Nothing like starting your morning off with a 10 am tasting. We drove up Spring Mountain and began our day in Napa at Keenan Winery. Keenan farms sustainably and in 2007 switched to 100% solar power for its facilities and homes on the property. The day we were there the winery was busy bottling using a mobile bottling contractor. We were met by Amy, an engaging associate who … Continue reading A Day in Napa……………
Summer vacation – Yes!! It was kind of a ying and yang trip. We spent a week or so on California’s northern Pacific Coast at a favorite place of ours – Sea Ranch and a second week inland around Healdsburg. Both are in Sonoma County but as different as night and day. Sea Ranch is a visual sensation of seascape views when the fog holds off, and … Continue reading The Two Sides of Sonoma……..
This is such a terrific wine and extremely hard to come by in Florida. The Wine To Buy has a case or maybe two!!!! Don’t miss grabbing a few bottles before its gone! A while back I wrote about Isenhower Cellars and the very special family behind the wine. You might find it an enjoyable re-read. Road Less Traveled is their Cab Franc. It is such a treat! … Continue reading Walla Walla Wine………….
Amazing prices!!!!! If you like this, don’t miss an opportunity to grab some! Bella One of our very favorite wine stores is The Wine to Buy in Sarasota at 2140 Gulf Gate Drive. Bella often greets you at the door and the owner, Mitch is always on hand. Its a small shop but it is brimming with domestics and imports at sensational prices. And if … Continue reading The Wine to Buy………..
Sunday January 25th, 12 noon at the John and Mable Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota……. The 2015 Forks and Corks was a sellout, an incredible one. In exactly 8 minutes, last November, all 1500 tickets for the event sold. We took an Uber taxi ride to and from the event Sunday which allowed us to be more liberal with tastings for the afternoon and have … Continue reading 2015 Forks and Corks……….
We took a spur of the moment overnight to neighboring St. Petersburg last weekend. Its a city that has been working to transform itself over the last twenty plus years experiencing some starts and stops in the process. It appears to have yet another positive start going on……….. I have long thought of Downtown St. Pete as one giant retirement home catering to a very elderly population. While some of that … Continue reading Old and New in St. Pete, Florida
There is a unique wine shop in Sarasota that I am embarrassed to say we had never been to until last week. It is Sarasota Fine Wine & Tastings. It offers tastings on Thursday and Friday evenings so, at the urging of a good friend, we accepted an invitation to go with him on a Friday evening. The shop is small and well stocked with … Continue reading Friday night in Sarasota…………
One of our favorite Sarasota restaurants is the State Street Eating House. They have a great bar, a casual atmosphere and homemade potato chips that are, the best! We dined there this week with our daughter and one of her friends. Drinks were amazing. The mojito and the mint julep looked like adult snow cones! We shared a very nice bottle of wine with our … Continue reading Dinner at State Street……
A few weeks ago we spent a lovely evening at a Lido Shores neighbor’s wine tasting party. One of the guests, architect Peter Shaw, designed the home when he worked for Jonathan Parks Architects. The spectacular entrance staircase is a concrete marvel. We hired the subcontractor, D and D Concrete Construction, for our home after we saw the stair under construction – one of the best decisions we made … Continue reading Remarkable Design and Wine…….
I’ve attended way too many events where no thought beyond price was given to the wine being served aside from having the word “wine” on the bottle. More often than not, I would find myself declining to take a glass or regretting that I took one. Occasionally I have been charged with purchasing wine for a group, a meeting or an event and I’ve struggled … Continue reading A better “group” wine………
John's Wine Cellar 