Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Berryessa Gap Paella Cook-Off

Written by Allison Levine on November 17, 2018

Lifestyle Food Wine

There is something beautiful about watching paella being cooked over an open fire in a large open pan. This image was magnified this past week where at least a dozen different paellas were being made for the Berryessa Gap Paella Cook-Off, the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Berryessa Gap is a winery based in Winters, in Yolo County, California, located 30 miles from Sacramento and 60 miles from San Francisco. Owned by the Martinez family who originates from Spain, they celebrate their Spanish heritage each year with the annual Paella Cookoff and Dinner. This year marked the 11th annual event and more than a dozen local chefs came out to make paellas, many from their own family’s recipes. Read More +

Fess Parker Winery In Santa Barbara Wine Country Expands Its Reach Into Napa

Written by Allison Levine on November 15, 2018

Lifestyle Wine

It is not uncommon to hear about wineries in Napa who have started to explore other wine regions, such as Paso Robles and Santa Barbara, which are more affordable and offer different soils and micro-climates. But Fess Parker Winery in Santa Ynez Valley is reversing that. With a 30-year history in Santa Barbara Wine Country and a portfolio that includes Burgundian and Rhone varieties, as well as sparkling wine, Fess Parker has now expanded to Napa Valley with their label Addendum, which you can read about in my column in the Napa Valley Register.

Fess Parker Winery is a third-generation winery in the Santa Ynez Valley. Fess Parker, an American film and television actor best known for playing Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone in the 1950s and 1960s, purchased a 714-acre ranch in 1988 with the idea to run cattle, grow a few acres of grapes and one day establish a small winery. He envisioned it as a family business to hand down through the generations.

The Crus of Beaujolais

Written by Allison Levine on November 13, 2018

Wine

November is here and that means Thanksgiving is around the corner. Looking for the perfect wine to enjoy with your Thanksgiving meal? Try a Beaujolais. Not a Beaujolais Nouveau but one from one of the Crus of Beaujolais, which I wrote about in my recent column in the Napa Valley Register and you can read here.

Have you been waiting for November to drink Beaujolais? I hope not!

Beaujolais is so much more than the Beaujolais Nouveau released each November, just after harvest and just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. But if you have been waiting for November to drink Beaujolais, it is time to get serious about Beaujolais.

There are different styles of Beaujolais that will satisfy all palates, styles and desires. And Beaujolais prices are affordable. So, when you cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a bottle of Burgundy, a bottle of Beaujolais will satisfy.

Beaujolais is located immediately south of Burgundy. While it is sometimes considered a part of Burgundy, it is not. Unlike Burgundy, which grows Pinot Noir, the grape of Beaujolais is Gamay. Gamay is not the shallow one-dimensional grape you might think it is but rather a grape that will charm and has the power to seduce.