Dr. Liz Thach, MW

How to Plan the Perfect Wine & Art Painting Party

A Wine & Painting Party Can Be Loads of Fun. Photo Credit: Porch.com Contributed by Maria Jose Meneses - You don’t have to be a great artist to enjoy painting. Painting is more active and engaging than streaming a movie and less competitive than board game night. But when you invite your friends and add some delicious wine and nibbles, it can be a blast. Even your least artsy friend will enjoy seeing what they created after an entertaining evening. Preparing for a paint and sip party is a little different than setting up a dinner party or game night. [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-02-01T18:07:51-08:00February 1, 2023|

How Horses In The Vineyard Help Create World-Class Wines At Cayuse

Horse Plowing the Vineyard at Cayuse Winery in Walla Walla, Washington. ANDREA JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY In the Washington State wine industry many people refer to Christophe Baron as the ‘Crazy Frenchman.’ Who else would buy of field of stones that no one else wanted and plant a vineyard on it? Who else would employ massive-muscled work horses to till the soil in the vineyards? But…. who else would become so successful that his distinctive biodynamic world-class wines typically sell out in the first 3 weeks of release each year? Born in Champagne, France, to a winemaking family, Baron studied viticulture and enology [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:21:39-07:00December 29, 2022|

An Exciting 5 Course Champagne Dinner

Billecart-Salmon Champagne Designed to Pair with Food. PHOTO CREDIT: BILLECART-SALMON Some of the most innovative and satisfying meals of my life have been organized around one type of wine. For example, I had a 6-course all Riesling wine dinner in Germany once, and a 5-course Madeira wine lunch on the island of Madeira in Portugal. In interviewing Mathieu Roland-Billecart, the CEO of Billecart-Salmon Champagne House in France, for a Forbes article, he shared this enticing 5-course all Champagne dinner. Even more interesting, he said that it is quite common in the Champagne towns of Epernay and Reims to enjoy these [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:06:04-08:00December 29, 2022|

9 Surprising Dessert and Wine Combinations

Delicious Dessert and Wine Combinations. Photo Credit: Pixabay (Contributed by Marina Copeland) - Pairing wine and dessert can be tricky. Get it right, and you’ll create an experience of gastronomic bliss for yourself and your guests. Get it wrong, and they’ll remember the end of your meal for all the wrong reasons. Following is a list of 9 dessert and wine combinations that are sure to make you a hero. The main guideline to remember with dessert pairings is that the wine should always be a little sweeter than the food it is paired with (see more guidelines at the [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:07:00-08:00December 5, 2022|

The Opus One Celebration Dinner for Collective Napa Valley Event

Collective Napa Valley 2022 November Auction Dinner at Opus One Winery. ALEXANDER RUBIN Multiple auction paddles were raised at an elegant Opus One Winery dinner as part of Collective Napa Valley’s November 2022 event. Tickets to the $2500 per person weekend sold out quickly, as supporters from around the nation, as well as some international visitors, rushed to secure the limited seats. The weekend event, along with online bidding and donations during November, easily achieved the $2 million goal set to fund wildfire mitigation and reforestation. This amount is in addition to the $4.6 million that Napa Valley Vintners has [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-12-03T17:52:13-08:00December 3, 2022|

Pairing Wine With Bugs in Mexico – Crickets and Worms

Pairing Baked Crickets and Worms with Sherry and Sparkling Wine in Mexico. C. MONTOYA Though there are many creative wine and food pairings around the world, probably one of the most distinctive can be found in Mexico. At the recent annual OIV conference (43rd World Conference of Vine & Wine), held earlier this month in Baja, Mexico, both of the ‘Bug and Wine’ pairing seminars were completely booked. “We had over 50 people in the Sparkling Wine with Baked Crickets session,” stated Carlota Montoya, a wine educator and media consultant from Mexico City. “We paired four different sparkling wines with [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:07:57-08:00December 3, 2022|

Gundlach Bundschu Celebrates 160 Years Of Winemaking, Grape Growing, And Humorous Tricks

Humorous Trick to Share Sonoma Valley Wines on Napa Valley Wine Train in 1990. GUNDLACH BUNDSCHU In 1858 Jacob Gundlach immigrated from Bavaria and purchased 400 acres of land in Sonoma Valley, California to plant grapes and start a winery. Today, Gundlach Bundschu is considered to be California’s oldest continuously family-owned winery, with 6th generation, Jeff Bundschu, now at the helm as President. But the winery isn’t just known for award-winning wines, but also for its culture of fun, rock ‘n’ roll parties, and humorous tricks played on fellow vintners over the years. It was also on a Halloween evening in [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:19:50-07:00November 12, 2022|

