An auspicious day, like an anniversary, is a special milestone. It's a moment to reminisce about treasured moments and rejoice in the beauty of love and union. And to celebrate the special day, there is no better way than to toast the occasion .. Read More
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Found this useful? Marking helpful boosts the author and shapes the “most helpful” surface on the Chronicle home.
Hayden Stewart is a wine director, sommelier, and food & beverage consultant based in San Diego, California, with extensive experience across the wine industry — from vineyards and tasting rooms to large-scale events and private club beverage programs. He holds a WSET Level 3 certification and has worked in sales, distribution, fine dining, and education. Stewart created the @the_angry_somm Instagram account as a satirical, snarky take on the wine world. The persona is designed to highlight what he sees as pretentiousness, hollow buzzwords, and overhyped marketing in the industry. Through humor, irony, and sarcasm, he critiques trends like chasing “rarity, prestige, and heritage” without substance, and argues that popularity doesn’t equal quality. Hayden and his business partner Joe LoBue have started a new distribution company, Paragon Pacific Imports, to create a better way to communicate with small producers and buyers, reaching younger wine drinkers by meeting them where they are,
The road to Ventozelo does not make things easy. From Porto it is the better part of two hours upriver, the final stretch a switchback along the N222 above the left bank of the Douro, where the hills fall away in terraces so steep they look less farmed than sculpted. By the time you reach the gate the estate lies in the parish of Ervedosa do Douro, in the municipality of São João da Pesqueira, you have already absorbed the first thing the place wants to teach you: that the landscape came before the wine and shaped everything that followed. The post Ventozelo Hotel & Quinta – Where the Douro Explains Itself appeared first on Great Wine Capitals .
The "Hamptons of Portugal" If you're still weighing up a summer escape, Comporta, Portugal, deserves a spot at the top of your list, and the window to book is closing fast. With just weeks left before the season winds down, both August and September still offer a chance to experience this stretch of the Alentejo coast, each with a slightly different rhythm.
