Clinton Stark
Clinton shoots videos for Stark Insider. San Francisco Bay Area arts, Ingmar Bergman and French New Wave, and chasing the perfect home espresso shot 25 seconds at a time (and failing). Peloton: ClintTheMint. Camera: Video Gear
Is now the right time for Visa to launch ‘Black’ credit card for $495 per year?
Call me skeptical, but are people ready to line up for a new Visa 'Black' credit card with an annual fee of $495 per year?
There must be some people out there willing to sign up. Either that or Visa's marketing research team is way off, because I keep seeing...
2005 Peju Estate Bottled Merlot – Rutherford, Napa Valley ($35, 88 pts)
88 Peju Estate Bottled Merlot, Napa Valley 2005. Here's an interesting one: a blend of 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah. It works. Nice wine with complex flavors. Bold, blackberry, fruits, and we all agreed nice, firm tannins that keeps it all together. Long finish. $35 — C.S....
A soirée of fine food, wine, music at ‘Toast of the Town’ San Francisco
a grand, European influenced evening, set in the grand Old Memorial Opera House in San Francisco.
Weekly digest #13: Wine, sushi, espresso and ‘The Kite Runner’
Another busy week here at SSC. We are being invited to more events, be they related to the arts, wine or luxury resorts. Suddenly, our calendar has become a challenging, almost Olympic-like, schedule of places to be, people to see. Rushing to Napa Valley the other day, I realized...
2002 Ridge California Grenache/Syrah – Lytton Estate, Dry Creek Valley ($33, 89 pts)
89 Ridge Vineyards California Grenache/Syrah - Lytton Estate, Dry Creek Valley 2002. Here's an interesting one: a blend of 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah. It works. Nice wine with complex flavors. Bold, blackberry, fruits, and we all agreed nice, firm tannins that keeps it all together. Long finish. ...
2006 Tenuta Vineyards Chardonnay, Livermore Valley $18 (88 pts.)
88 Tenuta Vineyards Chardonnay, Livermore Valley 2006. A great wine. Clean, refreshing Chardonnay with a nice balance of lemon and just enough oak to give it that classic California taste. Some citrus such as lemon keeps things fresh and prevent this Chardonnay from becoming a creamy behemoth. Highly enjoyable....
Comparing espresso pod systems from Nespresso and Illy
I recently received a brochure in the mail from Illy, slick as always, promoting their new espresso capsule system, crazily called iperEspresso. I'm not even sure how to say that. It piqued my interest as I know and enjoy Nespresso capsule espresso. So I wondered how this new system...
Science and wine: New “Delicious” muscadine grape developed in University lab
Winemaking has always been known to be part art, part science. You never think about it, swirling, tasting and enjoying that elegant Pinot without a care (except financial) in the world. But did you know that same formula holds true for grape engineering?
Yes, everything from cloning vine stocks, evolving unique strains...
Northstar at Tahoe: Gondola people, Schaffer’s Camp and Peroni beer on draft!
Here's an action-packed video segment of another afternoon at Northstar. This time, join Loni as she walks through the "magic door" and into a gondola on a ride up to the 8,000 ft. summit of the resort mountain and tours Schaffer's Camp.
‘Toast of the Town’ wine and food tasting in San Francisco
How can you not enjoy yourself when surrounded by over 500 premium wines and spirits served up in style in an old theater setting?
Billed as America's "premier wine tasting event", the 'Toast of the Town' is a Wine Enthusiast event (presented in conjunction with the Wall Street Journal) with...
