Sitting down here in leg warmers by the heater, visions of 4th of July pool parties, hamburgers, and beers seem really, really far away. In fact, I have been dreaming of our lazy days last year in Napa as we sipped fruity Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma, nippled on blue...
You know the type—charming, seductive, a real smoothe-talker. He’s refined, muscular yet has a soft spot. Although it may sound like I am referring to some of Argentina’s very handsome men, in actuality, I am referring to Malbec. I have had it on the brain...
I won’t lie. There was a time when I disliked Chardonnay. In fact, I belonged to that club, you know the one: ABC. Anything But Chardonnay. The mere thought of it conjured up notions of caramel-laden, barrel bombs with little acidity. Or pineapple sorbet...
It's been a long, arduous road with a kazillion corrections and redesigns on the way. But we did it. Whew. Liz Caskey Culinary & Wine Experiences' brand spanking new website and refined, modern look has officially debuted. We are inaugurating several delicious new...
An excerpt from a recent piece I wrote for LAN Airlines award-winning in-flight magazine, IN, the June Edition is all about South American wine. Here, I orient readers with a sampling of Chile's varied terroir close to Santiago (only four valleys out of a dozen!),...
Wine has a meaningfulness no other beverage possesses—beyond water. It can convey history; say thank you; it’s the ultimate gesture of hospitality; and cellaring wines is, for me, a way of capturing and storing their warmth to be enjoyed whenever I wish. A...
As we head into winter in South America, up north, the Mercury is rising. Everybody is heading for the beach, the pool, somebody’s backyard barbecue. Rosé wines have long been associated with beating the summer heat. In fact, they also pair perfectly with many...
Although wine professionals have long been sticklers with serving wines at precisely the perfect temperature in restaurants, among aficionados, there seems to be a confusing gray area surrounding this issue and what works best. A couple years ago, I invested in a US$1...
Two years ago in Chicago, a couple hip colleagues invited me to a little wine bar on Milwaukee named Juicy Wine Co. We gnoshed on slinky Serrano ham and some nutty Manchego while sipping away a Sicilian wine, Tenuta delle Terre Nere, an unbelievably fresh yet earthy...
Ok, so I need to fess up. There’s something I have not been straight up about…wine is not my favorite drink. Water is. As passionate as I am about tasting wine, understanding where it’s born, the hands that touch it, the magic of making it, when it comes down to...
Wine is a living being. Just like the rest of nature, it evolves over time and is vitally dependent on oxygen to live—the cork is essentially its windpipe. In aging a wine, this process happens slowly, usually over many years. However, what if we want to drink a...
You’ve been there. You’re standing in the supermarket, or liquor store, and have absolutely no idea about any of the wines in front of you. You look around. There is no floor help anywhere in sight. You have to hit the road NOW for a dinner party. Ayy, what to...
Can a whole dinner revolve around a single wine? Most definitely. I love working in reverse. On Friday, the whole pretext of the dinner was to crack open my friend Melissa’s ’97 bottle of Beaulieu Tapestry . She sent me the Cellar Tracker ) notes for planning. It...
This coming Saturday, May 2, the tiny little coastal appellation of San Antonio will be getting on its first wine festival from 11am-6pm. San Antonio is about an hour west of Santiago over the steep coastal mountains. In my opinion, San Antonio is hands down...
Don Pedro is frantic. The bodega alarm won’t stop shreking. It is shrill enough to hurt our ear drums a little. He greets us shrugging his shoulders and laughing in surrender. Suddenly there is silence. Meet Don Pedro Rossell--Argentina’s primo maestro in...
Sunday night we came back from what I can only qualify as a mind-blowing four days in Patagonia. We headed down to cover a new gastronomic program called Tasting Chile with the “extreme” fly-fishing/ecotourism cruise called Nomads of the Seas. The objective?...
Entertaining at our place has been on hiatus for the past couple months as work, life, and trips enveloped us and left me wanting to order out, not cook in for a crowd. This past long weekend over Easter in Santiago was very quiet. A small exodus to the beaches had...
You know, it’s really Amazing how close Mendoza is to Santiago. Normally, I just jump on the LAN shuttle and bam, 45 minutes later over the Andes, I am there. However, this time, Francisco and I decided to take the scenic route and drive, something we hadn’t...
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