Martha Culbertson is a native of San Diego, California, a graduate of SDSU and the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association 2023 Hall of Fame Inductee. Her McDonald relatives were in agriculture and farming fostering a love of fresh food and inspired by frequent family gatherings for “farm to table” before that was even an event.

Martha and her husband John established Culbertson Winery, a champagne winery with an award winning restaurant. Culbertson Winery was acknowledged as the top award winning winery for several years making methode champenoise. The Temecula wineries were working hard to establish recognition nationally and Martha served on the national Board of Directors of the American Institute of Wine and Food whose board members included Julia Child, Robert Mondavi and Richard Graff. Events held at the winery attracted many luminaries in the culinary world and Culbertson Winery was chosen to represent the American wine industry on a Presidential Trade Mission to Japan. Martha and her husband John accompanied Secretary of Commerce William Verity to Tokyo traveling on Air Force One.

Martha, wanting to share the knowledge, joy and experiences began teaching cooking classes for the local college. The classes were very successful and many of the recipes for this book were developed for those classes. The wine pairings were chosen to enhance the food and celebrate the wine makers. Martha has been published in San Diego Home and Garden, Houston Home and Garden, San Diego Union Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Press Enterprise, Bon Appetit, Newsweek Magazine and several local publications.