Indholdsfortegnelse for November 15, 2015 i Wine Spectator

This past June, just about the time Vinexpo was folding up its tents in Bordeaux, Philippe Dhalluin of Mouton-Rothschild made a notable observation. Flowering had just finished in Pauillac in “perfect” condition, and the well-respected winemaker proclaimed that Bordeaux was on course to make a legendary vintage, even raising the idea of another 1982. It’s the kind of tease that whets the appetites of Bordeaux lovers. The 1982 vintage rewrote the history of Bordeaux. It was a stunningly complex and bountiful year that resurrected this famous wine region from decades of mostly good to serviceable vintages. If you make wine for a living, the satisfaction of having the crop in the barn is cause to celebrate, but sometimes that’s not enough. If it’s really as good as imagined, it will…

California’s Cabernet Sauvignons are on a roll, with the highly successful 2012 vintage helping to set the pace for continued quality and popularity. In our annual Cabernet report, senior editor James Laube, who has more than 30 years of experience tasting the category, writes that the 2012 vintage is “big and bountiful” and “as good as any of the past decade.” Laube has reviewed more than 600 newly released Cabernets in the past year, mostly 2012s. Thirty-six wines earned classic scores of 95 points or higher on our 100-point scale, while an as-tounding 58 percent are outstanding in quality (90 points or more). His report, beginning on page 68, guides you to the top wines and the best values. Napa Valley is Cabernet’s capital. Plush yet powerful, delicious on release…

The word Vouvray will no longer appear on the labels of two of Vouvray’s leading winemakers: Jacky Blot, of Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, and François Chidaine. As of the 2013 vintage, the wines will be sold as Vin de France, thanks to a change in appellation laws that the winemakers say blindsided them. Both Blot and Chidaine grow their grapes in Vouvray vineyards but vinify their wines in Montlouis, across the Loire River. “The cellars are 5 kilometers as a bird flies, 10 by car, from the vineyard,” Blot said. Not long after Blot bought Clos de Venise, 2.5 acres in Vouvray, in 1998, he received permission from the French government to indefinitely produce his Vouvray in his Montlouis cellar. “This letter, which authorized me— without a time…

SEASON OF MISTS As autumn arrives and thoughts turn to heartier food, I look for wines to complement the robust dishes I crave in cooler weather. This group of wines from France includes savory reds from the Rhône Valley and the Loire’s Chinon appellation, along with Pinot Gris and Riesling from Alsace, which perfectly accompany the region’s smoked meats, sausage and sauerkraut. PHILIPPE ALLIET Chinon Vieilles Vignes 2013 (92, $31) Juicy; plum, black cherry, bay leaf, anise, violet, bramble DELAS Crozes-Hermitage Domaine des Grands Chemins 2012 (92, $34) Plum, cherry, raspberry, cocoa powder, violet, white pepper ALBERT MANN Pinot Gris Alsace Grand Cru Hengst 2012 (92, $34) Rich; apricot, candied orange zest, almond, grated ginger, smoke DOMAINES SCHLUMBERGER Pinot Gris Alsace Grand Cru Spiegel 2011 (92, $29) Racy; honey, guava,…

One thing you notice right away about Bill Harlan’s wines (all red) is their consistency of style. Whether it’s Harlan Estate, The Maiden (Harlan Estate’s second wine), Matriarch (made at Bond) or one of the five Bond single-vineyard bottlings, Harlan’s wines are ultrarich and built to age. The vintner focuses on hillside sites where the natural advantages include well-drained soils and limited yields. Branding is impeccable. Packaging is precise. No detail is overlooked. The labels themselves are representative of Harlan’s pursuit of authenticity and historicity, made by an engraving company that until the mid-19th century designed U.S. currency notes. All Harlan’s wines are anchored by Cabernet Sauvignon, though specific varieties are not listed on the label, and the flagship Harlan Estate bottling carries the Napa Valley appellation (the vineyard lies…

