Carnival in Italy, a Festival of Wines and Foods

Elisabetta Tosi
Features
6 min read
Every region in Italy is its own small world, with distinct customs, traditions — even local languages which can have different tones within a few kilometers — and their own distinct cuisines as well. During the year, various regional events celebrate the richness and range of Italian foods. The most

Pairing and the Power of Suggestion

Erika Szymanski
Features
7 min read
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

Open That Bottle Night – Wrap Up

Dorothy Gaiter
Features
2 min read
   It was the kind of day that always makes us happy we have our little hideaway north of New York City. Outside was Currier and Ives--gray sky, melting snow, moody, skeletal trees. Inside, a fire that John had tended all day bathed our old dog’s body in a golden

Open That Bottle Night XIV

Palate Press
Feature Stories
1 min read
Tonight marks the fourteenth annual Open That Bottle Night, the truly original wine holiday created by Dottie Gaiter and John Brecher. What will you be drinking tonight and why? Perhaps even more important, with whom will you be sharing it? Tell us about your own Open That Bottle Night, and

Tips for Saturday’s Open That Bottle Night

Dorothy Gaiter
Features
2 min read
Open That Bottle Night is this Saturday, and will be hosted live on Palate Press by Dottie Gaiter. She shared here OTBN tips with us leading into this international wine holiday. Read them today, particularly if you plan to open an older wine. 1. Choose the wine. This is the

Identifying Flaws and Faults in Wine

David White
Features
2 min read
Sniff, swirl, sip. Whether at home or at a restaurant, analyzing wine is a fairly straightforward process. And when you stick your nose in a glass of wine, you'll typically encounter pleasant aromas like fruits, flowers, and spices. Sometimes, though, a wine will seem off. One unfortunate truth about wine

When Sake Gets Too Polished

W. Blake Gray
Features
4 min read
Rice needs to be polished to make premium sake. But there's an arms race going on, and American consumers have something to do with it, because unlike so much about sake, we can easily understand numbers. Hollywood celebrities and Las Vegas high rollers are seeking out sakes with absurdly low