"There are a number of similarities between enjoying a fine wine and enjoying a premium coffee," remarks Gayla. "Both a fine wine and an excellent coffee encourage you to get lost in their flavor."

"Coffee and wine?", you may be asking. To us, the connection is obvious. And, we hope it will be obvious to you as well. Coffee and wine actually have quite a bit in common: both beverages have a long and rich history; both have been used as inspiration and motivation; generally, one drinks a fine wine with an excellent meal, and finishes that meal with an equally fine coffee; the language of describing the tastes associated with coffee and wine is very similar; and, although both can be quaffed "as is", an educated palate helps in the appreciation and enjoyment of both. "The process for training your palate for wine tasting is the same as it is for cupping coffee," Gayla says. "It's all about recognizing flavors and the way the liquid feels in your mouth and then finding a way to describe those sensations." And that training is something that you never lose: whether you're drinking coffee, wine, scotch or tequila. "Truly wonderful wines, like coffees, cause you to get lost in the experience of drinking them."

In this section, we will present information and recommendations on our current favorites. We hope that it will be educational, entertaining and an inspiration for you to enhance your own experience with wine.

Coffee and Wine Project
As Dan Phillips of the gratefulpalate Said "There are few things that I've done in my career in food and wine that match the excitement of this coffee project" The idea was quite simple: to have great winemakers create custom blends, and that is how one of the greatest coffee adventures of my journey in taste began. From Dan's wish list, winemakers would send me a bottle of their wine and I would taste it and prepare a cupping of premium varietals for them to taste("fine coffee is like fine wine"). The thoughts of how to present coffee to some of the worlds top winemakers had me up at night wondering, how the taste of coffee to wine would translate. To date I have had the profound pleasure of meeting and tasting(cupping) with some of the most interesting, focused, eccentric, fun loving, and overall delightful people, since I got into the business of taste. Each time this experience is as different as it is the same; taste is subjective for each one of us, yet our value for quality of taste is the same. Blending of taste, is an art that I have been blessed with and did not realize that blessing until this project was brought my way. Thank you Dan, for making me a better coffee roaster and for the introduction to fine wines .Also, I would like to thank all of the winemakers I have worked with, for sending me their wines, which I have savored, shared and revisited, and for the value they have brought to my sensory experience. Please visit http://gratefulpalate.com/?p=Coffees and see the winemakers, I have had the privilege to work with and try the blends I have helped create. At the www.gratefulpalate.com site you will find along with the bacon of the month club, a coffee of the month club so you can enjoy the different blends the winemakers have created. We continue to savor this relationship.

We Recommend... From 'Vino V Wines'

Contact:
Vino V Wines
P O Pox 1302
Ventura, CA 93002
www.vinoVwines.com
805-207-7426

2004 Syrah - White Hawk Vineyard, Santa Barbara County

This was another vineyard that was a no-brainer for me. The site is just outside Los Alamos off Cat Canyon Road towards the North. It is on the cooler side of the scale when ranking Santa Barbara County vineyards. Amazingly a small section was available so we jumped on it. Our blocks of Syrah are at the upper reaches of the vineyard which is basically a big sand dune. We love the wine made from this vineyard and have added two blocks since this wine was made. This wine was made entirely from the Estrella River clone of Syrah. It spent 21 months in barrel (1/3 new) and was racked twice – once at about 12 months and again at bottling. It has always shown a beautiful dark plum and violet aroma thrown in with oak spice that reminds me of some sort of exotic Indian dish. The fruit is lush and the tannins are slightly chalky and fine which make it drinkable now but give it life to age well. (75 cases)

2004 Confundido – Santa Barbara County

This version is made of Grenache (50%), Pinot Noir (25%) and Syrah (25%). It is a wine that begs to be drunk with food. It has a good amount of fruit and earth from the Grenache with structure and liveliness provided by the Syrah and Pinot. An unusual blend, and we think it works. (50 cases)