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Category: Travel

Napa Valley: A Wine Lover’s Playground Pt 1

Last week, I had the good fortune to be one of twenty-nine writers to attend the inaugural Wine Writers’ Educational Tours conference. It was held in Napa Valley, California. Over the course of forty-three classroom hours in four days we visited nine wineries, walked four vineyards, and tasted over 130 wines. We learned from fifty of Napa Valley’s best and brightest winemakers, winery and vineyard owners, vineyard managers and wine educators. As if that is not enough the sampled wines included 23 grape varieties from all 17 Napa Valley AVAs*. They ranged in age from 40-years old to just bottled. While I was…

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New Wines and Great Food

Even as someone who thrives on trying new places, I still need to visit some of my old haunts now and then. It is fun to see what new wines they are pouring and to try something new on the menu. In this post, I am sharing two such experiences. The first is about the incredible new wines I found. The the second a fantastic take on “Eggs Benedict.” @goat.sheep.cow.north One of my favorite old haunts is the wine bar and fromagerie goat.sheep.cow.north. “Old” here is a relative term because it has not even been open for two years yet. No matter…

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Bistro À Vin and Pannakakor

Oy, what a delightful but packed full weekend. It started on Thursday with the soft opening of the newest wine bar in Charleston, Bistro À Vin located at 40 Archdale Street in the heart of the shopping district just a block or so off King Street behind Charleston Place Hotel. On Friday, I had to begin preparation for my Dinner for ten on Saturday evening. Then I had my Saturday morning wine class which was awesome learning about several regions in France and blind tasting two wines. I am getting better at this but still not great. Saturday’s dinner party…

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Charleston Wine and Food Festival – Part 2

I know it has been a couple of weeks since the Charleston Wine and Food Festival ended but I still wanted to share my experience in the Culinary Village because it is such an essential aspect of the festival. So here is my take on the Village. Let me say from the outset that I had a blast on Sunday and I will definitely be back next year. There are a few aspects of the Culinary Village where I offer what I hope is seen as constructive criticism. That by no means is a bad thing just my humble opinion…

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Charleston Wine and Food Festival – Part 1

The Charleston Wine and Food Festival (CWFF) has been a mainstay event in town for the past 13 years, but I had yet to attend.  The event tickets are pricey and can add up quickly if you want to dig into the festivities. I decided this year I would stick my toe in the water and go to a couple of events and I am sure glad I did.  Much of my experience this year was through connections with passes, but that will change next year because this was an absolute blast. This year’s festival started on Feb. 28th and ran through to March…

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Joey Tomatoes Rocks The Italian Deli

As someone “from Off,” (aka not being from Charleston) I used to laugh when Charlestonians would say they never go to Mount Pleasant. It is just too far.  It’s 10 miles to Whole Foods and 15 miles to the nicest shopping mall in the area if you still do that sort of thing. So really it is “not far.” But now after 14 years, I have found myself saying the same thing. That is until I found Joey Tomatoes. They say “the best Italian deli south of Jersey.” And since the owners are from New Jersey, they may be biased, but they…

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Felix Cocktails et Cuisine

Thursday Evening: Part Deux (two) Rarely does the ambiance and interiors of a restaurant transport you to the place of inspiration as much as the proprietor desires. That is not the case at Felix Cocktails et Cuisine on upper King St. While it is nondescript on the outside, it is perfectly French on the inside from the art and decor to the tables, the music and the uniform for the staff.  Oh yeah, and then there is the food which completes the journey. The only thing that could make it more authentic is a staff with French accents, but that just…

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Slovenian Wine Tasting at EO Exchange

Thursday evening was a great night to be a wine and food blogger. My friend Karen and I started our outing with a stop at Edmunds Oast Exchange for the Thursday evening wine tasting. This is a super deal and should not be missed. You make a $5.00 donation to the charity of the week, and you taste four wines in a walk-in style tasting. Ask all the questions you have running through your brain. Then buy some wine. They have excellent volume discounts. This week they were tasting Slovenian Wine from Movia. After the tasting, we headed to Felix Cocktails et Cuisine for…

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