Author Erika Szymanski

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Erika Szymanski
Science Writer
Erika Szymanski studies wine science dissemination at the Centre for Science Communication at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She holds Masters degrees in both microbiology and English rhetoric and composition and wants, someday, to help improve the structures through which scientists communicate with each other, industry, and the world. Erika was named 2012 Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer of the Year for her work on Palate Press.

Terroir is for Weirdos, and other Place Lessons from Beer

Erika Szymanski
Features
7 min read
Beer is playing catch-up. Craft brews have recently begun earning the kind of respect, devotion, bottles, and prices heretofore reserved for grape-derived beverages: the so-called “wine-ification of beer.” Respect and devotion leads to sensory analysis, and – in our oenophilic culture – sensory analysis leads to terroir. And terroir leads

Playing with Yeast Diversity: Not Quite Science

Erika Szymanski
Features
7 min read
I feel as though I need to whisper this, but I think that yeast might be trendy. The furor (both supportive and critical) over natural wine is bleeding over into an interest in the “wild” yeasts that contribute to their distinction, and whether or not they're really “wild.” Meanwhile, a

REDUX 2013 / Terroir: Do We Have Evidence?

Erika Szymanski
Features
2 min read
Palate Press has selected our favorite stories from 2013 and will publish Redux articles over the holidays, starting with a week featuring Palate Press Columnists. The editorial board hopes you enjoy these highlights as we look forward to bringing you the best stories for your palate in 2014. ••• t this point, its reasonably

Bordeaux Week: Hail Bordeaux (Or Not, Please)

Erika Szymanski
Feature Stories
6 min read
If you're at all interested in French wine, you've heard that parts of Bordeaux were smashed by multiple severe hail storms this past July, August, and September. While many of the swankiest appellations were spared, damage to parts of Entre-Deux-Mers, along with Sainte-Estèphe and Pauillac, was flabbergasting. Some vineyards lost

The Team Sport of Trained Sensory Tasting

Erika Szymanski
Features
8 min read
[box] (and why electronic tongues are cool, but insufficient)[/box] Proteins in saliva bind tannins. Tannins are molecules responsible for astringency (and some bitterness) in red wine. When tannins bind with salivary proteins, which ordinarily keep your mouth feeling nice and slippery, your saliva becomes less viscous – dry-feeling – while

Wine Safety: Should you be Concerned?

Erika Szymanski
Features
7 min read
The last time wine safety really made the news was when, in 1985, some Austrian winemakers were found bulking up their wine with diethylene glycol. Used as an ingredient in some kinds of antifreeze, it added sweetness and body to wine, along with the potential for liver, kidney, and brain

Martian Wine and Other Futuristic Ideas

Erika Szymanski
Features
6 min read
Now that we know that Mars is capable of holding an atmosphere, it’s only a matter of time until we put one up there again. When we do, I hope that the citizens of Earth have it together enough to make a joint decision about what to do with it