Wine and Spirits Travel

A recent trip to New York City had me checking out a new hotel and eating at a place that brought back some old memories – with a little bit of sweating in between! I absolutely loved The James Hotel in Chicago and couldn’t wait to see the brand new James Hotel in New York. I was a bit shocked when I got there as I’ve never seen two hotels with the same name (and there are only two in the chain so far) that were so completely different. In fact, the only thing I found they had in common was the modern furnishings with wonderful displays of artwork throughout the hotel. The trip was a short (but definitely sweet) mother-daughter getaway so the hotel worked great for me. We also saw a lot of couples in the lobby who loved the view and the SoHo location. The ultra-modern design is a continued theme throughout the property, done by the Office for Design and Architecture in a collaboration with Perkins Eastman, and Amanda Sullivan from The James design team. Everything is open and i

I enjoyed some great California Pinots on my trip to Napa and Sonoma , but it was just a drop in the bucket (or, should I say barrel?) to Pinot Days , an event held in Chicago each year.  At just one location, you can taste some of California’s best, along with some wines from Oregon Some of the wines I had tasted before and enjoyed before, like C. Donatiello , Cuavaison  and Inman Family Wines .  Kathleen Inman of Inman not only remembered me from my visit, but gave me a sneak peak of their new 2009 Russian River Valley Chardonnay because she remembered how much I liked that type of wine.  It was one of the best Chardonnays I’ve ever had and for $30 a bottle, I suggest you grab it while it’s available. I sent my friend and colleague, Theresa Carter (a.k.a. The Local Tourist ) to check out more of what I already knew was good and I want on a mission to find some more.  It wasn’t hard at all.  Domaine Chandon’s Pinot Mineur Carneros was excellent, with hints of lavendar, and is u