California - Palate Press

3 min read

Peter Mondavi of Charles Krug Winery, a luminary of Napa Valley Wine, passed away recently. Palate Press remembers his legacy by revisiting this interview with columnist Michelle Locke from 2015, back when he was only 100. Peter Mondavi. Sr. is holding a cork from a 1966 bottle of Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon,

Tangled Vines weaves a tangled web

Michelle Locke

Feature Stories

3 min read

In her new book, Tangled Vines, journalist Frances Dinkelspiel does something remarkable. She turns a 10-year-old crime into a spellbinder, The crime in question is the Oct. 12, 2005, fire that ripped through the Wines Central warehouse in the San Francisco Bay area, destroying 4.5 million bottles of premium wine

The Mother Vine: Livermore Reconsidered

Joe Roberts

Feature Stories

5 min read

That California’s Livermore Valley is largely off the radar for wine geeks and collectors is one of the more bizarre turns in the history of U.S. wine. While rarely mentioned in the same breath as Napa Valley, Sonoma County, or Paso Robles, it could easily be argued that no other

Three generations and 63 years later, not much has changed at Napa’s Stony Hill

Roger Morris

Feature Stories

5 min read

It is tempting to think of Stony Hill Vineyard as this lovely flower growing on the flank of Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain, a flower that has miraculously flourished, largely unchanged, since it was planted in 1952. Such unchanging longevity is not a routine occurrence. While Napa Valley may be a

What We’re Drinking – 2013 Wente “Louis Mel” Sauvignon Blanc

David Honig

Wine Reviews

1 min read

Aromas are lovely, with soft sweet citrus and magnolia wafting up from the glass. Tight, clearly defined tropical comes out up front on the palate, white grapefruit, mango and Valencia orange. White florals come through on the mid-palate, but not as powerful as on the nose, more orange blossom than magnolia.

What We’re Drinking – 2014 Balletto “Teresa’s Unoaked” Chardonnay

Becky Sue Epstein

Wine Reviews

1 min read

I was pleasantly surprised with this Chardonnay because I’ve been tasting a number of Balletto wines this summer, and though they’ve been well-liked at the dinner table this is the first one I’ve wanted to write about. The first sip shows that this is definitely not what you’d expect of

Water and wine in drought-stricken California

Michelle Locke

Feature Stories

2 min read

Drive into the Cakebread Cellars parking lot and it seems fairly normal. Nicer and prettier than most, sure, but otherwise standard. But look a little closer and you discover a cleverly engineered facility designed to up the winery’s water game. The pavers are permeable and rest atop a foot of

What We’re Drinking – 2013 J Vineyards and Winery Pinot Noir

Becky Sue Epstein

Wine Reviews

1 min read

Intense is the first word that comes to mind when encountering this wine. The aroma is concentrated strawberry fruit, which continues in the flavors of the wine, surrounded by a nice thin circlet of vanilla on the palate and in the finish. The style of fruit is very New World,

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Remembering Peter Mondavi

Tangled Vines weaves a tangled web

The Mother Vine: Livermore Reconsidered

Three generations and 63 years later, not much has changed at Napa’s Stony Hill

What We’re Drinking – 2013 Wente “Louis Mel” Sauvignon Blanc

What We’re Drinking – 2014 Balletto “Teresa’s Unoaked” Chardonnay

Water and wine in drought-stricken California

What We’re Drinking – 2013 J Vineyards and Winery Pinot Noir