Innehållsförteckning för December 31, 2022 från Wine Spectator

FREE RESOURCES FOR ALL WINESPECTATOR.COM READERS TOP 100 WINES OF THE YEAR Join Wine Spectator’s senior editors as they discuss this year’s Top 10 in our annual video series. Then, find matching recipes and in-depth articles related to this year’s Top 10 and scroll through wine history with our Top 100 lists back to 1988. Plus, enter our sweepstakes to win the Top 10 Wines of 2022! HOLIDAY PARTY PLANNING We’ve recruited top chefs to share some of their favorite dishes for seasonal entertaining, while Wine Spectator editors recommend crowd-pleasing, budget-friendly wines. THE WINE WORLD, UNFILTERED Love wine and spirits? Into pop culture? Get the scoop on how drinks intersect with movies, TV, music, sports, politics and more in our regular column and its companion email newsletter. NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS For both consumers and…

This fall, Wine Spectator made its podcast debut with the launch of Straight Talk, a new program available at WineSpectator.com/podcast. Hosted by senior editor and special projects director James Molesworth, each episode spotlights individuals featured in the most recent issues of Wine Spectator. Building on the success of the magazine’s Straight Talk Instagram Live series, the Straight Talk podcast debuted with a blockbuster roundtable discussion with Napa Cabernet all-star winemakers Thomas Rivers Brown (Schrader Cellars, Rivers Marie), Andy Erickson (Favia, Dalla Valle, Mayacamas) and Helen Keplinger (Grace Family, Keplinger). The conversation, led by Molesworth, focused on recent vintages, with the vintners weighing in on the 2020 wildfires, the controversy over family wine estates selling to corporate investors, the challenges with balancing their own family wineries’ needs against those of their…

This was the first October in 40 years that Lynn Penner-Ash could relax. “Maybe I’ll go to a pumpkin patch,” she told Wine Spectator as fall began, with a laugh. “I’m looking forward to having my first fall just to play.” The winemaker and Willamette Valley icon retired at the end of September, with an impressive 41 harvests under her belt, and she’s ready to look forward—not back. But hers is a career worthy of reflection. A youthful 61, Penner-Ash has been an active player in Oregon’s rise as a world-class wine region. She is part of what she calls the “gap generation” in Oregon, winemakers who arrived after pioneers such as David Lett, Dick Erath and Dick Ponzi, but before the second generation was old enough to take over.…

Hit the Rhône These well-priced wines from the Southern Rhône are ideal for the colder weather ahead. The reds are primarily blends of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah, offering rich red and black fruit flavors, plus spice and mineral notes, that can match hearty foods. Made from two of the region’s signature white grapes, the pair of Trignon bottlings make for delicious aperitifs. AIMÉ SABON Côtes du Rhône-Villages St.-Antonin Plan de Dieu 2020 (91, $26) Decadent; cherry, licorice, cedar, graphite, thyme, lavender AIMÉ SABON Côtes du Rhône Clos St.-Antonin 2019 (90, $18) Cherry, plum, white pepper, salty mineral, baking spices; luscious, approachable CHÂTEAU DU TRIGNON Roussanne Côtes du Rhône 2021 (90, $20) Delicate, silky, floral; cantaloupe, wet stone, pith, mineral CHÂTEAU DU TRIGNON Viognier Côtes du Rhône 2021 (90, $20) Lemon, nectarine, gardenia, honeysuckle,…

A stellar second wine; a Brunello from the best vintage of a generation; classic California Cabernet; wine in a can: These are just a few highlights of Wine Spectator’s Top 100 for 2022. It reflects a year in wine, from new releases of top vintages in key regions around the world to new and emerging trends in how we enjoy wine. Our editors reviewed more than 8,800 wines in blind tastings during the past year. Nearly 60% of those, 5,147 in all, rated 90 points or higher. This was our starting point for selecting our Top 100, evaluated for quality (based on score), value (based on price), availability (based on cases either made or imported into the United States) and, most importantly, the passion and backstory of the wines, what…

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). 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. Bruce Sanderson Burgundy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Germany, Austria James Molesworth California Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, Bordeaux, Rhône Valley, Port MaryAnn Worobiec California Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, Australia, New Zealand Alison Napjus Spain, Italy, Champagne, Alsace, South Africa Tim Fish California Zinfandel and Merlot, Oregon, Washington, U.S. sparkling wines Aaron Romano Argentina, Chile Kristen Bieler France, Israel How We Do…

Due to COVID, Wine Spectator editors were forced to blind-taste and discuss the Top 100 remotely for the past two years. By tasting in our respective offices then convening for a Zoom discussion, we managed to arrive at strong lists, including Wine of the Year, despite the challenges. This year, I was finally able to meet with my senior editorial staff in person in the New York office—and it felt great to be back. Tasting together around a large table as we weigh the merits of the Wine of the Year candidates is an exciting culmination to a year of in-depth wine world coverage. In 2022, our tasters evaluated nearly 9,000 wines. With so many informed opinions in the room, the debate over our Wine of the Year can get…

