Innehållsförteckning för June 15, 2019 från Wine Spectator

Another fight has broken out over who can use the name of Napa Valley’s most famous vineyard, To Kalon. The Vineyard House, a winery owned by Jeremy Nickel, filed suit against Constellation Brands in March, claiming that Constellation’s Robert Mondavi Winery fraudulently obtained a trademark of To Kalon and that Constellation has marketed it deceptively. Nickel also contends that a portion of The Vineyard House property is part of the original To Kalon vineyard, and thus should be entitled to use the name for its wines. The lawsuit raises old questions: Can a vineyard name be trademarked? And what exactly is the true To Kalon? In 1868, Hamilton Walker Crabb, a pioneering vintner, purchased 240 acres of Oakville land between Highway 29 and the Mayacamas Mountains, north of Oakville Grade…

John Shafer John Shafer, who founded Shafer Vineyards and created one of Napa’s first cult Cabernets, died March 2 at the age of 94. Born in 1924 in a small suburb of Chicago, Shafer served in World War II, piloting a B-24 bomber, then worked in educational book publishing. At age 48, he believed he had found his true calling when he became a vintner. After packing up his family for California, he landed in Napa’s Stags Leap Palisades and purchased a piece of property with old, unsuitable vines. Shafer was a largely self-taught winemaker, and progress was slow but steady. In 1983, Shafer produced his first vintage of Shafer Hillside Select, a wine that has become a Napa Valley benchmark. While his son Doug and winemaker Elias Fernandez focused…

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 93 DOMAINE PINSON FRÈRES Chablis Montmain 2017 $45 FRANCE There’s a lushness to this fresh and harmonious white, from the sumptuous aromas to the fleshy texture surrounding peach, melon, lemon and baking spice flavors. COLLECTIBLE 97 ALTESINO Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2013 $130 ITALY Aromas of juniper, rosemary, thyme and Szechuan peppercorn segue to strawberry, cherry and rose hip flavors in this elegant red. Intense and balanced, with excellent depth and length. SMART BUY 91 BODEGA LUIGI BOSCA Malbec Luján de Cuyo D.O.C Single Vineyard 2016 $27 ARGENTINA A pure and fresh-tasting red, offering concentrated flavors of dark currant, blackberry and plum tart, with layers of rich spice and chocolate notes on the sculpted finish. BEST VALUE 90 BODEGAS BRECA Vino de España Rosé 2018 $11 SPAIN This…

When Eileen Crane recently accepted an invitation to speak about sparkling wine production at an Oregon vintners’ conference, she wasn’t expecting much. Crane has been the winemaker at Domaine Carneros, Champagne Taittinger’s Napa Valley winery, since 1987. She has seen interest in sparkling wine production fizz up and then pop like bubbles in a coupe glass. “I expected to address three people,” she says. “I walked in to find 120 eager faces staring at me.” Everyone wants to be more sparkly these days—bubbly is booming. Sparkling wine sales have been surging in the U.S. for more than a decade, and there are few signs of the trend fizzling soon. Sparkling wine was long associated primarily with luxury and celebration, with wedding toasts and birthdays and the annual dropping of a…

“We always had rosé,” says Provence-born Jacques Cariot, co-owner with his wife, Lysielle, of Bleu Provence in Naples, Fla. “If no one drank it,” We we did. It was never a question to have rosé or not. But we had about six or 10 rosés that we mostly drank ourselves. Now we have three or four double pages, maybe 80, 90 labels, and it’s moving like crazy.” All over the country, the story is the same: What used to be perceived as about as sophisticated as a lollipop not only has earned respect but has become wildly popular. Troy Smith, beverage manager and sommelier at Montage, a luxury resort overlooking the Pacific in Laguna Beach, Calif., says, “All of a sudden, people are saying, ‘I love rosé,’ which I think…

