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ISO The Good Life Show - Food, Wine, Travel & Lifestyle

Bio: Mike Wreyford, AKA Mike the Wine Guy, is a wine educator, writer, radio show host, and lifestyle expert. Mike is the host & producer of “The Good Life” Show, a popular radio talk show, on air since 2011. As one of the most “casually authentic” wine experts in the industry, Mike Wreyford, AKA “Mike the Wine Guy,” has blazed his own trails and made it his life’s passion to educate, inform and entertain his audience with his extensive knowledge and passion for wine, and the lifestyle that goes with it. His weekly radio program and podcast, “ISO the Good Life” has become a must-listen for travel conscious wine enthusiasts and curious foodies alike. With countless hours of Live Radio, and 1,000+ interviews, Mike’s show has earned a reputation for being informative, entertaining, and uniquely original. As a native Californian, Mike’s adventurous lifestyle and world travels have undoubtedly influenced his approach to wine and food. His dedication to bringing an “all of us” approach to his topics has earned him a loyal following of listeners who appreciate his ability to make even the most complex subjects accessible. In addition to his radio program, Mike is known for his involvement in charitable events and fundraisers, including the highly successful “World of Wine” tasting events which he has been instrumental in developing and hosting since 2011. Mike’s talent for uncovering the stories behind the wine and food he covers is unmatched. His loose yet thoroughly prepared style of interviewing guests allows him to dig deep and discover the true passion and journey of each guest. With his extensive network of contacts throughout California, the West Coast, and beyond, Mike is able to develop unique story ideas that captivate and inspire his audience. As a dedicated professional and wine expert, Mike Wreyford is undoubtedly a name to watch in the industry, and his commitment to bringing the best of wine and food to his audience is unwavering.
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Now displaying: 2016
Nov 8, 2016

Kristy DeVaney, the person behind cavegrrl.com She is a Paleo and Primal Food, Wine, Travel and Living Travel. She loves to talk about the Paleo Food and Wine. 

Nov 8, 2016

Clarissa Nagy, who received a Bachelor of Science in Food Science from California Polytechnic State University, started in the wine industry in 1995. She began her career as a Lab Technician at Edna Valley Vineyards, and moved through the roles of Research Assistant Winemaker at Byron Winery, Assistant Winemaker and Vineyard Supervisor at Longoria Winery, and most recently, she has been making wine for Bonaccorsi Wine Company since 2006. Clarissa is known for her elegant and sophisticated winemaking style, and for her appreciation for fruit that comes from the Santa Maria Valley. She lives in Orcutt with her husband, Jonathan, and their daughter, Gabriella.

She worked my way through the Central Coast over the next ten years. The wineries on that list include: Firestone Vineyard, Curtis Winery, Byron Vineyard and Winery, Longoria Wines, Rancho Arroyo Grande Winery, Bonaccorsi Wine Company and Riverbench Vineyard and Winery. In the course of my career, I have been blessed to work with some amazing people and vineyards in Santa Barbara County. Our region, and specifically Santa Maria Valley has really captured my heart and my palate. She balance my time between family and winemaking.

Nov 8, 2016

Chandi Wyant is a world traveler, photographer, writer and historian. She’s lived in Qatar, India, Italy, Switzerland and England, and has been returning to Italy with unremitting passion since she first lived there at age 20. Chandi’s book about her 40-day pilgrimage walk in Italy will be published in 2017. When she’s not dreaming in Italian, she can be found teaching history, writing about travel for theHuffington Post and for her website, (paradiesofexiles.com) and sharing her photography on instagram,(@paradiseofexiles)

She returned a year later, to attend a language school in Florence. In the following decades she led cross-cultural exchange trips for teenagers, organizing her wedding in Florence and started a weddings in Italy business, then obtained a master’s degree in Florentine Renaissance history, and walked solo for a month on Italy’s pilgrimage route to Rome.

During the seven years that she organized weddings for Americans and other foreigners who wanted to tie the knot in the land of amore, she also organized trips in many of Italy’s regions for the guests of the brides and grooms. At this time, she began to combine her enthusiasm for trip plan-ning with her appreciation of slow travel.

