Whenever I tell someone I am going to “Wine Women & Shoes” I get an array of reactions, ranging from, ‘what is that?’ to ‘that sounds like the most fun ever.’ Well it is the most fun ever. And after more than 150 events and raising more than $20 million for local women’s charities across the country, Wine Women & Shoes (WW&S) has become a phenomenon since launching 10 years ago. Elaine Honig developed the idea for a different kind of fundraiser while she was at Honig Vineyard & Winery in Napa Valley. She wanted something more than the same old boring wine and food pairing event. Mary Kay FunPhotography.US “I remember sitting down with Kristin Belair, our winemaker at Honig and saying okay, I’ve got this crazy idea about pairing wine and shoes,” she explains. “Kristin immediately began riffing on pairings. The classic black pump goes with a classic…
The Birth of a Wine Culture in South Korea
How do you create a wine culture where none exists? South Koreans have had a long history of a drinking culture, favoring Soju, a distilled spirit similar to vodka but very cheap. Wine was not on the table, not even in five star restaurants or hotels as recently as the 1990s. That didn’t deter Hi Sang Lee. He is a very patient man. He wanted to share his newly found love of fine wine with friends in Korea. Lee’s wine moment happened on a ski trip with friends in Stowe, Vermont. Up to this point Lee really wasn’t a drinker. One of his wine loving friends opened some good French wine. “It was like paradise,” Lee says, and the wine bug bit. He began buying wine, storing it in a friend’s basement. But he had a problem. How to get it back home to South Korea? “So I started a…
The Pied Piper of Napa Valley
For David Pack, legendary musician, Ambrosia lead singer and Grammy award winning record producer, his latest project, Napa Crossroads, is one he’s been dreaming of for 30 years. That’s when he first started visiting wine country. He calls Napa “my secret place, my magic spot, heaven on earth.” The wine bug bit David, and he says “I was one of those geeky guys who would boil off the wine label and put them in a book with tasting notes.” He learned as much as he could about grape growing and making wine, reading books and talking to everyone he knew. David still has those wine journals. A fortuitous meeting with Jeff Gargiulo, owner of Gargiulo Vineyards in Oakville started David’s journey to producing Crossroads. He was performing at the winery’s harvest party in 2005, where David Duncan, CEO of Silver Oak Cellars also happened to perform with some other local…
New Indie Scents Shine At Artisan Fragrance Salon
He’s the perfect Olfactory Ambassador. Meet Mario Tomas and you’ll quickly learn he loves martinis. “Jerry my partner and I are known for our martini glass collection and our martinis,” says the budding perfumer during his debut at the Artisan Fragrance Salon. This is the third year of the Salon in San Francisco, put on by TasteTV, the same people who bring you the International Chocolate Salon, held at the same time. Many of the perfumers were inspired to create wickedly delicious chocolate inspired scents. Olfactory Ambassador Passionate, with an infectious smile and charming manner, Mario’s new perfume line, Olfactory Ambassador, was an immediate hit with judges and fragrance lovers alike. I was one of the judges and I loved his packaging — using mini martini shakers painted black as snifters for each of his three aromas. “Ever since a kid I’ve always loved fragrances,” he says. I love Mario’s…
GourmetFest Brings Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams to Carmel
Twenty five chefs creating gourmet feasts. 70 cases of Champagne poured. 10 kilos of caviar consumed. All in four days. I can’t resist. As cliché as it is, the “Champagne wishes and caviar dreams” tagline made popular by Robin Leach’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, just feels like the perfect way to sum up the experience at GourmetFest. Inaugural Event For a first time event, GourmetFest went off seemingly without a hitch during its inaugural weekend in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The weather cooperated beautifully, and Carmel was easy to navigate, not just by foot, but thanks to shuttle service provided by event organizers. You can tell this isn’t the first rodeo for David Fink, Mirabel Hotel & Restaurant Group CEO and organizer of GourmetFest. He was part of the team that started the Masters of Food and Wine event at the Carmel Highlands Inn, a few miles south down the coast…
