Four Great Champagnes for Your New Year's Eve Fête
If anyone knows high-end Champagne, it's Francois Vera. As general manager of Pour Vous, Vera pours Champagne — whether by the glass or for bottle service — on a nightly basis. As burlesque performance...
View ArticleWhat to Stock in Your New Year's Eve Hangover Survival Kit
Every year the same thing happens on New Years Day. You look at all the pictures you took (and posted) from the night before and you would be washed with a tidal wave of shame if it weren’t for the...
View ArticleFrom Oysters to Lobsters, Pair These Wines With Your Cliche Romantic Dinner
It’s that time of year again: Valentine's Day, a time for going out (… or staying in) with your special someone in the hopes that the evening will end with an a-ha moment of re-discovered passion....
View ArticleHow to Sip Vodka and Pop Caviar on Valentine's Day
With Valentine's Day around the corner, it's okay to ditch the Champagne and chocolate pairings (but if you decide to go that route, read our pairing guide here). Instead, go the less traveled but more...
View ArticleRed Wine May Help Burn Body Fat
Drinking red wine (or even grape juice) could help overweight people burn body fat as well as improve their overall health, according to the best new study we’ve read in a long time. (We’ll take the...
View ArticleThis "California Love" Commercial May Be the Best Winery Promotional Video Ever
Here in California — land of lush vineyards and glamorous Hollywood film production — winery promo videos are pretty much all the same. And they're all lame. Few things are duller than watching someone...
View ArticleHold the Franzia and Two Buck Chuck. Your Cheap Wine May Be Filled With Arsenic
Arsenic-tainted wine? It's not just the fate that befell Napoleon — Californians are unwittingly drinking it, too. Many popular, low-priced brands of wine sold in California contain illegal and...
View ArticleCalifornia Strikes Back In the Battle for Best Winery Video
Earlier this month we wrote that California had been bested when it comes to winery videos, claiming that Pennsylvania’s minuscule Grace Winery had set the bar for creativity with their Great...
View ArticleTrader Joe’s Says Don't Freak Out Over Arsenic in Wine
Responding to a recent lawsuit alleging high levels of arsenic in its Two Buck Chuck, among other inexpensive white and rose wines produced by 28 California winemakers, Trader Joe’s has written “A Note...
View ArticleIf You Don't Know Wine, Watch This YouTube Sommelier
One of the 54 fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People Issue 2015. Whitney Adams is changing the conversation about wine — and the change has less to do with the topic itself than the...
View ArticleTonight: Check Out Cliff's Edge's New Wine and Oyster Night
Thursday nights have long been oyster night at Cliff's Edge, when the kitchen shucks oysters all night long, and from 6-7 p.m. they're only $1 a pop. As of tonight, May 14, new wine director Roni...
View ArticleA New Arts District Restaurant From Matt Molina and Silverlake Wine
Over the weekend, the newest outpost of Silver Lake Wine opened quietly in downtown's Arts District. The wine shop joins its sibling stores Silver Lake Wine in Silver Lake and Everson Royce in Pasadena...
View ArticleThe $100 Bargain Glass of Wine
It's hard out there for a true devotee of wine. There's a whole generation of us who, in the midst of this current democratization of food and drink, have made it our mission to find interesting,...
View Article10 BYOBs With No Corkage in Los Angeles
Sure, the L.A. dining scene is teeming with restaurants offering exceptional wines and craft beer from across the globe. But after adding libations to the bill, prices can soar into the stratosphere,...
View ArticleSmall-Batch "Garagistes" Are Punk-Rock Winemakers Who Don't Play by Napa's Rules
For the last few years, a low-key revolution has been taking hold in California winemaking. After decades of increasingly high-alcohol cabs and syrahs, syrupy-sweet merlots and zinfandels, and overly...
View ArticleA Beverly Hills Hotel Is Helping Normalize Craft Beer in Fine Dining
You don’t often see beer served alongside haute cuisine. While gastropubs and other mid-range eateries have increased the range of their beverage programs to include local and regional craft beer,...
View ArticleThis Investment Banker Turned Video Producer Made Cult Winemaking His Third Act
For those not familiar with the term “cult wine,” it's a wine that’s limited in supply but high in demand. It’s often purchased through a membership allocation list directly from the winery, is high...
View ArticleEsters Is Santa Monica's New Wine Shop and Bar
What makes a wine bar a wine bar? It's a question we posed last year when Marvin opened in Beverly Grove, and it's one that came to mind again when we walked into the high-ceilinged interior then...
View ArticleThursday Night Plan: Guerrilla Tacos at Silverlake Wine
For lovers of Guerrilla Tacos, the usual beverage of choice to go with chef Wes Avila's creations is coffee. The taco truck with a cult following for its gourmet tacos has generally parked in front of...
View ArticleMaven Wine Cocktails Are Everything That's Wrong With Trying to Make Wine Fun
You know what no one has ever said, in the entire history of booze? “This vodka martini is a little too stiff for me; could you pour some chardonnay in it, please?” Wine and cocktails, much like rap...
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