Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2015 i Wine Spectator

California wineries and their most loyal fans are learning an un-wanted lesson in cybersecurity after hackers gained access to the financial and personal data of thousands of winery customers. In April, unknown cul-prits hacked into eCellar Systems, which handles mailing-list sales and other direct-to-consumer transactions for dozens of Cali-fornia wineries, including Kosta Browne, Patz & Hall, Turley and Peter Michael. Missing Link Networks, the Napa Val-ley–based company that owns eCellar, de-clined to answer questions. Published reports reveal that data from roughly 70 wineries and as many as 250,000 customers was exposed. In a statement posted on the company’s website, Missing Link CEO Paul Thienes said hackers gained access to cus-tomer names, credit and debit card numbers, addresses and a number of birth dates. “The intruder did not have access to…

MORRISFor Annegret Reh-Gartner, wine was always the family business: Her rela-tives have holdings in sparkling wine company Schloss Wachenheim; they own négociant Reh-Kendermann; and her sister runs Domaine Bertagna in Burgundy. But growing up, Reh-Gartner, now 60, had an affinity for languages and thought she would work as a translator. When her father bought the historic estate Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt in 1978, Reh-Gartner, without any formal training in wine, decided she would devote herself to reinventing the winery. Unlike most estates in the region, Kesselstatt’s vineyards sprawl across the Mosel, the Saar and the Ruwer—distances that present logistical chal-lenges but also provide a broader spectrum of grape characteristics. Reh-Gartner spoke with Esther Mobley about the complexity and allure of German Riesling. Wine Spectator: How do you envi-sion the style of…

The success of California’s Meiomi brand demon-strates what can be achieved when a winery understands the market-place. Meiomi’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are highly stylized wines that ap-peal to a wide range of wine drinkers, for a variety of reasons. They’re well made, easy to drink, at $25 offer genu-ine value, and are produced in suffi-cient volume (nearly 700,000 cases when the label was sold this summer) to become a go-to favorite. Meiomi rode the wave created by Sideways, the quirky 2004 box office hit that made Pinot Noir a rising star in California. Pinot was on the verge of reaching new heights in the Golden State anyway, but Sideways boosted its ascent. Producers suddenly found they could barely bottle new vintages fast enough, and Meiomi emerged from the pack…

At Wine Spectator, our goal is to explore every nook and cranny of the world of wine in order to help our readers discover exciting new pro-ducers and interesting grapes. In this issue, we turn our attention to Spain, and in particular, the distinctive wines of Priorat. Priorat, south of Barcelona, is an ancient wine region, with roots that go back to the 13th century. But a one-two punch of economic turmoil and the vine-plague phylloxera practically wiped it off the map at the turn of the 20th century. Not until a band of pioneers arrived in the 1970s did the region find a new footing, and not until they began releasing their new wines, in the 1990s, did the world take notice. Executive editor Thomas Matthews is our lead…

Bordeaux’s futures campaign for the 2014 vintage started with the hope that sensible pricing and a weak euro would revive sales. But now that the campaign has ended, retailers and merchants report mixed results and have expressed concerns about the future. The Good The campaign was never going to be a frenzy. “Everyone knows it’s a good but not great vintage, and it’s also the fourth [unexceptional vintage] in a row,” said Barbara Hermann, fine wine buyer at Binny’s Beverage Depot, a major Midwestern chain. But several top Bordeaux châ-teaus priced their wines to sell. “After three long years, I was busy on the phone,” said Ralph Sands, senior Bor-deaux specialist at K&L Wine Merchants in California. Strong performers in this year’s campaign included châ-teaus Lafite Rothschild, Haut-Brion and L’Eglise…

Animal lovers at the annual Wineapaw-looza charity auction, hosted at Oakville’s Gamble Family Vineyards in July, raised $750,000 for the Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch (JARR), a no-kill sanctuary for companion and farm animals. The event, which featured a preauction tasting from more than 60 Napa Valley wineries and chefs, tripled the take of last year’s fundraiser. At $107,500, the top auction lot was a col-lection of 80 magnums from wineries includ-ing Behrens Family, Robert Foley and Staglin. Another highlight was an evening with Rus-sell and Victoria Bevan of Bevan Cellars, complete with a Dave Matthews Band con-cert, which went for $70,000. (Wine Spectator readers may know that Matthews has his own wine label, Dreaming Tree.) All proceeds from the event will support Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch (named for the founders’…