Chandi Wyant believes that the best way to absorb what Italy offers is to travel slowly, and she advocates to those planning trips to Italy, to add a countryside stay, at a B&B or an agriturismo, to the itinerary.

“Staying in an ancient stone house in a tiny hamlet, or on a wine estate, in a wine region like the Chianti zone, will immediately give you a sense of slowing down, and you will be able to savor the culture through its wine, its food, and through the passion the locals have for the land.”

Chandi Wyant avidly researches food, wine and travel in Italy and writes about these topics for her website and for online magazines such the Huffington Post and Fathom.

You can learn more about Chandi’s trip planning services here. And you can get a free copy of her eBook Slow Traveling in the Chianti Zone, by signing up for her monthly newsletter on her website.

Listen my radio interview with Mike the wineguy.

Nov 6, 2016

Dusty Grove's Savannah roots run deep. Born and raised in Vernonburg, GA, Dusty grew up on the water, where crab boils and oyster roasts were a regular routine for his family. After graduating with a degree in biochemistry from UGA, Dusty found his passion for cooking while working for the James Beard award winning chef, Elizabeth Terry of Elizabeth on 37th in Savannah. He went on to work in restaurants throughout Florida and Georgia, eventually overseeing multiple private clubs as a corporate chef in the Atlanta area.

In 2008, Dusty moved his young family back to Savannah to direct various culinary operations for the Bohemian Hotel, The Mansion at Forsyth Park and the much-loved Vic's on the River. From 2011 to 2014, Dusty made a name for himself as Executive Chef at The Landings, one of the largest private clubs in the country. In 2014, Dusty joined the opening team of Pacci.

Dusty is a hands-on, self-taught chef who prides himself on creating dishes that are uncomplicated, clean, seasonal and delicious. He and his wife, Kathy, have three kids-Maddie, Ayla and Hudson. When he's not in the kitchen, he spends as much time as possible with them on the water, boating, sailing and fishing.

Visit me on http://www.paccisavannah.com/

Nov 6, 2016

I am AKA The City Doctor as an international expert in quality of life places and how they matter to us living our best lives. As part of my work around the world, I regularly discuss the importance of place, travel, and place experiences along the way (such as in the growing industry of “culinary tourism” where you travel specifically to eat). My first book, “Place Match: The City Doctor’s Guide to Finding Where You Belong” was released late last year. The book is basically a dating and marriage guide to finding your right place match by comparing the journey to find the right partner to the journey to finding the right place. I would love to come on your show to talk as a guest. I am a 2 time TEDx talker and a former radio talk show host myself so I know how to be engaging and interesting to your audience even if I’m discussing the science of place and the role it plays in our lives.

I’m a globally-recognized, award-winning expert in the field of placemaking: quality of life places and why they matter to living our best lives. I have held leadership and advisory roles in some of the most ground-breaking and innovative placemaking projects. I am a two-time TEDx speaker on place and have been featured widely in the press, including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, NPR, LA Times, The Atlantic, and CBS News, to name a few. My newly-released book, “Place Match: The City Doctor’s Guide to Finding Where You Belong” (ISBN 978-0-9966038-3-6) is available through my website: www.city-doctor.com and Amazon. You can find out more about me at www.city-doctor.com and Facebook.com/Dr.Katherine.Loflin. You can also google me to learn more.

Sep 28, 2016

Nancy Light is Vice President of Communications for the Wine Institute, a public policy association of 1,000 California wineries and affiliated businesses dedicated to enhancing the environment for the responsible consumption and enjoyment of wine. With two decades of experience in strategic communications for wine and related businesses, she is responsible for guiding the organization’s media relations, member communications and issues management agenda.

Light manages several Wine Institute programs designed to support the long-term growth and vitality of the California wine industry. “California First” is a new initiative to identify and communicate the positive and distinctive attributes of California wine to consumers, trade, media and public officials. She also managees Wine Institute's partnership with the California Travel and Tourism Commission to promote California wine and food nationwide with a multi-media campaign supported by a $12 million budget.