“The rouget have delicate flavor, not strong, but one you don’t forget. They cook very fast on the plancha, and when you have the black olive, the tapenade, you marry all those flavors and you’re in Provence.” —Jacques Cariot Owner, Bleu Provence BLEU PROVENCE Wine Spectator Grand Award 1234 EIGHTH STREET S., NAPLES, FLA. Telephone (239) 261-8239 Website BLEUPROVENCENAPLES.COM INGREDIENTS Four 5- to 8-ounce rouget (red mullet) fillets, 1 ¼ to 2 pounds total10 ounces potatoes3 medium tomatoes¾ cup pitted black olives (divided use)¹/³ cup basil leaves1 medium yellow onion2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus moreSalt and pepper½ cup store-bought black olive tapenadeScant 1/2 cup heavy cream RECIPE 1. Peel and wash the potatoes, then place them in a saucepan. Cover with cold water, cover the pot…

ARGENTINA 91 Bodega Luigi Bosca Malbec Luján de Cuyo D.O.C Single Vineyard 2016 $27 See Smart Buys, page 82. 91 Piattelli Trinità Grand Reserve Luján de Cuyo 2015 $22 Refined, with sanguine accents to the dried red berry, cherry and currant flavors. Creamy midpalate, offering a luscious finish of Asian spice and chocolate notes. Malbec blend. Drink now through 2023. 1,100 cases made, 1,100 cases imported.—K.M. 91 Trapiche Malbec Uco Valley Finca Orellana 2015 $50 Big and ripe, with plenty of sanguine accents to the concentrated dark plum and dried blackberry flavors. Dark chocolate and cola hints emerge on the finish, with some herbal shadings. Drink now through 2022. 2,850 cases made, 17 cases imported.—K.M. 89 Piattelli Malbec Luján de Cuyo Grand Reserve 2016 $20 Exotic spicy notes frame lively,…

In recent years, two types of wine have soared in popularity: dry rosé and sparkling wines. These wines used to be afterthoughts, marginalized for special occasions—a glass of pink by the pool, a bubbly popped in celebration. Today, they are the fastest-growing categories in the U.S., and both have established themselves as versatile, fashionable and consistently good. In our June 30, 2018 cover story, “Rosé’s New Era,” we took an in-depth look at rosé’s rise. News editor Mitch Frank reported on rose’s sales growth, the styles and regions delivering the best bottles, and the celebrities-cum-vintners who have jumped on the bandwagon. This year, with rosé fully entrenched in American wine culture, we showcase its stylistic diversity and harmony with foods, offering recipes from top chefs to pair with rosés from…

The recent announcement that Tom Seaver was retiring from public life was a blow to many. For everyone who has long admired this larger-than-life figure, his presence on the national stage will be profoundly missed. For one of the greatest pitchers in baseball to have built a second career as an outstanding Napa vintner was nothing short of remarkable. Even after suffering through a debilitating form of Lyme disease, Seaver kept up his work in the vineyard. But now a diagnosis of dementia has finally forced him to make a change. When I interviewed him in 2013 for my cover story in that year’s Nov. 15 issue, he was already experiencing memory loss and the flulike symptoms caused by his disease, which had been dormant for 20 years after he…

There are two main techniques for making sparkling wine: The traditional method is more labor-intensive; the Charmat method keeps costs down. The growing region often dictates the process, but sometimes the choice is left to the producer. INITIAL FERMENTATION & BLENDING All sparkling wine begins with the vinification of multiple still wines that are then blended into a single base cuvée CHARMAT GETTING BUBBLES Yeast + sugar added to the base cuvée in a pressurized tank results in 2nd fermentation FILTRATION Sediment is removed from the now-sparkling wine via pressurized filtration DOSAGE IN TANK A small dose of wine + sugar is typically added for balance BOTTLING Wine is transferred under pressure from tank to bottle and the closure is applied TRADITIONAL GETTING BUBBLES Yeast + sugar added to the…

“I lived in Spain for eight years; five of those, I owned a restaurant in Madrid. There was an Asturian bar right around the corner from my restaurant that had these piquillo peppers stuffed with brandade and fried. Every time I went to that bar, I would order them. I could not get enough of them. I want to be a good ambassador of Spanish food. I only make what I can replicate authentically; if I can’t do it right, I just won’t do it.” —Deborah Hansen Chef, Owner & Sommelier, Taberna de Haro TABERNA DE HARO Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence 999 BEACON ST, BROOKLINE, MASS. Telephone (617) 277-8272 Website TABERNABOSTON.COM INGREDIENTS 1 cup thin, small pieces salt cod (sold in bags at fish stores and at…

