Innehållsförteckning för March 31, 2020 från Wine Spectator

The vineyard’s owners faced an unenviable choice. Farming their land in California’s Santa Barbara County, home to cool, moist Pacific air, they could spray their growing Chardonnay crop with a fungicide that would protect it from mildew. But that raised the risk the chemical could drift onto their new neighbor’s burgeoning crop of cannabis. Any trace of spray would render the cannabis unsellable, and the vineyard owners would be liable for the lost production. The vintners, who asked not to be identified, opted to spray a less effective fun-gicide. When harvest arrived, they were stuck with 35 acres of Chardonnay ruined by mildew. Three years after California legalized cannabis, half the counties within the state allow commercial cannabis farming. And some wine regions are grappling with how the new cash…

Huey Lewis, a prince of American airwaves in the 1980s, spent his formative musical years in the ’60s and ’70s Bay Area blue-srock scene. He also spent his formative wine years near the heart of California wine country—but was drinking the great crus of Burgundy and the Rhône Valley as a teenager at the dinner table with his stepmother, Martine Saunier, the importer who made a name introducing Americans to the likes of Henri Jayer and Château Rayas. Lewis would go on to refine his palate both at home and on tours of Europe with Huey Lewis and the News, which released three Platinum-selling albums in the mid-1980s and the No. 1 hit “The Power of Love,” from 1985’s Back to the Future, eventually selling 30 million records worldwide. In…

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 94 LINGUA FRANCA Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills The Plow 2017 $60 OREGON Vibrant and full of tension, this Pinot balances refined layers of raspberry, dusky spice and flinty minerality with a handsome structure that builds elegant intensity. COLLECTIBLE 96 CHÂTEAU LÉOVILLE LAS CASES St.-Julien 2017 $216 FRANCE A very focused, very pure rendition, laden with cassis, plum reduction and boy-senberry purée fruit, while a cast iron edge provides a sense of restraint. The opposite of flamboyant. SMART BUY 92 LANCIOLA Chianti Classico Le Masse di Greve 2016 $22 ITALY Cherry, plum and floral flavors struggle against the tannic structure, yet this version offers plenty of sweet, ripe fruit, remaining vibrant and long. BEST VALUE 90 HUSCH Chenin Blanc Mendocino 2018 $13 CALIFORNIA This lip-smacking white offers a mix…

Oregon Pinot Noir is still in its early days, but a string of great vintages has quality firing on all cylinders. This issue features both a broad analysis of the state’s wines, in a tasting report by senior editor Tim Fish, and a focused profile of leading Oregon vintner Mike Etzel, founder of Beaux Frères winery. Oregon’s first Pinot Noir vineyards were planted in the 1960s in the Willamette Valley; David Lett, Dick Erath and Dick Ponzi can take credit as modern pioneers. By 1980, there were more than 30 bonded wineries and more than 1,000 acres of wine grapes planted in the state. The establishment of Domaine Drouhin in 1987, by the Drouhin family of Burgundy, gave a kind of international seal of approval to the young region. Since…

Malbec from Argentina is clearly entering a new phase in its development. Long a consumer favorite for its robust dark fruit and spice flavors and supple texture, Malbec rocketed to popularity in the United States beginning in the mid-1990s. Although demand has drifted downward since 2010, there hasn’t been a bust, either. The category is growing out of its adolescence and embracing new styles and approaches while maintaining high levels of quality among the top bottlings. An exploration of new terroirs is now driving many single-varietal expressions, with vintners trying to optimize the unique characteristics of the Argentine landscape. In Mendoza, the heartland of Malbec, and emerging northern districts such as Salta, high altitude is the name of the game in pushing the boundaries. Gravels, cobbles and rock washed down…

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 Château Pavie-Decesse St.-Emilion 2017 $127 FRANCE This is laden with cassis and warmed plum compote notes, infused liberally with violet and anise accents. Gains depth and richness with air, yet maintains a racy edge due to its mouthwatering acidity and perfectly embedded chalky spine on the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2040. 400 cases made.—J.M. 95 Château Clinet Pomerol 2017 $88 FRANCE This is brimming with raspberry and boy-senberry compote flavors, while mouthwatering anise and pain d’épices notes fill in the background. Reveals a flash of ganache, a streak of tar and an echo of bramble through the finish, adding range…

READERS RESPOND TO THE TARIFF ISSUE A series of recent Facebook posts by Wine Spectator addressed the U.S. government’s current and proposed tariffs on European wines. The posts elicited diverse and passionate commentary from readers. Below is a sampling of what they had to say. The U.S. wine industry employs 1.74 million people and generates $68.1 billion in sales through retail and hospitality channels. Approximately a third of these sales are from imports, 75% for wines produced in EU countries. Those wines are sold by mom-and-pop liquor stores struggling to pay the rent, sales-persons trying to meet a sales target, young people waiting tables to put themselves through school, truck drivers working around the clock to deliver to consumers and businesses, and many thousands of other Americans who work in…

