We love food. We love wine. But while we certainly enjoy the aromas, tastes, and textures of both, we get even more enjoyment from the experiences surrounding food and wine.  Sure, we love to find and be among the first to try hot new restaurants wherever we travel. And we certainly enjoy the occasional splurge at 3-star Michelin restaurants and truly innovative establishments (we still yearn for our next meal at Chicago’s incredible Alinea). But we are also often very happy to trade off some food quality for a sunset on a beautiful beach, on a mountain with a great view, or at a supper club with interesting entertainment. And, since we are now retired, we are particularly interested in finding bargains.

Our enjoyment of food and wine, however, goes way beyond eating. We also love experiences surrounding them. Cooking, hog butchering, cheese-making classes, tours (ideally combined with tastings and/or meals) at sustainable organic farms, goat farms/creameries, lobstering and crabbing cruises, and even freediving (brrr) for abalone.

We particularly enjoy, and continually plan and make pilgrimages to wine regions. In addition to California’s wine regions, we have visited most of the world’s leading wine regions. We participate in tastings, tours, winemaker dinners, food/wine pairings and special winemaking events, such as harvest camps, vineyard tours, and wine blending experiences. We satisfy many of our current food and wine passions—and develop many new ones—through our affiliation and active work with the American Institute of Wine and Food.

Even we, however, have our limits. We, for example, put our foot down (at least figuratively) when it comes to grape stomping and shooting our own dinner. This being said, we do, however, occasionally go deep-sea fishing. Follow us as we explore our next restaurant or wine region.