Insights on Italy I enjoyed the articles on Italian wines (“Italian Gems,” cover, April 30), but I think that the authors have overlooked the excellent wines that are produced on the Adriatic side of Italy. In the region of Le Marche, the white Verdicchios, Pecorinos and lately the Passerinas are today of high quality and good value, while the red Rosso Picenos and Rosso Coneros are some of the best red blends in Italy. There are also very good wines coming from Abruzzo featuring the Montepulciano grape, and from Puglia featuring the Primitivo grape and a number of others. Neil Duarte,Columnist,WineLoversPage.comLeander, Texas Spilling the Beans [Senior editor Alison Napjus], my heart is broken. For years my wife and I and our wine-loving friends have enjoyed Aglianicos, smug in having found…

California Dreamin’ If what you’re after are tasty California reds and whites that are long on flavor and short on price, then dreams really can come true. This selection proves it with zesty Zinfandel, crisp Chardonnay, flavorful Pinot Noir and snappy Sauvignon Blanc. The Chronic Cellars Purple Paradise comprises Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Syrah and Grenache. HALL Sauvignon Blanc Knights Valley 2017 (93, $35) Peach, pear, melon, litsea, lemongrass, mango, spice, honeysuckle; fragrant, refreshing MIRAFLORES Zinfandel El Dorado 2016 (93, $30) Refined, structured; blackberry, bitter chocolate, stony mineral CAROL SHELTON Zinfandel Cucamonga Valley Monga Zin Old Vine Lopez Vineyard 2017 (92, $24) Cherry, bay leaf, pepper; plush, briary ROUTESTOCK Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 116 2017 (91, $23) Raspberry, currant, wild plum, spice, mint; creamy SEXTANT Zinfandel Paso Robles Wheelhouse 2016 (90,…

“The 2016 vintage is very different, we really have no other year to compare it to,” said Domaine de la Romanée-Conti codirector Aubert de Villaine at a March tasting in New York. He was presenting the new releases of Burgundy’s most coveted Pinot Noirs at Grand Award winner Eleven Madison Park, and the difference this year was immediately obvious: Three of DRC’s grand cru wines were missing from its lineup. The reason was the frost that hit the Côte d’Or on April 27, 2016, devastating some of DRC’s vineyards, particularly Echézeaux and Grands Echézeaux, where about 80 percent of the crop was destroyed. The remaining harvest was only bottled in magnum, and the two wines will be released at a later date. The other wine absent from the tasting was…

“The burrata is the star of the dish. Then there’s a nice variety of local citrus: We use blood orange, cara cara, a grapefruit [and] navel orange. We get tarragon from the garden out front of Studio. And we’ll often use nasturtium leaves and flowers from the garden as a garnish. We shave the pumpernickel paper-thin and bake it. Not only does it look really cool, but it adds a really nice texture to the dish. But I think that the most intriguing thing about the dish is just the visual appeal to it. Once you have all those different colored beets and the citrus on there, it’s just this crazy palette of colors.” —Benjamin Martinek Chef, Studio at Montage STUDIO AT MONTAGE Wine Spectator Grand Award 30801 SOUTH COAST…

This Buying Guide contains ratings of new releases from around the world. Complete tasting notes are provided for 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. Hundreds of additional reviews appear each month 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. James Laube California Harvey Steiman At large Thomas Matthews Spain Kim Marcus California Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir, Argentina, Chile Bruce Sanderson Burgundy, Piedmont, Tuscany James Molesworth California Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Rhône Valley, Loire Valley, Port MaryAnn Worobiec California Sauvignon Blanc and other…

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, with its white tablecloths, Wine Spectator Grand Award–winning cellar and high quality red meat, is a rightly celebrated classic of the country’s din ing scene. Yet this restaurant came into being in a burst of innovation that brought old-school methods forward at an unexpected time. Opened in 1995 by Chris and Harris Pappas, the Houston chophouse was the first upscale venture by a family that had spent four generations running businesses including casual, high-volume eateries and a restaurant-supply concern. But Chris and Harris felt it was time to up their game with something more luxe. They would invest in an in-house butcher program and develop a proprietary recipe for dry-aging beef—a time-consuming, expensive craft that executive chef Michael Velardi says had gone out of fashion amid the…