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For my third and final blog about our recent Sonoma wine country vacation, I’ll continue my list of our favorite things about Sonoma and what we experienced while we were there! Bodega Head on the Pacific Coast Favorite Resort/Inn We stayed at two different places during our 10-day Sonoma trip (well, actually three if you include our last night at the Grand Hyatt at SFO airport) – one was a small luxury inn located in Forestville, and the other a larger luxury resort in Heald

Our recent vacation to Sonoma was epic – there was so much to love about the Sonoma valley, coast, and mountains. Last week I wrote about the things that made Sonoma such a great travel destination. This week, I’ll share a few of my favorite things from our visit to this beautiful wine region in California! View from Copain Winery Picking our favorite memories from our Sonoma visit was much harder than I could have imagined, but after careful thought and many conversations wi

Laurie and I recently returned from a 10-day wine tasting vacation in Sonoma, and we agree – Sonoma is our new favorite wine destination! And that’s saying something, given our frequent forays into Napa Valley, our retirement celebration trip to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and other favorite wine destinations like Monterey/Caramel Valley, and Virginia wine country! So, what makes Sonoma so great? Read on to find out! Wine tasting at Paul Hobbs Winery Sonoma County enco

Laurie and I have now been retired for half a decade – it’s hard to believe how fast the last five years have flown by! And we have loved every minute of it, which makes me wonder what all the so-called experts and pundits are actually talking about when they opine on how horrible retirement would be, or is for those who are already experiencing it. Let’s set the record straight on retirement, once and for all!! Enjoying retirement watching the evening sunset from our lanai -

In last week’s blog I talked about my qualifications for a modern-day American hero and introduced two of my heroes – Jose Andres and my dad. This week I’ll introduce my last three modern day American heroes and why they made my list! Bruce Springsteen Bbbbrrrrrrruuuuuuuccccccceeeeee! The Boss, AKA Bruce Springsteen, makes my list of modern-day American heroes. In addition to being one of my all-time favorite musical artists, I hold great admiration for his efforts and abi

We all have our heroes – those people who we admire most and who stand out as having made a profound difference in the world. But who would you choose as your modern-day American heroes, and why? And since this is a food, wine, and spirits blog, if you had the chance to sit down with them, what drink would you share with them? As we celebrate the 4th of July, here are my modern-day American heroes along with the drinks I’d share with them if they joined me for happy hour. Whe

As I get older, I have a much greater appreciation for time spent with friends and family. Perhaps that’s because Laurie and I have much more time on our hands now since retirement to enjoy these opportunities. And there’s one common thread to each of these engagements with friends and family – the communal enjoyment of food, wine, and spirits! There are a lot of important things in life, but none more important than our health and our relationships. In my case, there might b

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with one of the most popular wines in the U.S over the past few decades. The wines haven’t changed over the years, but my tastes and preferences in wine styles certainly have. I banished The Prisoner wines, made by The Prisoner Wine Company, from my cellar long ago. But is it time for me to pardon The Prisoner? Let’s find out! There’s been quite a lot of pardoning going on lately. Biden pardoned a large number of folks during his last days

Ready for more Sarasota-area restaurant reviews? Then this post is for you – part 2 of my spring restaurant review series! In this week’s post I’ll review two new Japanese sushi restaurants, an old school waterside fish house, a Latin bistro in a strip mall, a “kind of pop up” restaurant at Waterside in Lakewood Ranch, and a quick revisit and update of a small family-owned Italian restaurant. Zoto Zoto restaurant, pork katsudon, and the lobster roll Laurie and I have really c

In this two-part spring edition of my restaurant review series, I have an eclectic mix of offerings for you! They include reviews of three new restaurants, an ice cream shop, a bourbon distillery/restaurant, an upscale bistro, an old school waterside fish house, a Latin bistro in a strip mall, a chain restaurant with over 670 restaurants nationwide, and a revisit and update of a small family-owned Italian restaurant. How’s that for variety? Let’s get started!! enRich Bistro

Santa was very good to me this past Christmas. It’s hard to pick my favorite gift, but if forced to do so, I’d have to choose the vertical wine tasting kit that Laurie got me, along with a full bottle of the same wine from Daou Vineyards. Here’s a quick recap of my tasting of these beautiful wines! There are many different ways to taste wines, but one of my favorite options is to conduct what’s known as a vertical tasting. These tastings include samples of the same wine from

In addition to looking forward to eating great food, I also look forward to perusing the wine lists at the restaurants we visit. But truth be told, the wine list is often either an afterthought for the restaurant, or an overthought, ridiculous tome with an overwhelming number of choices. To fix this problem, I’ve developed the necessary characteristics for the perfect restaurant wine list! Wine is a critical component to a great meal. When paired well with a dish, wine enhanc

I look forward to a lot of events in Sarasota that occur throughout the year, but my favorite by far is the annual Forks & Corks Food and Wine Festival that takes place on the last full weekend in January every year! It’s like the planners sat down in a room and said, “What event can we plan that spans an entire weekend, and that Mark Geis would love the most?” I’m pretty sure that’s not how this event came to be, but they nailed it nonetheless! Here’s my report on the 2026 F

Laurie and I just spent the past six weeks enjoying another epic holiday season! We are now winding down from the hectic pace and almost non-stop celebrations but also continuing to reflect fondly on an absolutely wonderful holiday season! Here’s a quick recap for you in case you weren’t here to enjoy it all with us! The 2025 holiday season kicked off for us on November 17 th when Laurie and I decorated the house for the season! We love getting an early start on the festivit

Thanksgiving is almost here, which means it’s time to plan for Thanksgiving dinner and in particular, what wines you plan to serve with your Thanksgiving feast! Here are four fantastic wines that will pair well with almost any Thanksgiving dish! While Christmas is my all-time favorite holiday, I also love Thanksgiving and the fact that it’s a holiday built around a huge feast to be enjoyed with family and friends! Laurie and I adhere to the traditional Thanksgiving menu – n

It’s time to review more Sarasota area restaurants! This time we’ll review a mix of new restaurants, as well as others that everyone raves about that Laurie and I decided we had to try based on the positive reviews. Do our reviews reflect what everyone else is saying? Read on to find out! Dining patio at Michaels on East in Sarasota, FL This summer has been usual and unusual in a number of ways. First, the rainy season came again in full force, with 51 inches of rain since th

Is there anything better than sharing a nice glass of wine with friends? The answer is definitely – the one thing better than that is...

It’s time for the final installment of my restaurant pet peeves blog series! It has felt really good to get all these pet peeves off my...

Wow! I’m surprising myself with how many restaurant pet peeves I actually have – who knew? Anyway, welcome to the fourth installment of...

20 years ago, this past weekend, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana which included a direct hit on the city of New Orleans. The...