Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
The winemaker’s Ataraxia label makes its return to the U.S. market
Posted: August 1, 2011 By James Molesworth
Apologies for the rather quiet blog recently. I've had my nose to the grindstone, or at least to the Riedel glass, as I'm in the midst of an intensive tasting period working my way through the bulk of Rhône wines for my annual report, slated to appear near the end of the year as usual. While I've still got a ways to go, it's clear that 2009 provides the best buying opportunity for ageworthy Northern Rhône reds since the superb 2005 vintage. Stay tuned for more on those ….
I did manage to take a short break from the tasting room to catch up with Kevin Grant, winemaker and owner of South Africa's Ataraxia winery, which is now back in the U.S. market after a short hiatus. Ataraxia is one of the small, top-quality producers that's been head-scratchingly absent from the U.S. market, along with the likes of Kevin Arnold's Waterford Estate and Beyers Truter's Beyerskloof.
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Some offers for Napa wineries and vineyards are too good to refuse
Posted: July 28, 2011 By James Laube
When someone pays $40 million for a boutique winery in Napa Valley, as someone apparently did last month, it essentially means that everyone is for sale. Who would turn down $40 million for a 12-acre, 600-case operation, even if the Cabernet sells for $600 a bottle?
As rumors of the sale spread, several names were mentioned. When I asked a few owners about the numbers, and whether they would sell for that kind of price, all said they'd definitely consider it.
Blogs
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Exploring Wine with Tim Fish
You may still be on vacation, but California's vineyards are hard at work
Posted: July 27, 2011 By Tim Fish
While you were marinating in the sun or elbowing a path
through Europe or the Wisconsin Dells, California winemakers were busy laboring
at ... well, their vacations, same as the rest of us.
Just about the only thing hard at work this time of year seems to be the vineyards. While you lollygag your way through July, I figure it's a good time to see what's happening in California's vineyards.
I checked with Kendall-Jackson winemaster Randy Ullom, who works with vines all over the state, and as it turns out, the growing season is entering a crucial phase: veraison. Basically, that is the onset of ripening, when grapes begin to soften and start losing their green color, taking on shades of red or yellow depending on the variety.
Blogs
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Harvey Steiman At Large
A California vintner turns to a cooler climate to find a balance
Posted: July 27, 2011 By Harvey Steiman
If the topic of the year is rising alcohol levels in today's wines, as it appears to be, Wells Guthrie of Copaín is probably the poster boy for the lower-alcohol crowd. Several years ago he had an epiphany: After making a reputation for big, bold, muscular Syrahs and broad, fleshy Pinot Noirs, he decided to change. And he discovered that it's not necessarily the what, but the where, that matters in making good wines with lower alcohol levels.
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Bordeaux great Christian Moueix hits upon a winner with his Napa Cabernet blend
Posted: July 21, 2011 By James Laube
Wine Spectator senior editor James Laube is excited by the latest release, 2008, of Bordeaux all-star Christian Moueix's Napa Cabernet blend, Dominus. Past vintages have perplexed him at times, but the latest is the best in his recent memory. It serves as an object lesson in how different producers excel in different vintages.
Blogs
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Amateur cooks pool dishes and wines for a memorable dinner
Posted: July 20, 2011 By Harvey Steiman
Wine Spectator senior editor Harvey Steiman gathers around the table with an assortment of wine, cooking and music enthusiasts for an annual dinner in Aspen. Each diner contributes a favorite dish or wine to the dinner, making for a great gastronomic experience without too much work.
Blogs
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Exploring Wine with Tim Fish
Take it someplace nice and show it a good time
Posted: July 20, 2011 By Tim Fish
It’s vacation time in America. France gets the hell out of Dodge in August, but here in the States, July is the month most of us wander off into the hinterland of adventure and sunburn.
For the believers out there—can I get an amen, somebody?—wine has to be part of the vacation-planning process. Let the scoffers drink Coke.
There’s a particular math when it comes to wine and vacation. The formula for how much wine you need to take with you is directly related to the extravagance and location of the trip. If you’re taking a villa in Tuscany or touring Bordeaux, then why schlep a bottle?
