Corks and Caftans

My best friend Casey and his lovely girlfriend, Beth, visited last weekend for some Saratoga shenanigans. Finally—we got some talent behind the lens. He was nice enough to send me the lot so I could share them with C+C readers. We put some miles on our fair town this weekend. If you think the pictures [...]

A proud piece of local news appeared in last Friday’s Saratoga TODAY newspaper—not necessarily surprising, but sometimes small-town recognition can be a feat of its own. Wine Spectator published a list of 3,743 exciting wine lists around the world—8 from our own wine-conscious town alone. The names: Chianti il Ristorante, The Grey Gelding, Longfellows, The [...]

Not a week goes by where I am not dropping by Purdy’s at least twice. Combing over the racks, waiting for something to catch my eye that I may have missed. This past week I noticed an Oakville district Merlot from one of the original Silver Oak founders, Ray Duncan. The bottle that caught my [...]

A $45-$60 bottle for $24.99? Yup. From Silver Oak’s founder Ray Duncan, Twomey Cellars has been producing acclaimed Merlot since 1999. 5 cases of the 2004  are available at Purdy’s in Saratoga Springs for a shocking closeout price of $24.99/bottle. Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV reviewed the ’04 vintage in 2008—he scored it 92+ [...]

I had a bad week of work last week. Well, tough more than bad. Scraped knees, dust-filled nostrils, and trunk full of sweaty t-shirts was the norm Monday thru Friday. But, despite my grungy appearance, I stopped in Exit 9 Wine and Liquor Warehouse for the first time after listening to their radio jingle at [...]

Another update to my Saratoga b.y.o.b. search: Max London’s! Only $10 corkage fee/bottle; one of the lowest prices I’ve found to date. There is no doubt that Max’s is one of the best food spots in town—and done right, it actually can be budget-friendly. 2 appetizers, a brick oven pizza, and a bottle of Frank [...]

Wine dinners just keep coming to our unlikely upstate town. It was a perfect opportunity for Carey to hear the Willamette Valley Vineyards story sans stomach virus and wobbly knees. For me, I was excited to hear it from the boss man’s mouth after missing him on our trip to Oregon. Jim Bernau, WVV founder, [...]

[Vintage fur + J.Crew cords + Golden Goose boots.]

[Theory Juliet sweater  over J.Crew silk blouse + Current/Elliot shorts + J.Crew knee highs + Golden Goose boots + Citrine by the Stones rain earrings.]

Rob, you write the best wine reviews out of any I have ever read. They are a delight. Bravo. Before you ask, I want to state officially that this comment did not come from my mother or mother in-law! Carey and I have some really great readers. This particular comment came from Christine, a self-described [...]

After camping out indoors on NYE (with brief excursion to bang pots and pans in the street), we needed fresh air. Human contact. A bathroom without a litter box. Someone else to pour the wine. When it’s a quiet night in Saratoga, the best place to go is Beekman Street. Just around the corner, it’s [...]

So rarely do you get to step completely outside of your daily frame of reference, into an entirely different realm—someone else’s reality. It’s a busy other-world of names, facts, figures, norms, and dreams that if you didn’t come face to face with, you wouldn’t know were there. It’s no secret that I find the horse [...]