Archive - Palate Press

6 min read

Stanford linguistic professor Dr. Dan Jurafsky's recent book on The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu includes a perspicacious observation about high-class versus budget restaurant menus. Explicit adjectives about yumminess are pretty much the sole purview of the bottom lot. Red Lobster will offer you flaky cod fillets hand-dipped

Travel Channel’s Booze Traveler drinks all around

Becky Sue Epstein

Feature Stories

3 min read

Cocktails, Culture and Customs from Turkey to Tennessee: With Jack Maxwell, host of Travel Channel’s new Booze Traveler series. Once there was a little kid who snuck into bars in South Boston and shined shoes. You could to do this in Southie a few decades ago, if you were a

Best of 2014: The One Way to Build a Wine Collection You Won’t Regret

Evan Dawson

Features

3 min read

I am amazed at how much bad wine I own. I’m not talking about Yellow Tail and its ilk. I’m talking about wine that I purchased while thinking it was a good wine, maybe even a great wine, and was worth laying down. Tastes change, which makes buying wine for

Best of 2014: What Jane Goodall taught me about wine science

Erika Szymanski

Features

5 min read

The international authority on chimpanzees taught me something about wine this past month. If you were fascinated with animals as a kid or even enjoyed reading non-fiction, you probably remember Jane Goodall; the story of the fearless young woman sallying out into the African forest to live with the chimps

Best of 2014: I’ll have some Roussillon, hold the Rivesaltes

W. Blake Gray

Features

4 min read

In his February column, Blake Gray explained why the gradual extinction of some wine styles is not always a tragedy. Today I take pleasure in upending one of the most common wine story tropes: the "disappearing underappreciated wine" story. These stories play the emotions like a zither: loss, urgency to

Best of 2014: The X factor or, how I learned to love big reds in Northern Greece

Michelle Locke

Feature Stories

4 min read

In this piece, originally published in September, columnist Michelle Locke tackles tongue twisters and tongue pleasers in Northern Greece. I knew going in that Xinomavro was going to be a challenge. After all, you know you’re tasting something a little bit different when you have to start with a pronunciation

Best of 2014: The Women of Italian Wine Never Give Up

Elisabetta Tosi

Feature Stories

4 min read

This week we will be running some of our favorite pieces from 2014 by our esteemed panel of columnists. Enjoy! When we talk about Italian wines, we usually talk about the men behind them, but in doing so we forget that the Italian wine world is made up of both

Some beers I drank

Tom Mansell

Beer Reviews

3 min read

I drank a few beers in 2014. Here are some of my favorites. Gigantic Brewing Company IPL (Portland, OR) I liked India Pale Lagers better when they were called pilsners. Actually, there is a subtle difference between your average German-style pilsner and IPL. An IPL is essentially an American IPA

Wine

Wines Made by the Wind

2022 Merriam Blanc de Noirs, 25th anniversary sparkling wine: sustainably made

Love Letter to a Volcano-with White Wine

Random

2010 Dominio de Berzal Blanco

Spirits

Wohlfert Distilling Craft Spirits Ride on Prohibition Heritage

Why Low-Alcoholic Wine May Be Increasing & An Adult Beverage Option; Even No-Alc can be Tasty

A Dog, a Mountain Hike and Gin

Random

Cognac for Wine-Lovers: there’s still grape juice at the heart of it

Travel

Santa Rosa Craft Beer and Food Take Center Stage

Downtown Healdsburg for Fine Wine and Gourmet Dining

Enjoy Cancun-adjacent Isla Mujeres at Coco B Villas

Random

Wine Country Hospitality in Amador County

Hospitality

Classic Chinese Fine Dining at Z&Y Peking Duck

Montréal Chefs Star in the Culinary World

Recharge-Relax-Decompress-Dine in Monterey CA

Random

The Homey, Amenity-packed and Elegant Yountville Hotel

Do “hand-picked” grapes mean better wine?

Travel Channel’s Booze Traveler drinks all around

Best of 2014: The One Way to Build a Wine Collection You Won’t Regret

Best of 2014: What Jane Goodall taught me about wine science

Best of 2014: I’ll have some Roussillon, hold the Rivesaltes

Best of 2014: The X factor or, how I learned to love big reds in Northern Greece

Best of 2014: The Women of Italian Wine Never Give Up

Some beers I drank