06 Oct Please The Palate Fall 2020 Newsletter

2020 continues to be a challenging year. We are now more than half way through a year that has brought us a pandemic (and everything affiliated with that) and fires that have destroyed property and challenged the 2020 vintage. I hope as I write this that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. Despite all of the challenges, the summer of 2020 was a productive one for Please The Palate. In June, we had to cancel the annual Vintage Hollywood food and wine event of which I sit on the board. In lieu of the event, I hosted three virtual wine tastings to raise money for GO Campaign. The first one featured Kathy Joseph of Fiddlehead Cellars in Sta. Rita Hills and Pam Starr of Crocker & Starr Winery in Napa, the second one featured William Allen of Two Shepherds in Sonoma and Scott Flora of Native Flora in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, and the third one featured Rebecca and Peter Work of Ampelos Cellars in Santa Ynez Valley and Kara and Wayne Fingerman of Hard Six Cellars in Napa. In July, I was a guest on the podcast One Bourbon, One Chard, Or One Beer where I competed against hosts Chris Kern and Jason Stubblefield to pick a wine, a spirit or a beer to pair with each song! Take a listen to “Please Please Me” With Allison Levine and The Not-So-Secret Life Of The American Teenager With Allison Levine At the end of July, two of my wine writer friends and I launched a weekly video series called Crush On This. I am based in Los Angeles and my friends are Cindy Rynning, based in Chicago and Christine Campbell, based in Vancouver. Each week we pick a different wine topic and wine selections and have a fun chat. Check it out and follow us on YouTube. In early September I was surprised to receive an email from Corking Wines, a leading online wine merchant and retailer based in the city of York, UK, who selected my blog as one of the Top 101 Wine Writers Of 2020 Award. Celebrating the finest writers on the web, founders David Beswick and Yvonne Holmes said “We’re thrilled to award Allison with our Top 101 Wine Writers of 2020 award, in recognition of the original and beautifully presented content she produces for the Please The Palate blog. Allison has deservedly built up a strong readership for her blog by creating hundreds of engaging posts, that reflect her passion for wine, food and all the people she shares this with.” It was a definite honor to be recognized! Upcoming Events: Rethinking European Wines! Join Please The Palate, Wine Weirdos and Riviera Wine Group for three virtual tastings. Each hour-long wine tasting and educational conversation includes two bottles of wine, tasting notes, a history of each variety, stories about the winemakers, and food pairings. Rethinking European Wines Part 1 – Italy Friday, October 23, 6pm PST $49 (1 bottle of Italian White Wine and 1 bottle of Italian Red Wine) In order to receive this bundle in time to enjoy during the class, you must place your order by October 5th. (If you live in California, you can order by October 18th) Rethinking European Wines Part 2 – Portugal Friday, November 6, 6pm PST $49 (1 bottle of Portuguese White Wine and 1 bottle of Portuguese Red Wine) In order to receive this bundle in time to enjoy during the class, you must place your order by October 19th.  Rethinking European Wines Part 3 – Austria Friday, November 20, 6pm PST $49 (1 bottle of Austrian White Wine and 1 bottle of Austrian Red Wine) In order to receive this bundle in time to enjoy during the class, you must place your order by November 2nd.  Purchase the entire bundle for $135 (6 bottles of wine). In order to receive this bundle in time to enjoy during the classes, you must place your order by October 5th. (If you live in California, we can extend the date to October 18th) Special Offers: Ready to invest in a Coravin, save 10% discount with the code: CCRXRBUD3Y If you are interested in starting your own hydroponic garden with Lettuce Grow, save $50 with the code: FRIEND-X6BU Read the full Please The Palate October 2020 Newsletter