Innehållsförteckning för April 30, 2024 från Wine Spectator

Visit WineSpectator.com/043024 to find links to all of the following resources. FREE RESOURCES FOR ALL WINESPECTATOR.COM READERS SPRING ENTERTAINING Celebrate the change of seasons with new recipes from some of the country’s best chefs. Whether you’re celebrating Passover, Easter, a birthday or an anniversary, we’ll make it easy and delicious, with meals just right for milder weather and paired with our editors’ picks of highly rated wines. PRIVATE GUIDE TO DINING Our free, twice-monthly email newsletter spotlights the best restaurants for wine lovers, from bucket-list destinations to perfect pizza places. Get great wine picks, keep on top of drinks trends, learn about new restaurant openings and more. Sign up! WHAT AM I TASTING? Test your tasting skills in our mystery wine game. Every two weeks, we post a tasting note with clues from…

Tour of Italy This group of Italian values starts with Piedmont in the northwest and spreads out from there, encompassing regions across the country. All of the wines here cost $25 or less. MARZIANO ABBONA Barbera d’Alba Rinaldi 2021 (93, $24) Sleek, stylish, seamless; blackberry, black cherry liqueur, violet MARZIANO ABBONA Dogliani Papà Celso 2022 (93, $22) Raspberry, blackberry, flowers, licorice, mineral; supple, vibrant, complex MARCHESI DI GRÉSY Dolcetto d’Alba Monte Aribaldo 2021 (92, $20) Perfumed, resonant; violet, black cherry, raspberry, licorice CASCINA LUISIN Barbera d’Alba Maggiur 2019 (90, $24) Blackberry, black currant, almond, tamarind; sleek, focused ELENA WALCH Lagrein Alto Adige 2022 (90, $20) Lively, juicy; blackberry, boysenberry, violet, thyme, anise, iron GRIFALCO DELLA LUCANIA Aglianico del Vulture Gricos 2021 (90, $24) Pomegranate, pureed raspberry, dried oregano, tar, spices; mouthwatering, silky, dense LA TUNELLA Chardonnay…

The world’s environmental problems can seem overwhelming. Can the actions of individual wine consumers make a difference? “Yes, absolutely,” says Kimberly Nicholas, a leading global sustainability scientist with a specialty in wine and the author of Under the Sky We Make: How to Be Human in a Warming World. “Wine drinkers are a really powerful group because they have this love and connection to a time and a place and a product and the people who made it, which is being affected now by climate change. We have skin in the game. There’s something we really care about at stake.” Wine lovers can drive progress on better practices across the industry, says Nicholas. “Our consumption is globally significant,” she notes. “And because of the other roles we play—as role models,…

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

Reducing and reusing food scraps at home starts with being intentional, says Matthew Seigel, executive director of beverage and sustainability at Little Saint, a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner rooted in plant-based, farm-to-table fare in Healdsburg, Calif. “You have to switch your mindset. Rather than thinking of stems and stalks as extra parts, think about how to utilize them. Be experimental and make it a fun process so that you want to do it again,” he says. Little Saint is part of a growing trend of restaurants striving for a closed-loop food system. Closed loops fundamentally aim to eliminate food waste by finding constructive reuses or repurposing of an ingredient and, in the end, composting whatever can’t be used. “At the restaurant, we’re constantly looking at how…

“Everybody’s got to kill their own snakes.” I have always been partial to the wit and wisdom of Willie Nelson, one of America’s greatest songwriters, and this quote from an interview with The New York Times always grabbed me. Nelson was speaking about one of his favorite pastimes—marijuana—and why he preferred it to alcohol. “I found out that pot is the best thing for me because I needed something to slow me down a little bit.” Drinking, he explained, made him mean. I respect Nelson’s candor, and I never begrudged his preference for cannabis over Cabernet, even though we differ on it. I tried marijuana a few times in my twenties and never really enjoyed it. I found it worsened my anxiety. I felt rather uncool at the time, but…

FRANCE Bordeaux/Barsac & Sauternes 94 Château Doisy Daëne Barsac L’Extravagant 2021 $250/375ml A flattering offering, with unctuous pineapple, peach and mango notes that glide along, revealing flashes of almond and candied citrus peel. Shows a pretty honeysuckle echo through the finish. Drink now through 2040. 70 cases made, 50 cases imported.—J.M. 93 Château Doisy Daëne Barsac 2021 $NA A bright, focused style, with jasmine, honeysuckle, pineapple and white peach notes held tightly together by well-inlaid acidity, all backed by lemon curd elements on the pretty finish. Drink now through 2040. 250 cases made, 50 cases imported.—J.M. 93 Château Suduiraut Sauternes 2021 $70 A bright, friendly and floral-edged style, featuring generous honeysuckle and orange blossom notes that run alongside apricot, papaya and orange curd elements. Reveals light piecrust accents on the…

The Great Guigals I just finished reading Kristen Bieler’s excellent article on the Guigal family (cover, March 31) and their iconic wines and have to congratulate you on an outstanding story. This is the kind of journalism that makes Wine Spectator so special and what I look forward to reading in every issue. Thank you for sharing the inspiring dedication of the Guigals to making great wines. Learning about the families and winemakers behind a wine adds so much perspective, context and enjoyment when a bottle is uncorked and helps guide which wines to try. Stephen Armstrong  Tustin Ranch, Calif. Guided Tour I have been a subscriber to Wine Spectator for about a decade and always enjoy the short monographs by the senior editors. Alison Napjus wrote a column about…

For the first time in nearly four years, Australian winemakers see signs of hope in their relationship with one of their biggest export markets. The Chinese government is reviewing painful tariffs of well over 100% on Australian wine that it implemented in 2020 after a political spat with Australia’s government. Tensions between the two nations initially mounted in April 2020 when Australian officials called for an international inquiry into COVID-19’s origins. China announced a trade investigation, alleging that Australia had been dumping cheap wine into the Chinese market to undercut local wines. The Australian government vehemently denied the allegations. Beijing implemented tariffs ranging between 116.2% and 218.4% depending on the producer. Overnight, Aussie wines doubled and tripled in cost in key markets like Shanghai and Guangzhou. In 2019, Aussie vintners…

Like most people with famous last names, Nicolas Jaboulet appreciates the perks of his. As the sixth generation of one of the most renowned wine families in the Rhône Valley, he sees doors opened and his phone calls returned. Still, the long shadow cast by the Jaboulet legacy must have felt disorienting when his family rather suddenly sold its legendary domaine, Paul Jaboulet Ainé, including the Hermitage hillside vineyards which yield the iconic La Chapelle cuvée, in 2006 to the Frey family (who also own Château La Lagune in Bordeaux and Château Corton-C in Burgundy). From owning a third of Hermitage, among other vineyards, to being landless felt surreal. “It was an emotional time,” Jaboulet admits. After some soul searching–“I thought of going to Champagne or Burgundy, but realized my…

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 Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté $125 ITALY Rich, with predominant black cherry, blackberry and violet flavors that show subtle red fruit and floral accents. A base of nervy tannins and lively acidity keep this well-defined, while accents of eucalyptus, iron, tar and spices add depth. Youthful, balanced and long on the aftertaste. Best from 2027 through 2047. 1,300 cases made.—B.S. 95 Campo alle Comete Bolgheri Stupore 2021 ITALY A sumptuous, polished red, saturated with plum, blackberry, boysenberry, chocolate and spice flavors. Seamless, backed by lively acidity and firm, refined tannins. Shows fine length, ending with spices and a flash of wild herbs. Merlot, Syrah, Petit…