Casino de Monte-Carlo cacti view. Photo by Virginia Miller. Realizing I’m among the privileged who can say I’ve been to the French Riviera three times, the Côte d’Azur is as romantic and dramatic as you’ve imagined. Bustling “big” city Nice is more hectic, while crossing over to the Italian side offers a blessedly more humble, low-key coast — like the… Read more →
Paris… adored by millions but a struggle for me since my first visit in 1999. With high girlhood, romantic dreamer expectations, I FELT the idea of Paris in my bones. But in my first weeks there, this was no Années Folles, or artistic 1920s heyday I dreamed of. Beautiful, yes. But it felt cold, caustic, arrogant and unflinching. Certainly cynical.… Read more →
Having visited over 20,00 bars around the globe, The Cocktail Lovers’ Change issue was about talking to nine special bars around the globe about how they are coping and changing in pandemic — and what their countries are doing around aid.
Published in my regular print columns at Haute Living Magazine, the November-December 2019 issue includes my feature on travels to Cognac, France (in depth on Cognac — how it’s produced, what the region is like, etc. here), and Lambay Island, Ireland, to explore a unique marriage between Cognac and Irish Whiskey between two spirits families. MY HAUTE LIVING ARTICLES— Wine… Read more →
My editorial best of the year picks were published at Food Republic over December 2015 and January 2016 in a series of articles covering the best in US and international travels, hotels, meals and drink — here is a link to each article I contributed to and my favorites summarized below: – Best Drinking Experiences, International– Best Drinking Experiences, West… Read more →
This article was first published at Tasting Panel Magazine in January 2016. All photos and the article by Virginia Miller. The romance and history of Cognac is unparalleled. As one who has visited distilleries from Japan to Scotland, Oaxaca to Bassano del Grappa, I thought I’d seen it all. True: the rolling vineyards of Cognac more than slightly recall my… Read more →
Edible Adventures in the city of BORDEAUX Photos & article by Virginia Miller A week loaded with fatty duck, foie gras, canneles, and, of course, wine… such was my time in Bordeaux (see last issue on Bordeaux winemakers). Try tasting numerous wines from morning till night in weather just shy of 90 degrees. Though I was craving a good cocktail… Read more →
The Face of Bordeaux Photos & article by Virginia Miller Watch out: Bordeaux will surprise you. Many wine industry friends and sommeliers I talk to think of Bordeaux wines as pricey, out of reach, inaccessible…. or as some of the best in the world. Visiting numerous winemakers throughout the region during their recent harvest, I was surprised by the number… Read more →