Innholdsfortegnelse for June 15, 2016 i Wine Spectator

Visit www.winespectator.com/061516 to find links to all of the following resources. Free resources for all our WineSpectator.com readers: PARTY PLANNING Organizing a luxurious treat for Mother’s Day? Hosting a barbecue bash on Memorial Day? We highlight delicious new recipes to try and point you to great wines for the occasion. Check out our seasonal features for pairing suggestions with well-priced, new-release wines recommend by our editors. UNFILTERED NEWSLETTER Sign up for our free, mobile-friendly e-mail on wine in pop culture. Get the latest on how wine intersects with the worlds of film, TV, music, sports and more. GRAND TOUR This spring Wine Spectator hit the road with more than 240 of the world’s finest wineries, making stops in New York, Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas. If you missed it this…

For more than a year, some of California’s biggest wine producers stood accused of exposing consumers to excessive levels of arsenic in 83 wine brands. In late March, a judge in California’s Superior Court in Los Angeles dismissed the case. The plantiffs’ lawyers are considering an appeal. For the accused wineries and the California wine industry, the ruling brought relief, but also concern that the claim their wines are unsafe will linger in consumers’ minds for years to come. “The well-being of our consumers has always been our top priority,” Megghen Driscol, a representative for defendant Treasury Wine Estates, told Wine Spectator. “We are delighted that the Los Angeles Superior Court has confirmed that the plaintiffs’ claims of ‘failure to warn of trace levels of arsenic in wine’ have no…

Paul Pontallier, who oversaw production at the famed Bordeaux first-growth Château Margaux for 33 years, leading it through a renaissance in quality, died March 28 after an extended battle with cancer. He was 59. Pontallier was hired as technical director at Margaux by owner Corinne Mentzelopoulos in 1983, three years after she had taken charge of the property following the death of her father, who had bought the estate in 1976. Margaux was struggling at the time: Bordeaux in general was suffering from the economic malaise of the ’70s, there had been a string of difficult vintages, and the vineyard had been neglected. Margaux was widely considered fifth among the five first-growths. Pontallier was 27 when he took the job. He worked closely with Mentzelopoulos, and their partnership went on…

California Chardonnay barely survived Prohibition. The thin-skinned grape was too fragile to ship to home winemakers on the East Coast, and ultimately most vines were uprooted. In 1960, there were only about 150 acres of Chardonnay in the entire state. It wasn’t until the late 1970s, after the Chateau Montelena 1973 Chardonnay won the Judgment of Paris, that consumers starting taking real notice. What many people don’t know is that Montelena’s now-historic Chardonnay bottling was made with mostly Sonoma County grapes. While Chardonnay is grown throughout most of California, Sonoma counts more than 15,600 acres, and the county is now the dominant source of the state’s top versions. There are veteran producers such as Kistler, Rochioli and Williams Selyem, plus a second generation of masters like Peter Michael, Marcassin, Chasseur…

Wineries 1 ARISTA WINERY 7015 Westside Road, Healdsburg; (707) 473-0606; www.aristawinery.com 2 AUTEUR WINES 373 First St. W., Sonoma; (707) 938-9211; www.auteurwines.com 3 CHATEAU ST. JEAN 8555 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood; (707) 257-5784; www.chateaustjean.com 4 DELOACH VINEYARDS 1791 Olivet Road, Santa Rosa; (707) 755-3300; www.deloachvineyards.com 5 DRY CREEK VINEYARD 3770 Lambert Bridge Road, Healdsburg; (800) 864-9463; www.drycreekvineyard.com 6 FERRARI-CARANO VINEYARDS AND WINERY 8761 Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg; (707) 433-6700; www.ferrari-carano.com 7 HARTFORD FAMILY WINERY 8075 Martinelli Road, Forestville; (707) 887-8030; www.hartfordwines.com 8 PAUL HOBBS WINERY 3355 Gravenstein Highway N., Sebastopol; (707) 824-9879; www.paulhobbswinery.com 9 LANCASTER ESTATE 15001 Chalk Hill Road, Healdsburg; (707) 433-8178; www.lancaster-estate.com 10 MACROSTIE WINERY & VINEYARDS 4605 Westside Road, Healdsburg; (707) 473-9303; www.macrostiewinery.com 11 PATZ & HALL 21200 Eighth St. E., Sonoma; (707) 265-7700; www.patzhall.com 12 PRIDE MOUNTAIN…

