Food and Beverage Articles

81) Product Review - Umi Lucky Character Travel Tea Set

Overall, if you are new to travel tea sets, this is a great option to start with.

80) Time to Evaluate some Gamay

Thinking about picking up a Gamay to consume? I sampled a great Gamay that pairs with a variety of foods.

79) Explore Gamay during the Summer - Part one

I love sitting outside in the summer drinking wine and Gamay is one you should consider trying during the warmer weather.

78) I Found a Great Grenache

After an exhaustive search in poor weather, I found Grenache. The question is how did it pair with my Rib eye steak and beef tallow French fries?

77) Look to Discover Grenache as a Red Option

Grenache is a great red varietal to discover. It produces great, affordable wines, incredible roses, and pairs well with Mediterranean flavor profiles.

76) I made a quest to fine a Gran Reserva Tempranillo

I went on a trek to find a Gran Reserva to showcase. I found several gems at Total Wine and two of them did not disappoint on flavor and affordability.

75) What I love to Drink this Time of Year

The holidays are close and it can be confusing to select something to drink. Here are my suggestions for what I enjoy over this period.

74) Let's look at these Yummy Tempranillo Finds

This week, I review one Tempranillo Crianza from 2020. This is a juicy fruit filled wine with large tannins and acidity making it a perfect choice for food items.

73) It's Time to Fancy Tempranillo for Enjoyment and Value

Tempranillo is one of my favorite varietals to drink. I love the low tannins from ageing, along with its unique aroma and flavor profile when paired with food.

72) Pinot Noir at Thanksgiving Makes me Happy

Today's article reviews two great Pinot Noir wines for Thanksgiving. I'm super excited to share with you my thoughts along with assisting you with your meal.

71) Pinot Noir has to be the Best Thanksgiving Wine.

Part one of how good Pinot Noir is from a grape variety to the options you have. Plus it's almost a perfect pairing with most Thanksgiving dinners.

70) Is Lambrusco the GOAT of Wines?

Part two of Lambrusco is reviewing two wines and giving some food pairings. Both of these wines have so much potential for enjoyment and pairings.

69) Lambrusco is a Tasty Red - Part One

Lambrusco is a red wine you may have tried before but didn't know. It's a great transitional red for white wine drinkers.

68) I Love Fall Weather and Red Wines

I'm starting a new series of articles showcasing red wines. We are moving into Fall so it seems natural to talk about wine selections and food pairing.

67) Exploring Mi with Wine Battleship in Mind

My latest visit to the Traverse City area to look at TEXSOM awarded wine. The wineries, food and breathtaking scenic views from this area are worth the drive.

66) Battleship and Wine is a Unique Perspective

At TEXSOM, I was exposed to the concept of Wine battleship. It's helped me look at more aspects when I examine wines based on perspective.

65) The Emotion we want when buying wine - Part Two

Part two of exploring the importance of emotion and beverages. We need to let out more emotions as we enjoy life and our beverages as they affect us daily.

64) The Emotion we want when buying wine - Part one

After returning from TEXSOM, I've realized how important emotion is involved with beverage purchases.

63) Aged Wine – The Unique Experiment

Working with the Media Team at TEXSOM, the question came up on why we do not age our wines longer. Aged wine can be a great experiment to try at home.

62) How to Prepare for TEXSOM

I'm so looking forward to attending TEXSOM. Here's a quick guide to what I'm bringing to ensure that I can take notes and enjoy the conference fully.

61) How to Bring People Together? Dinner and a Magnum!!

I opened a cherished Magnum with friends recently. While the food and wine were amazing, it was all about the experience of bonding over a meal and enjoyment.

60) I Love White Ports in Summer.

I had the opportunity to rediscover my love of White Ports. These are amazing, especially paired with summer fruits or drinking and enjoying on their own.

59) Caviar and Vodka - Does it Live up to the Hype?

I wanted to see how good everyone says that Caviar and Vodka is. Using Domaine Caviar and Dripping Springs Vodka, this is a match made in heaven.

58) Drinking Temperature is Very Important

A question from my son brings up an important aspect related to temperature. Drinking temperatures of wines are exceptionally important for their enjoyment.

Yellow and Red Round Fruit on Brown and White Weighing Scale

57) Use your favorite dessert for ultimate Wine Balance

An insight into wine balance. By choosing your favorite dessert, I'm able to determine what you like in sweetness, acidity and tannin to select a wine for you.

