Favorite Sips + Trips

Wine Paris 2026: Six Takeaways

Checking in from the industry’s largest global expo.

Tasting: Robert Biale Vineyards

Here’s to Napa Valley Zinfandel!

Local: DFW’s March 2026 Wine Events

What to do (and drink) in North Texas this month.

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” So that you may not be the martyred slaves of Time, get drunk; get drunk, and never pause for rest! With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you choose! ” – Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)

” Wine is sunlight, held together by water. The light of a sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, that can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. ” – Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

” I rather like bad wine … one gets so bored with good wine. ” – Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–1881)

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About Michelle

I’m Michelle Gruben, a writer and wine enthusiast from Dallas, Texas. I’m writing this blog to celebrate the wines I encounter through exploration and travel. WSET Level 3 (with Distinction), Certified Texas Wine Ambassador, 2026 Wine Writers’ Symposium Fellow.

The Wine Fairy on Instagram (@winefairymichelle)

Wine bar exploring in the Dallas 'burbs! Locals Craft Beer & Fine Wine (@localsfbtx) has a chic tasting room, a fun global selection, and even lets you sign your "trophies" (empty bottles). 🤩 It takes gastonomical guts to say "yes" to dinner when you don't know the menu, the guest list, the wines, or even the location! Thanks to Sarah (@terms5) for being my willing date. ❤️ Each Thursday, I write about a different bottle of Merlot. The whole #MerlotThursday tradition started on Reddit...but I've adopted it for the blog as this under-appreciated grape has found its way into my heart. "If wine were only art or only science, what would be lost?" Excited and terrified in equal parts--that's how I felt when I got the news that I would be joining the 2026 Wine Writers' Symposium. The follow-up email contained a jaw-dropping list of Symposium participants, all writers and editors working in the world of wine. Chicken for breakfast? 🐔 If it's Robert Biale's "Black Chicken" Zinfandel, then sure! I made a quick stop at @bialevineyards for a zin fix on my way up to St. Helena. Yesterday looked like this: Leave home in Dallas at 4 AM, plane to Phoenix, plane to San Francisco, tram to BART station, train to El Cerrito, bus to Napa, Lyft to wine bar. Glass in hand at 4 PM after only fourteen hours of travel time. Excited to share that I will be joining the production team at the TEXSOM International Wine Awards next month! Happy #MerlotThursday! Today's Merlot-based wine is from Virginia: Early Mountain's 2017 "Eluvium" blend.