Beaujolais Legend Georges Duboeuf Georges Duboeuf, the legendary Beaujolais winemaker and négociant who introduced the wines of his French region to millions of consumers, died of a stroke Jan. 4, at his home in Romanèche-Thorins, France, near Lyon. He was 86. “Beaujolais, France and the wine industry lost one of their most passionate advocates with the passing of Georges Duboeuf,” said Duboeuf’s son Franck and his family in a statement. “During his 86 years with us, he brought much personal joy and inspiration to our lives as well as to those he touched throughout his career.” A masterful marketer, Duboeuf, in the 1980s, elevated the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau wines from a local event to a worldwide celebration. His other Beaujolais wines, adorned with vibrant floral labels designed by…

Bring on Bordeaux There are excellent bargains to be found among the 2017 Bordeaux reds, but you have to know where to look. Less wine was made overall in the region, particularly on the Right Bank and Entre-Deux-Mers, where the Merlot was hit by frost. Other areas, such as the appellations at the northern end of the Médoc, were mostly unscathed. A handful of excellent 2018 whites fill out this selection. CLOS MARSALETTE Pessac-Léognan 2017 (94, $25) Precise, seamless, pure; cassis, warm plum, loganberry, savory, iron, flowers, tar CHÂTEAU BROWN Pessac-Léognan 2017 (93, $28) Plum, blackberry, black currant, bramble, apple wood, licorice snap, sweet spice; grippy CHÂTEAU GUIRAUD Bordeaux White Le G 2018 (93, $21) Showy; peach, nectarine, apricot, bitter orange, bitter almond, green tea CHÂTEAU D’AIGUILHE Castillon Côtes de…

I never had the opportunity to meet Peter Newton, but I certainly know of his influence in Napa. And having met the new team in place at Newton Vineyard, I’m encouraged his legacy will continue. Newton was an England-born, Oxford-trained lawyer, journalist and paper magnate when he founded Sterling Vineyards in 1964 and became the first to plant Merlot in Napa. There were only 24 Napa wineries back then, but the pioneering Newton had the vision to build the brilliant white stucco winery in the hills near Calistoga, modeled after Greek architecture and reached by a gondola-like tram. In 1977, Newton sold Sterling to Coca-Cola (the winery is now part of Treasury Wine Estates) and started another venture with his then-wife, Su Hua: the boutique Newton Vineyard near St. Helena,…

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. Thomas Matthews Spain Kim Marcus California Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir, Argentina, Chile James Laube California Bruce Sanderson Burgundy, Piedmont, Tuscany James Molesworth California Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Rhône Valley, Port MaryAnn Worobiec California Sauvignon Blanc and other whites, Australia, New Zealand Alison Napjus…

ARGENTINA Malbec 95 Alta Vista Alto Mendoza 2013 $85 Rich and well-spiced, with roasted dark plum, cherry and blackberry tart flavors, flanked by notes of tapenade and grilled toast. Christmas pudding and chocolate mousse elements flood the unctuous finish, showing hints of espresso. Drink now through 2027. 8,800 cases made, 100 cases imported.—K.M. 93 Alta Vista Malbec Las Compuertas Alizarine Single Vineyard 2014 $48 Intensely fruity and wellcrafted flavors of raspberry, blackberry and dark cherry are supported by fresh tannins and acidity. Minerality builds midpalate, leading to a finish loaded with chocolate torte and cooking spice notes. Drink now through 2025. 355 cases made, 100 cases imported.—K.M. 93 Alta Vista Malbec Uco Valley Temis El Cepillo 2015 $48 Complex and rich-tasting, with intense notes of underbrush to the concentrated dark…

Raised in New York by an American Jewish father and a Peruvian mother, chef Mina Newman grew up on the foods of Peru. “I think the most we got of our Jewish heritage was having bagels and lox on Sunday,” she quips. Her mother cooked staples like arroz con pollo, ceviche and papa a la huancaína, potatoes topped with spiced cream sauce. But she often incorporated Japanese elements too. “We always had soy sauce at home; we always had ginger,” Newman recalls. Her mother would stir Peruvian seaweed into water to create a sort of dashi, the Japanese broth base, adding it to her ceviche for depth. Only later did Newman learn there was a name for this pidgin cuisine: Nikkei. A Japanese diaspora to Peru that began in 1899…