View the entire table of contents for the June 15, 2011 issue.

Just less than three years after economic turmoil caused the world wine auction market to stumble, sales have surged dramatically. Due in part to the Internet, which has helped to democratize consumer participation, and also to a booming economy in wine-hungry Asia, worldwide sales hit $408 million in 2010, compared with the previous year's $233 million. Prices for blue-chip wines are way up; the Wine Spectator Auction Index increased by 15 percent over one year, surpassing its 2007 record high.