At the tail end of January, we enjoyed a tasting of Codorníu, who pioneered cava sparkling wine in Spain, tracing its winemaking roots back to 1551. The tasting was guided by Matthew J. Kaner, who did a superb job of blending percentages of history, humor and wine. Anna di Codorníu married Miguel Raventós in 1659 and Josep Raventós produced the first sparkling wine in Spain using the traditional method in 1872. Their “new” cellars were completed in 1915. Their first Anna di Codorníu cava was produced in 1984. As you soon realize, history is very important in learning about this producer. Read on…

Just last month, we attended the trade and media session of the Lodi in Los Angeles wine tasting event hosted by Ian Blackburn’s wineLA organization at the Marina City Club in Marina del Rey. We had attended the first Lodi in LA event a year ago and we loved the wines we tasted. This year’s event started off with a very informative seminar presentation given by Stuart Spencer, winemaker at St. Amant Winery, after which we joined the broader group to sample many of the wonderful wines Lodi has to offer. Read on…

This past Saturday, we attended the afternoon installment of the Rosé & Bubbles Festival hosted by Ian Blackburn’s wineLA organization. As with his other events of late, this gala was held at the Leica Flagship Store & Gallery in Beverly Hills and was preceded by an interesting and informative rosé tasting seminar led by Jennifer Simmonetti–Bryan, complete with exquisite paired hors d’oeuvres created by Petrossian Restaurant of West Hollywood. Read on…

Earlier this week, we joined the celebration at the ROCK Stars of Wine tasting event at the Leica Flagship Store & Gallery in Beverly Hills, hosted by Ian Blackburn’s wineLA organization. This event brought together some of the best and most interesting wines from a variety of locations. Read on…

On this Memorial Day, we pause to remember and honor all of our Veterans—those whose sacrifices enable us to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In particular, Leah and I especially remember our fathers, members of the Greatest Generation. Here are their stories. We salute all Veterans today (and every day).

On January 18th, we attended the STARS of Santa Barbara Wine tasting event at the Leica Flagship Store & Gallery in Beverly Hills, hosted by Ian Blackburn’s wineLA organization. The weather outside was wet that evening, but the wines were dry and the setting was picture perfect. Read on…

Two weeks ago, we attended a trade tasting of select Madeira wines hosted by Please the Palate at Citizen, a unique restaurant spot in Beverly Hills. We were very interested in attending because we knew very little about Madeira, except for distant memories of wines that were sweet like sherry and, from our experience of decades ago, bore the image of wines that were either used for cooking or were of more interest to aged grandmothers fighting off the ravages of rheumatism. To our pleasant surprise, these Madeira wines ranged from dry to sweet and were delightful and, frankly, very appropriate for the weather and food typical of the December holiday season.

Madeira is a Portuguese island located off the coast of North Africa in the Atlantic Ocean that has been the site of Madeira production for over 500 years. Read on…