WINE

Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Le Serre Nuove Dell’Ornellaia 2017, Bolgheri, Italy

March is Women’s History Month. It is a time to celebrate the tremendous contributions that women have made throughout history. And what better way that...

04 March, 2020

2013 Handpicked Wines Regional Selections Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River Australia Red Wine

04 March, 2020

Barolos with a bit of age

Drinking Barolo is always a special treat! Drinking Barolo with a bit of age on it is all the better because Barolo is a wine that needs time to age to be all the more drinkable. Giorgio Lavagna from Fontanafredda, the largest and oldest monopole of Barolo in Piemonte, came to Los Angeles with half a dozen different Barolo wines five, eight, nine, ten, 20 and 24 years of age. Drinking these wines from an historical estate was a treat as I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register and share here.

It is that time of the year when the Italians come to the United States to showcase their newest releases of Barolo and Barbaresco wines. This is usually to the great delight of those who are able to taste them. And this year is no exception, as 2016 is reputed to be one of the best vintages in decades. But the issue is that when you taste a 2016 Barolo or Barbaresco in 2020, the wines are still babies. They are high in tannins and not ready to fully enjoy. What we want to drink are Barolo and Barbaresco wines with 10, 20 or more years of age. And that is what I got to do when Giorgio Lavagna from Fontanafredda in Piemonte came to Los Angeles for a wine lunch.

03 March, 2020

A very special opportunity to taste the wines of Vega Sicilia

Vega Sicilia is one of the greatest wine producers in the world and their wines are not easily accessible. When I was in Ribera del...

27 February, 2020

2017 Domaine Marion Pral Moulin a Vent Beaujolais France Red Wine

27 February, 2020

Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Fiddlehead Cellars Pink Fiddle Rose of Pinot Noir 2019, Fiddlestix Vineyard, Sta Rita Hills AVA

Rosé season is upon us! While we can now drink rosé wines year round, there is something exciting about tasting the newest releases from the...

26 February, 2020

Maude Journeys South Australia

To kick off 2020, Maude journeyed to South Australia as the region to be the focus of their tasting menu from January through March. South Australia is in the southern central part of the country where it is nicknamed the "Wine State. It is home to Adelaide, the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Coonawarra. It is a diverse region that includes the coastline and the outback, providing an array of ingredients including wattleseed, quandong (a native peach), mountain pepper, lemon myrtle, native watercress, pandanus and strawberry gum, to showcase in a delicious menu. In addition to the diverse ingredients foraged, the Maude team was also influenced by the fresh seafood sourced from the coast. Oysters, mussels, cockles, limpets, spiny lobsters, Eastern School prawns, and freshwater crayfish are all thriving in the southern waters. They were inspired by chef Maggie Beer, an Australian legend who runs a cooking school and farm shop which is home to peacocks, olive groves, a quince orchard and a lake. And they visited Hutton Vale, where 3,000 merino sheep roam and are raised for their wool and meat. We began with a bottle of Rieslingfreak No. 4 Riesling from Eden Valley that was fresh and aromatic with notes of lemon, lime, white flowers and slate with bright acidity.

Our meal started with two plates. One had oysters cooked in lamb fat and hiramasa (yellowtail kingfish) with finger limes. The other plate has celtuce (stem lettuce) with kumquat and coconut, and a tuile cone with wattlesead, potato and black truffle.

25 February, 2020