Innehållsförteckning för June 15-30, 2021 från Wine Spectator

Now In Our IGTV Archives APRIL 21 Kurt Russell, actor and owner of GoGi Wines APRIL 14 Fabio Trabocchi, chef and founder of Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants APRIL 7 Emma Swain, CEO of Napa’s St. Supery Winery MARCH 31 Gaia Gaja, co-owner of Piedmont’s Gaja Winery MARCH 24 Justin Smith, winemaker of Saxum Vineyards in Paso Robles, Calif. MARCH 17 Adam Lee, founder of Siduri and head of California’s Clarice Wine MARCH 10 Alberto Aiello Graci, owner/winemaker of Sicily’s Graci MARCH 2 Sarah Jessica Parker, co-owner of Invivo X by SJP FEB. 24 Miguel Torres Maczassek, general manager of Spain-based Familia Torres FEB. 17 Peter Gago, chief winemaker for Australia’s Penfolds WATCH ON INSTAGRAM Scan the QR code to start watching on our IGTV channel, or visit instagram.com/wine_spectator/channel…

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 95 RAMEY Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2018 $70 CALIFORNIA Powerful, sleek and well-structured, with rich minerality to fresh-cut apple and pear flavors, backed by crackling acidity and ending with a spicy finish. COLLECTIBLE 98 SAN FILIPPO Brunello di Montalcino Le Lucere 2016 $110 ITALY This red is laden with juniper, rosemary and rose flavors, plus black currant and raspberry fruit, with an underlying mineral element. The firm tannins enhance the elegance. SMART BUY 92 NAUTILUS Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2020 $20 NEW ZEALAND Vibrant, with fresh pomelo, ginger and lemon zest flavors that reverberate at the core, followed by lingering details of lemon verbena, celery leaf and saline. BEST VALUE 90 DELAS Cotes du Rhone St.-Esprit 2019 $13 FRANCE Fresh and inviting, with more fruit and depth…

Over the past decade, northeastern Italy’s Prosecco region has been one of the primary drivers of the global boom in sparkling wine, leading consumers to reevaluate how and when to enjoy a glass of bubbly. Evoking the Italian mentality of la dolce vita, this soft and creamy sparkler made via the Charmat method has become a go-to for more casual settings and daily occasions. Prosecco’s easygoing price point—rarely more than $20 for most introductory examples—doesn’t hurt either. In 2020, Prosecco DOC production totaled 41.7 million cases, more than 20% of which was exported to the U.S., according to the Prosecco DOC consortium. Most Prosecco is bottled under this basic designation, which encompasses vineyards in nine provinces spanning all of Italy’s Veneto and part of Friuli–Venezia-Giulia. The familiar white version is…

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. 98 Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino 2016 $80 ITALY Pretty strawberry, currant and cherry flavors take center stage in this taut and linear red, flanked by floral, mineral and tobacco notes, with fine balance and intensity on a slim frame. This is ample, yet the refined tannins provide structure. Best from 2024 through 2048. 15,000 cases made, 1,000 cases imported.—B.S. 97 Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino 2016 $59 ITALY Broad and mouth-filling, exuding floral, black cherry, blackberry, graphite and stony mineral flavors. Powerful, yet reined in by the vivid acidity, with tannins that are refined and well-integrated. Shows terrific balance and length. Best from 2025 through…

Before our eyes, the United States is welcoming cannabis for medicinal and recreational use on a level that Americans in decades past could not have imagined. The general understanding is that as more and more states legalize cannabis, the market will continue to grow. As the leading producer of cannabis in the U.S., California is on track to fulfill that demand. And the expansion of this new crop into California’s wine country regions could spark the state’s biggest transformation since the emergence of the premium wine industry. The numbers begin to tell the story. Elite wine grapes such as pricey Napa Cabernet Sauvignon typically fetch the farmer $20,000 to $40,000 an acre, whereas a grower can reap $1 million wholesale from an acre of cannabis. For many, the potential rewards…

