Palate Press

7 min read

Epicurus would not have given a damn about “how to cook your Thanksgiving turkey like a Peking duck.” He would have found the prices and boasting vulgar if he could see the menu (95 euros for macaroni stuffed with truffles and duck foie gras) at Epicure restaurant in Paris. He

Is Coffee the New Wine? Embracing Coffee’s “Third Wave”

Evan Dawson

Features

6 min read

How’s this for a tasting note? “Cherry, roasted cashew, baked apple, and chocolate.” Or this: “Toasted nuts, caramel, milk chocolate and tobacco.” The ﬁrst is difﬁcult to place. The second sounds like a modern Bordeaux with about ten or ﬁfteen years of age. But we’re not talking about wine. We’re

Best of 2015: Old Vines: In the Rhône Valley, it’s Not a Marketing Slogan, it’s Saving the 2015 Vintage

Evan Dawson

Features

5 min read

It's that time of year again. This week we will be running our favorite articles from Palate Press staff writers. Evan Dawson's always insightful wine writing for Palate Press often covers the Rhône and here he revisits the "old vines make better wines" marketing trope. On a 97-degree day in France’s Northern Rhône Valley, I

Old Vines: In the Rhône Valley, it’s Not a Marketing Slogan, it’s Saving the 2015 Vintage

Evan Dawson

Features

5 min read

On a 97-degree day in France’s Northern Rhône Valley, I was standing at the top of a vertiginous parcel of vines with a chain-smoking winemaker. There wasn’t a single part of Laurent Courbis that seemed coached or “media-trained” or careful. He was the picture of authenticity. And then he said

For Lovers of Aged Bordeaux, an Opening

Evan Dawson

Feature Stories

5 min read

But is it a door, or just a window? Modern winemaking can do all kinds of neat tricks. Soften the tannins and make even Barolo more approachable in its relative youth? We can do that. Manipulate the acids to save a white wine that would otherwise taste like an electric

Super Bowl ad shows Budweiser is afraid of craft beer

Evan Dawson

Beer Reviews

4 min read

Let me get this straight: Budweiser bashes craft beer lovers as “fussy,” then Budweiser boasts of their own “beechwood aging.” Feels like it’s 2005 again, and I’m listening to Pope Benedict loudly oppose gay relationships while wearing faaaaaaabulous red Prada shoes. Fortunately for us, there’s a new Pope, and a

Best of 2014: The One Way to Build a Wine Collection You Won’t Regret

Evan Dawson

Features

3 min read

I am amazed at how much bad wine I own. I’m not talking about Yellow Tail and its ilk. I’m talking about wine that I purchased while thinking it was a good wine, maybe even a great wine, and was worth laying down. Tastes change, which makes buying wine for

Shadows in the Vineyard gives a sunny view of Burgundy, DRC

Evan Dawson

Features

6 min read

Mozart was born in 1756. This is an admittedly odd way to begin a review of a book about wine, but stay with me. In Shadows in the Vineyard, author Max Potter tells the story of the attempt to extort the owner of the most famous vineyard in the world.

Wine

The Philosophy of Rosé: From the Costaripa Winery on Lake Garda

The Story of Spain’s Top Wine Estates

A New-Old White Wine from Abruzzo in Italy

Random

Palate Press Wine of the Week: 2009 De Wetshof Estate Limestone Hill Chardonnay

Spirits

Why Low-Alcoholic Wine May Be Increasing & An Adult Beverage Option; Even No-Alc can be Tasty

A Dog, a Mountain Hike and Gin

A Life-Saving Whiskey of Forests and Caramel

Random

On the ryes: Canadian whisky gains respect

Travel

Wine Country Hospitality in Amador County

Why is Arianna Occhipinti a Winemaking Legend?

Top of the Mark Lounge in San Francisco Celebrates 85 years

Random

The Homey, Amenity-packed and Elegant Yountville Hotel

Hospitality

Wine Country Hospitality in Amador County

Top of the Mark Lounge in San Francisco Celebrates 85 years

Women Chefs Seed Plant Forward Dining at The Grove in Napa

Random

The Bounty of the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood

Are you sure you’re an epicure?

Is Coffee the New Wine? Embracing Coffee’s “Third Wave”

Best of 2015: Old Vines: In the Rhône Valley, it’s Not a Marketing Slogan, it’s Saving the 2015 Vintage

Old Vines: In the Rhône Valley, it’s Not a Marketing Slogan, it’s Saving the 2015 Vintage

For Lovers of Aged Bordeaux, an Opening

Super Bowl ad shows Budweiser is afraid of craft beer

Best of 2014: The One Way to Build a Wine Collection You Won’t Regret

Shadows in the Vineyard gives a sunny view of Burgundy, DRC