Wine Stars

Wine Stories and News for the Young at Heart

A Conversation With Sommelier Tonya Pitts On Wine/Food Pairing

Tonya Pitts, Sommelier and Wine Director of One Market Restaurant, CA. HARDY WILSON Tonya Pitts grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and remembers her grandmother and great-grandmother enjoying a glass of red Manischewitz wine with dinner each evening. Fast-forward to today where Tonya Pitts manages a 600-bottle wine list at the acclaimed One Market Restaurant in San Francisco, and was recently named ‘Sommelier of the Year’ by Wine Enthusiast’s 2022 Wine Stars Awards. In a recent phone interview, Pitts shares some of her insights into the art of wine and food pairing. She also comments on the importance of Black [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-03-07T16:04:46-08:00March 7, 2023|

6 Tempting Wine Cocktails For Valentine’s Day

Tempting Wine Cocktails for Valentines Day. Photo Credit: Getty While you can never go wrong serving champagne or sparkling wine for Valentine’s Day, sometimes it is better to get a little more creative and serve a tantalizing wine cocktail. After all, wine has been used as a base for cocktails as far back as the ancient Greeks and Romans, who used to add honey, spices, and different types of fruit to wine. With this in mind, we consulted six wine experts and sommeliers who provided six recipes for some of their favorite wine cocktails. These are ideal to serve as [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-02-12T09:14:33-08:00February 12, 2023|

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|

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|

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|

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|

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 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|

Hot Wine Trends In the U.S. Market for 2022, Dollar Sales Up in 2021

Shopping for Wine in a Grocery Store. UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES A 2022 Gomberg & Fredrikson report, based on government tax paid data, shows that U.S. wine dollar sales in 2021 a surprising 16.8% over 2020. Total wine sales, including domestic and imported wine were $78.4 billion, compared to the previous year’s figure of $67.3 billion. Yet the reasons behind these increases suggest the wine industry still needs to focus on being more innovative and reaching out to new wine consumers. Fortunately, some of the most popular wine categories of 2021 point the ways to hot trends to consider capitalizing [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-08-11T16:47:20-07:00August 11, 2022|

Duckhorn Portfolio CEO, Alex Ryan, And Team Discuss The IPO Journey And Lessons Learned After First Year

Alex Ryan, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman for The Duckhorn Portfolio. THE DUCKHORN PORTFOLIO, WILDLY SIMPLE PRODUCTIONS Duckhorn Portfolio Inc. (NYSE: NAPA) posted its third quarter earnings today for the three months ending April 30, 2022. Since its successful IPO on March 18, 2021, with an initial stock price $15 per share, the portfolio of 10 luxury wine brands ranging from $25 to $200 per bottle, has performed admirably. Today’s financial results support this trend with net sales of $91.6 million, an increase of 1.3% versus the prior year period, and adjusted EBITDA was $32.9 million, an increase of 2.9% [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-07-02T15:23:18-07:00July 2, 2022|

Rare Video Interview With Ernest Gallo Reveals Rags To Riches Story Of The World’s Largest Wine Corporation

Marvin R. Shanken and Ernest Gallo in 1999 Interview. KENT HANSON/WINE SPECTATOR In 1933, upon the death of their father, Ernest and Julio Gallo took over the family vineyards in Modesto, California, and discovered that they had been mortgaged to the hilt. “My father left the small vineyards hopelessly in debt,…and we were on the verge of losing them,” commented Ernest Gallo, in a rare video interview with Marvin Shanken, Editor & Publisher of Wine Spectator. “We thought that by going into the wine business - taking the crop and converting it into wine - we could probably get enough to [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-06-04T16:35:45-07:00June 4, 2022|

The Roots Fund & Zachys Raise Over $400,000 At First Annual Charity Auction Benefiting Diversity In The Wine Industry

The Roots Fund Charity Auction - Tahiirah Habibi, Carlton McCo…n PC: KYLE HUEY KHueyMedia The Roots Fund and Zachys wrapped up their first annual charity auction in support of The Roots Fund’s mission to address the lack of diversity in the wine industry. The gala raised over $400,000 from auction lots both available in-person and online and will help to create more education, mentorship and job placement opportunities for communities of color in the wine industry. As the first charity auction of this magnitude, the evening unveiled a large sommelier team of color, showcasing the essence of leading with change [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-05-03T13:49:50-07:00May 3, 2022|

Champagne Telmont Decreases Weight of Its Bottle to Reduce Their Carbon Footprint

Champagne Telmont Bottles. Photo Credit: Telmont Champagne bottles need to be remarkably strong in order to contain the 6 atmospheres of pressure that is built up from the bubbles. This is around 2 times more pressure than a car tire! However, the weight of the glass bottle and transport of bottles is one of the largest components of the wine industry's carbon footprint. Now Champagne Telmont has found a safe way to decrease the weight of their bottle from the current weight of 835 grams to an even lighter bottle, weighing 800 grams. Though the carbon footprint of each wine [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-04-08T11:37:25-07:00April 8, 2022|

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