The IFWTWA “Conference At Sea” was an opportunity for a group of writers to not only enjoy a cruise on the Caribbean, but also to see the inner workings of a cruise ship. As a wine writer, I was curious to see the challenges faced by a Cellar Master whose job includes making sure that more than a thousand different wine drinkers each week are happy with what they are offered. Fernando Bacsa has a passion for what he does and he clearly loves his work. He has been with Holland America for thirteen years now and says “it’s not just a company, this is my family.” He does have a family at home in the Philippines, though; a wife and three children. His two sons want to follow in his footsteps and are already in training to work for Holland America.

Fernando got a degree in hotel operations in the Philippines and then began work as a catering supervisor in Libya, working for Moammar Kadafi in the Presidential Palace for five years. He was also employed by Nelson Mandela, so you can safely call him Read more »

All this time you’ve probably been wondering – where’s the wine? At Beacon Point in St. Thomas, we found Guava Berry Wine. I’ll tell you about that stop later in the story. We docked at Charlotte Amalie at about 8:00 Wednesday morning, splitting up into three groups. One group chose the Skyride, a seven minute ascent in a gondola with a spectacular island view. Another group opted for Coral World Ocean Park for a chance to get up close and personal with marine life. My group decided to visit The Butterfly Farm. Located near the Havensight Mall, The Butterfly Farm offers visitors a chance to see butterflies at every stage of their growth cycle. The group there is dedicated to learning more about these delicate creatures and how they impact our planet’s environment.

Green Swallowtail

We were blessed with Read more »

After a wonderful day on the Island of Grand Turk, we re-boarded the ms Eurodam and got right back to work. There were wines, avocado oils and balsamic vinegar to taste! Linda Kissam was our host as we tasted 10 wines from Keyways, Tesoro and newcomer Lorimar. The group was impressed with the selection provided and Linda did an excellent job presenting the wines. We then tasted some incredible avocado oils from Oak Mountain: Toasted Onion, Chili, Roasted Garlic, Lemon Pepper and Key Lime, followed by the Dark Sweet Cherry Balsamic Vinegar. Avocado oils have a higher flash point, meaning they can sustain higher cooking temperatures before burning. All of them tasted delicious and the balsamic vinegar was a big hit. After the tasting, we retreated to our cabin to freshen up and then made our way to the Crow’s Nest for the drawing for IFWTWA’s scholarship auction. Not only am I Read more »

All this week, women from 31 nations have gathered in Perris, CA to combat a mortal enemy: breast cancer. Forgive me for straying off the subject of wine, but I felt this was important enough to merit a story. My friend Ginger Giordano of Going Grape (there’s a wine connection!) told me about this event and I decided to head to Perris and find out first hand what was going on.

This is the 10th anniversary of Jump For The Cause. Mallory Lewis formed the event to pay tribute to her mom, Shari Lewis, who died from cancer in 1998. The first event ten years ago was a fund raiser for a battered women’s shelter and raised $11,000. Last year more than a quarter of a million dollars went to the City of Hope for breast cancer research as a result of Jump For The Cause. As of yesterday, more than $830,000 had been raised this week alone.

I met with Mallory’s assistant Adrian Davies at The Bomb Shelter at  the Perris Valley Skydiving Center. He told me the event has become “what it was supposed to be” and he and Mallory both expect it to grow even bigger. It has slowly been gaining global attention. Some of the best camera people in the world are on hand and they are documenting each jump as the women attempt to set a world record, with ten planes lifting 180 women to 17,000 feet in an effort to do the largest all-female freefall formation. The women each have had to qualify, not only as a skilled skydiver (the least amount of jumps by a participant is about 400, the most 16,500), they also have each had to raise at least $3500. Adrian says the focus has shifted from getting to know each other to “game on”. The youngest jumpers are 25 and the oldest is an AARP member.

Mallory (Lamb Chop's sister)

Mallory has also included the Wounded Warrior Regiment with ex-Special Forces and Golden Knight Dana Bowman jumping under a purple heart canopy while flying smoke and a 1000 square foot flag. There have been two problems this week. The heat has been well above 100 degrees and the Santa Ana winds have been kicking up. Wednesday morning the winds came up so quickly and so strong they had to scratch the flight after all the women had boarded all the planes and they were on the runway about to take off. Organizers believe the record will fall either Friday or Saturday. The event continues through Sunday at the Perris Skydiving Center. If you’ve never seen a sea of pink before, you might want to stop by.

Adrian Davies

Documentary Crew