The Wine for Normal People host gets candid about Master titles, non-alcoholic "wine," and the grape that desperately needs a better PR team. Elizabeth Schneider has spent more than 20 years trying to make wine less intimidating and more fun. As the voice behind Wine for Normal People, she's known for cutting through pretension with facts, humor, and a healthy dose of honesty. I asked her about the wine rules she'd toss, the opinions she'll defend to the end, and where to fin

WineFest at St. Michaels heads into its 18th year in 2027. I caught up with the festival's co-chair, George Wilson, to talk about how it all began, what's new this year, and what's in his glass lately. ✦✦✦ LRS: For people who haven't met you yet, George, please tell us a little about yourself and how you became involved with WineFest at St. Michaels. GW: My co-chair of WineFest, Barbara Svenson, and I got involved at the onset of WineFest in 2009. The town realized no one wa

My husband and I recently took a little trip to Elkin wine country and the Yadkin Valley, which is one of our favorite kinds of weekends: pretty drives, local wine, a loose plan, and just enough “where should we go next?” to keep things fun. Like most people, before we decided which wineries to visit, we did what any modern human with a phone and mild decision fatigue does. We looked them up. Website? Sure. Google listing? Of course. But then came the real test...we checked t

We’ve all been there. Someone hands you a glass of wine. Someone else gives it a dramatic swirl. Then a person across the room says they’re getting “wet stone,” “gooseberry,” or “a whisper of forest floor,” and suddenly you’re wondering if you accidentally skipped Wine School Day One. Good news: you did not. Wine tasting is not some secret language reserved for sommeliers, wine pros, or people who own too many decanters. At its core, tasting wine is really about slowing down,

What the evidence actually says about moderate wine, the Mediterranean table, and why a glass with dinner is not the same as a weekend bender. Pick up almost any newspaper lately and you’d think a glass of wine with dinner is basically a taped-up crime scene. Suddenly, wine is being talked about like it’s lurking in the shadows wearing a tiny villain cape. New York City’s health department even launched a new anti-alcohol campaign called “Buzzkill,” (seriously?), warning that

I've always had a thing for food. I mean, I'm Italian—it's practically in my DNA. Not in a casual, “sure, dinner sounds nice” kind of way. I mean cookbooks stacked in the kitchen cabinets, with the pretty ones displayed like decor, photos and menus studied like literature (not that I always prep the dishes, mind you), but I do have a deep appreciation for anything involving browned butter, fresh herbs, or well-timed lemon zest. But it wasn’t until I started learning about win

One whiff of a tomato leaf and I’m back in second grade in New Jersey — no warning, no buildup, just a clean sensory shortcut through time. It’s like my brain has a “Basement” button, and the tomato plant just hit it. My grandparents, who hailed from Sicily and Naples, are downstairs in their Morristown basement doing what they did every late summer: “making sauce”… except it wasn’t sauce yet. We were bottling tomatoes, preserving the whole season for later, like canning, but

Ready for your next food and wine adventure? With the new LocalWineEvents.com app, great plans are easier than ever to find. There’s a certain thrill in stumbling on a plan that feels like a hidden gem — a wine tasting happening just a few miles away, a pairing dinner that instantly gets dropped into the group chat, or a dreamy culinary trip that gives you something delicious to look forward to. The best plans aren’t just dates on a calendar. They turn into the nights you re

If you run a winery’s social media—or you’re a winery owner managing your own—you may have felt something shift over the last couple of weeks. Your content is still solid. Engagement might even be steady. But new people aren’t finding you the way they used to. You’re not alone. Recently, a large number of wine, beer, and spirits pages began receiving notifications that their Facebook Pages are no longer eligible to be recommended. (Reference article HERE. ) In plain English:

Maria—aka The Wine Blonde—has the kind of movie-star glam that makes you pause mid-scroll...and the wine knowledge that makes you stay. What truly sets her apart is how she pairs that shine with substance, making wine education feel confident, current, and totally refreshing. I brought plenty of questions to the table (as you'll read below) and she answered every single one with so much insight and enthusiasm. I’m looking forward to a day when we can toast to this conversati