Who knew that a Korean drink made with much-denigrated instant coffee could produce a sought-after specialty drink? But it does, and Dalgona coffee is simple to make, lovely to behold, and provides a happy jolt of sophisticated caffeine in either hot or cold form. Dalgona seems like a crazy drink for a coffee lover even to consider. It’s a frothy concoction made with instant coffee, which is anathema to those who love specialty coffee from remote hillsides. But the fact is that instant coffee was once seen as something of a miraculous life-saver, first for soldiers in both world wars and then for harried housewives and businessmen in the United States of the 1950s and 1960s, and it came to dominate in less developed countries because it was cheap and…

I first became interested in wine during the 1970s. In the decades leading up to and including the ’70s, it seemed like a great vintage came along one year in 10, maybe two. Similarly, there were one or two, even three, terrible years. Since 1988 the peaks and valleys from vintage to vintage have diminished. Warmer weather, combined with better viticulture, the latter a result of increased technology, more conscientious farming and stricter selection at harvest, has raised the bar. Thanks to these factors, there are no bad vintages anymore, just more expensive ones. Viticulturists and vintners are still faced with variations in weather from year to year. Rain, drought, heat, cold and extreme events such as frost and hail continue to exist, particularly in northern regions. What has changed…

CULTIVATION: Allowed CULTIVATION PERMITS: 1,379 MANUFACTURING: Allowed RETAIL: Allowed Santa Barbara County holds more than 1,300 state licenses to grow cannabis, making it second only to Humboldt County, in the far north, where wine grapes are not widely grown. The county embraced cannabis, implementing extremely lenient regulations on how it is cultivated in unincorporated areas. As a result, numerous grows near vineyards and wineries have led to political conflicts and tension among neighbors. Battle lines are drawn. The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission recently approved a permit for an 87-acre cannabis farm adjacent to Melville Winery in the Sta. Rita Hills, arguably the county’s most prestigious winegrowing appellation, known for distinctive Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. If approved, it will account for 69% of the total 1,575 cannabis acres planned for…

CULTIVATION: Allowed CULTIVATION PERMITS: 819 MANUFACTURING: Allowed RETAIL: Allowed Mendocino County was considered one of the state’s premier cannabis territories even before legalization. The county is home to one-third of the renowned Emerald Triangle, an 11,000-square mile region that also includes Humboldt and Trinity counties. As part of the counterculture movement in the 1960s, young people from the Bay Area flocked here for pastoral life. Growing cannabis proved lucrative, and today the Emerald Triangle produces more cannabis than any other place in the U.S. Grows once tucked among the region’s dense redwood forests are now creeping into the valley floor. But the presence of illegal growth remains an issue. “The majority of the cannabis [in Mendocino] is still not legal,” says Jake Fetzer, third-generation winemaker and proprietor of Masút, a…

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. Kim Marcus California Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir, Argentina, Chile Bruce Sanderson Burgundy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Germany, Austria James Molesworth California Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, Rhône Valley, Port MaryAnn Worobiec California Sauvignon Blanc and other whites, Australia, New Zealand Alison Napjus Italy, Champagne, Alsace, South Africa Tim Fish California Zinfandel and…

Carmelo Commentary Many thanks to editor Mitch Frank for bringing to Wine Spectator readers the fascinating second life of basketball star Carmelo Anthony as a connoisseur of fine wines (cover, May 31). It comes across loud and clear and this basketball star has a taste for great wines coupled with a strong drive to educate himself on their provenance, and beyond that, the willingness to share what he has learned not only with teammates but also players on opposing teams. While his work in the wine world may not rival his Hall of Fame hardwood accomplishments, it certainly makes for a wonderful read. Joe HopkinsGoodyear, Ariz. In addition to Carmelo Anthony’s contributions as explained in your excellent cover story, here is one more aspect of Anthony’s legacy to the world…

Giro d’Italia From Alto Adige in the northeast to Campania in the south, this group highlights some of the vinous diversity Italy has to offer. Each of these wines is an authentic version of its type—at $25 or less. The Argiano is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot with Sangiovese, a nod to the estate’s previous owner, who planted the French grapes along with Giacomo Tachis. POMONA Chianti Classico 2017 (92, $25) Pure, charming; rose, cherry, raspberry, earth, mineral BINDI SERGARDI Chianti Classico Tenuta I Colli Ser Gardo 2016 (91, $25) Black cherry, blackberry, iron, tar, leather; dense, complex IOVINE Piedirosso Pompeiano 2019 (91, $14) Fragrant, round, silky; damson plum, black raspberry, garam masala, graphite, stone LEONILDO PIEROPAN Soave Classico 2019 (91, $23) Kiwifruit, pineapple, peach skin,…

