First of all, thanks all of you for reading! We have worked hard to make this a universally legible format, that accommodates multiple email programs. Hopefully you like what you are seeing.
As it turns out our template designers at Mail Poet are in agreement and recently chose The Sommelier Files to be featured on their Showcase page! Check out the creativity of all the winners and read more details at the Mail Poet Blog.
Cheers! Christopher
The 7th Annual “Stars Under the Stars” Outdoor Film Festival at St. Francis Winery finishes off the season with an evening at “Jurassic 
Park”! Perhaps not the scariest film of the season following last week’s political fare but definitely a freak fest for the whole family. I will be there as your festival sommelier to pair St Francis’ world class wines with world class films. Starts at 7pm.
Jurassic Park
Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern & Jeff Goldblum (1993)
Pre-show concert by: Band Camp
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Featured Wines
$10 per glass (Includes a keepsake St. Francis logoed glass) | $8 Refill
2014 Chardonnay, Wild Oak Vineyard, Sonoma Valley
2014 “Old Vines” Zinfandel, Sonoma County
Admission & Popcorn are Free!
Wines and El Coyote Mexican Food will be available for purchase.
Is your mouth watering yet? Don’t miss the last chance this season to attend Tapas on The Terrace at Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards on August 4th, 5:30-7:30.
Unwind, relax and join in at the end of your day for award-winning wines, tasty tapas, and live Spanish entertainment from Duarte Music!
Ticket price includes a glass of wine upon arrival,
plate of mixed tapas, and live entertainment.
The results are in! Check out the wines that won at SFIWC 2016 this year. Also, enjoy a few pics from my days judging at Hotel Nikko while you are at it. Cheers! Christopher
Pink Out! The start of a colorful flight of Rosé on Day 1; (clockwise from left); Taking a break with my fellow judges, wine guru Jeffery Stivers and New Orleans-based wine and spirits radio personality Tim McNally; #StrengthInNumbers: Selfie Deluxe with my fellow judges sommelier Eduardo Dingler of Morimoto Napa; wine educator Ian Blackburn of LA-based WineCloudInc; sommelier Tonya Pitts of One Market SF, author, wine personality and star of Check Please Bay Area Leslie Sbracco, and author, sommelier and proprietor of A16 and RN74 in SF, Shelley Lindgren; The magnificent menu for the Judges Dinner at Hotel Nikko International, with dazzling wines provided by Gloria Ferrer and Jaimeson Ranch wineries.
This week at the 7th Annual “Stars Under the Stars” Outdoor Film Festival at St. Francis Winery will be the political classic “The Candidate”, starring a youthful Robert Redford and Peter Boyle. I will be there as your festival sommelier to pair St Francis’ world class wines with world class films. Starts at 7pm, admission is free!
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The Candidate
Starring Robert Redford & Peter Boyle (1972)
Pre-show concert by: The Atomic Lounge Show
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Featured Wines
$10 per glass (Includes a keepsake St. Francis logoed glass) | $8 Refill
2015 Chardonnay, Sonoma County
2013 Old Vines Zinfandel, Bacchi vineyard, Russian River Valley
In this article I wrote, just published in the June issue of Napa Sonoma Magazine join me on an exploration of some fantastic winery estates; Keller Estate, Three Sticks at the Adobe, Bacigalupi Vineyards, Palmaz Vineyards, Chappellet and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.
Read the entire article at Wine Tasting Adventures!
The 7th Annual “Stars Under the Stars” Outdoor Film Festival at St. Francis Winery continues. Get ready for an evening of intrigue with “National Treasure: Book of Secrets”, which includes an introduction by the film’s Executive Producer Charles Segars. I will be there as your festival sommelier to pair St Francis’ world class wines with world class films. Starts at 7pm, admission is free!
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National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Starring Nicolas Cage (2007)
Pre-show concert by: Ragtag Sullivan Duo
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Featured Wines
$10 per glass (Includes a keepsake St. Francis logoed glass) | $8 Refill
2015 Chardonnay, Sonoma County
2013 Meritage, Anthem, Sonoma County
Welcome the inaugural Sawyer Somm podcast, with your erstwhile hosts, myself and the amazing tech wizard Adolfo Foronda, aka The Nerd Stalker. We will be coming to you monthly, or thereabouts, to discuss wines, interesting devices (sometimes about wine), special guests (sometimes in the wine industry) and whatever else comes up in our scintillating conversations. Hope you will be joining us on my You Tube station: Subscribe to be kept abreast of the frequency of our posts!
In the meanwhile, crack open a good bottle, put on your comfy sox, get planted on the couch and check out our first episode! As a primer here are some details about the items we will be mentioning:
Tempour made by Soiree Home and designed in Napa Valley.
Summertime wines!
J. Lohr 2015 Gesture Grenache Rose, Paso Robles. $18
Tablas Creek 2015 Vermentino, Estate Grown, Paso Robles. $27
Fulcrum 2013 Pinot Noir, Landy Vineyard, Russian River Valley. $58
It’s back again, the 7th Annual “Stars Under the Stars” 
Outdoor Film Festival at St. Francis Winery. I will be there every Thursday in July as your festival sommelier to pair St Francis’ world class wines with world class films. Starts at 7pm, admission is free!
Sleepless in Seattle
Starring Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan (1993)
Pre-show concert by: Z & The Benders
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Featured Wines
$10 per glass (Includes a keepsake St. Francis logoed glass)
2015 Chardonnay, Sonoma County
2014 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
First of all a big THANK YOU to the wonderful folks at Gloria Ferrer, Wilson-Daniels, Deutch Family, Keller Estate, Banfi, Ramey, Failla, Aril, Goosecross, Grieve, Arista, Garnet, Palm Bay Imports, E&J Gallo, Rodney Strong, Southern Wines & Spirits, Republic National Distributing Co & Grand Vin, and especially my assistant Teale. They all made this happen!
