WINE

I had the privilege to meet Franco Massolino upon his last visit to Los Angeles. Charming and friendly, Franco's passion about his wines and the region that they are from is infectious. Having lived in Piemonte, Italy, I have a natural affinity for the wines from that region. And once you meet Franco and taste his wines, you are captured by the beauty and structure of Massolino wines.
24 January, 2013
I am sure that when you think of historical wine regions, Champagne, Burgundy, the Rheingau and Oporto are among the ones that come to mind.  But, with over 7000 years of wine making history, the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon belongs in that list. From the Bekka Valley comes the infamous Chateau Musar, established in 1930 by Gaston Hochar and run by his son Serge Hochar since 1959. Despite the war in Lebanon, Chateau Musar has withstood the test of time.  For over 80 years, Chateau Musar has been producing extraordinary wines every single vintage except for two, 1976 and 1984.
16 January, 2013

Happy 2013 and welcome to the first newsletter from Please The Palate! 2012 was our full year in business, and an extremely busy one at that!...

08 January, 2013
RANGE is the newest restaurant to open in Washington. D.C.  Not much of a foodie town when I lived there over a decade ago, today Washington, D.C. has transformed into a food and cocktail destination. RANGE, led by Chef and Owner Bryan Voltaggio (Bravo’s Top Chef season 6 finalist) and an amazing team including co-owner Hilda Staples, general manager Steven Fowler, wine director and Master Sommelier Keith Goldston, beverage director Owen Thomson, chef de cuisine Matt Hill, pastry chef John Miele and pizza-maker Edan MacQuaid, is no exception. RANGE is a 14,000 square foot space located on the third floor of the Chevy Chase Pavilion. Located in a mall and surrounded by neighboring malls, the modern space shares an atrium with the Embassy Suites hotel and other retail shops.  However, it is not a hotel restaurant, or for that matter a typical mall restaurant.  
18 December, 2012
Oh how we love Pinot Noir! That beautifully fickle grape that makes a medium bodied wine with notes of fruit (strawberry, cherry, raspberry, blackberry), earth (herbal, mushroom, leather) and spice (cinnamon, clove, smoky, tobacco).  Whether from Sonoma, Napa, Santa Barbara, Oregon, New Zealand or Burgundy, Pinot Noir is a perfect food wine.
13 November, 2012
(First posted on November 6, 2012 on www.tastingpanelmag.com) In September, six top Dry Creek producers — Paul Draper (Ridge), Erik Miller (Kokomo), Clay Mauritson (Mauritson and Rockpile), Doug Nalle (Nalle), Hugh Chappelle (Quivira) and Julie Pedroncelli (Pedoncelli) — participated in a panel discussion at Ridge Winery, "Debunking Zinfandel Myths," led by journalist Patrick Comiskey.
Left to right: Hugh Chappelle, Erik Miller, Paul Draper, Clay Mauritson, Patrick Comiskey, Doug Nalle and Judy Pedroncelli.
  With vines dating to pre-Prohibition, Zinfandel is the grape most uniquely associated with California viticulture and was the first variety to create a wine craze in California; it is still known as "as the wine of the people." Today there is a renewed interest in this varietal as Zinfandel is being rediscovered and re-appreciated. But do we want Old World or New World style Zin? "It's a troublesome question to address," Comiskey explained. "Dry Creek really is a place of effortless naturalness for American Zinfandel.  It is in a climate range that guarantees ripeness, and Dry Creek seems ideally suited for getting Zinfandel ripe in a balanced way."
06 November, 2012

High-school sweethearts Randy and Cheryl Phillips began growing grapes in Paso Robles in 1991. With two hundred acres of wine grapes, half are on the west side...

06 November, 2012
Napa, Australia and New Zealand. What do they have in common?  All three are beautiful destination spots; all three are in the "new world"; all three are wine producing regions; and recently three producers from the three regions came together for a wine lunch. Ludovic Dervin, Chief Winemaker from Mumm Napa, Bernard Hickin, Chief Winemaker from Jacob's Creek and Jim Robertson, Global Brand Ambassador from Brancott Estate shared their thoughts about making wine in their respective regions.
23 October, 2012
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