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 95 LEEUWIN Chardonnay Margaret River Art Series 2019 $109 AUSTRALIA Succulent and distinctive, this complex white opens with aromatic notes of crème fraîche, tahini and salted butterscotch, backed by mouthwatering acidity and leading to a vibrant, juicy mouthful of dried pineapple, pomelo and yuzu flavors. COLLECTIBLE 95 SHAFER Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District Hillside Select 2018 $375 CALIFORNIA This red is frankly ripe but well-focused, with blackberry and creamed boysenberry notes flowing through atop the polished structure, while cocoa and black licorice frame the finish, lingering with a subtle hint of sassafras. SMART BUY 90 BODEGAS SIERRA CANTABRIA Rioja Crianza 2018 $22 SPAIN A well-balanced red in a medium-bodied frame, offering flavors of black fig reduction, leafy tobacco and fresh, loamy earth that show good concentration. BEST VALUE…

Champagne might be sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne. Americans increasingly understand this distinction, now that the quality and popularity of domestic bubbly is on the rise. The awareness that there are plenty of delicious sparklers on the market that don’t carry the name “Champagne” (which can only be used for wines from that particular region of France) is a clear sign of the progress U.S. producers have made in recent years. Even so, many consumers can still find the semantics of sparkling wine confounding, with labels using designations such as blanc de blancs or blanc de noirs, brut or extra brut, rosé or extra dry. How are drinkers, especially newcomers, to distinguish the differences between these categories? It doesn’t help that every sparkling wine producer has…

AUSTRALIA Cabernet Sauvignon & Blends 91 Cullen Diana Madeline Wilyabrup Margaret River 2020 $125 This has dense flavors and tannins, but there’s also an air of elegance, with velvety wild blackberry, huckleberry and plum notes and lingering accents of spices, tobacco and dried black olive. Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2030. 100 cases imported.—M.W. 91 Dominique Portet Cabernet Sauvignon Yarra Valley 2017 $60 Fragrant and elegant, with polished tannins, bittersweet chocolate, tobacco and fresh herbal details, plus notes of black licorice and plum, black cherry and cassis. Harmonious, silky finish. Drink now through 2028. 700 cases made, 100 cases imported.—M.W. 89 Cullen Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot Margaret River Wilyabrup 2020 $40 This red packs plum, cassis and kirsch notes that are plump and juicy, yet tethered by salted black licorice, dried fennel seed and sage.…

This year marks the 34th annual edition of Wine Spectator’s Top 100. Each year since 1988, our editors have assembled their list of the most exciting wines of the year just ending, with an eye to quality, value and availability. The honor roll provides an encapsulation of that year in wine. It showcases great vintages, new wineries, winemaking and generational changes, emerging regions and more. Over time, it has represented a history of the wine world across more than three decades. Looking back to the inaugural list in 1988, it’s amazing to see the wines featured: Château Margaux Margaux 1985 (99, $76), Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 1985 (100, $210), Gaja Barbaresco Sorì Tildin 1985 (97, $94) and Château d’Yquem Sauternes 1983 (97, $120), to name a few wines that…

2 FATTORIA DEI BARBI Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2016 95 | $130 | Italy A historic Montalcino estate, Fattoria dei Barbi was one of the 25 producers of Brunello when the region achieved DOC status in 1967. Located on a plateau to the southeast of the town of Montalcino, this large estate (865 acres) has been producing Brunello since 1892. Under current owner Stefano Cinelli Colombini’s management since 1981, the vineyards have increased from 54 to 212 acres. Vigna del Fiore is the estate’s best site, the source of its single-vineyard label and some Sangiovese for the riserva. Aged in 225-liter to 1,500-liter barrels and large casks for a total of three years, the riserva is a selection of the best casks with aging potential. 3,000 cases made, 2,094 cases…

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. 95 Leeuwin Chardonnay Margaret River Art Series 2019 $109 AUSTRALIA Succulent and distinctive, this white opens with notes of crème fraîche, tahini and salted butterscotch that are aromatic and appealing, backed by hints of fresh-grated ginger and mouthwatering acidity and leading to a vibrant, juicy mouthful of dried pineapple, pomelo and yuzu flavors at the core. The elements are all in balance, and the tension between them yields a complex, stunning wine. Drink now through 2027. 800 cases imported.—M.W. 95 Albino Rocca Barbaresco Vigna Loreto Ovello 2019 $69 ITALY Expressive for its aromas and flavors of rose, this red also boasts generous cherry, strawberry, mineral, white pepper and…

The reviews that follow are the on-release tasting notes for the wines of the 2022 Top 100. Ranking is indicated by the number in the red box to the left of each note. Prices given are release prices. The date in parentheses indicates the issue in which the wine was first reviewed. An overview of this year’s Top 100 and profiles of each of the selected wines begins on page 40. 1 94 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Double Diamond 2019 $80 Packs in generous steeped plum, boysenberry and mulberry flavors backed by a broad swath of roasted alder and bittersweet cocoa. Brimming with dense fruit, and is squarely in the not-shy style. The long finish has a serious loamy tug, too. Best from 2023 through 2035. 10,000 cases made.—J.M. (11/15/2022)…