On the other hand, there are vacations that require mass quantities of wine, for example, if camping is involved or Disneyland is on the itinerary. (You can’t shuffle off to Burgundy every summer.)
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Both quality and individual bottlings are rapidly growing
Posted: July 14, 2011 By James Laube
I've been noticing a trend among California's two priciest red grapes in recent years. Productions are getting smaller and smaller; the number of labels is getting larger and larger.
There are perhaps 800 individual bottlings of Napa Valley Cabernet, according to our best guesstimates, the important thing being that that's a lot of competing brands (including labels cannibalizing their own sales with competing cuvées).
Here’s another striking figure: Sonoma County may have 500 individual bottlings of Pinot Noir. The numbers continue to grow rather rapidly. Consider that some wineries (Siduri, Kosta Browne, Lynmar) already have close to a dozen individual bottlings.
Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Continuing up Route 414 to Hector Wine Company and Standing Stone before tasting the 2010 reds and whites at Red Newt
Posted: July 13, 2011 By James Molesworth
With the Stonecat Café next door to Bloomer Creek winery, it was easy to decide on my lunch spot on my second day of visits in the Finger Lakes. It remains one of the best dining spots around, with an eclectic menu (orange fennel sausage) that relies heavily on locally sourced ingredients. After lunch, I continued up Route 414, popping my head in at the new Hector Wine Company and Standing Stone, and then it was off to Red Newt Cellars to taste the 2010 reds and whites followed by dinner at Red Newt Bistro.
Blogs
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Exploring Wine with Tim Fish
As acreage plummets in California, is it time for a renaissance?
Posted: July 13, 2011 By Tim Fish
Years of bitching about California Merlot are paying off, folks. Wineries are making less of it, a lot less. Turrentine Brokerage, a company that tracks such things, says Merlot acreage in Sonoma County has plummeted 47 percent between 2004 and 2010. That’s about 400,000 fewer cases a year. Napa dropped 20 percent in the same period.
I’m not convinced that Merlot will ever produce classic wines in California with any consistency vintage to vintage. Merlot is a tricky grape. You can’t just plant it anywhere, and you have to pamper the vines and manage the crop size closely, or you end up with bland wines or freaky concoctions of stewed cherry and veggies, but there are a few wineries making great Merlot.
Blogs
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Stanford scientists take a stab at what could happen by 2040
Posted: July 13, 2011 By Harvey Steiman
It's a standing joke, though a somewhat nervous one, among winegrowers when the subject of global climate change comes up. "Well, I guess they'll be growing Cabernet in Burgundy," someone is sure to remark, "because it will be too hot to grow Pinot Noir there anymore."
But how true is that idea? Is it likely that whole regions will get too hot for what they currently grow? That would change the dynamics of wine profoundly. Noah Diffenbaugh, a fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, enlisted colleagues at Utah State and Southern Oregon universities and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to plug in conservative climate models and analyze what would happen region by region in California, Oregon and Washington if those models come true.
Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Up Seneca Lake's eastern shore to a winery focused on reds, and another where experimental winemaking is embraced
Posted: July 11, 2011 By James Molesworth
In most wine regions, the older generation is typically the one holding onto tradition while the younger generation employs new ideas or techniques. In the Finger Lakes, though, the older generation is just as apt to be the one pushing as the younger one—since the older generation is basically the first one to break from the old Finger Lakes model of growing large quantities of hybrids and natives, rather than cutting yields and growing vinifera. I visited two such wineries on the morning of my second day here, Damiani and Bloomer Creek.
Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
It's time for another round of visits in New York's Finger Lakes region
Posted: July 7, 2011 By James Molesworth
I made the drive up to the Finger Lakes yesterday morning, heading all the way over to Keuka Lake's west side for a stop at Keuka Lake Vineyards.
Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
It's time for another round of visits in New York's Finger Lakes region
Posted: July 6, 2011 By James Molesworth
I'm heading upstate again, for another quick tour of the Finger Lakes. They're about halfway through the growing season so far this year, which has been on the cool and rainy side. Though there's a ways to go of course before we really know what 2011 has in store for the wines, it's a good time to check in on the vineyards and see some new and familiar faces.
Blogs
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Exploring Wine with Tim Fish
Do-it-yourself solutions may not look fancy but can work
Posted: July 6, 2011 By Tim Fish
My first wine cellar was a lame attempt no matter how you looked at it; I was young and my discretionary income bought 10 minutes on a parking meter. But I had the wine bug and had it bad. Loitering in wine shops became a favorite hobby. I’d buy a good $10 or $20 bottle on the weekends and occasionally splurge. I still remember the day I bought a Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1989 for $45 and worried how I’d explain it when I got home. Eventually my disjointed assortment of bottles was large enough so I could use the word collection without resorting to a sarcastic tone or air quotes.
Blogs
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Dining options between San Francisco and Aspen are much better than they used to be
Posted: July 6, 2011 By Harvey Steiman
Finding a good place to eat on our annual drives to and from our summer apartment in Aspen, 1,200 miles from San Francisco, used to be a challenge. Our original route, once past the beautiful Sierra Nevada range, took us across the bleak northern half of Nevada, past the Salt Flats of Utah, through the Wasatch Range and across I-70 to Colorado. It pretty much left good food behind at Reno.
Driving through Las Vegas adds only about 50 extra miles to our route and represents a vast improvement in food and scenery. Three years ago we discovered a friendly wine bar in Grand Junction where we look forward to a glass of good wine and creative food at the end of the day's drive.
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
I've nearly finished my tasting of 2009 California Pinot Noirs, and the numbers are off the charts
Posted: July 5, 2011 By James Laube
Pinot lovers have never had it this good.
We're finishing our tastings of mostly 2009s and, the trending is amazing: We've already rated more outstanding 2009s than in any other vintage. So far, more than 50 percent of the wines reviewed have been outstanding or better, an unprecedented number.
Blogs
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
The chef and owner of the Finger Lakes' Red Newt Bistro has died in a car accident; her winemaker husband, Dave, is in stable condition
Posted: July 1, 2011 By James Molesworth
Wine Spectator senior editor James Molesworth reports that Red Newt Bistro chef and owner Debra Whiting has died in a car accident. Her husband, Dave, winemaker and owner for Red Newt Cellars, was also in the car and is listed in stable condition.
Blogs
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Less predictable than magical 2008s, but don't dismiss the vintage
Posted: June 30, 2011 By Harvey Steiman
After a vintage like 2008, when everything went right and there was excellence across the board, 2009 presented problems for Oregon vintners. They had to be nimble to respond to a hot summer and early September rains that put considerable pressure on the vineyards. In a compressed vintage, the ripeness could easily get out of hand.
Now that I have tasted more than 150 wines (and published reviews of some five dozen, with at least as many more to come), I am beginning to get a handle on how the wines came out. It's not easy, because it's all over the board. I am tasting light, zingy, delicate wines from some producers, and dark, rich, plush ones from others. I expect the rest of the wines I taste to fit a similar profile.
Blogs
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Exploring Wine with Tim Fish
Break out the grill, mix up the spice rubs and sauces, and open some barbecue-friendly wines
Posted: June 29, 2011 By Tim Fish
Memorial Day weekend is a blur in our house, with the end of school and other various craziness, so it's not until the Fourth of July that I really feel like I can kick back and do some serious cooking in the backyard. As I've tried to master various recipes and cuts of meat—whether it's baby-back ribs, chicken or beef brisket—I've experimented with different wines to drink with these slow-cooked creations.
The flavors of barbecue are intense: smoky and zesty, spicy, greasy and sweet. You might think you need a powerful wine for its equal but that's not necessarily the case. Sure, most hearty reds will do fine with those big flavors, but if you're going to the trouble of slowly grilling or smoking something for hours, why drink just any wine? Here are some suggestions for distinctive and lively barbecue-friendly reds and whites.
