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January 2026- Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to one and all! I hope the holidays were a time of celebration, with a few days…
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November 2025 – umbria
In October, we went to Umbria, Italy to visit a friend who has retired there, in a small town called…
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october 2025-fall food & wine pairing
Last week, I served as sommelier at the NJ State Bar Association’s Women in the Profession Section kick off for…
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june 2025 – wines of argentina and chile
In May, I attended an American Wine Society tasting for the Princeton Chapter. The theme was wines from Argentina and…
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may 2025-wine pairing at Illata
In April, I ate at Illata in Philadelphia. It’s a newish restaurant (opened in late 2023) in the Graduate Hospital…
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april 2025 – 47th annual Dionysian gathering
The last weekend in March, I was invited to the 47th annual Dionysian Gathering for the North American Branch at…
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March 2025 – french Alps and portugal
Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Morzine, in the French Alps, to ski for a week with…
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february 2025 – 2024 Governor’s Cup for NJ Wines
On January 28, 2025, Governor Murphy invited the winners of the 2024 Governor’s Cup for NJ Wines to Drumthwacket. Wineries…
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december 2024 – burlington county bar foundation tasting
It’s time for my best of the Burlington County Bar Foundation Wine, Beer and Bourbon Tasting column. Thank you to…
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November 2024 – Wine and food pairing
In September, I served as sommelier at the NJ State Bar Association’s Women in the Profession Section kick off for…
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October 2024 – james suckling great wines italy New York
On September 4, 2024, I took the train to New York City to attend the James Suckling Great Wines Italy…
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september 2024 – boxed wines
Here it is, the wine column that many of you have been waiting for: a review of boxed wines! In…
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wine picks for may 2024
Before I get to my wine picks for this month, I wanted to thank you for allowing me to serve…
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April 2024 – dionysian gathering
As I mentioned in last month’s column, I attended the 46th annual Dionysian Gathering for the North American Branch at…
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february 2024 – japan
In January, I crossed an item off my bucket list: I skied in Japan. Going to Japan has been a…
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January 2024 Wine Pick
In the middle of January, I put together a wine tasting at a title company for realtors and lenders. We…
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march 2024 – dionysian gathering
In March, I attended the 46th annual Dionysian Gathering for the North American Branch at the Flanders Hotel in Ocean…
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december 2023 – wine as gifts
Earlier this month, I was invited to a special afterparty for American Wine Society Members. Around twenty tasters brought a…
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November 2023 – greatest hits
I hope that many of you reading this column came out to support the Bar Foundation’s Wine, Beer and Bourbon…
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september 2023 – women in wine
In September, I served as sommelier at the NJ State Bar Association’s Women in the Profession Section, kicking off the…
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august 2023 – champagne
In July, I was asked to do a Champagne tasting for one of my friends, who was hosting in Malvern,…
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june/july 2023 – dry summer wines
With the arrival of longer, hotter, days, I look for wines that are lower in alcoholic content, but still dry.…
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may 2023 – Chapel Down Winery
As I mentioned last month, in March, I was invited to the 45th annual Dionysian Gathering for the North American…
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april 2023 – slovenia
The last weekend in March, I was invited to the 45th annual Dionysian Gathering for the North American Branch at…
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march 2023 – new mexico
My older brother just moved from Oakland, CA to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque is one of the highest cities in…
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february 2023 -Stokelan Winery
In February, I went to Stokelan Winery for the second time. It was a lesson to me not to make…
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January 2023 – wine & cuisine pairing
I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays, eating and drinking well with friends and family. I had a busy one, but…
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december 2022 – greatest hits
It’s time for my “best of the BCBF Wine, Beer and Bourbon Tasting” picks. Thank you to everyone who came…
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november 2022 – sonoma & napa
In September, I headed out to the Bay Area for a memorial service in San Francisco for a beloved friend…
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aug/sept 2022 – sicilian wines
The 2022 American Wine Society’s National Tasting Project is Sicilian Wines. In July, the AWS Princeton Chapter held their Sicilian…
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june 2022 – rose season
Summertime is here, and with it, Rosé season. (Well, I drink it all year round, but traditionally, there is a…
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may 2022 – two fish restaurant
On April 7th, I finally dined at Two Fish in Medford Lakes. I had made reservations back in November for…
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april 2022 – red wines from new jersey
Last month, I attended an American Wine Society Dinner, where the theme was, “I RED that NJ Has Good Wine.”…
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MARCH 2022 – SECOND VIN
A Second wine (second vin), or second label, is wine made from grapes that were not selected to go into…
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february 2022 – french wines available in the U.S.
