Innehållsförteckning för October 31, 2016 från Wine Spectator

Visit www.winespectator.com/103116 to find links to all of the following resources. Free resources for all our WineSpectator.com readers: LETTER FROM EUROPE Contributing editor Robert Camuto blogs from his trips through Italy, France and beyond, visiting cutting-edge wine regions, iconoclastic producers and companies that drive wine trends. DAILY WINE PICKS Great wine finds, in three price ranges, six days a week. Check our site daily for the latest picks or follow them on our Twitter feed, via @winespectator. NEW YORK WINE EXPERIENCE Join us Oct. 20–22 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. WHAT AM I TASTING? Test your tasting skills in our mystery wine game. Every two…

HOW TO FIND IT Ameribella www.jandbcheese.com Oma www.vontrappfarmstead.com Dorset www.considerbardwellfarm.com Ouleout www.vultocreamery.com Grayson www.meadowcreekdairy.com Red Hawk www.cowgirlcreamery.com Hooligan www.catocornerfarm.com Willoughby www.jasperhillfarm.com Serious cheese people insist that these are what separate the true turophile from the casual dilettante. Obstreperous and arresting, their funky odors provoke crinkled noses and eye-rolling chuckles. They also elicit childlike fascination and earnest devotion among fans. Why? Because despite an admittedly smelly first impression— often likened to sweaty gym socks or a crowded barnyard on a hot, humid day—they’re ultimately balanced and mellow, demure and delicious. They are the stinky washed-rind cheeses, a special category whose European prototypes include Munster from Alsace, Époisses from Burgundy and Taleggio from Italy. Over the past 15 years, in step with the American artisan revolution, a few ambitious U.S. producers have turned out their own versions worthy of the…

It’s a fact that almost no wine of international reputation is today made the way it was 50 years ago. You may think the headline is hyperbole, but I assure you that it’s not. Let’s begin with some recent news stories. Take the sale of the Vietti winery in Piedmont’s Barolo zone. The Currado family, which owns Vietti, made a sterling— no, make that golden—reputation for itself by creating extraordinarily fine wines and cultivating an international market. So you can understand the shock when my colleague Bruce Sanderson broke the story in early July that the Currado family sold its business and vineyards to Kyle Krause, an American businessman who owns a large chain of convenience stores, for an unnamed, but surely substantial, price. Later that same month the prestigious…

Millennials love gourmet coffee and are inseparable from their smartphones, so what could be more appropriate than apps to advise them on how best to brew their freshly ground beans? Unsurprisingly, there are a number on the market, some free, others that cost a few dollars. So I downloaded several such apps to my iPhone and set myself the task of brewing per instruction. I found some good information in the apps and enjoyed the results. But all of the apps I tested could stand some thoughtful tweaking. I started with a free app from Intelligentsia Coffee, the Chicagobased specialty roaster. Because I was focusing on different brewing methods rather than the taste of a single-origin coffee, I used the Intelligentsia House Blend ($14 for 12 ounces) for all of…

THE ANTIPODES These wines from Australia and New Zealand are big on flavor and attractively priced. It is particularly challenging to find outstanding Pinot Noir for $20 or less; this list contains four. ASTROLABE Pinot Noir Marlborough Province 2014 (92, $28) Elegant, plush; cherry, cream soda, red licorice, clove STAETE LANDT Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Duchess 2014 (92, $29) Spice, poached pear, mango, honey, toast; crisp VASSE FELIX Chardonnay Margaret River Filius 2015 (92, $27) Polished; mango, lime THREE PADDLES Pinot Noir Martinborough 2013 (91, $20) Clove, cranberry, cherry; sleek YALUMBA Chardonnay South Australia Organics 2015 (91, $17) Supple, juicy; pear, grapefruit zest, nutmeg, fennel THE BETTER HALF Pinot Noir Marlborough 2015 (90, $15) Black cherry, plum, gingerbread, clove, fresh clay; fleshy, vibrant CRAGGY RANGE Sauvignon Blanc Martinborough Te Muna Road…

TACKLING THE WINES OF ITALY is a daunting task, even for those who have more than a beginner’s acquaintance with this vine-laden peninsula. For starters, Italy boasts at least 375 indigenous grape varieties and possibly as many as 500. France, with about 200 different varieties, isn’t even a close second. Then there are 20 delimited regions, ranging from the postage-stamp Valle d’Aosta, tucked under the Alps in Italy’s northwest corner, to the massive island of Sicily, practically a continent in its own right, off the country’s southern coast. There are many starting points for exploration. In this package, we spotlight various ways to dig deeper into Italy’s bounty, focusing on the regions, grapes, styles and vineyards that are changing the face of Italian wine. Chianti, Barolo and Amarone have long…

A succession of difficult vintages has kept Tuscan vintners on their toes in recent years, and though there are excellent wines among the current releases, lovers of the region’s styles must choose carefully to find bottlings with balance, ripe fruit and the ability to age. All three growing seasons from 2012 through 2014 presented challenges in this central Italian region. In 2012, heat and lack of water were the culprits, while both 2013 and 2014 were cooler years with later harvests. The 2014 campaign in particular experienced a cold, wet summer, making it essential to manage the vineyards correctly and practice strict selection at harvest and in the cellar. “Due to such a difficult growing season and maturation, 2014 was a really tough year,” reports Giovanni Folonari of Tenute Ambrogio…