History France’s Jura region has a long history of wine production. Its wines were noted in the writing of Pliny the Younger as early as A.D. 80, with additional historical notations in the archives of Château-Chalon and Salins-les-Bains dating from the 16th century. Through the French Revolution and into the 19th century, the Jura was a major wine production area for France, with nearly 50,000 acres of vines covering this rugged, mountainous valley located between Burgundy and Switzerland. At one point there were more than 40 grape varieties used in the Jura, with red wine being the strength. Phylloxera first appeared in the Jura in 1879 and was widespread by 1895. Pierre-Marie-Alexis Millardet, a Jura native, is credited with discovering how to graft French vinifera vines onto American rootstock, although,…

The world has come to the Langhe. Modern architecture, stylish tasting rooms and luxury hotels are sprouting from hillsides where tradition long defined the landscape. Though the Piedmont region’s Nebbiolo-based reds have been prized since the mid-1800s, some of its towns lacked running water as late as the 1980s. Now, wine lovers and deep-pocketed investors envision Barolo as the next Burgundy, and prices for both bottles and vineyards are rising steeply. But tradition still has deep roots and fierce champions here. Away from new showpiece wineries, in the town of Monchiero, population 500, you can find one of its icons: Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio, a winery run by fourth-generation proprietor Mauro Mascarello. Since 1967, Mascarello has nurtured his wines in the dim cellar of an old stone building, an icehouse…

This Buying Guide contains ratings of new releases from around the world and the results of special tastings reported on in greater depth elsewhere in the issue. Complete tasting notes are provided for all new releases scoring 85 or more points (on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale, explained below); notes for wines scoring 84 points or less are included at the discretion of the taster. Additional reviews appear on our website, www.winespectator.com. Each review carries the initials of the Wine Spectator editor who blind-tasted and scored the wine and wrote the review, based on the regional specializations indicated below. If no reviewer’s initials appear, the wine was tasted by a panel of Wine Spectator editors. James Laube California Harvey Steiman Australia, Oregon, Washington Thomas Matthews Spain Kim Marcus Argentina, Austria,…

It is wonderful to see Mencía mentioned with such high regard. It has tremendous po-tential to satisfy a broad spectrum of consumers, ex-emplified by its varying price points. From the examples I have had the pleasure to taste, I believe it also pos-sesses a keen ability to ex-press terroir much in the same way Pinot Noir has proven to. This is in part due to the “transparency” associ-ated with being a lighter red with focus, precision and clarity. It just isn’t as widely planted and thus not able to express as many iterations. Steven Thompson Mosier, Ore. I will look for a Mencía (don’t think I’ve ever tried one) and a Hunter Valley Sémillon (have tried a few, but not sure about Hunter Valley). I am a Loire Cab Franc…

There's an argument to be made that every great meal should begin with a glass of Krug Grande Cuvee Champagne. And wine director Mark Bright makes that grand gesture a reality, offering a glass as the perfect prelude to a Michelin three-star meal. "Krug Grande Cuvee is special in that it has a remarkable richness and is also wonderfully fresh. Whether we are offering a welcome splash of Krug to wine lovers or to people who are tasting it for the first time, it makes an amazing first impression, and our guests universally adore it," says Bright, who became a sommelier at the Bellagio in Las Vegas at the age of 21, then went to San Francisco to help open Restaurant Michael Mina before eventually partnering in Saison. According to…

Don’t be fooled by his serious-sounding degrees in finance and marketing—Texas chef Tim Love is all about having a good time. With several restaurants in the Lone Star State and plans to expand beyond its borders, Love is on a mission to share his sophisticated barbecue with whoever’s game. “I walk with a 100-foot circle of fun around me, and my restaurants have the same aura,” he says. “People can either get in or get out!” In 2000, Love opened the Lonesome Dove Western Bistro—the first of his seven properties in Texas—in Fort Worth’s historic Stockyards area. The restaurant, a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner, reveals Love’s affinity for wine. He estimates that the Lonesome Dove has about 350 leather-bound wine journals (handcrafted by famed boot- and saddlemaker M.L.…

This past July, UNESCO, the cultural arm of the United Nations, granted World Heritage site status to the 1,247 climats, or individual vineyards, that make up what wine lovers everywhere know as Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. World Heritage designation brings not just recognition but also some land-use restrictions that are previously agreed to, and at first glance, this status hardly seems necessary for the Côte d’Or. After all, the place is pretty wellpreserved already, and its many winegrowers are hardly unaware, or unappreciative, of the value—material and aesthetic—of their patrimony. Yet the World Heritage status matters, even for already-in-the-know wine lovers, for one significant reason: It confirms and elevates the importance of difference. This business of difference is what distinguishes fine from ordinary wine. It’s why wine drinkers become wine lovers.…

