I wrote a guest blog post about the tour of M. Chapoutier wine tour that the kind folks at Whole Foods organized for us during our foodie fantasy trip. Click here or the image below to check it out. We also took pictures of ourselves all over Europe with a Whole Foods paper bag and I included a less than one minute video of the bags’ adventures.

Whole Foods also organized an amazing cheese tour in Paris. Check back to tomorrow for that post!

I love wine and I love supporting local businesses. That’s why I take every opportunity I can to learn about and taste Texas wines. Thanks to Denise Fraser and the Texas Department of Agriculture Go Texan programs to promote Texas wine, I’ve had many opportunities over the past couple years.
Recently, I was invited to attend Sunset on the Lake in Marble Falls. This event brought together about 20 Texas wine makers and a dozen local restaurants for an evening of tasting. According to TDA, there are over 180 wineries in …

Back in June, Adam and I were guests at the Whole Foods flagship store for a wine pairing dinner with Wes Marshall. Marshall has a column for the Austin Chronicle called Liquid Assets and also writes for the Dallas Morning News, San Francisco Chronicle, and various wine publications. He is now also the author of What’s a Wine Lover to Do?
This was our first time meeting Wes and he is as approachable in person as he is in print. Also, he knows a great party trick (that he demonstrates …

One of the themes on our trip to California was the lagniappe (pron: lan-yap). A lagniappe is a creole word that comes from the American South — probably around New Orleans.
According to author Julia Alvarez, Dominican Spanish la ñapa refers to “the little extra” added on at the end. Just when you thought you’d gotten all that you would get, along comes your ñapa, like a baker’s dozen (13), with one more kiss, one more pastelito, one more mango at the mercado.
The first lagniappe …

Today on the show we had the pleasure of sipping on champagne with the beverage director of Uchi. June Rodil was named Texas’ Best Sommelier at the Texas Sommelier Conference last month. She outperformed 20 of her peers from across the state in a grueling three-part examination involving theory, service for Master Sommeliers, and a blind  tasting.
Click on the file below to listen to the interview:

In case you’re curious, we drank Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Blanc de Blancs that is about $100 at Uchi. Probably one of the few times I’ve had …