“This is Umbria – Small, bashful. But with an excellence still yet to discover” -Aldo Fiordelli. The soft-spoken and seemingly shy Fiordelli, an Italian journalist and wine writer, used these words to describe Umbria while speaking at the 2012 International Wine Tourism Conference this past February. Those familiar with Umbria know that this “excellence” Fiordelli describes…
Travel
A Cognac Epiphany
When we were both 19 and living in Flagstaff, AZ, my best friend started dating a very tall and nice German guy. As things got serious he invited her to spend the Christmas holiday together, in his home state of Saarland in western Germany, where she would meet his family for the first time. When…
Intro to Umbria, Campania and Italian wine law 101
How do I begin writing about Italy? When I was studying for the Court of Master Sommelier certified exams the country that intimidated me above all others was Italy. Many folks tell me it is France that they fear the most. But for me France was the easy one. France was always my favorite. The…
Terre Margaritelli Winery – Umbrian Hospitality (extended version)
(This is a revised and extended version of an article I wrote for the 2012 International Wine Tourism Conference held in Perugia, Italy earlier this month. To read the original please click here) “We are small. We are new. We want to produce our own wines with our own personality. As a new producer it…
My nine days in Italy – A preview
I have just returned from Italy where I spent nine days exploring the wine, food, and sights with a group of talented (and fun) bloggers, writers, and other media. We were there for the International Wine Tourism Conference where I presented a seminar titled, “A Sense of Place: How to leverage your region and place…
2011 Wine Bloggers Conference in Photos
Cheers and I’ll see you all in Portland in 2012!
Show Me Some Love!
An article I wrote is currently featured on the website Snooth as a part of their “Bloggers Itinerary Contest”. The editors of Snooth asked wine bloggers to write about their favorite wine country itinerary and submit it to their contest. My article is currently in the running. I’ve lived in Northern California, near Napa and…
From Wine Country to Apple Country
Fall is definitely here. I can tell because I wake up every morning and instantly throw on socks and my UGG boots and yearn for something warm to drink. This is my first fall living in New England and since everybody raves about New England falls I figured I had to go do something quintessentially…
The Independent Champagne & Sparkling Wine Invitational: The highlights to a most amazing weekend in New Orleans
This past weekend I went to New Orleans for the first ever Independent Champagne & Sparkling Wine Invitational (ICSWI) thanks to this blog post which ended up winning me the Cork’d grand prize in their bubbles contest. The grand prize included tickets to all of the major events associated with ICSWI as well as hotel…
An accidental day trip to Champagne
*This post was the grand prize winner in the cork’d contest to win tickets to attend the Independent Champagne and Sparkling Wine Invitational (ICSWI). My Most Memorable Experience While Drinking Sparkling Wine Sparkling wine. What can I say? It is the primary reason I drink wine in the first place, the beverage that got me into…
Chef Mavro
… And one of my first major food epiphanies. I’ve had a couple of food epiphanies in my life, but none more memorable than my first experience at Chef Mavro in Honolulu. A few years ago while visiting the island of Oahu I quickly grew tired of the many overpriced mediocre dining options on Waikiki Beach where we…
Yes, Twitter Can Generate Revenue For Your Winery!
I’ve read arguments up and down, left and right, about social media and wineries, specifically whether it is beneficial for a winery to use Facebook or Twitter to promote their brand, and more importantly whether or not it helps to generate revenue, and all I have to say is “why not”? It’s free, and it…
Who’s Your Julia?
I woke up yesterday in a pretty crappy mood. After moping around the house for a while feeling sad, for no apparent reason, I decided I needed to cheer myself up so I treated myself to a movie, Julie & Julia, all by myself. It was “that” kind of day. I’ve been waiting for months…
The Final Day at The Wine Bloggers Conference ’09
The final day of the Wine Bloggers Conference began with three different breakout sessions. I must say I was somewhat underwhelmed with the options: Legalities of Blogging, OR Facebook, Twitter & Other Social Media for Wine Business Monetization of Your Blog, OR Creating a Social Network for your Winery or Wine Business Beyond Words:…
2009 Wine Bloggers Conference Afterthoughts, part 1
It has been almost two weeks since the 2009 Wine Bloggers Conference and I have yet to write about it. It didn’t help that I spent a week in-between in solitude in the mountains near Sun Valley, Idaho. One would think it would be the perfect opportunity to get caught up and write about my…
Wines you want to tell your friends about!
Every once in a while we all run into a local business or find a particular product that we want to spread the word about. For me, my favorite product is wine, and my favorite kinds of businesses to support are (of course) wineries, and I love discovering new wines that you don’t see in…
The Columbia Gorge Isn’t Just for Windsurfers… It’s for Wine Lovers Too!
After years of working in Hood River, OR, it was finally nice to get out and be a tourist this past weekend. Living in Portland, my commute to Hood River used to be 104 miles round trip. On top of long work hours I hardly spent any leisurely time in the Columbia Gorge. So at…