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.
Rebecca Marshall Farnbach is a writer, speaker, and expert on the history of the Temecula Valley. She presently teaches the history component of the Mt. San Jacinto College course for Temecula Wine Country associates and has coauthored several local history books including Images of America: Temecula Wine Country. Her work has been published in the High Country Magazine, Chronicles of Riverside County Journal, Valley News, Old Town San Diego Gazette, Neighbors Newspaper, and The Californian. Some of her short stories are featured in Comfort for the Grieving Heart and Fiction and Truth: Stories that Inspire.
Rebecca is a founding member of the Vail Ranch Restoration Association and past president of the Temecula Valley Historical Society. She frequently speaks to groups about Temecula's History.
She compiled some of her poetry, short stories, and history articles in her book Dancing With Prayers in My Feet, a title inspired by an encounter with a Native woman during a Pechanga Pow Wow. She also wrote James L. Phillips, Ph.D., M.D. as a tribute to a relative who lived in India in the 1800s.
