Wine Spectator July 31, 2016

My first meeting with Robert Mon-davi took place 46 years ago.It began in a roundabout way. In 1970, I was a young investment banker in New York City. The leg-endary Alexis Lichine and one of my banker friends, Gerald Cramer, asked me to consult with them on vineyard and winery investment opportunities in Napa Valley. We flew to San Francisco and checked into the Clift Hotel on Geary Street. The next morning we would be driving to Napa Valley. So that evening we met at the Clift’s small bar downstairs before going into the hotel restaurant for dinner. I remember the room being very dark. We each ordered a drink. The bartender looked at me and said, “I’m sorry, sir. I cannot serve you.” “Are you kidding?” I asked. “No,…

Matt Kramer brings up the issues related to scientism in a thoughtful and rational way. There is another point that scientism forgets. There was a time when science did not see things only through the reductionist mindset. In the beginning of the 20th century, scientific holism almost broke through. By its very nature, terroir is a holistic (in the true sense of the word) term. What cre-ates the sense of terroir is the sum total of all aspects of a given location: all soil pa-rameters, subsoil characteris-tics, latitude and longitude, exposure, elevation, solar radiation, seasonal wind speed, wind run, humidity. Beyond that, cultural, tradi-tional and historical markers are equally important con-tributors to terroir. It goes without saying that these lie beyond Matthews’ consideration. Ted Lemon Proprietor, Littorai Wines Sebastopol, Calif.…

Eighteen months after the door of one of the world’s most famous restaurants, the French Laundry, was pried open and more than $300,000 worth of rare wines stolen, the case has grown into a federal investigation involving three wine burglaries. Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment on April 28 in San Francisco against two California men, accusing them of money laundering and transportation of stolen goods. Both men were arrested April 27 and have pleaded not guilty. “The defendants knowingly and willfully conspired with others to commit offenses against the United States,” reads the indictment against Alfred Georgis, 53, of Mountain View, and Davis Kiryakoz, 44, of Modesto. “That is to transport, transmit and transfer in interstate and foreign commerce stolen goods, that is more than 130 bottles of wine, knowing…

Maybe bacteria aren’t so bad. Research increasingly suggests that the trillions of microbes that live in our digestive tract, collectively known as the gut microbiome, contribute significantly to our well-being. Now a new study has found that drinking red wine helps keep this community of bacteria healthy and diverse. The gut microbiome aids in everything from digesting and metabolizing food to moderating our mood to regulating our immune system. Its efficacy, however, depends largely on its composition. Intestines with a diverse range of bacteria are better equipped to produce a variety of vitamins, enzymes and other compounds that affect us positively. Our personal microbiome diversity depends on many factors, including genetics and environment, diet, exposure to disease, drug use and smoking habits. “Gut microbiome is linked to many human diseases,”…

A former professor of pulmonary medicine in Canadian wine country is trying to make white wine smell better. Dick Jones believes he has found a way to retain more aromatic compounds in wine during fermentation. So far, local wineries are impressed with the results. Born in the United States, Jones spent 35 years at the University of Alberta. He and his wife moved to Naramata, a small community in the Okanagan Valley, in 2005. Jones began making wine from Pinot Gris and Gamay. He loved the smells of his small lots fermenting, but when he tried the finished wine, much of the aroma was gone. Many winemakers struggle to preserve aromatics. Fermentation pro-duces aromatic esters but also carbon dioxide molecules, which rise and push out the aromas. In 2012, Jones…

Few if any sommeliers working today have contributed to the evolution of wine service in New York as much as Renzo Rapacioli. Over his five-decades-long career, Rapacioli, 72, has managed the wine pro-grams at some of the city’s most illustrious restaurants. Rapacioli’s journey began humbly. After emigrating to New York from the Italian town of San Michele in 1960, at the age of 16, Rapacioli dove into the restaurant scene, first as a busboy at former Midtown hot spot Laurent. After a hiatus to serve in the U.S. Army, Rapacioli was promoted to som-melier at Laurent, building the predominantly French wine list to a Wine Spectator Grand Award in 1985 and staying on until the restaurant closed in 1990. Stints at the iconic ‘21’ Club and Barolo restaurant followed. He…