In true form, the 2018 Riesling “Louise” from Palmaz Winery was delivered in a “Flûte” shaped bottle reminiscent of Rieslings from Alsace, France. It also has a low alcohol content consistent with old world production.
We often use cantaloupe for this recipe, paired with our Amalia Chardonnay, but Amalia Palmaz has recently been making this dish with Honeydew. It is a delicious variation, with a delicate flavor that balances perfectly with the spice of the cayenne pepper and saltiness of the prosciutto! Use whichever melon you have on hand—either will make for a refreshing dish. The Honeydew variation pairs beautifully with our Louise Riesling.
Sommeliers are asked the question at least once a day, says Zaitouna Kusto, sommelier at Esters Wine Shop & Bar in Santa Monica, California. “These well-meaning people aren’t wrong about their tastes, of course, but they are potentially misguided by a number of sociological factors they may not even realize.”
American sweet wines have long had a poor reputation. In stark contrast to the grand sweet wine traditions of Europe, like Sauternes, Tokaji and Italian passito, U.S. bottlings are often lumped together with poorly made, sugar-laden sweet offerings sipped by those thought not to know “real wine.”
Dear Tim,
Thank you for so thoroughly covering our story. I really appreciate the effort to capture such a technical topic and make it an enjoyable read! I have a couple reactions to some concepts your article drew that might potentially serve as a followup topic for a future piece and an interesting discussion for our blog where your article will be featured.
Grapes are a hardy, resilient fruit. Among the first lessons one learns when studying wine is that grapes should even undergo stress during their time on the vine when grown for high-quality winemaking. And so we can describe the wine industry as characteristically resilient by nature: resistant to freak annual weather occurrences; resistant in the long run to the fickle tides of drinking trends; and resistant, largely, to technological advancements.
Over the course of the previous five installments of this series on Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, I’ve focused on various specific appellations, trying to contextualize them in order to demonstrate what makes the wines from each unique. This final one, on Cabs labeled as simply Napa Valley, as opposed to any of the specific nested AVAs, is inherently problematic: Wines labeled as Napa Valley encompass a sweeping range of soils, micro-climates, geological histories, elevations, and more. In that regard, it’s just not possible to tie them all together in any satisfactory way.
To help shed some light on Napa Valley as a whole, I spoke with Vinous founder and CEO Antonio Galloni, who is not only one of the most important critics in the world of wine in general—his expertise literally spans the globe—but whose Vinous Napa Valley Vineyard Maps, done with critic and cartographer Alessandro Masnaghetti, are the most comprehensive and educational I’ve ever seen.
“The reason why I started to do those maps back in 2011,” he said, “is that I was tasting wines for Robert Parker [of The Wine Advocate],” and realized that, “if you woke up on the valley floor, you think you were tasting in Piedmont” from all of the fog. “And if you drive up to Pritchard Hill, it’s dry and sunny—and this is the same day.”
This month on the Wine Stream we talk with Palmaz matriarch and our Mother – Amalia Palmaz – about her eponymous wine, the Amalia Chardonnay! Under her guidance, the Chardonnay and its food pairings have become a family and winery favorite. For this special episode, we’ll taste through three past vintages of Amalia Chardonnay and her favorite food pairings to go along with them.
For Episode 27 of The Wine Stream we will have the opportunity to talk with our mother—Amalia Palmaz—about her eponymous wine, the Amalia Chardonnay! In honor of this special episode, we’ve asked Amalia to pick some of her favorite Palmaz recipes that pair beautifully with her chardonnay. She’s chosen three: Smoked Salmon on Wasabi Caviar Stars, Duck Confit with Frisée Salad Lyonnais, and Seafood in Roasted Vegetable Consommé with Quinoa Pilaf.
These recipes give you a chance to participate in a live, virtual tasting during the Wine Stream this month. Make all three and enjoy a multi-course meal, or just make one—but make sure to have a glass of Amalia Chardonnay in hand!
One of California’s premier beef farms will deliver its Prime-grade, purebred, and 100% grass-fed Wagyu beef to your door through its delivery and subscription service. And the meat is as good (if not better) than any cuts you will get from a Michelin-starred restaurant. The farm is called Genesee Valley Ranch, the service is called Brasas at the Table, and the meat will make you a grill hero this summer—especially during the pandemic, when eating at home is still safer than dining out.
Roses growing in our vineyards look gorgeous, sure, but we plant them for a variety of reasons—not just because they add a pop of color.
Historically, the practice of planting roses in vineyards originated in Europe, like many winemaking traditions. Winemakers in Italy and France placed them at the end of rows for mold control and to help guide plow animals. During times when oxen and horses were commonly used to plow vineyards, rose thorns would keep them from cutting corners and damaging the vines.
