Image via Wikipedia Last night six of us gathered for the birthday celbration of a colleague and friend at one of London's more posh and upscale Indian dining spots, The Painted Heron, in the Chelsea section, not far from the Thames along the embakement. For the past five or six years I've been dining here … Read more
Image of Domaine du Cayron via Snooth The other night I had drinks and appetizers with a few new and old friends at the Pamplemousse Grille, the local spot I can walk to (and from) that just happens to have the best food around. I pulled a few old gems from the cellar– 1999 Gigondas' … Read more
Image via Wikipedia Over the past few years and really over the last decade when it comes to Rieslings I've turned my attention away from Germany and towards other regions of the world that are producing world class versions of the noble grape that are far from sweet. Of those regions that include Oregon, France's … Read more
Image via Wikipedia Talk about a big, thick and heavy—bottle. Well the wine is just as thick, rich and heavy, and yet at the same time, it is one of the most complex wines ever to come out of Spain's Montsant region comes a massive wine, the 2004 Celler Can Blau's Mas de Can Blau. … Read more
Image by Getty Images via @daylife Morgan Peterson is the son of Joel Peterson, the famed Ravenswood master of Zinfandel. Raised on his parents winery, Morgan clearly developed a passion for wine, and over the past two years I've been turned onto his style of winemaking and like other second generation winemakers like pal Ethan … Read more
Image via Wikipedia Last night I dropped by my local watering hole, that just happens to be one, if not the best restaurants in San Diego's North County area. Chef pal Jeffrey Strauss for many years has set the high water mark in the Del Mar, Solana Beach area and is widely regarded as the … Read more
Image via Wikipedia The 2000 La Montagnette is a Cotes du Rhone that was made for importer Dan Kravitz of Hand Picked Selections by one of the better cooperative in France's Rhone Valley in the town of Estezargues. It's mostly Grenache, with some Syrah, Mourvedre and Carignan in the blend from what I recall. It has aged … Read more
Recently my wife bought two bottles of Big House Red at Trader Joes in Sacramento. It was the most recent vintage, likely 2009 and they were in her words, "horrible" with the second bottle worse than the first. What I didn't realize was that Bonny Doon had in the past few years sold off the … Read more
Image via Wikipedia My trip down Languedoc lane continues with this nice nine year old St. Chinian red. As a fan of Mas Champart, it's nice to see other producers making wines of memorable quality from a region that's not very well known on the west coast and where we see so little diversity in … Read more
Image via Wikipedia Last night my wife and I went over to Roy's La Jolla as we were in the mood for Sushi. I'm now home after a long trip, and between GM Brian Lee and Chef Percy, both of whom have been friends, in the true sense of Ohana, for ten years or so, … Read more
