Innehållsförteckning för November 15, 2017 från Wine Spectator

BC Free resources for all our WineSpectator.com readers: WINE SPECTATOR VIDEO Watch all our great wine tips, winemaker interviews and tastings on your desktop, laptop, tablet or phone. Tune in each week for a new mobile-friendly video. • St. Helena Style: Learn what makes this Napa Valley subappellation special with Sinegal Estate winemaker Ryan Knoth. • Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc: How do the lively whites of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé compare? Loire vintner Arnaud Saget presents the two side by side. NEW YORK WINE EXPERIENCE Join us Oct. 19–21 for this year’s great lineup of tastings and seminars. Our full coverage of the event will bring the world’s best winemakers and chefs to you with photos, articles and videos. Relive your favorite moments or catch up on what you missed. GLOSSARY…

WINE FOOD PEOPLE COLLECTING After escaping her flooded apartment, wading through 2 miles of chin-deep water and surviving for days on little food, Emily Fagan had started losing hope. The 24-yearold musician and part-time restaurant host had sought shelter with seven others in one apartment, but the food supply was dwindling.“We were thinking, if this goes on for days and everything is closed, then we may actually be without food,” said Fagan. “We just really didn’t know how optimistic we could be.” That’s when Fagan’s boss, Richard Howell, operating partner at Fleming’s River Oaks, called to check in. He told her to go to the restaurant. Chef Elias Miranda was there each day, checking for damage and taking stock of the food supply. When Fagan and the others arrived, he…

Exploring Williamsburg, Va. Website www.visitwilliamsburg.com/williamsburg-tasting-trail The arrival of autumn in the Old Dominion state attracts visitors looking for a friendly welcome, easy access to beautiful countryside and a taste of life in the Southeast. In Williamsburg, the colonial district is a highlight; guests can take carriage tours, stroll down pedestrian-only Duke of Gloucester Street or shop at the 18th century–style Merchants Square. Nearby, the College of William and Mary campus keeps the community upbeat with cafés and boutiques. But the real way to get to know a city is through its food—and wine. Virginia is the fifth-largest wine-producing state in the country, and the dining scene continues to grow. New arrivals should consider the Williamsburg Tasting Trail, a collection of local producers that showcase their fine craftsmanship to visitors. Head to…

Wine Spectator’s annual Wine Experience offers an unrivaled collection of great wines. The 2017 edition, presented Oct. 19–21 in New York City, includes two evenings of Grand Tastings showcasing more than 260 wines, representing 17 countries, in vintages spanning 1941 to 2016. All wines poured have earned scores of 90 points or higher from Wine Spectator. You’ll find them listed below, organized alphabetically by winery. DOMAINE DE L’A Castillon Cotes de Bordeaux 2014 FRANCE (91 $49) ACHAVAL-FERRER Malbec Mendoza Finca Altamira 2013 ARGENTINA (92 $1,300) ADOBE ROAD Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III A1-Block 2013 CALIFORNIA (94 $175) ALION Ribera del Duero 2013 SPAIN (91 $102) ALLEGRINI Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2000 ITALY (92 $76) VINA ALMAVIVA Puente Alto 2014 CHILE (92 $100) ALTA VISTA Malbec Lujan de…

BarBara Banke had big shoes to fill when her husband, Jess Jackson, died in 2011. Could the company they had built together continue to perform at the same level without its force-of-nature founder at the helm? If there were doubters, they are silent now. Jackson Family Wines, the company behind Kendall-Jackson and dozens of other successful brands, has thrived and expanded in the past six years under her leadership. Banke, who was not only Jackson’s wife but his right hand at the company for more than 20 years, has strengthened her husband’s legacy and built a foundation of her own. “I have my own share of gray hair from the business,” Banke says, laughing, “though you’ll never see it.” For her crucial role in building one of the wine industry’s…

ANTHEM PURSUING A PLUSHER STYLE ON MOUNT VEEDER As with many other mountain appellations, Mount Veeder, on the west side of Napa Valley, has a reputation for producing rugged, tannic wines. Yet Julie Arbuckle, owner of Anthem Winery, is turning the topography to her advantage, making mountain-grown Cabernets that show more refinement and finesse. Her tiny estate, located on a ridgetop about 400 feet above the valley floor, overlooks the city of Napa in one direction and stares up at the steep, redwood-cloaked backside of the Mayacamas Mountains in the other. The site also benefits from the cooling breezes from San Pablo Bay. The growing season is longer here, but Anthem winemaker Jeff Ames explains that because the vineyard sits on a knoll, it receives additional sunlight hours, allowing for…

When Gérard and Chantal Perse bought their first wine estate in Bordeaux, in 1993, it marked the culmination of years of striving for a self-made couple from the working-class outskirts of Paris. • But the Bordelais considered the pair, who had made their fortune in the hardscrabble business of supermarkets, arrivistes who had overpaid for an unexceptional estate in St.-Emilion. Château Monbousquet certainly had a pedigree; historical records date it to 1540. But the château, built in 1860, was in shambles. The cellar facilities were rudimentary. Its 79 acres of vineyards, on the flats of St.-Emilion, were located on the less-desirable side of the Bordeaux-Sarlat train tracks. Monbousquet’s reputation was not great, but Perse, then 43, spied potential where others saw a money pit. He bought it on the day…

