Please The Palate |

Wine Tasting Along The Expo Line

This story originally appeared in California Winery Advisor. The 14.7 mile stretch from Downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica can be the bane of existence for many Angelenos. While at the right time of day, it can take as little as twenty minutes to get across the city, it typically takes closer to an hour (or more). The 10 Freeway turns us all into inchworms who slowly crawl across the city.

In May 2016, the Expo Line opened. The Expo Line is Los Angeles’ long-awaited metro line running from Downtown LA to Santa Monica. From one end to the other, the metro will take forty-seven minutes to cross the city. Of course, it could be faster at times to take a car, but if you take the metro, you can sit back and relax, send emails and watch the traffic as you pass by. Or, you can hop off and on the metro as you visit wine bars along the Expo Line. No matter whether you start from Downtown or Santa Monica, there are wine bars within walking distance from six of the eighteen stops along the Expo Line. So grab your walking shoes and your Tap Card and start drinking! Los Angeles wine tasting by train, what could be less likely and more fun than this.

25 November, 2016

Carménère for the Thanksgiving table

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. For many wine enthusiasts, picking wine for the holiday table is one of utmost importance. Once the meat, stuffing, potatoes, green beans and pumpkin pie are prepared, the question is what to drink with the meal. Classic choices for red wines are pinot noir, Beaujolais or grenache, but as Thanksgiving approaches, perhaps the perfect wine for your holiday dinner should be carménère. In fact, Nov. 24 also marks International Carménère Day honoring the 22nd anniversary of the rebirth of the grape. Carménère is a grape variety that was one of the original blending grapes in Bordeaux, France. Thanks to phylloxera in the late 1800s, the vineyards were destroyed and it was thought that the grape was extinct. Meanwhile, Chile had transported some grapes from France and was busily producing an herbaceous red wine that they called “Chilean merlot.” Then 22 years ago, in 1994, on Thanksgiving, a French DNA specialist identified the Chilean merlot as the rare Bordeaux grape carménère. With the understanding of the true identity of the grape, the Chileans readjusted their treatment of the grape. Instead of picking early, as they had been doing, they let the grape reach ripeness by harvesting late.

23 November, 2016

Delicious Food and Wine Can Be Found at Manolin Seattle

Recently I was heading to Seattle for work It was a short trip. I had three nights and had planned to see friends in my free time. Then, in mid-flight, my friend who I was supposed to catch up with had to reschedule our dinner. I had been counting on her to pick the place as she is a local. But now I found myself on a Sunday afternoon, flying into a city with no plan and no ideas. So, I jumped online and read through Eater Seattle's Top 38. A few places caught my eye, one of which was Manolin. I checked into my hotel downtown and the concierge said it was twenty minutes away and wanted to suggest closer restaurants. But, I stuck to my plan and called Uber. Ten minutes later, I was in Fremont, a popular Seattle Neighborhood.

Manolin is named after the young apprentice to Santiago's wise fisherman in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. The restaurant, which was named one of Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurants when it opened in 2015, features the maritime pleasures of the Pacific Northwest.

21 November, 2016