Smoke has been a palate pleaser for humans ever since the cave-men invented the now-trendy paleo diet and used it for cooking and preserving meat and fish. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that up-and-coming bar chefs have been striving to put the flavor of burn-ing wood into cocktails. This development has not only delivered some tasty drinks but also generated the kind of barroom theater you might associate with dry ice. The problem, of course, is how to get smoke and liquid to mix. The genre has been developing for a few years. Putting smoked bacon and cigar tobacco (two ingredients I normally endorse) directly into a Man-hattan cocktail—a method I encountered five years ago at a bartending contest—is not a winning ap-proach; it’s a slimy, oily mess. There…

This past summer as I was shopping at my local farmers market, I was re-minded of something worth remembering: The longer you hang around wine, the more you realize that what really mat-ters was discovered long ago. This thought was triggered by a farmer offering dry-farmed tomatoes. Now, you wouldn’t think that a tomato could compare to the likes of grapes intended for fine wine, but it’s so. They’re surprisingly close. I mention this because we live in an age enthralled by scientific and techno-logical achievements. Inevitably, these have been transferred—not always suc-cessfully—to tomatoes as well as to wine. I don’t think I need to detail what a disaster “progress” has been to the modern American tomato, at least if you’re looking for any taste or character in large-scale commercial…

Highly Recommended The issue’s most impressive wines. Includestop-scorers and wines that represent optimal purchases based on their combination of score, price and availability. 96Lewis Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Reserve 2012 $145 CALIFORNIA A gorgeous effort, delivering a wealth of rich, dense dark berry, choc-olate, cedary oak, dried herb and black licorice flavors. Despite the size and strong personality, this is graceful and firm, with tender tannins. Drink now through 2028. 1,200 cases made.—J.L. 96Peter Michael Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Au Paradis 2012 $195 CALIFORNIADeliciously pure and supple, with explosive dark berry and red berry flavors and a silky, polished texture. The tannins become more evident midway through, with a gravelly crushed rock profile that adds a dimension of dust and mineral. Drink now through 2030. 1,785 cases made.—J.L. 95Felton Road Pinot…

AUSTRALIA Red 95 Groom Shiraz Barossa Valley 2013 $38 This majestic style presents a cascade of cherry, raspberry, black cherry and spice flavors, balanced on a broad-shouldered but sleek frame. Finishes with presence and impressive length. Drink now through 2025. 160 cases imported.—H.S. 94 Rolf Binder Heinrich Barossa Valley 2009 $23 See Highly Recommended, page 107. 94 Occam’s Razor Shiraz Heathcote 2013 $62Focused and expressive, with an overlay of about a dozen different kinds of pepper adding interest and depth to the cherry and floral flavors, focusing into a compact beam as the finish lingers amid lightly prickly tannins. Best from 2018 through 2025. 30 cases imported.—H.S. 93 Elderton Ode To Loraine Barossa Valley 2012 $55 Broad and spicy, with an open feel to the rich, licorice-scented black cherry and…

Readers respond to Matt Kramer’s assertion that strong sales of Meiomi Pinot Noir reveal quite a bit about American wine drinkers’ sweet tooth (“The American Way of Wine,” online, July 7). While Pinot Noir purists may worry about such a style coming to prominence, Kramer reminds readers that American wines often create and embrace a widening audience and raise the bar for standard quality. Americans have a sweet tooth? I remember liking reds and whites initially that were slightly sweet. If we want more Americans drinking wine, then let’s revere the sweet successes of Meiomi Pi-not, Rombauer Chardonnay and Ménage à Trois Red. Let’s give people what they want rather than tell them what’s good for them. That is the American Way! Mark LyonSonoma, Calif. Well, I just found out…

Gallo Buys a Piece of Sonoma History Wine giant E. & J. Gallo has purchased a piece of American wine history, making a deal to buy the Asti winery, including its vineyards in Geyserville, Calif., and the value-wine brand Souverain from Austra-lia’s Treasury Wine Estates, which has been restructuring its operations. The sale, which closed on July 31, includes more than 500 acres of land, 275 planted to vineyards, a sprawling production fa-cility capable of crushing 35,000 tons of grapes per harvest, and the Souverain brand and inventory. The price was not disclosed, but Treasury has booked a $7.5 million loss on the sale. The Asti win-ery’s roots stretch back to 1881. It was the longtime home of Italian Swiss Colony, one of the largest and most notable win-eries in…

