Are stricter alcohol laws a good thing?

Erika Szymanski
Features
6 min read
Caution: I’m not going to pull punches. Are regulations on when, where, and by whom wine, beer, and spirits can be sold a good thing? Given the Palate Press readership and my own preferences, I wish I could just say “of course not.” The truth (by which I mean in

Marsanne goes solo in Australia

Lisa Johnston
Feature Stories
5 min read
Marsanne is on the up. Slowly, but surely. The reality is that globally so few bottles containing this erstwhile grape declare it loud and proud. It’s enough to give a grape a self-esteem issue. In its homeland, along the Rhône River, it may be blended to form a savory-edged partnership

French Malbec and Me: A new relationship

Gary Thomas
About
8 min read
French Malbec suffers from some deep self-esteem issues. It is the Rodney Dangerfield of the wine world, for, like the late, great comedian, “it don’t get no respect.” (Never mind the double negative.) And it has serious familial rivalry problems with its cousins in Argentina. Even a cursory glance at

The Grapes of What?

Michelle Locke
Feature Stories
3 min read
Sicily's wine revolution and the challenge of marketing unfamiliar grapes  I'm sitting in a Sicilian fish restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean, a glass of white wine in my hand that pairs perfectly with a plate of seafood yanked out of the water just hours ago. Clean, crisp and versatile, the wine
By Brian Sterling (Flickr: Vineyard on Montebello Ridge) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Do Lower Yields Mean Higher Quality?

W. Blake Gray
Features
3 min read
One of the main statistical canards about wine is that smaller yields equal better quality. This is so widely believed in Europe that wine seminars become predictable. If a winemaker is on a podium talking about a wine, the first question is never about philosophy or intention, but "What was