures were destroyed, including 5,500 homes that were completely destroyed and an additional 4,000 partially burned, as well as some wineries. This is a crisis that continues to reverberate. It is also impossible to wrap your head around the magnitude of damage. I was in Santa Rosa this week and saw first hand the neighborhoods that are destroyed as a friend took me to see her home in the Fountaingrove neighborhood. But recovery is starting to happen and the people are strong and resilient. They are optimistic, ready to rebuild and are working hard to get back to a normal life. And the outpouring of support and the generosity of fundraising from around the world has been extraordinary! The motto is #SonomaStrong and that is the Please The Palate pick of the week. TRAVEL TO WINE COUNTRY Head up to Sonoma Valley right now and support local wineries, restaurants, hotels and other businesses. Bring your tourism dollars. Sonoma and Napa are tourism-based economies so now is the time to take a trip! They are open for business and would love to see you!
18 November, 2017

This story originally appeared in ATOD. Calistoga is a diamond in the rough, a charming little rustic town located in the northern part of the Napa Valley....

14 November, 2017
The story originally appeared in ATOD Magazine. Indulging in cuisine, wine, history, and a lot of magic There is a region of Greece that is worth exploring; a region neighboring Athens that you may not have considered but most certainly should – the Peloponnese. Known for wine, indulgence, adventure and serenity, the Peloponnese is a journey waiting to be discovered. The three-pronged Peloponnese is considered part of the mainland but is also technically an island. The southernmost part of the mainland in Greece, the Peloponnese is a short drive from Athens, across one stretch of land that connects the two areas. The Peloponnese is home to historical areas of Ancient Olympia, Sparta and Corinth and is a region of mythical stories, ancient sites, wine production, mountains, beaches and more. My adventure began once I was in my rental car. Yes, they drive on the same side of the road as us but I had heard stories of Greek drivers and their ability to create their own rules on the road. What I had forgotten, once I got out of Athens, is that every sign is written in Greek. Remember when you took algebra and were told that you would never need to use it as an adult? That is how I felt when I learned to sing the Greek alphabet during my fraternity days in college. Of course, I had my GPS ready on my phone, hoping that I could trust it. But, little did I know how useful the Greek alphabet song would be as I navigated through my adventure. With some trepidation, and with the song “alpha, beta, gamma, delta….” in my head, I ventured out on the road.
02 November, 2017
This story originally appeared in California Winery Advisor. When we go wine tasting, so much of what we remember are the experiential tastings. A walk in the vineyard, a barrel tasting, one-on-one with the winemaker and food and wine pairings are all experiences that one will recall once they get home. I found two memorable wine tasting experiences in Santa Barbara that took food and wine pairing to another level. Cheese is the most common wine pairing at a winery. There are also pairings with tapas and chocolates, as well as with molecular gastronomy spoon bites in which an entire meal is deconstructed and then reconstructed into one bite that mimics the dish. I once found a pairing with snack foods. The common theme with most wine and food pairings is that the wine is paired with savory bites. But the key with wine and food pairing is to have fun and try different things to see what will work. So, if you have a sweet tooth, here are two fun wine tasting Santa Barbara experiences - with cookies and cupcakes.
19 October, 2017
This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.
Last week, I wrote about the dry riesling found in Nahe, Germany and the fact that 90 percent of German wine is dry. But fruity, sweet wines do still exist in Germany, specifically produced in the Mosel, Nahe and Rhinegau regions.
When we talk about “sweet” wine in Germany, we are not talking about overly sweet, cloying wines. We are talking about wines of finesse. These are wines with fragrance, fruity acidity and a mineral undertone. We are talking about riesling, considered the king of wine grapes in Germany. Of all the white wine grapes, riesling grapes produce the most intense and flavorful wines.
Unlike the dry riesling which is categorized under the VDP (“Verband deutscher Prädikatsweingüter”) system, the sweeter wines are classified under the traditional Pradikatswein. The levels of sweetness will vary and are dependent on when the grapes are picked. There is trocken (dry), kabinett (off-dry), spatlese (late harvest), auslese (select harvest), beerenauslese (berry select harvest) and trockenbeerenauslese (“dry berry select harvest”).
To differentiate between these different styles, it was best described to me by a winemaker who likened these styles to bananas. Kabinett is described as the perfectly yellow banana whereas spatlese is a banana with brown spots. Auslese is the banana that is almost entirely brown and trockenbeerenauslese is a dehydrated, concentrated banana.
04 October, 2017
This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. When you think of German wine, you most likely think riesling. And when you think of riesling, you probably think sweet wine. Yes, there are sweet styles but not all riesling is sweet. In fact, there are many dry rieslings, and dry wine is what the German people prefer to drink. So, how can you tell when a riesling will be sweet or dry? By the labeling. The labeling of German wine that you might be most familiar with, and the most confused by, is their Prädikat wines, which are based on ripeness level designation, such as kabinett, spatlese, auslese and beerenauslese. But in 2002, and then updated in 2006 and again in 2012, the VDP, an association of Germany’s best producers founded in 1910, established a new classification system based on the Burgundian system of Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards. Germany has four tiers – Grosses Gewächs (Grand Cru vineyards), Erste Gewächs (Premier Cru vineyards), Ortsweine (village level) and Gutsweine (estate wines). Gross Gewächs vineyard sites are where the best dry riesling comes from, and they are noted on the bottles with an embossed GG. The small region of Nahe, as I discovered on a recent trip to Germany, has a vast array of dry rieslings. Nahe, located between the Mosel and the Rhine Valley in southwest Germany, used to be part of the Rhine but was declared an independent region in 1971 and started to get interest 20 years ago. Located at the 41-45 parallels, Nahe is more northern than Canada. The temperature in Nahe is mild, with lots of sunshine and low rainfall, allowing the grapes to fully ripen and be vinified dry. What sets Nahe apart from other regions is its geological diversity. There are 180 different soil types within the 4,000-hectare region. This wealth of soil types includes quartzite and slate in the lower valley near the Rhine, porphyry, melaphyre and colored sandstone in the central valley and weathered soils and layers of clay with sandstone, loess and loam in the higher valley.
27 September, 2017
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