Russell Bevan takes wine personally. After his wine was panned by a Philadelphia-based blogger, Bevan found himself browsing the Internet to buy airline tickets to confront the man. “I wanted to go Rocky on his ass,” Bevan says. His longtime partner, Victoria De Crescenzo, just raises an eyebrow after he tells the story, then adds, “[Russell] isn’t allowed to post on the Internet late at night anymore.” Wine, it’s often said, reflects the personality of the winemaker. Bevan’s offerings are expressive and generous, intense and focused, assertive and persistent. “He’s got a big personality and a big voice— and that describes his wines,” friend and fellow winemaker Helen Keplinger says. “You see his heart and soul in his wines.” Bevan Cellars arrived on the California wine scene eight years ago,…

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 Oregon, Washington Thomas Matthews Spain Kim Marcus Argentina, Austria, Chile,…

DR. VINNY Dear Dr. Vinny, What’s the difference between red and white Zinfandel? —Aaron L., Farwell, Mich. Dear Aaron, If a wine is labeled “Zinfandel,” that means it’s made from at least 75 percent Zinfandel grapes. Zinfandel is a red variety, meaning its skins are dark in color—purplish blue, really— and it’s traditionally made as a red wine. “White” Zinfandel isn’t really a white wine at all; it’s a marketing term for a rosé (or blush) wine made from Zinfandel grapes. When making white wine, the grapes are typically pressed and just the juice is fermented, while for red wines, the grape skins remain in contact with the juice for much longer, imparting pigments and tannins. Rosés are somewhere in between—they’re made from red wine grapes using white wine methods.…

Hell or High Water Wow, talk about unoaked Chardonnay. I was shocked but not surprised to learn that the Resnicks had clearcut 375 acres in Paso Robles for new Justin vineyards. These are the folks who shrewdly bought water rights and now produce billions of 1-gallon-per-nut almonds and pistachios in droughtstricken California and transport tons of water across the globe claiming “Every drop is green.” I suggest that these billionaires think about their future consumers. Younger generations tend to express their values by voting with their dollars. Now’s the time to embrace a leadership position and implement a meaningful sustainability strategy for their company. Ken Eskenazi Sustainability Instructor UCLA Extension Los Angeles Food for Thought I’ve been a faithful reader of your magazine since the late 1980s. During that time,…

OAK NOTES Sabrina Dassano and Matteo Sardagna Einaudi’s farmhouse design is anchored in reclaimed oak. The dining room features Sabrina’s drawings of 44 types of oak leaves. “The Langhe is a land of oaks,” she says. “For me, it has always been the tree that represents the force of life. All the types of oak leaf are so different—we’re only familiar with a tiny number of them.” Every vintner’s relationship with the soil is different. For Matteo Sardagna Einaudi, the fourthgeneration owner of Poderi Luigi Einaudi, there’s a plot of land in Piedmont’s Langhe region that represents his ancestral heritage, his life as a winemaker and, most recently, his family home. Matteo’s greatgrandfather, the first democratically elected president of Italy and the winery’s eponymous founder, bought the property in the…

It will be years before the full impact of the sale of Vietti plays out, but for now it looks like a positive move. In July, residents of the tiny village of Castiglione Falletto in northern Italy’s Piedmont region awakened to learn that Vietti, the village’s most famous winery and a regional landmark, had been sold. Surprise was one reaction, to say the least, but nothing like the emotions stirred up decades earlier when the region’s traditionally styled wines were challenged by modernization. Current fans of the renowned Barolo and Barbaresco producer lament the sale of the family-owned winery that has battled its share of adversity in its century-long existence. After founding the estate in 1919, the Viettis lost most of their vineyards in the 1930s and then painstakingly reacquired…

Native Italian grapes such as Sangiovese and Nebbiolo already have a firm place in the hearts of American wine lovers, who know them for the highly regarded wines they produce: Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico from Sangiovese and Barolo and Barbaresco from Nebbiolo. But as more and more Italian wine reaches U.S. shores, what’s next? A good bet might be southern Italy’s Aglianico grape. “Aglianico is an amazing grape—lovely expressions in different styles,” says Daniela Mastroberardino, whose family’s Terredora di Paolo winery is in the southern Italian region of Campania. Aglianico is grown primarily in Campania and in the neighboring regions of Basilicata and Puglia. The grape is produced in a surprisingly wide array of styles, largely due to differences in local conditions, soils, viticulture and, of course, winemaking.…

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. 96 Eminent Domaine Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge Reserve 2014 $55 OREGON This is open-textured and seamless, offering terrific presence, depth and focus, with layers of blackberry, currant, blueberry and white tea flavors that show hints of sage and sandalwood. The finish gains momentum with each sip. Drink now through 2024. 248 cases made.—H.S. 95 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge The Beaux Frères Vineyard 2014 $90 OREGON Supple, expressive and multilayered, exhibitng flavors of plum, currant, pomegranate and violet that come together harmoniously, persisting into the long and exceptionally well-balanced finish. Drink now through 2024. 2,405 cases made.—H.S. 94 Dakota Shy Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2014…

ARGENTINA 93 Viña Cobos Cabernet Sauvignon Luján de Cuyo Bramare Marchiori Vineyard 2013 $95 A plush red, with an underlying sense of power to the concentrated and richly spiced flavors of dark plum, boysenberry and dried ginger. Notes of dried meat and soy emerge on the elegant finish. Drink now through 2024. 150 cases imported.—K.M. 91 Kaiken Cabernet Sauvignon Mendoza Ultra 2014 $25 See Smart Buys, page 113. 91 Familia Zuccardi Cabernet Sauvignon Uco Valley Q 2013 $20 A refined and savory red, featuring notes of white pepper to the cherry and crushed plum flavors. Lengthens out on the palate, with medium-grained tannins. Silky finish. Drink now through 2020. 7,500 cases made.—K.M. 90 Altocedro Cabernet Sauvignon La Consulta Año Cero 2014 $19 Fleshy, with grip to the brooding flavors of…