Yosemite, Sonoma, and Mighty Characters
A recent trip to California taught me about large characters who forever changed our literary and physical landscapes. One wrote of frigid terrain and cunning wildlife, while the others delivered…
Creamy Grenache in Barossa
The Rusden winery in Australia's Barossa Valley produces superb wines, including an excellent Grenache. I had the good fortune to spend time with Christian Canute of this family while in…
Local in Colorado
Seek local knowledge. This advice - demonstrated below - is valuable. The surprise is that today, local knowledge highlights aspects of both worlds - what's local as well as what's…
Black Mesa Magic
Misaligned with reality is the belief that New Mexico, one of the fifty states that comprise the United States of America, is part of the country of Mexico. Yet this…
Moving on from Davis?
When wine mysteriously turns brown in the movie Bottle Shock, the puzzled winemakers visit an expert at the University of California at Davis, who rapidly solves their problem. The university's department…
Cosmopolitan in Kansas
Last week I went to a wedding in Kansas City. My editor, Barbara, married her upstanding fiance named Andrew (and to her credit held no outstanding grudges against his being…
Gratitude
It's April Fool's Day - but this is no joke. I just wanted to give thanks and appreciation to many people I've met during the past years involved in the…
The Red has Run Out
Last weekend I held another wine tasting at the French Club in Islamabad - called "Second Annual Wine Tasting." Simple, right? Only a few people arrived. Which was good because the…
Burnt Rubber
At the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, Marianne McKay chooses a corner of the outdoor café patio in the botanical garden to meet. The weather is warm enough to…
Wine in Asia (not Asian wine)
Here are some food and wine surprises a friend and I discovered while visiting Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand this January and February. (This is NOT about Asian wines - which may be the…