Food & Spirits Magazine

Posts From Mark Gudgel

Mark Gudgel

Dr. Mark Gudgel is a wine writer and educator who holds credentials through the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) and is working towards becoming a Master of Wine. His interest in wine was sparked on his honeymoon to Napa and Sonoma. Gudgel and his wife, Sonja, have co-authored several articles as well as a book on the wineries of Nebraska, to be released in the spring of 2017. Gudgel is a regular contributor to Food & Spirits Magazine and American Winery Guide, as well as the blog he maintains with his wife, www.itheewine.com. Mark and Sonja live in Omaha with their children and their dog.

The Myth of Fume’ Blanc

Mark Gudgel June 26, 2018

Pouilly-Fume’: Noun: An AOC established in France in 1937, composed of around 1,200 hectacres, and best known for producing Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Blanc: Noun: A grape varietal originating in the Bordeaux region of France from which white wine is commonly

From the Willamette Valley to Omaha: Illahe Vineyards

Mark Gudgel June 26, 2018

In 1983, Lowell Ford got his hands dirty planting grapes in the dirt of what would ultimately become Illahe Vineyards in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Taking advantage of the Missoula Floods, which some twelve thousand years earlier had rushed between the

The Great American CabSauv Review 2017

Mark Gudgel February 14, 2018

I had “The Library Club” over at my house again, everyone having chipped in a bit of money to taste through some older wines that none of us individually would be likely to splurge on. Not for the first time,

“The Ostentatious Parlay”

Mark Gudgel February 14, 2018

“When I made this wine, I needed a creative outlet, and a financial outlet. I needed to be independent. I needed to make my own mark, I needed to make my own wine.” ~Sam Smith I first met Sam Smith

Go Big Rouge

Mark Gudgel October 18, 2017

When I was a kid growing up in Valentine, I used to relish the lengthy road-trips to Lincoln to visit my mom’s side of the family. We’d drive down Friday night, leaving right after I got out of school, stopping

Introducing Jean Hoefliger and the JH Collection to Omaha

Mark Gudgel October 18, 2017

I returned home to a familiar sight: a UPS hang-tag on my back door. I’d been dutifully waiting on the package I knew was coming, but had decided to run a quick errand; the shipment had been not-delivered in a

Welcome to VivinOmaha!

Mark Gudgel October 18, 2017

I wouldn’t have thought anything could get much better than a vertical of high-end Napa Cabernet dating back to 2006, seemingly endless trays of beautiful charcuterie, cheeses, and breads, and discounts on bottles of wine with waived corkage, but somehow