I do not generally devote an entire blog post to a single wine, or a single bottle of spirits (unless it’s just a quickie kind of review). But this is different.  Really different. First, a preamble and a bit of a explanation for why I am so besotted with Greenbar’s Grand Poppy bitter liqueur (or “bitter brandy”).  In my work as a nature photographer, my focus for the last year or so has been on my Land/Sea project.  The “land” part of that is centered on California’s chaparral ecosystem.  What is chaparral, exactly?  The technical definition, courtesy of the California Chaparral Institute, is this: Chaparral is a special plant community…

Wine festivals are fun things to go to–an impressive number of wines to taste as you wander at your own pace.  Who wouldn’t have fun doing that? But the California Garagiste Festival, which has its 6th annual event in Paso Robles this weekend, is a little different than your usual wine festival. Why?  Story.  Everything comes back to story (stay with me, I’ll explain).  As I’ve mentioned here previously, and as I detail on my “about” page, story is what took my interest in wine from whatever I could pick up at my local wine shop that tasted good to wanting to know everything about wine, and being able to…