Palate Press

1 min read

An absolutely gorgeous bottle of wine. The mouth-feel is round and soft. Baked apple, pears, buttered toast and white flowers are redolent on the nose and on the palate. Full-bodied and round with a perfect acid counter-point, this is a marvelous food wine. Drink with crab cakes with a good

What We’re Drinking – Grgich Hills 2012 Estate Grown Zinfandel

David Honig

Wine Reviews

1 min read

his earth-bound Zin packs a nice punch without slathering on the jam. Cranberry with a blackberry background show on the nose. Zingy red fruit come out on the palate, cranberry and tart cherries. Tomato leaf and a touch of brown sugar add counter-points to the fruit, earthy and sweet. Fruit

What We’re Drinking – Rocca Family Vineyards 2013 Grigsby Cabernet Sauvignon

David Honig

Wine Reviews

1 min read

Rocca's Grigsby Cabernet is big, beautiful, and delightfully complex. The color is very dark, opaque but for the very edges. Huge aromas roil up in waves - blackberries, black currant, and eucalyptus. The palate opens in layers, starting with black cherry, then shifting to black fruit on the mid-palate, adding eucalyptus

What We’re Drinking – 2013 Murrieta’s Well “The Spur” Red Blend

David Honig

Wine Reviews

1 min read

This is a powerful brute of a wine dressed in lace and finery. The nose smells like freshly-baked blackberry pie, with black fruit, pastry and vanilla aromas exploding out of the glass. The vanilla runs through the palate, as well, which is loaded with blackberry, mulberry, and blueberry. There is a

Pomace to Pours, Preservatives, and Power: Dealing with Winery Waste

Erika Szymanski

Features

8 min read

It’s a self-evident truth, not to mention a basic principle of homeostasis, that what goes in must come out. Around this time of year, huge trucks full of grapes go into wineries. Months or years later, the bottles of wine that come out of those wineries look a lot smaller

A Look at Piemonte Esoterica, Or How I Fell In Love With Wine

Talia Baiocchi

Features

8 min read

It started with Barolo. It was the first wine that made clear to me not only the sociological, cultural and historical relevance of wine—the way it can teach us about the humanity of a place and time—but also the way it helps us understand, in a simple, profound way our

Indigenous American Grape Varieties, A Primer

David Mark Brown

Feature Stories

5 min read

Can American Vitis species produce wines that compare with those made from vinifera on a global stage? If so, will the wine traditionalists ever accept them? While continued research and experimentation with these varieties will hopefully answer these questions, perhaps-read more-

2009 Northern California Harvest Report

Ward Kadel - drXeNo

Features

4 min read

The many storied wine regions of Northern California experienced a harvest this year that was in one way, ideal and in another quite anxiety-inducing. Fruit growth was delayed this year by a cooler spring and summer, but the overall temperatures-read more-

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

Quaking Hills “Hidden Spring Vineyard” Cabernet Franc

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

Lone rider Sherry Cask Finish Bourbon

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

Adventure I Expected, but Wineries in Utah Were a Nice Surprise

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

What We’re Drinking – 2014 Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay

What We’re Drinking – Grgich Hills 2012 Estate Grown Zinfandel

What We’re Drinking – Rocca Family Vineyards 2013 Grigsby Cabernet Sauvignon

What We’re Drinking – 2013 Murrieta’s Well “The Spur” Red Blend

Pomace to Pours, Preservatives, and Power: Dealing with Winery Waste

A Look at Piemonte Esoterica, Or How I Fell In Love With Wine

Indigenous American Grape Varieties, A Primer

2009 Northern California Harvest Report