56) You need to try Malbec and BBQ

One of the best food and wine pairings is Malbec and BBQ. Today's article explores a bit of history of the grape and why it works well with BBQ.

55) Caviar at its Finest Delivered to your Door.

Sparkling wine and Caviar work amazing with each other. However, here's the key steps to fully enjoy Caviar and how it pairs with a great Cava.

54) Time to Play with Prosecco

I've picked out a Prosecco that is available in most markets. LaMarca makes a great affordable Prosecco with great mouthfeel, aromas and flavors to match foods well.

53) How to review a Sparkling Wine Cheat Sheet

A quick note on how to review and serve sparkling wines. Served correctly, they bring a higher level of quality for your enjoyment.

52) Sparkling Wines are not for Special Occasions

There is a bit of mystery around Sparkling wines. Today's article is an overview of the different styles, what I prefer to purchase and some great links.

51) Back to the Basics of Wine - Part Two

The second part of showing you the basics of evaluating wine. Understanding where to pick up sensations on the palate is key to locating components.

50) Returning to the Basics - Wine Evaluation Part one

After a presentation this week, I've decided to go back to the basics. This article shows my system for evaluating a wine by asking simple questions.

49) Wine Analysis Overview - The Good Stuff - Part Two

The second part of my wine analysis. I return to earlier articles listing the important takeaways to help you unlock the secrets of understanding a wine.

The black tasting glass with company symbol

48) Placing it all Together - Wine Analysis Overview - Part One

An extensive overview of wine analysis. I return to earlier articles listing the important takeaways to help you unlock the secrets of understanding a wine.

47) TEXSOM Retreat is the Best Experience

I'm honored to be invited as a mentor for the TEXSOM Retreat in Dallas. Here's an overview of the experience and the passion of the people involved.

46) Wine Flavor is Completely Independent and Unique

Determining a wine's flavor may be uniquely difficult. This article gives you some tips and tricks to make it easy to figure out and explain to others.

45) Focus on Matching Body for Perfect Pairings

Body in beverages is a concept that we all know but do not think about. It's exceptionally important to understand for wine selection and great food pairings.

tannin cover photo with grapes, wood, and wine

44) What in the World is Tannin?

While tannin is an acid, it plays an essential part of a wine's overall profile. I discuss the types of tannin, how to detect them and how to pair with food.

43) Learning to love Wine Acid

Today's article helps to explain the types of acid found in wine, how to detect them and how to use them to assist with pairing different foods.

42) Please let's keep Sweetness Simple.

Sweetness in wine is easy to determine once you know the simple method to detect it. We discuss how to find out how sweet your wine is and why its important.

41) Lemons are the secret to unlock mouthfeel.

A discussion of how to use simple terms to describe mouthfeel in wine. This can be daunting but using the highlighted words is the secret to makes it easy.

40) How Potato chips can help unlock Mouthfeel.

There is an amazing link between mouthfeel (aka Texture) and how it can unlock a new dimension in beverages.

39) A great exercise on how to find aromas.

Here is a great exercise using an available wine to test out how you can find aromas. Give it a try to see how many aromas you can find compared to my notes.

38) Bell curves and wine? What's the Link?

We tackle the problem of how to find numerous aromas in a glass. Using a bell curve can help.

37) Donuts help to Unlock Aromas.

Following up from How important are aromas, we dive into how to use memories (such as donuts) to help unlock aromas in wines.

36) How important are aromas?

How can we use our experiences to help determine aromas? This article explains the basics of an unique approach that is easy to understand and use daily.

Founders KBS Chocolate Cherry Flavored Barrel aged Imperial Stout

35) Founders and Valentine's Day makes for a great pairing.

At Kalamazoo Bourbon Fest, I sampled Founders Chocolate Cherry Imperial Stout. It's an incredible beer that can pair with great dishes for Valentine's Day.

34) My Way to use Tea for Relaxation.

I was recently asked what teas can help with relaxation. After careful thought, I came up with two different ways that teas can relax us.

picture of raspberry lemon drop cocktail

33) How to make Homemade Raspberry Vodka.

On a whim, I decided to make homemade infused raspberry vodka. Here is the recipe to make it, a great cocktail recipe to make and what foods pair with it.