Tantalizing Tempranillo Wine in Lodi, California

Bokisch Winery in Lodi, CA - one of the major producers of Tempranillo Wine in California. Photo Credit: Bokisch Tempranillo is often referred to as the “Cabernet” of Spain due to its widespread planting and its noble status as the backbone of Spanish reds. It is actually the 4th most planted wine grape in the world yet less than 1000 acres of Tempranillo are planted in California. Enter the Lodi Wine Region of California, where the Tempranillo grape is gaining much acclaim. In fact, there are already 10 different wineries in Lodi that specialize in making wine from the Tempranillo grape. [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-11-12T15:32:33-08:00November 12, 2022|

Sonoma County Wine Auction Raises $1.8 Million For Charity – Totaling $40 Million Since Inception

Bidding at the 2022 Sonoma County Wine Auction at Chalk Hill Estate. ALEXANDER RUBIN The concept of a wine auction to raise money for charity is an ancient one – dating back to 1859 at the Hospices de Beaune in Burgundy, France. Built as a hospital in 1443, the famous medieval building with its multi-colored tiled roof started the tradition by accepting donations of wine from local domains that they sold to raise hospital funds. Eventually it turned into an annual 3-day auction, which is still held each November. This wine charity model has been an inspiration to many other [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-10-09T13:29:33-07:00October 9, 2022|

Donum Estate Celebrates How Wine, Art And The Land Unite To Form Unique Wine Tourism Experiences

Richard Hudson's Heart Sculpture 'Love Me' Dominates Vineyards at Donum Estate in Carneros. DONUM ESTATE BY GREGORY GORMAN When Angelica de Vere Mabray took on the position of CEO at Donum Estate winery in mid 2019, little did she know that the visitor’s center and tasting room would effectively be shut down for nearly a year during the pandemic. But thanks to her 20+ years in the wine industry, a strong background in digital marketing, and a talented staff that was cross-trained to assume a variety of winery positions, Mabray and her team were able to create some of the [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-10-09T13:31:50-07:00October 9, 2022|

Fine Wine Investing: How Cult Wine Investment Finds The Next High Value Wine And Region

Searching for the next great wine investment. GETTY It was a pleasure to interview Tom Gearing for this article. We had nearly a 2 hour interview via Zoom. He was so interesting and so enthusiastic, it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the special world of fine wine investing. This article was originally published on Forbes.com. Republished here with permission. Tom Gearing grew up in the world of fine wine with a father who was an avid collector, so it may not seem that strange the he founded one of the first wine investment firms [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-09-19T15:55:58-07:00September 19, 2022|

The Untold Story Of Helen Bacigalupi’s Wild Drive Over The Mountain To Deliver Sonoma Chardonnay To Chateau Montelena

Helen Bacigalupi at Age 96, Co-Founder of Bacigalupi Vineyards & Winery, Sonoma County, CA. BACIGALUPI VINEYARDS I really enjoyed reconnecting with Helen Bacigalupi again after all of these years. I first met her 9 years ago to interview her for my Call of the Vine book when she was 87, and now she is 96! She is still filled with intelligence, grit, drive, and a fun sense of humor. This story below was first published on Forbes.com, with permission to republish here. Go Helen! There is a well-known story in Sonoma County, California that the majority of the grapes that [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-09-19T15:47:34-07:00September 19, 2022|

Tasting the the Sagrantino Wine Grape In Umbria, Italy

The Historic Village of Montefalco, Umbria Surrounded by Sagrantino Winegrape Vineyards GETTY Ever since I tasted a glass of Sagrantino wine at Vin Italy many years ago, I have longed to visit the Italian wine region of Umbria - the birthplace of Sagrantino. Finally, this summer, I was able to go. In addition, to visiting the ancient hilltop city of Assisi, eating delicious food, and staying in one of the most charming AirBnB's ever, I was finally able to visit two of the most famous Sagrantino wineries in Umbria. Here I met with two winery CEOs, tasted their amazing wines [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:17:03-07:00August 31, 2022|

The Art Of Pairing Wine With Asian Food Taken To New Heights At Eight Tables Restaurant In San Francisco

Nine Essential Flavors of Chinese Cuisine Paired with Champagne at Eight Tables Restaurant JOSEPH WEAVER Pairing wine and food is often referred to as both an art and science. Wine seems to go especially well with local cuisine from the country in which it is produced, such as French or Italian wine with French or Italian cuisine. However, matching wine to Asian food flavors is often considered to be more challenging – especially dishes that have unique herbs, spices and flavors compared to traditional western fare. Yet at Eight Tables Restaurant by George Chen, hidden at the end of a [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:08:30-08:00August 31, 2022|

Tasting History In A Glass With Historic Napa/Sonoma Wineries From The ‘Cool Class’ Of 1972

A Few of the Class of 1972 Wines Served at 2022 Tasting. L. THACH This past week at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, six historic wineries from Napa and Sonoma gathered to celebrate five decades of fine winemaking as part of the ‘Class of 1972.’ Considered by some to be the ‘cool kids of California wine,’ these wineries were part of a cohort that helped to put California wine on the map. With such famous players as Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Burgess Cellars, and Jordan, many of these wineries were established fifty years ago this year, or within [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:19:50-07:00August 11, 2022|

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