H is is a world very few of us get to enter. Yet the Count lives, some would say he thrives, in his world. I say it this way not to dispar...

W e all have things that propel us forward. For some it is money, power or fame. Even in our little rarefied world of wine, we all have thos...

O ver lunch, I was talking with an older friend. He’s a fan of California wine, really loves Pinot Noir. He’s not a beginner, heck he pull...

L iving in flyover country does have its benefits. You can get to either coast in a matter of hours. A recent weekend in San Francisco, I ...

P osting from the road. In NY, the rain followed me from flyover country. Fortunately that wasn’t the only wet thing in my path.

I n preparation for an interview, I was looking up places I have really enjoyed eating in Italy. Many of these places don’t even have a we...

I had some unused vacation time and thought it might be a good idea to head out to California and “do” a wine dinner or two. I’m writing ...

Welcome to the New California I f you had asked me, so very long ago, when I was a student in the Bay Area, trying to figure out what th...

L est you think this will be the obligatory paean to all things Sicilian, after these last days spent on the island, many things are simme...

J ust so you don’t get the wrong idea, we didn’t drink and drive, and when we did, we always had a designated driver. But we always, alwa...

I ndulge me. Or rather, let me indulge you, dear reader, and share some of the plates we were offered on this recent trip to Sicily. While...

I’ m nothing, if not overwhelmed, when I step away from Italy and into Sicily. I am also liberated. Freed from thinking things are as they...

O f all the places in Italy, Sicily is the one that scares me the most. I have cancelled trips to Sicily because I was afraid something wa...

2 014 has been a crazy year for weather patterns. There seems to be controversy brewing over the quality of the 2014 vintage in Italy. I...

P osting on the fly as we head out of Palermo on our carousel around Sicily. While Palermo was mainly about food and the evolving multi-cu...