The Grand Award is the highest of Wine Spectator’s three award levels for restaurant wine lists, denoting restaurants with uncompromising devotion to their wine programs. See www.winespectator.com/restaurants for complete information on all our more than 3,600 award winners around the world. A VOCE COLUMBUS Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor; (212) 823-2523 Wine director Olivier Flosse Wine selections 2,510 Number of bottles 8,550 Cuisine Italian Menu prices $21–$41 Grand Award since 2012 DANIEL 60 E. 65th St.; (212) 288-0033 Wine director Daniel Johnnes Wine selections 2,000 Number of bottles 25,000 Cuisine Contemporary French Menu prices Prix fixe $125–$220 Grand Award since 2002 DEL POSTO 85 10th Ave.; (212) 497-8090 Wine director Michael Greeson Wine selections 2,000 Number of bottles 30,000 Cuisine Italian Menu prices Prix fixe $126– $179…

When a whiskey-making business restarts on a family farm after a hiatus extending back to Prohibition, using nearly 200-year-old stills and a recipe from the same era, it deserves notice. Amid a flood of new distillers across North America, the proprietors of places like Indian Creek Distillery, near Dayton, Ohio, stand out for their faith in historic equipment as well as their adherence to traditional techniques and even vintage farming methods. With the number of small distilleries in the United States growing rapidly—it recently topped 750, according to the American Distilling Institute—there’s been debate over what to call them. The term “small distillery,” like “microdistillery,” is descriptive but potentially limiting, so “craft” is becoming the nomenclature of choice. But a few distilleries are setting themselves apart even further and deserve…

Highly Recommended The issue’s most impressive wines. Includes top-scorers and wines that represent optimal purchases based on their combination of score, price and availability. 97 Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne Rare 2002 $175 FRANCE Impeccably balanced and silky, with finely honed acidity shaping the expansive flavors of toasted brioche, crushed blackberry, lemon preserves and honey, revealing hints of Frangelico liqueur and smoked nut. Rich and vivid, with a lasting finish. Drink now through 2027. 2,500 cases made.—A.N. 95 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2012 $120 FRANCE Warm raspberry and boysenberry confiture aromas and flavors are dominant in this lush, inviting style, but there’s plenty of dried star anise, bay leaf, licorice root, worn leather and roasted juniper notes to fill out the chorus. The finish turns youthfully grippy, with a tarry edge holding…

ARGENTINA Red 92 Ernesto Catena Cabernet Sauvignon Mendoza Siesta 2011 $27 Deep, rich and lush, with concentrated flavors of Asian spice, plum pudding and dried raspberry, featuring seductive notes of cream and spice. Dark chocolate details linger on the finish, accented by smoky hints. Drink now through 2018. 650 cases imported.—K.M. 90 Jean Bousquet Cabernet Sauvignon Tupungato Valley Reserve 2013 $17 See Smart Buys, page 144. 87 Argento Bonarda Mendoza 2013 $14 This juicy red offers flavors of red currant and raspberry, supported by supple, medium-grained tannins. Notes of slate and spice show on the fresh finish. Drink now. 2,300 cases imported.—K.M. 87 Gouguenheim Pinot Noir Mendoza Valle Escondido 2014 $16 Features hints of lushness to the savory and well-spiced flavors of cherry tart, dried raspberry and vanilla bean, with…

DR. VINNY Dear Dr. Vinny, What’s a Napa vineyard really worth? What yield can a person expect to harvest, in tons, from a 1-acre vineyard parcel, and what is a reasonable price per ton for exceptional quality fruit? Does it vary by grape variety? —Patricia, Chico, Calif. Dear Patricia, California vineyard yields can vary quite a bit. The average yield in California is about 8 tons per acre, but in premier grapegrowing regions like Napa, it’s much lower; in 2014, the average yield for Napa Cabernet Sauvignon was 3.5 tons per acre. Sometimes winemakers like to brag about how low-yielding their vineyards are, but a half-ton per acre is about as low as I’ve ever heard of anyone going— below that, the economics of grapegrowing stop making sense. The California…