David Boies likes a fight. The New York–based attorney and founding partner of the firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner has spent five decades at the vanguard of American trial law, representing the Department of Justice in United States vs. Microsoft, advocating for Al Gore following the disputed 2000 presidential election, and joining former solicitor general Theodore Olson to overturn Proposition 8 in a landmark victory for gay marriage in California. Fittingly, it was this competitive spirit that augured his introduction to the world of wine. An associate at Cravath, Swain & Moore in the 1960s, Boies volunteered at the last minute to sub into the firm’s bridge team prior to a tournament. The team won and was awarded $600 in prize money. To spend the purse, the lawyers splurged on…

Anyone who wants to understand California wine should spend time exploring Sonoma County. And any wine lover who wants to explore Sonoma County will have a more fruitful experience using our insider’s guide, this issue’s cover story. Sonoma’s dynamic wine industry comprises 17 appellations, ranging from the warm Alexander Valley, adjacent to Napa Valley, to the rugged Sonoma Coast, cooled by the Pacific Ocean. This diversity of geography and climate allows Sonoma to produce a cornucopia of distinctive wines. In 2015, we reviewed nearly 1,200 wines from the county, ranging in price from $12 to nearly $400 (Vérité La Joie Sonoma County 2012, 91 points) and reaching 97 points, or classic, on our 100-point scale (Peter Michael Chardonnay Knights Valley Point Rouge 2012, $185). While Sonoma offers everything from crisp…

After looking at more than 400 years of harvest and climate data from France and Switzerland, a team of researchers from Harvard University and NASA have concluded that warmer temperatures have pushed wine grape harvests in those countries more than 10 days earlier in recent years than in the period from 1600 to 1980—regardless of whether the growing seasons saw damp conditions or drought. “It’s evidence we have fundamentally shifted the climate system,” said study co-author Elizabeth Wolkovich, assistant professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard. “It used to be that these early harvests happened in dry, hot years.” The shift has winemakers concerned for the future. In dry soils, less moisture evaporates to cool the surface; a drought, in effect, turns up the heat to accelerate ripening in…

EAST END, LONG ISLAND Wölffer Kitchen Website www.wolfferkitchen.com For New Yorkers fleeing the grinding workweek, a trip to Wölffer Estate Vineyard and its casual eatery, Wölffer Kitchen, can be refreshing. Just a couple doors down from Sag Harbor’s Wine Spectator Grand Award– winning American Hotel, Wölffer Kitchen serves brunch, lunch and dinner along with a $35 prix fixe that includes a glass of the vineyard’s wine. The food leans heavily on simple, wine-friendly fare under the guidance of chef Brian Cheewing. A Mediterranean influence shows in dishes like lollipop lamb chops with crispy chickpeas, while a mural of fruits and summer flowers brightens the restaurant’s clean, contemporary look. In a nod to the region’s growing wine appreciation, Wölffer’s winemaker dinner series supports local organizations including the Long Island Merlot Alliance. Just…

In late 2000, Michel Reybier finally got what he wanted: Château Cos-d’Estournel. “He wanted it all along,” says general manager Aymeric de Gironde, who arrived at the estate in February 2013. “And he only wanted Cos ... no other château.” The purchase was a surprise; the famed second-growth estate had been sold just two years previously to the Taillan Bordeaux firm and a group of Argentinian investors. But that fell apart quickly, and Reybier swooped in, picking up the then 175-acre estate for $115 million, the same price as the previous sale. Now, with 15 vintages under Reybier’s ownership, Cos has secured its position as one of Bordeaux’s greatest properties. “I always adored the style, the typicity of Cos,” says Reybier. “I wanted to conserve that, but also cultivate and…

You won’t need a GPS when you come to Sonoma County if you let the region’s major wine grapes be the travel guide. Your passion for a specific varietal is the best map to follow. Sonoma is a diverse destination, with a varied climate and a landscape that ranges from pastures of grazing sheep to mountain ranges to the foggy Pacific Coast. With more than 400 wineries and 60,000 acres of vines spread through 17 distinctive American Viticultural Areas, Sonoma produces myriad styles of wine. We’ve selected top Sonoma wineries in four categories—Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel—and put together an agenda that crisscrosses the wine roads of the county. We’ve suggested wineries that are open to the public and have recommended where to stay once your day is…