Specialties: Marketing communications, branding and messaging, crisis communications, issues management, media relations, executive media coaching, strategic partnerships, industry relations.

Sep 28, 2016

Will Clark readily admits that his passion in life is California Foothill wines. He retired from investment banking in the early 1990’s, and with wife Jeanne, opened up his shop at 200 Main Street in Downieville. Jeanne runs the antiques and collectibles shop next door.

“We came here to do what we really wanted to do,” said Will. “People don’t expect us to be here. But really, Downieville is the first town north of Nevada City where you can find good food, lodging – and major historical lore about the area.” It all comes together in a mountain setting at the confluence of two rivers, with an enormous amount of Gold Country history. Will boasts a stock of around 50 wines. Here are some of my favorites from the tasting:

2006 Hatcher Cabernet Sauvignon, Sierra Foothills. Will believes this is his current best value in a Cabernet Sauvignon. The Hatcher winery is located in Murphys, Calaveras County, and they source most of their fruit from vineyards near Angels Camp. The fruit for this wine was sourced from the vineyard of Lori Kautz. Winemaker Matthew Hatcher has crafted this wine to have aromas of tropical fruit, volcanic minerality, anise and other exotic spices. Flavor is lush and ripe with flavors of melon, ginger, and spice, ending in a clean finish. Enjoy with spicy Asian foods, BBQ, lamb. 14.6% alcohol. $17.50/bottle at 49 Wines.

Sep 27, 2016

Everyone has questions about drinking, but it can seem like every bartender (and bargoer) has different answers. Between the old wives' tales, half-truths, and whiskey-soaked conjectures, it's hard to know what to believe—until now.

Armed with cutting-edge research and a barfly’s thirst for the truth, cocktail instructor Brian D. Hoefling tackles the most burning questions and longest-held myths surrounding that most ancient of human pastimes—with the science to either back them up or knock them down. From the ins and outs of aging to the chemistry of a beer head and the science behind your hangover,Distilled Knowledge provides a complete and comical education that will put an end to any barroom dispute, once and for all.

Sep 26, 2016

As a seasoned “clambaker,” sommelier, and culinary school graduate, our Founder and CEO, Mary McAuley, had an “ah-ha” moment when charged with the task of selecting the wine for a (rather raucous) clambake she threw with her friends back in August 2011 in her seaside hometown of Mantoloking, NJ.  Mary set out to help consumers who are lost when it comes to selecting a good wine to pair with certain foods, especially the coastal cuisine she grew up eating with her family and friends on the beach. She simultaneously realized the void for trustworthy brands on the American wine market and felt compelled to produce an artisanal and superiorly-crafted wine under a recognizable label to stand out from other big names sourcing from the untrustworthy bulk market or practicing unsavory production techniques.  Ripe Life’s first wine, the Clambake Chardonnay, hit the shelves in July 2013 and was an instant success. Although Marys heart belongs to the sea, creating the Clambake Chardonnay has made her realize the plethora American occasions where people are 1. always drinking wine and 2. always eating the same things and plans to expand the collection to other lines in the near future with ideas like an aprés ski wine and a tailgating wine.  Before graduating from The Institute of Culinary Education and, later on, The French Culinary Institute, she attended Georgetown University where she was a member of the Division I National Champion sailing team for four years and still makes it out on the water any chance she gets. Her death row meal would be a quarter pound of crémeux de bourgogne cheese with Rustic Bakery crackers, black cherry jam; paired with a 2001 Barbaresco.

Sep 4, 2016

Louise Miller is a beekeeper, educator, and founder of Solstice Honey. She is a member of the honey tasting panel gathered by the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, a group tasked with developing the Honey Flavor and Aroma Wheel. Also a member of the Xerces Society, she is an avid bee friendly gardener. Miller's passion for varietal and regional wildflower honeys and for bee health inspired her to found Solstice Honey, offering products and educational outreach that improve the quality of life of customers, of beekeepers, and of bees.

Sep 4, 2016

Naked Wines have a simple aim to connect winemakers and drinkers directly. The creation of this direct relationship helps users crowdfund their bottles directly from the vineyard via a monthly subscription. But, this is much more than just another wine club. 

