Wine aficionados and wine novices alike should be on the alert to next Tuesday’s 2nd Annual Riedel Wine Tasting Seminar, this year held at the gorgeous Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa from 6:30pm-9pm. Event planner Catrina Maria assures no prior knowledge of wine is needed: “Anyone would enjoy this seminar and those who do not love wine already may find they enjoy it more after drinking wine from the correct glass. It opens your eyes to how different the same wine can taste.” Being a wine novice myself, I can’t wait to gain a little insight into how a wine glass affects the flavor of the wine and expand the breadth of my wine knowledge beyond the basics. The workshop, presented by Sylvie La

The best of local theater talent was recognized last Sunday night at the Elly Awards. After presenting the young people’s awards, there was an intermission, and then the adult awards were presented. Selected musicians from the Runaway Stage Productions’ Resident Orchestra played the audience back into the Crest Theatre’s main auditorium. The orchestra had been provided transitional music, played the winners on to the stage and had accompanied the live musical performances all evening. “Dreigroschen Finale,” performed by the California Stage cast, started the Elly adult theater portion of the evening. The performance showcased the Elly Award-winning costuming by Angelina Reaux. All the m

There’s a lot more to Sacramento City Treasurer Russ Fehr than you might think. Yes, he knows all about municipal finances and wears a suit at City Council meetings. But he also plays guitar in a rock band with fellow city employees. Fehr, age 58, is one of six members of The Newz Makers, a city-employee band that started rocking in 2006.  For band gigs, Fehr exchanges his suit for casual garb and goes by the stage name “Luke.” He loves Tom Petty and the Rolling Stones, and was a member of a Sacramento group that was the precursor to the Rutabaga Boogie Band. Fehr’s band mates are Joe Valenzuela, a police captain; Jim Berg, an information technology supervisor; Tom Moore from Human Reso

The Sacramento Press and The Sacramento Bee co-sponsored a panel discussion titled "Paying for Content" on June 22. The third floor of The Bee housed 37 people who gathered to listen to panelists discuss paywalls, online revenue and the relationship between consumer and organization. Independent journalist JT Long moderated. The panelists were Tim Foster, editor of Midtown Monthly; Michael Sanford, KVIE's vice president for content creation; Geoff Samek, co-founder of The Sacramento Press; Tom Negrete, Bee managing editor for the online edition and production; Ron Trujillo, editor of The Sacramento Business Journal; and Mike O'Brien, co-publisher and owner of Sacramento Magazines Corpor

"Oh god, this is gonna be a long night," said radio personality Jack Armstrong as he and Joe Getty kicked off the 11th annual Best of Sacramento party on Thursday. The party, a benefit for the March of Dimes, was full of Sacramento Magazine's notion of the best of what Sacramento has to offer, everything from food and drinks to local media and entertainment. "It's really a huge honor, it's a reflection of the station I work for," said 'Best TV Reporter Team' winner Edie Lambert. "It's a big compliment to quality journalism." Booths filled the Convention Center, and lines wrapped around the exhibit hall as attendees took full advantage of the free food, services and other goodies. Expre

The spotlight is on Sacramento at the 'Best of' party hosted by Sacramento Magazine, Thursday at the Convention Center. The winners from the "best of" categories will show what they've got while attendees can try out the best products, services, and entertainment that Sacramento has to offer. The winner for best candy store, Sees Candy and the winner for best regional winery Bogel Vineyards will be a couple of the participating vendors at the party. The winners from the eight categories will be showing attendees what they've got, allowing them to sample products, services and entertainment - the best Sacramento has to offer. Some of this year's winners include , Best New Fun Spot, MIX D

It's that time of year again - time for "Best Restaurants," brought to you by Sacramento Magazine. After reading the readers' picks for each category, it made me wonder whether the results would be different for readers of The Sacramento Press. Our focus has been primarily on events and coverage of things in the Grid, whereas Sacramento Magazine covers a larger demographic including the suburbs. There were four categories that stood out to me in Sacramento Magazine's Best Restaurants: Best Burrito, Best Pizza, Best Burger and Best Coffeehouse. I live in the Grid and therefore have my own biases about restaurants that live in Downtown and Midtown. I prefer restaurants in this area to tho

Foodies and wine enthusiasts united Saturday at Cesar Chavez Park for Raley's and Seventh Annual Grape Escape, presented by Raley's and Bel Air for an evening of drinking and munching. For $40 in advance and $50 at the door, ticket-holders took part in a three-hour taste marathon, sampling cabs, chards and merlots from more than 50 top wineries from six counties in Northern California and gourmet appetizers from Sacramento’s favorite eateries. Award-winning wineries like San Joaquin’s Van Ruiten winery (voted Wall Street Journal’s Best Zin) and Calaveras County’s Twisted Oak winery (Gold Medal winner from the Riverside International Wine Competition) set up shop along with brewery favori