China’s Wine Market Rebounds Four years ago the Chinese government cracked down on conspicuous consumption among the country’s elite, halting a buying spree of first-growth Bordeaux. Today, however, imported wine is back on the upswing, aided by an emerging middle-class looking for good quality wine at affordable prices. The trend is changing the global wine market. China’s wine market has enjoyed strong momentum over the past two years. Imports have surged by nearly 20 million cases—or 40 percent— since 2014. Yoshi Shibuya, CEO of Suntory-owned importer ASC Fine Wines, says growth is fastest in the $7- to $14-a-bottle segment. Still, he notes, “The image of imported wine is positive because of its quality and value for money versus locally produced wines. But the level of understanding about imported wine is…

The 2007 vintage brought an embarrassment of riches in Napa Valley Cabernet. More than half of the nearly 400 bottles I tasted earned outstanding marks of 90 points or higher on release. Another 50 were in rarified air, above the classic, 95-point mark. At the time, vintners remarked on the uniform quality of the wines irrespective of district. The best 2007s exhibited breathtaking qualities early on, with exceptional depth and purity of flavors, as well as the textural plushness that can make Napa Cabernets so seductive. And a supersize crop stretched the dimensions. Today, at age 10, the best wines still showcase those traits. More than half the 75 Cabernets I blindtasted for this report remain outstanding. Among the high-wire acts, mostly from the Oakville area, are the likes of…

It would be hard to know from its unassuming headquarters in a Santa Rosa, Calif., business park that Jackson Family Wines produces 47 brands across five continents. And that’s the way the company prefers it. Jackson Family is among the largest wine companies in the United States, ranking as the 11th largest wine marketer, according to Impact Databank, a sister publication of Wine Spectator. But in many ways, JFW stands apart from its big-name competitors, especially in management style. Chairman Barbara Banke and her team manage the long-term vision, but most of the company’s wineries have considerable autonomy. Many have dedicated production facilities, estate vineyards and general managers, and winemakers have independence. “We don’t skimp,” says CEO Rick Tigner. For example, he dismisses cost-effective shortcuts such as the use of…

Gérard Perse has assembled a strong portofolio of Right Bank properties since arriving in Bordeaux in 1993, but his clear flagship is Pavie. Located on the south-facing slope known as the Côte Pavie, the 104-acre vineyard lies in St.-Emilion’s high-rent district, flanked by châteaus Larcis- Ducasse and St.-Georges-Côte-Pavie and also counting châteaus Bélair-Monange, Canon, Pavie-Macquin and Monbousquet among its neighbors. In addition to a prestige location, Pavie boasts a contiguous vineyard covering the limestone plateau above the côte, along with some terraces just below, before stretching down to the flatter areas at the bottom of the côte; approximately two-thirds of the vineyard sits in the plateau. In all, the spread of parcels runs from 115 meters down to 25 meters of elevation, all with prime south-southwest exposure. The energetic and…

Fans of Loire Valley wines can lick their chops in anticipation. Following a choppy run of vintages from 2011 through 2014, the tide has turned dramatically. Both 2015 and 2016 produced excellent crops, giving this large and diverse region a rare back-to-back pair of outstanding vintages. The result is a plethora of great wines for consumers to choose from, with the two vintages providing a marked contrast in style. Since my last report on the Loire Valley, (“Running Hot and Cold,” Oct. 15, 2016) I have reviewed 355 Loire Valley wines. Of these, 181 earned outstanding ratings of 90 points or higher on Wine Spectator’s 100-point scale, easily the best performance for the region since the heralded 2010 vintage. Fourteen wines earned classic ratings of 95 points or better. (A…

A Gift to Washington Wine’s Future As part of its ongoing effort to support the next generation of winemakers, the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation announced that it will donate $1 million to Washington State University’s Viticulture and Enology program. The gift will help fund cuttingedge teaching facilities at WSU’s Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Wine Science Center, as well as scholarships for students. Wine Spectator executive editor Thomas Matthews announced the gift at the annual Auction of Washington Wines gala in August. “Wine Spectator is the premier wine publication,” said WSU president Kirk Schulz. “This grant helps establish our credibility as an institution.” Half of the donation will support the completion of the Life Science Teaching Laboratory at the Wine Science Center, a stateof- the-art facility on the WSU campus in…

CALIFORNIA has another winner on its hands. After the success of the 2012 and 2013 Cabernet Sauvignons, the latest vintage in general release, 2014, represents the third great year in a row for the state’s superstar red, delivering supple and seductive wines. And there’s more good news on the horizon: The 2015 vintage could be a stunner as well. The 2014s distinguish themselves with a youthful allure and charm that’s more akin to 2012 than 2013, which showed more tannic flex. In addition, the 2014 vintage is another captivating year in which a diversity of styles and regional expressions are on display. All three vintages were drought years, making it easier for vintners to size up their crop and trim as they needed. With the lessened occurrence of wetness, mold…

The Hostellerie de Plaisance is Chantal and Gerard Perse’s lavish boutique hotel and two Michelin-star restaurant in St.-Emilion, which Chantal runs with the couple’s daughter, Angelique. It is located next to the medieval village’s iconic belltower, with a view of the village and vineyards. Plaisance has a long history of hospitality. Beginning as a convent that offered shelter to pilgrims, it later served as a posting house, an inn, a village dance hall and a modest hotel-restaurant. The Perses purchased Plaisance in 2001, transforming it into a five-star Relais & Chateaux property and hiring chef Philippe Etchebest, who earned two Michelin stars there in 2008. The Perses parted ways with the TV personality–chef in 2013, but the two Michelin stars returned shortly after the 2016 arrival of talented executive chef…

BY THE NUMBERS The Nov. 15 Buying Guide features 48 classic wines and more than 500 outstanding wines from among reviews of 625 new releases. Members can access tasting notes and scores for those wines, along with hundreds of additional wines reviewed since our last issue, using the Wine Ratings search at WineSpectator.com.…