The service proves that there is more to wine than a pretty label on a bottle inside a supermarket. Each bottle comes with warm stories of families producing wine where angels (Naked Wine members) communicate directly with the winemakers.

Sep 3, 2016

BRIDGE COFFEE CO. is a small-batch, nano, craft coffee roaster. We source premium, specialty-grade coffee from around the world. These carefully selected green coffees are profiled, cupped, and roasted in small batches. 

With nearly 15 years of roasting experience, the aid of modern technology and utilizing the finest coffee roasting equipment made, you can be sure your coffee is roasted to perfection and consistently delicious.

Small batch roasting is an artisan craft. It is our joy and honor to provide you with a wonderful cup of coffee.

Sep 3, 2016

Twenty years as the Publisher of Flying Adventures magazine (a Lifestyle Travel Magazine for people who own and travel on private airplanes, and are Food & Wine Connoisseurs), which has lead him to the most amazing wine experiences.

"I have been fortunate to taste some of the best wines ever produced, enjoyed dinners and detailed discussions with very famous winemakers and vintners, in their homes, wineries, special wine events, auctions, and I have  made wine with them, made my own wine, and have participated in blind tastings, food & wine pairings with celebrity chefs. I am traveling the world Exploring Wine Regions, finding interesting and unusual wine experiences, an insiders concierge to share special and hard to find gems and travel experiences with you."

So what does he really know?  Well he loves wine, and loves travel!  And knows enough to know where to look, and what to look for! He’s traveling the world Exploring Wine Regions, finding interesting and unusual wine experiences, he’s an insiders concierge to share special and hard to find gems and travel experiences with you.

Aug 19, 2016

Freemark Abbey sources its grapes from select Napa Valley vineyards we’ve known for decades. Intimately familiar with the nuance, power and abundance of each specific site, our partnership with local vineyards is at the heart of all our wines (click each area to learn more).

Jul 19, 2016

After working in New York and India, and living in Shanghai for 5 years, Stefano, consultant, photographer and author, fulfils his dream to ride back home, in Italy, completely alone, by motorcycle. A trip of almost five months and 25,000 km through China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece and Italy. Not just an adventure, but a journey through five of the most beautiful civilizations ever existed and through 4 of the main religious heritages of the world. All of this during a very sensitive historical time in the Central Asian region, a few months after the attack to the Twin Towers in NY and before the war in Iraq. In his book the author will make the readers live his experience, his feelings and adventures with different people and cultures. During this trip the author was challenged by extreme weather conditions, communication difficulties, sense of isolation, experienced the meaning of human fragility, and lost almost 17 kilos of body weight. Stefano explains: the more my journey was evolving, the more I realized how it was becoming a testimony of a different perspective of the current events and of aspects often shadowed by the news of the ongoing wars. This journey also allowed me to witness the struggle of these cultures in entering the third millennium at the same pace as the more developed countries. In the book, related to the texts there are a series of pictures/drawings showing the reader some aspects of what is told in the story.

Jul 19, 2016

I’m Sara Roccisano. I am a passionate, world-traveling, scuba-diving, former Wall Street New Yorker who is now running the Embolden Adventures traveling website. In 2009 after the financial crisis, I became scuba certified. I went on one dive trip and fell in love with the underwater. Since then, I have been embarking on adventures around the world from the depths of the ocean to the heights of the mountains and beyond. So far I have visited 35 countries and 30 US States and territories, most of which I visited after leaving my desk job and going on dive trips. I have scuba dived with great white sharks, whale sharks, schools of hammerhead sharks, dolphins, manta rays, sea lions, and other exotic sea creatures. One of my most favorite, incredible ocean experiences has been snorkeling up close with the whale sharks in Caribbean Sea off the coast of Isla Mujeres, near Cancun, Mexico. The whale shark is the largest fish in the ocean, reaching average lengths of 40 feet and weighing more than 40 tons. They are filter feeders, siphoning krill, fish eggs, and plankton from the ocean water like baleen whales do. Whale sharks are gentile giants and are completely harmless to humans since they have no teeth! I was motivated to swim with the whale sharks, and this Mexican trip to see the whale sharks was a dream of a lifetime!

