Wine Reviews - Palate Press

1 min read

This is a big, round mouthful of wine fit for the finest filet. Rich blue fruit and pie fruit aromas waft up from the glass. Blackberry and blueberry lead, with some higher toned red fruits on the mid-palate. Cabernet Franc tobacco leaf can barely contain the boisterous sweet fruits. Tannins

What We’re Drinking – 2014 Pali “Huntingon” Pinot Noir

David Honig

Wine Reviews

1 min read

Loads of strawberries, plus sage and red clay, waft up on the nose. Strawberries of every kind, from plump and ripe served with cream to tiny, wild, and tart, to dried, come through in layers on the palate. Sage gives way to clove and a touch of cinnamon from attack

Best of 2016: Bitters and the mystery of blending

Erika Szymanski

Features

5 min read

I had expected great things from my first experiences with cocktail bitters. Bitter flavors are great, and so are condiments. Make me a kale and radicchio salad spiked with anchovies, garlic, and mustard and I'll nosh contentedly. So I was surprised, when I splashed some of the classic Angostura on

Best of 2016: High Times in Bangkok at a 64th-story champagne bar

Roger Morris

Feature Stories

8 min read

It is 5 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, and I am gingerly sipping a flaming cocktail called the Passion Fruit Volcano in a dark, underground bar in central Frankfurt – an ironic place to be starting my somewhat curious mission to drink a lot of Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque in an

Best of 2016: Hooked on Haggis

Michelle Locke

Features

2 min read

I was in Cognac one hot summer day, trying to make conversation with a producer who spoke about as much English as I do French, and the situation was getting sticky in every way when he suddenly asked me whether I had been to Scotland. Yes, I had. Well, then,

Simon Woolf registering his displeasure of a natural wine

Best of 2016: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly… of natural wine

Simon J Woolf

Feature Stories

3 min read

I write a lot about natural wines, which leads to two frequent occurrences: 1. People rib and pigeon-hole from time to time. I take it with good grace, occasionally pointing out that my interests and drinking tastes go beyond funky smelling cloudy swamp-juice. 2. A need to defend the positive

Best of 2016: The world’s most pathetic wine grape

W. Blake Gray

Features

6 min read

This story is about the world's most pathetic wine grape. Its history is exaggerated. It was used for a few decades to play one role that is no longer needed, yet still people grow it – though even its proponents don't think it has much virtue. It reminds me of the

What We’re Drinking – 2012 Rodney Strong “Brothers” Cabernet Sauvignon

David Honig

Wine Reviews

1 min read

Brothers Vineyard is Rodney Strong's northernmost, and warmest, vineyard in Alexander Valley. The wine of opaque, with a deep, earthy nose. Black currant dominates, with sweet blueberry in the background. It is even darker on the palate, leading with elderberry and blackberry. Some black tar and tobacco add bitter to

Wine

Wines of…Did You Say Calabria? Food-Friendly and Planet-Friendly Librandi Wines from Southern Italy

Why You Should Know More About California’s Wente Vineyards

Sampling Wine and History at a Medieval Estate in Tuscany: Castello di Meleto

Random

What We’re Drinking – 2015 Martin Ray “Rosé of Pinot Noir”

Spirits

Palio Wins San Francisco Dining after 35 Years

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

Random

Blackadder “A Drop of the Irish” Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Travel

Why You Should Know More About California’s Wente Vineyards

Sampling Wine and History at a Medieval Estate in Tuscany: Castello di Meleto

SOUL OF A LION

Random

A History of Wine near Venice in Six Families

Hospitality

SOUL OF A LION

Palio Wins San Francisco Dining after 35 Years

Classic Chinese Fine Dining at Z&Y Peking Duck

Random

Women Chefs Seed Plant Forward Dining at The Grove in Napa

What We’re Drinking – 2013 Miner “Stagecoach” Merlot

What We’re Drinking – 2014 Pali “Huntingon” Pinot Noir

Best of 2016: Bitters and the mystery of blending

Best of 2016: High Times in Bangkok at a 64th-story champagne bar

Best of 2016: Hooked on Haggis

Best of 2016: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly… of natural wine

Best of 2016: The world’s most pathetic wine grape

What We’re Drinking – 2012 Rodney Strong “Brothers” Cabernet Sauvignon