Wine Gets Naked With Randall Grahm
“I’m always interested in alternative ways of doing things,” says Randall Grahm, winemaker behind the often irreverent Bonny Doon Vineyard label, a fervent Rhone Ranger, and author of Been Doon So Long. The latest alternative way of doing things for him is joining Naked Wines, a crowdfunded virtual winery. Randall started making wine for Naked when Naked launched in the US about 18 months ago. Naked had already been up and running in England for five years. Randall’s already got an established wine business and name, so what does he get out of going Naked? “It’s an opportunity to play around a little bit, an opportunity to make some odd ball wines,” he says. Wines like Mutiny on the Bonny Grenache Blanc and the (G)renache Spot, all under the Randall Grahm label, not the Bonny Doon label. The other thing he gets out of Naked, Randall says, is having a…
An Aromatic Afternoon in Carmel
I always love walking around downtown Carmel. It’s fun to go down the little alleyways off the main roads or pop into courtyards hidden from street view. That’s where you’ll find Ajne, an organic perfume apothecary that’s tucked into a peaceful courtyard with a gurgling fountain. This is a gem of a boutique, filled with natural scents and skincare, all beautifully displayed. I could spend hours in here, and I always discover something to add to my perfume collection. Last time I was in Ajne, perfumer Jane Hendler had just released Big Sur, a warm, sultry scent with champaca, patchouli, rosewood, sandalwood and vanilla. It has become one of my all time favorite perfumes. On this visit I was really liking Desir, one of Jane’s first fragrances. The notes are Moroccan jasmine, sandalwood, oud and cacao. Calypso was intriguing to me — it has frangipani, jasmine, cardamom and vanilla -…
A Nose for Wine at Morlet Family Vineyards
“These are my diplomas from Galimard.” Luc Morlet and his wife Jodie proudly hold up not one, but two certificates he earned at the Galimard Perfume Factory in Grasse, France in 2008. “I liked it so much I went back a second time,” he says. For two days this Napa Valley winemaker learned the art of perfumery and blending fragrances at Galimard’s Studio des Fragrances. Aromatics, you see, are a driving force in Morlet’s winemaking at Morlet Family Vineyards. It shows in a wine he calls La Proportion Dorée. “The Golden Ratio,” as this wine is named, “is the concept of three, a pyramid with the Semillion being the strong base, then Sauvignon Blanc in the heart and the point is Muscadelle,” Luc says. By the time Luc went to Galimard he had already developed this blend, but the reason for it made sense after he learned about how perfume…
Wine For Your Skin: 29 By Lydia Mondavi
Say the Mondavi name and one word pops into your head – wine. Another word should come to mind too – grape seeds. That’s right, those beneficial, high in anti-oxidant little seeds, which add tannin and flavor to red wine, are about to go big time. Lydia Mondavi isn’t a winemaker, she’s a skincare and cosmetics expert. She’s bringing all the goodness of the grape seeds from Napa Valley to your skin on a Target shelf near you. This month 29 by Lydia Mondavi rolls out nationwide at Target, part of the retailer’s new luxury beauty beauty department. “They called me out of the blue,” Lydia says, explaining how the collab between her established skincare and makeup line 29 Cosmetics and Target came about. Her brand was selling well at Cos Bar in Aspen, Co., and the Cos Bar owner, who has partnered with Target on other projects recommended 29 Cosmetics.…
Tweeting Up Wine with the Whole Foods Wine Guys
For the past two years my Twitter feed has lit up on certain Thursday nights with chatter about wine with the hashtag #WFMwine. Yes, WFM stands for Whole Foods Market, and the upscale grocer has been sponsoring Twitter chats on wine once a quarter for the past two years. Whole Foods invites me to participate, and I’ve put out 119 tweets over 6 sessions. To me it’s a fun way to connect, try some new wines and find out what others think in real time from around the country. The Twitter events are hosted virtually by the Whole Foods Wine Guys, Doug Bell, based in Atlanta, and Master Sommelier Devon Broglie, based in Austin. Full disclosure, Whole Foods provides me the wines as samples for the tastings. Ok so I get something out of this (more than just the wine of course), but I was wondering, what does Whole Foods…