M. Senegor

When judging subjective entities such as art, food or wine, most seem blindly beholden to pundits that set tastes and act as kingmakers. Skepticism and critical thinking is at a minimum; so is self reliance and confidence. All this was underscored by a  recent restaurant experience.It turns out that a local chef in a nearby town won a competition in an episode Chopped, a Food Network show. He became locally famous as a result; so did hid restaurant. My wife, an avid follower of the Food Network has been clamoring to visit this restaurant for a while. Since it is[...]

Long time Californians are accustomed to the ups and downs of drought and flood cycles, especially in my area in the Northern Central Valley, dependent on water-hungry agriculture, yet fearful of high water networking around low-land in the Sacramento River Delta. Between years of overabundance and shortage, there are a few, optimal, calm ones.Presently we are three years into an epic drought - all our droughts are, at some point Biblical - and down-in-the-dumps. It is therefore much gratifying to receive elated news that the drought is actually doing some good.It was recently announced that 2014 will go down as[...]

 "It's treacherous out there," said the young man pouring samples of pinot noir at John Tyler, "every year several bikers get killed, mostly mowed down by trucks." We sampled the delicious pinot, the Russian River flowing within, and we ignored the warning. We mounted our bicycles and headed deeper into Westside Road, toward Gary Farrell. No amount of admonishment could counter the allure of  this wine trail.We first rode this road four years ago on a lengthy 45 mile day coming in from the chilly, foggy Pacific Coast at Bodega Bay - on a typical mid summer there - through[...]

A patient of mine gave me a bottle of Rombauer Cabernet Sauvignon as a Christmas present on the eve of her death. She was a diminutive, late middle-aged lady with a raspy voice and cheerful disposition. Many years earlier I had saved her from certain paralysis of her legs with a spine operation, and she was grateful. Thereafter she saw me regularly for lesser, chronic spine ailments. We became friends. In various office visits we discussed family, photography, wine and, most precious to her, European travel. Then one day she announced that she had cancer. When she told me the[...]

I had planned a Napa Valley theme for this blog. In the meanwhile the great Napa earthquake occurred exactly a week ago. I therefore thought I should diverge and first give my perspective on the event. Here in Stockton, 80 miles southeast of Napa it was a non-event. Some felt it, some not. My wife and I slept through it as it hit around 3 a.m.However, epicentered near the town of Napa (in the south valley), it made itself known in lots of nearby but distant locations including Santa Rosa northwest, Vallejo southwest where friends of mine reported a scary,[...]

A San Francisco friend recently posted a Facebook photo of the impressive, multi-course menu you see below, a meal she much enjoyed at the Four Seasons, Maui. She then lamented that she knew little about the wines served. So here is my present to Sibel, a brief blurb about each wine. It will necessitate a whirlwind tour through Italy.A bunch of appetizers, mortadella crostini, caprese balls and salami arancini balls,  were paired with prosecco, Italy's champagne. Well, not quite! Hailing from the Veneto and Fruili-Venezia-Giulia regions (Verona, Venice &; Trieste being the main cities), prosecco is made from the varietal[...]