For vintners in any country, “drought” is a bad word. California’s water shortages have dom-inated the news cycle recently, forcing painful discussions of water restrictions and whether vineyard acreage in the Central Valley will shrink dramatically. But in the Southern Hemisphere, northern Chile’s Limarí and Elquí valleys have been dealing with their own se-vere drought for several years now, dramati-cally impacting vintners and forcing some to watch as their vines die from a lack of water. Situated between the largest ocean and the longest mountain range in the world, the northern half of Chile is arid in a good year. Grapegrowers rely on meager rainfall and reservoir-filling snowmelt from the Andes to keep irrigation systems topped up. But the past three years have brought an annual av-erage rainfall of 1…

Grace burst onto the Chicago restaurant scene in December 2012, with chef Curtis Duffy bringing his own style and a gaudy Chi-cago dining résumé that includes sous-chef stints with Grant Achatz at both Trio and Alinea and accolades for his first high-profile solo kitchen, Avenues. The resulting restaurant, quite satisfying on a visit earlier this year, tones down the high-wire act that is Alinea while striking some familiar notes. Side-by-side multicourse vegetarian and meat menus hark back to Charlie Trotter a generation ago. Both menus reflect keen attention to pure, clear flavors that find a deft balance of acidity, sweetness and contrasting textures. The Flora lineup on our visit included a dish centered on coconut soup, and another focused on fresh morels. The Fauna side included silky-textured rabbit and Japa-nese…

WESTERN ROUNDUP California, Oregon and Washington produce a wide range of wines, from 100 percent varietals to intriguing blends. This list highlights both the familiar—Willamette Valley Pinot and Napa Sauvignon Blanc—and the surprising, such as Alexandria Nicole’s Roussanne blend from Washington’s Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The Le P’tit Paysan, Guardian and Cor bottlings are red blends based on Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, respectively. LE P’TIT PAYSAN Le P’tit Pape San Benito County 2012 (92, $22) Floral, raspberry, red clay, pepper, beef CARLISLE Syrah Sonoma County 2013 (92, $25) Fleshy; blueberry, raspberry, Asian spice NOVELTY HILL Malbec Columbia Valley Stillwater Creek Vineyard 2012 (92, $28) Supple; raspberry, cherry, cocoa, loamy earth GUARDIAN Chalk Line Columbia Valley 2012 (91, $25)Ripe cherry, currant; fresh, vibrant OR Momentum Horse Heaven Hills 2013…

In 2013, France’s major wine re-gions experienced one of the most difficult growing seasons in some time, and the Loire was not spared. In the spring, rains led to uneven flowering. In June, Vouvray and Chinon were hit with a devastating hail-storm. August lacked its typically bright and steady sunshine, preventing grapes from ripening fully and consistently. Finally, late-season rains contributed to disease pressures. “The 2013 vintage has been the most challenging vintage,” says Pascal Jo-livet, a top Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé producer. “It was late, with average ma-turity and high acidity.” But the Loire is one of France’s most diverse vineyard regions, and that diver-sity helps buttress it against difficult weather. With a wide range of grape va-rieties and varying soil types covering over 60 appellations and an expanse of…

This Buying Guide contains ratings of new releases from around the world and the results of special tastings reported on in greater depth elsewhere in the issue. Complete tasting notes are provided for all 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. Additional reviews appear 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. If no reviewer’s initials appear, the wine was tasted by a panel of Wine Spectator editors. James Laube California Harvey Steiman Australia, Oregon, Washington Thomas Matthews Spain Kim Marcus Argentina, Austria,…

Harvest. It’s the most exciting—and most important—time of year for winegrowers. Inclement weather can turn a perfect growing season into a wash overnight, and vintners must take their most educated guess at the right moment to pick. Because more than any other season, harvest makes the vintage. DR. VINNY Dear Dr. Vinny, I’ve read that rain during harvest is bad for grapes and the resulting wines. Why? —Barry, the Netherlands Dear Barry Rain during harvest is the worst! First, if it’s overcast, the grapes are going to have a harder time ripening. They need sunlight. Further-more, when it rains, the grapes take on more water, which means the flavor concentration can become diluted and the sugar-to-acid balance that winemakers are looking for gets out of whack. With too much rain,…