Sonoma County has a long history of growing Cabernet Sauvignon, although many consumers may be more familiar with versions from Napa Valley, to the east. Cabernet was among the grapevines imported into California in 1862 by Agoston Haraszthy, founder of Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma Valley. While Napa’s Inglenook was bottling varietal Cabernet as early as 1882, Sonoma producers typically blended the grape into wines with names such as Claret, often dispensed into jugs for consumers to carry home. By the early 1970s, pioneering winemaker Rodney Strong was planting Cabernet Sauvignon in Sonoma’s Alexander Valley, while Beringer was doing the same in nearby Knights Valley. Chateau St. Jean made its first Cabernet in 1975, using Sonoma Valley fruit. Today, the Alexander, Knights and Sonoma valleys remain the best regions for…

WINERIES TO VISIT Pinot Noir Arista Winery 7015 Westside Road, Healds-burg Telephone (707) 473-0606 Website www.aristawinery.com Open Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost Tastings $20–$160 Even if it weren’t producing some of the top Pinot Noirs in Sonoma, Arista would be a destination for its distinctive tasting room. The cottage, with its steep roofline and sur-rounding Japanese garden, would look at home outside Tokyo. Founded by the McWilliams family in 2002, Arista produces nearly a dozen Pinots, as well as Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Gewürztra-miner, and a varying selection is offered in three different tasting options. Savor a glass as you sit by the fireplace or wander among the streams, waterfalls and moss-covered stones of the garden. —Tim Fish Auteur Wines 373 First St. W., Sonoma Tele-phone (707) 938-9211 Website www.auteurwines.com Open Daily, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with appointments required Sunday to Friday Cost Tastings…

A Few (More) Thoughts on Blind Tasting The two letters printed below represent mail we received in response to senior editor James Molesworth’s recent column “How Important Is Blind Tasting to You?” (April 30). As somebody who tastes wines blind on a regular basis, I am in complete agreement with Mr. Molesworth’s article. Not knowing what is inside the glass does help to “remove the most powerful sources of bias and give each wine an equal opportunity to show its best.” The concern I have with this methodology is that the facts that are permitted (vintage, appellation, varietal) can be enough to bias one’s opinions. If you were to tell a group of tasters that they are blind-tasting Napa Cabernet from the 2011 vintage, negative connotations are likely to arise…

Zinfandel is found all over California, but there’s something about the combination of soil and sun in Sonoma County that makes it the grape’s chosen spot. Only the massive San Joaquin Valley has more Zinfandel acreage, and no region has a larger collection of great old-vine vineyards, many planted prior to 1900. Historians aren’t certain how Zin made its way to California, but it has gone by many names. DNA testing proves it originated in Croatia, and records show it was first planted in California in the 1850s. While most wine grapevines have a narrow lifespan of productivity, Zinfandel can live for a century or more, and wines from the oldest vineyards are often the most celebrated. Because of its robust nature and ability to ripen, Zin was a workhorse…

Bottles photographed at Madiba restaurant, Brooklyn, NY For years, South African vintners have been finetuning established regions, exploring new areas and experimenting with styles, and their efforts are paying off beautifully, with rising quality across a range of bottlings. From blue-chip varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Chardonnay to less-prominent grapes including Cinsault, Chenin Blanc and Sémillon, the diversity of South African wine is on full display. Fueling this experimentation is a young generation of winemakers whose experience abroad has opened their eyes and spurred ambition and daring. Whether farming old bush-vine vineyards in outlying areas plucked from obscurity or establishing more modern sites in Elgin and Walker Bay, these winemakers are taking advantage of the myriad microclimates and terroirs of the Western Cape and pushing the boundaries of…

The good times keep rolling for American sparkling wine, and consumers are showing no signs of popping the bubble. The rise of Prosecco, seemingly out of nowhere 10 years ago, continues to drive interest in all things sparkling. “Prosecco has done sparkling wine a huge service,” says Domaine Carneros winemaker Eileen Crane, acknowledging the market boost provided by that typically budget-friendly wine. Arnaud Weyrich, winemaker at Roederer Estate, agrees: “Consumers are less shy about opening bubbly at many different occasions.” And California sparkling wine is more than ready for this broader consumer attention, earned after years of experimentation and polish. Wine lovers know that California bubbly offers value, but Champagne chauvinists are still reluctant to give the state’s luxury têtes de cuvées their due. Tapping into the tastes of such…