Cabernet Archives | Palate Press

5 min read

“It’s… outsized. We get big tannins, big fruit, big acid, and big extraction.” That’s how Calcareous Vineyards winemaker Jason Joyce describes the types of wines that the Paso Robles region is naturally calibrated to produce. Even by New World wine standards, Paso Robles has climate conditions that some might consider Read More

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 Read More

Exploring Epicurean Experiences: Wine Pairing Dinners

Mary Cressler

Features

5 min read

When traveling throughout wine country, food and tasting experiences continue to pop up as a theme in tasting rooms around the world. But not all food and wine or tasting experiences are alike. From cheese and almonds to full course meals, standard bar tasting to a sit down private flight, Read More

Judgment of Napa: Five Cabernets

Simon J Woolf

Features Wine Spotlight

3 min read

A Brit writing on Napa Cabernets, for an American wine magazine – isn't that a bit bloody minded? A tad “coals to Newcastle”, if you will? Stay with me, it might get interesting. California's Napa Valley has nothing left to prove – the 1976 and 2006 Judgments of Paris are Read More

Parker Is Right: No One Wants Age-Worthy Wines

W. Blake Gray

Features

5 min read

I believe in the Tolstoy theory of history: great men don't really influence nations, but surf a tidal wave of societal change that was coming anyway. Thus it is with Robert Parker. Wine lovers spend a fair amount of time complaining about his malign influence. We want things he ignores, Read More

2008 Sacha Lichine Cabernet Merlot

Gary Thomas

Wine Reviews

1 min read

This is billed as an “Old World meets New World” wine. It might be more correctly labeled as a “French wine aimed directly at cutting into the American market.” There are some nice blackberry nuances around the nose but they-read more- Read More

Paso Robles: Sorry, not sorry

Do Lower Yields Mean Higher Quality?

Exploring Epicurean Experiences: Wine Pairing Dinners

Judgment of Napa: Five Cabernets

Parker Is Right: No One Wants Age-Worthy Wines

2008 Sacha Lichine Cabernet Merlot

2018 Ghost of a Chance Wines “Gangster of Love” Red, Sierra Foothills

2020 One Flock Sauvignon Blanc

2020 One Flock Red Wine, California

Bellenda San Fermo, Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG Prosecco Superiore, Brut

2021 David Frost Sauvignon Blanc, Western Cape, South Africa