I apologize for the briefness of my article this month. I simply ran out of time. I was skiing in…
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january 2022 – american wine society annual meeting (day 2)
Last month (and last year, now), I wrote about Friday’s sessions at the Annual American Wine Society Conference I attended…
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december 2021 – american wine society conference (day 1)
The first weekend of November, I had the pleasure of volunteering at and attending the Annual American Wine Society Conference…
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november 2021 – greatest hits
It’s time for the “greatest wine hits” of the Bar Foundation’s Wine, Beer and Bourbon Tasting, which was back this…
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october 2021 – pinot grigio
Someone recently asked me for a recommendation for Pinot Grigio. This gave me pause, because unless I’m at an event…
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august 2021 – greek wines
I’ve been hiding in air conditioned rooms for the past few weeks, but managed to come outside to meet up…
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june 2021 – armenian wines
In May, I attended one of my first in-person wine tastings (with fully-vaccinated attendees) in months. It was an American…
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may 2021 – vinho verde
After my second vaccine shot at the Gloucester County megasite, I stopped in to see my friend Andrea at Super…
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april 2021 – mary taylor
Last month, we focused on a female wine importer from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Indira Bayer. This month, I want to focus on…
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march 2021 – virtual wine tasting
On February 12th, the Burlington County Bar Foundation held a virtual wine tasting. This was not the first wine tasting…
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february 2021 – aperol spritz
This time of year, I would normally be looking forward to a ski trip. This year, all of the ski…
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january 2021 – lower alcohol wines
Some of you may be planning on having a “dry January” after the excesses of the holiday season, or 2020…
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december 2020 – wines of Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina
On November 15th, I was delighted to be invited to an American Wine Society National Tasting at Capital Grill in…
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november 2020 – sparkling wines for the holidays
My November wine column is usually about the wines that were the favorites at the Bar Foundation’s Wine, Beer and…
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october 2020 – oktoberfest
This time of year, even though Ancestry DNA keeps upping my English percentage, I’m usually enjoying some Oktoberfest activities, such…
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september 2020 – bbq wines
Some of us were able to gather together at the welcome back BBQ held on the front lawn of the…
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august 2020 wine picks
It’s way too hot to think too hard or write too much, so my article will be brief this month,…
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june 2020 – virtual wine tasting
Continuing the theme of trying to conduct business as usual online, I attended my first virtual wine tasting this evening. …
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May 2020 – high quality bargains
I hope that you and yours are all healthy and bearing up sufficiently under self-isolation. Although I’m saving money from…
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april 2020 – chinese wine
Greetings from social-distancing-to-stem-the-spread-of-Coronavirus-land! Unfortunately, I fear that it will be awhile before things are back to normal. I hope that…
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march 2020 – ischgl & Prague
Five months of physical therapy paid off when I was able to get back on the slopes this winter. This…
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february 2020 – food and wine pairing
On a slightly snowy Saturday evening in January, I had the pleasure of being the sommelier pairing wines with four…
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january 2020 – bordeaux and canned wines
This fall, I’ve been to two wine tastings on the completely opposite ends of the spectrum. One was a Bordeaux…
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december 2019 – greatest hits
It’s time for the “greatest wine hits” of the Bar Foundation’s Wine, Beer and Bourbon Tasting, which occurred October 25th…
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october 2019 – oregon wines
I just returned from a visit to Oregon, my first. Along with the obligatory stop at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland,…
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september 2019 – inexpensive summer wines
A lot has happened since my last column. I went to Iceland to celebrate a milestone birthday, fell at the…
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june 2019 – andiario restaurant
In May, I joined five other wine-tasting women friends at one of the Philadelphia area’s top restaurants, Andiario in West…
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May 2019 – rose wines
I have been enjoying the return of warm weather signs: longer days, flowering fruit trees, blooming bulbs, and impressive rosé…
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april 2019 – mencia
Spring already! I haven’t finished my ski trips for the season, and already it is 60 degrees and sunny out! …
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february 2019 – wine and food pairing
One of my favorite ways to use my wine knowledge is pairing food with wine. I’ve had two opportunities to…
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january 2019 – uncommon wines
I am constantly on the look out for wines from countries I have never had wine from before. Unfortunately, I…
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december 2018 – greatest hits
Time for the annual column: “What were the favorite wines at the Bar Foundation’s Wine, Beer and Bourbon tasting in…
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november 2018 – Haro, Rioja Alta
While in the Basque region last August, we took a day trip to Haro, a city in the Rioja Alta,…
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october 2018 – basque region
The lengths I go to, dear readers, in order to discover new delights for you! This August, I went so…
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august 2018 wine picks
I hope you are enjoying your summers, drinking lots of delicious rosé and orange wines like me! Here were a…
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may 2018 wine picks
While I’m writing this, the Flyers are in the playoffs (and probably won’t advance) and the Sixers are in the…
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april 2018 – orange wines
At a recent dinner at Hearthside, I enjoyed an orange wine that one of my friends had purchased in Oregon. …
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march 2018 – france & denmark
This year, my big ski trip was to Val d’Isere, France. They had 17 feet of snow, bluebird skies, and…
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february 2018 – chocolate and wine
Chocolate and wine, wine and chocolate: two great things that go great together. But how far together? In-the-same-bottle-together? Chocolate liquor…
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january 2018 – outer coastal plains ava
First, I want to congratulate Sean Comninos, the winemaker at William Heritage Winery in Mullica Hill (and fellow classmate of…
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december 2017 – greatest hits
It’s time for the “greatest wine hits” of the Bar Foundation’s Wine, Beer and Bourbon Tasting, which occurred October 20th…
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november 2017 – azores
At the end of September, I had the pleasure of spending a week in the Azores, with my friend and…
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october 2017 wine picks
At a recent dinner party, I had the pleasure of seeing the gentleman who taught me advanced Italian wine classes…
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september 2017 – organic wines
I attended a pop-up dinner hosted by a chef friend last night, who prepared a healthy, grain-free, pescatarian, anti-inflammatory dinner. …
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june 2017 – vinho verde
With temperatures in the 80s this week, I am in the mood for a wine that is lower alcohol but…
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may 2017 – rose season
Ah, rosé season has arrived! Lovely pink displays arrived in local wine shops just as the cherry blossoms reached their…
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aPRIL 2017 – fOOD AND wINE pAIRING
I had my annual wine and food pairing event for my sorority alumni association last month, and thought I would…
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VinoBrief
Wine education, reviews, and wine-centric travel blogs from a WSET Level 3 certified world wanderer.
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