Elegant is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the world of wine. We use it to describe the character of a wine itself, a winemaker or winery’s style, even groups or categories of wine as a whole. But what does it really mean when we talk about a wine’s elegance? Outside of wine, elegant is an adjective used to describe and gauge an item’s artistry. A person’s sense of style, a piece of clothing or jewelry, a painting or sculpture all can be elegant. There are elegant solutions, with elegance referring to the sophisticated thinking behind the problem-solving, more so than the step-by-step mechanics. A car can be elegant in design, but its actual functionality is ergonomic. It seems that elegance is most often employed to assess…

A Venn diagram for current cannabis buyers and wine buyers probably shows little overlap, but that is more of a function of the immaturity of the cannabis market. Cannabis has been legal for a short amount of time, and consumers are still discovering it. So it remains unclear how many consumers will trade a glass of Chardonnay for one of cannabis’s many forms, or elect to sample both. Francis Ford Coppola Winery sees cannabis as a way to engage a different audience. In 2018, the winery partnered with Humboldt Brothers, an organic, sun-grown cannabis farming company, to launch a limited-edition Coppola-branded cannabis product. Sold in high-end dispensaries throughout California, the tin canister, shaped like a 375ml wine bottle, included rolling papers, branded matches, a glass pipe and three different strains…

ROCCHE COSTAMAGNA Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata 2010 (89, $45) This estate consists of an 8.5-acre parcel for the singlevineyard label, and in the best vintages, Bricco Francesco Riserva from the top of the hill. ROBERTO VOERZIO Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata 2011 (92, $280) Voerzio’s Nebbiolo vines average 35 years of age, spread over several parcels. Planting density is higher than usual for Barolo, while the yields are typically lower. BARTOLO MASCARELLO Barolo 2016 (97, $190) Maria-Teresa Mascarello follows her father’s and grandfather’s philosophy of a traditional blended Barolo, from Nebbiolo grapes in four different MGAs, one of which is Rocche dell’Annunziata. MAURO VEGLIO Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata 2013 (90, $80) Proprietor Mauro Veglio’s father, Angelo, acquired the plot in 1979. The wine is aged 24 months in barriques, 50% new. PAOLO SCAVINO Barolo…

Skeptics complain that California Zinfandels are too ripe and bombastic. They say the wines lack structure. I’m here to tell you it isn’t so. You want proof? The 2018 Zins offer just that, showing freshness and bright fruit, with lively acidity and the kind of tannin structure that’s built to age well. • That’s my takeaway after reviewing more than 175 Zinfandels at our Napa office since my previous report (“Up to the Challenge,” June 30, 2020). More than half of the 2018s received outstanding scores of 90 points or higher on Wine Spectator’s 100-point scale, a fine showing that earns the vintage an overall rating of 94 points in Sonoma and 92 in Napa. Early indications point to another excellent vintage in 2019, for which I give a preliminary score…

AUSTRALIA 95 Hickinbotham Shiraz McLaren Vale Brooks Road 2018 $75 A rich, succulent mix of dark chocolate, spiced plum, wild blackberry and black licorice notes. Showcases both power and elegance, with chai, cigar box, violets and dried sage notes, velvety and generous, on the long, generous finish. Drink now through 2035. 1,900 cases made, 370 cases imported.—M.W. 94 Mitolo Shiraz McLaren Vale Marsican 2016 $235 Powerful and robust, with black licorice and tar overtones to the spiced plum, cocoa powder, dried blackberry, blueberry and sage notes. Offers chewy, dense tannins, plenty of aromatics and oomph on the long finish. Drink now through 2036. 250 cases made.—M.W. 93 Bethany Shiraz Barossa Valley GR 2017 $125 A beautiful red, with a core of pure blueberry, maraschino cherry and blackberry flavors on a…