Jul 19, 2016

Iván & Reneé met, and four months later were engaged. Reneé is a television host, actress and Indie award winning author. Ivan is a musician and frontman for the band, Letter's to Alan. Additionally, he runs his own international, freight shipping business. They love each other and love to travel. They hope to show people that you:

- Don't have to wait until retirement to travel the world and explore!

-Don't have to be RICH to travel!

-Don't have to quit your job!

-You can live the life of your dreams!

Jul 19, 2016

The only daughter of Kirk Yates and Marie Jeanne deForet, a Navy Seal and an environmental chemist, respectively, Autumn Yates brings total commitment and enthusiasm to whatever project she has at hand, whether it’s news reporting, cartography, or, just recently, teaching English as a foreign language overseas.

Jul 19, 2016

COQUELICOT (ko-klee-ko) is the name “en Français” of the striking red poppy flower that graces the French countryside, as well as all the labels on our wines. Our 58 acre vineyard is an organically farmed property in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley. Sustainable farming and gentle, meticulous winemaking techniques converge to produce hand made, limited production wines that are a true celebration of life.

May 29, 2016

Sierra Starr Vineyard and Winery is a small vineyard and winery in the Sierra Foothills AVA. Owned and operated by the Starr Family, Phil and Anne since 1995 and their son Jackson since 2005. Phil is the head honcho around here as he does just about everything. Anne operates the tasting room in downtown Grass Valley and runs the Sirius Sipper Wine Club. Jackson, joining the family business in December of 2005, is the Vineyard Manager and Assistant Winemaker. He also fills in where needed, assisting both his mother and father in day to day operations.

May 29, 2016

As manager of communications for the Wine Institute, a nonprofit advocacy association of more than 1,100 California wineries and affiliated businesses, Gladys Horiuchi spends her time thinking of ways to promote California wineries and wine (How hard can that be?) And as a communicator for the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, she also helps encourage the adoption of environmentally friendly winegrowing and winemaking practices.


“I studied to be an English and journalism teacher for junior high or high school,” says the Mill Valley resident. “And I actually taught for six months when an English teacher left on maternity leave mid-year.” But Horiuchi’s career led her down a different path instead.

May 29, 2016

Rooted in traditional German brewing practices mixed with an innovative Californian twist, Sudwerk is focused on creating the highest quality craft lagers known to man. The hybrid beer styles can best be described as West Coast craft lagers. Join us in our mission as we tirelessly work at perfecting our craft and sharing it with you.

May 29, 2016

“I’m a firm believer that great wines come from great fruit,” said Alex Szabo, whose eponymous winery offers tastes in a stylish spot on Nevada City’s strip. Unlike many of his blend-friendly neighbors, Szabo makes single varietal wines that he believes reflects his European-oriented palate. “I consider myself a purist,” explained Szabo, whose Hungarian roots, expertise in five languages, and time spent working around the Eastern Bloc countries honed his wine sense. “I just want to be amongst the best at what I do.”

Szabo calls this smoky, soy-inflected bottle his “velvet hammer,” and it doesn’t fail to arrest your senses with a serious but supple mouthfeel and perfectly pleasant flavors. $24

May 9, 2016
  • Family owned, led and managed business. When the whole family is involved to mold and solidify their ideals and pass them along through the generations, they have the possibility of advancing the family’s ideals and reputation.
  • Owning a vineyard. Almost, if not all of the multi-generational winemakers have their own vineyard with family members taking care of it with passion and commitment to ensure making great wines all the time.
  • Farming is key. The conditions of the vineyard and truly knowing it is  fundamental. A biologically balanced, healthy soil and farming is the foundation of a great and important wine.
  • Great winemakers. A passionate, skilled winemaker involved with a burning desire to make great wine. Great winemakers create wines that have good balance, wines that are beautiful when young and becomes more elegant with age.
  • Wines that are beautiful when they are young, then as they age a patina is developed without anything being removed from them. This is mastered by great winemakers and wine making families in the world.
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