Today, most wine is fermented in stainless-steel tanks. Very clean, very modern, very industrial. Very congruent with the food processing industry and it’s (sometimes reassuring, sometimes disturbing) obsession with sleek, sanitizable surfaces. Stainless steel only debuted in winemaking circa the 1950’s, but it’s now ubiquitous. So, of course, there are
I’ve never actually attended one of the infamous Riedel seminars at which a sleek Riedel representative demonstrates the magic transformative power of their varietal-specific glassware – living in a small town has its limitations – but I can’t say that I see much point. I would go for the sake
At this point, its reasonably common knowledge that terroir isn’t all about soil. Studies since the 1970’s have told us that wine from grapes grown on different soil types in different locations don’t necessary taste different. Nouveau chic wine critics – Steve Heimoff, Eric Asimov, W. Blake Gray, among others
Should we be worried about companies sponsoring wine-related research? In a word: no. I’m usually wary of research sponsored by private companies. Companies are likely to fund research designed to show their products in the best light. We know that privately-funded studies in medicine tend to have methodological issues, tend
In his outstanding volume The Art of Fermentation, Sandor Ellix Katz makes the disturbing proposition that rather than us having domesticated Saccharomyces cerevisiae – the yeast used to ferment wine as well as (most) beer and bread – S. cerevisiae has instead domesticated us. Katz is a fermentation wizard, the
More often than not, food and wine pairing seems to me no more than hypnotism without the swinging watch. Some Authoritative Personality tells us that Sauvignon Blanc goes well with pesto because both are herbaceous. So I pull out a crisp Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, sauce some pasta, and decide that
![By Valo at de.wikipedia [CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons](https://www.palatepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Flametail-360x240.jpeg)
Alcohol levels in just about everything are rising, and a lot of people aren’t happy about it. Nonetheless, winemakers would really rather you not know that they’re doing something about it. Or, at least, one particular something about it: dealcoholization, or “dealcing.” While there are alcohol-free or very low alcohol
Palate Press has selected our top ten stories from 2012 and will publish a 2012 Redux article each weekday until January 4, 2013. These stories highlight our featured columnists, widely recognized contributors, and most popular works published through the year. The Palate Press editorial board hopes you enjoy these highlights as we look