Beginning May 11 and running through May 14, (Mother’s Day) it will be raining good wine and food on the Island.

The third annual Martha's Vineyard Wine Fest has events in downtown Edgartown for four days, May 7 through 10.

A wine festival taking place from May 8 to 11 will include dinners and tastings taking place around the Island at restaurants and private homes. Visit winefestmv.com for tickets and information.

John Clift has been the sommelier and beverage director at Atria in Edgartown for nine years. For six months of the year he works every single day at the restaurant, and now at Hooked, too. For the rest of the year he travels for both business and pleasure, which in his case amounts to the same activity. He visits wineries all over the world. This past winter he visited California, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Italy, Egypt and Abu Dhabi.

This description of Mr. Clift’s off-season lifestyle is not intended to generate envy, although it certainly could.