Palate Press

1 min read

Red cherries and redcurrant show on the nose. The palate is round and pillowy soft, offering sweet cherry, ripe strawberry, and hints of cola. Leafy herbs start to show on the mid-palate. Sweet red fruit lingers. This is a soft, sweet, fat glass of wine, which would pair nicely with

Building on Sand: How Jonata is Redefining Santa Barbara Wines

Andrew Chalk

Feature Stories

5 min read

You won't find a street address on their web site, nor will they show up on google maps, but Jonata (Chumash Native American for Tall Oaks) is a winery that will likely be heard a lot more of in coming years - if only for its ability to defy the

American Syrah’s Big Moment? How Rising Rhône Prices Might Be a Game-Changer

Evan Dawson

Features

8 min read

Some time during the last ten or fifteen years, Northern Rhone Syrah went nuts. Yes, Chave rouge has been a big-ticket bottle for many years. But it wasn’t that long ago that Clape Cornas and Jamet Cote-Rotie were $35 a bottle. Maybe not an everyday price, but accessible. Today, Cote-Rotie

2011 Nadia Cabernet Sauvignon

David Honig

Wine Reviews

1 min read

Nadia is the sister label to better-known Laetitia Vineyard & Winery, of the Arroyo Grande Valley. Blackberries, black cherry, tobacco leaf and mint show the different components on the nose. On the palate, blackberry and tobacco leaf are dominant, mint secondary, adding chocolate on the mid-palate. Very young, very raw, and a

Round Table on Balancing Alcohol in California Wines

W. Blake Gray

Features

7 min read

Santa Barbara County is one of the youngest wine growing regions in California, measured by both vine age and the age and experience of its winemakers. Thus it wasn't hard for me to sit around a table at the home of Presqu'ile winery owner Matt Murphy with eight winemakers and

HOT LOT 12/27: 97 Points RP – 2007 Sine Qua Non Pictures Grenache

Palate Press

Features

1 min read

WHO: Sine Qua Non WHAT: Grenache WHERE: California, Santa Barbara WHEN: 2007 SIZE: 750 ml RESERVE: $175 MINIMUM BID INCREMENT: $25 97 Points - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate It exhibits abundant floral notes intermixed with notions of camphor, black cherries, black raspberries, blacker fruits, and graphite. Voluminous, expansive, and

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: 2004 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs

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

Monday’s Martini – North Shore Distiller’s Gin No. 6

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

Izzy’s Steak House, San Francisco

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

Women Chefs Seed Plant Forward Dining at The Grove in Napa

What We’re Drinking – J Vineyards Pinot Noir

Building on Sand: How Jonata is Redefining Santa Barbara Wines

American Syrah’s Big Moment? How Rising Rhône Prices Might Be a Game-Changer

2011 Nadia Cabernet Sauvignon

Round Table on Balancing Alcohol in California Wines

HOT LOT 12/27: 97 Points RP – 2007 Sine Qua Non Pictures Grenache