Food & Wine — Merlot

Living in Southern California comes with so many perks; gorgeous consistent weather, stunning outdoor environs and a condensed and diverse disarrangement of culinary adventures. This week we choose to focus on one of our favorite culinary niches, the fish taco!If there has even been a great time to be a taco lover, it is now. It seems that with the up-rise in culinary diversity and the increase of small and mobile eateries, the modern taco is breaking all the rules of tradition. The Kogi Truck being the most famed fusion tacos at the moment. Even within the niche of fish...

Take on the holidays with this crowd pleasing dessert and wine combo. Decadent and rich, this is the perfect pie to finish off your meal. Ideal to pair with a Merlot or Zinfandel.Yield: 1 9inch pieIngredients:Pastry Dough 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 stick (4ounces) butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces 2 to 3 Tablespoons ice water Pie Filling 3 ounces butter 1 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup corn syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon good quality Bourbon 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 5 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped 2 cups pecans...

After a few weeks on the road, the Bottle Shop team has traveled from Germany to Spain and finally landed in Bordeaux. Over the course of a few weeks and 7 hotels later, we find ourselves in a quiet place on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. Located just 20 minutes outside of the city center, away from the hustle and bustle, Chateau La France was a welcoming delight at first sight. Here in the country side landscape, the air is fresh, the sky is clear and the terrain is much hillier than the Left Bank. Driving up the road to the...

Delighted Hostess Emilie Borie at Grand Puy Lacoste This past month, the Bottle Shop team spent a whole week covering the En Primeur campaign in Bordeaux, tasting over 500+ wines. During the Spring of every year, the entire region of Bordeaux open up their cellar doors to showcase the latest vintage to the media and trade. This En Primeur or "wine futures" is a system that offers wines to be purchased early while the vintage is still in the barrel. This gives buyers an advantage to purchase wines that have very limited quantities  and difficult to get after they are...