Tabla de contenidos para September 30, 2023 en Wine Spectator

Visit WineSpectator.com/093023 to find links to all of the following resources. FREE RESOURCES FOR ALL WINESPECTATOR.COM READERS LABOR DAY CELEBRATIONS We recruit leading chefs and cookbook authors to share their favorite end-of-summer recipes. Plus, Wine Spectator editors pick well-priced, highly rated wines to enjoy over the long weekend. 2023 NEW YORK WINE EXPERIENCE Don’t miss your chance to taste an exciting variety of wines from the world’s best vintners, including top-scoring bottlings and rare older vintages. This year’s event will take place Oct. 19–21 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. Weekend packages, which include VIP Grand Tasting access, plus wine seminars and the Champagne reception, are now available for purchase. NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS For both consumers and the trade, WineSpectator.com is the place to go to find out which big-name wineries have…

There’s a lot to like about paneer, the fresh cheese that’s a major staple of Indian cuisine. A remarkably versatile ingredient and good source of non-meat protein, paneer offers appealing mild milky tastes, won’t melt when cooked and readily transmits myriad flavors. What’s more, it’s fun and easy to make at home. At Junoon in New York City, one of America’s finest Indian restaurants and a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence recipient since 2015, chef Akshay Bhardwaj and his team make paneer several times a week. “We like to [prepare paneer] in-house to ensure a consistent product,” says Bhardwaj. “Our menus are about 40% vegetarian, so it gives us a lot of options.” In the vein of “Bubba” Blue of “Forrest Gump,” the chef ticks off some of…

Selecting a bottle of wine causes many people angst. Copious wine regions, grapes and producers, with new vintages and expressions each year, compound consumers’ worry over getting the “best” wine, how much they pay for a bottle, etc. It’s understandable that many decide to go with a safe bet—choosing a wine they’ve tried before and know they like. Yet part of the beauty of wine is the opportunity to explore, to find something new and different that speaks to you or that suits a particular occasion. There’s also a value component to exploration, where often it’s more affordable to try something from the wine world’s farther-flung corners or up-and coming names. Many of the best examples of “discovery wines” are a part of Wine Spectator’s annual Top 100 list, a…

So many tequila drinks are tailor-made as summer fresheners—Margaritas, Tequila Sunrises, Palomas—that we tend to forsake agave-based spirits when the days get short. And that’s a shame. The burgeoning choices in aged tequila are such that our friends from south of the border can easily partner up in classic cocktails that traditionally call for other liquors. Añejo tequilas (aged a year or more) come with a backbone that stands up to a variety of weighty additives. We test mixed some barroom mainstays using not only tequila but also Mezcal, its smoky-tasting agave cousin, and found they are spirits for all seasons. OLD-FASHIONED What’s more appropriate than refashioning the Old-Fashioned with añejo tequila? The Spanish word for “old” is already in its name. You start with the seminal form of the…

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 the Tastings Wine Spectator editors taste more…

This is a very special issue to me because I am a huge fan of Sonoma County Pinot Noir. Just 20 years ago, expectations for this variety in California were low, but it has ascended to become a worthy competitor to Cabernet. Many of us enjoy these Pinot Noirs and, refreshingly, they are available at a fraction of the price of the great Burgundian reds. As quality continues to increase, there is no doubt that Sonoma County has a real winner with this wine! Of course, this wasn’t always obvious. Our cover story, written by California-based senior editor Tim Fish, profiles one of the pioneering farming families of Sonoma, who were also among the first to embrace Pinot Noir in the region. The Martinellis trace their lineage in Sonoma County…

Eurovision The familiar names in this group come from some of the leading appellations across France and Italy. One has to smile when authentic, flavorful wines align with your budget. ALOIS LAGEDER Chardonnay Vigneti delle Dolomiti Gaun 2021 (92, $28) Racy, expressive; blood orange, strawberry, exotic spices, herbs VILLA PILLO Syrah Toscana 2020 (91, $25) Blackberry, green olive, black pepper, bacon fat, mineral, spices; supple, vibrant FAMILLE PERRIN Rasteau L’Andéol 2020 (90, $27) Silky; cherry, plum, potpourri, chalky mineral, black tea, singed alder, forest floor JEAN-MAURICE RAFFAULT Chinon Les Galuches 2021 (90, $26) Violet, white pepper, cherry, graphite, dusty earth, dried herbs; elegant, juicy MORMORAIA Chianti Colli Senesi Haurio 2020 (90, $18) Pure, vibrant, focused; raspberry, cherry, flowers, spices PELISSERO Dolcetto d’Alba Munfrina 2021 (90, $25) Ripe blackberry, black cherry, black pepper; succulent,…

AUSTRALIA Cabernet Sauvignon & Blends 95 Yalumba Cabernet-Shiraz South Australia The Caley 2018 $386 Impressive and expansive, plush and rich, oozing with huckleberry and bittersweet chocolate–covered dried blueberry flavors, with touches of espresso on an appealing fleshy frame. Shows notes of palo santo, rosemary, white pepper and bay leaf that add aromatic complexity, with an epic, generous finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Drink now through 2040. 438 cases made, 35 cases imported.—M.W. 93 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River 2020 $45 A succulent version, offering fleshy black cherry, blackberry and huckleberry notes that are dense and toothsome, backed by accents of Earl Grey, clary sage, fresh loamy earth and generous fresh-cracked black pepper. Reveals a hint of smoked paprika on the finish. Drink now through 2033. 4,500 cases made, 150 cases imported.—M.W.…

Time is running out for Sherry-Lehmann, once the royalty of New York wineshops. The store’s landlord has issued it a notice of default, warning that the business’ owners must pay overdue rent, water and real estate tax charges or face eviction proceedings from their quarters on Park Avenue and 59th Street in Manhattan. The landlord, Hong Kong–based Glorious Sun, claims overdue rent exceeds $3.6 million. The store shuttered March 9 of this year when the state liquor authority ordered it to cease alcohol sales until it renewed its retail license, which had expired at the end of February. The license has been renewed since, but the store’s doors remain closed. A Sherry-Lehmann spokesperson said an improved version of the store will reopen soon. Multiple wine wholesalers unpaid for previous sales…

This year’s California Cabernet report (coming in the Nov. 15 issue) will deal with the difficult 2020 vintage—difficult due to a hot and dry growing season that was then truncated by wildfires in August and September. That latter situation wound up meaning that there are, in fact, fewer wines to deal with, as a majority of Cabernet producers in Napa and Sonoma declassified their crops over smoke taint concerns. As my tastings progress, it seems as if there’s barely half the normal number of wines in for review. Nevertheless, there is more than a handful of producers who managed to get a 2020 into the bottle, including top names such as Salvestrin, Dalla Valle, Zeitgeist, Memento Mori, Favia, Vine Hill Ranch and more (see winespectator.com/articles/keeping-an-open-mind-on-2020). And the venerable Spottswoode is…

On the face of it, Austrian wine hit its modern stride decades ago. Following a transformative quality reboot in the late 1980s (spurred by a 1985 scandal that some wineries were adding glycol, an ingredient in antifreeze, to sweeten their wines), Grüner Veltliner, the country’s signature grape, went on to achieve international celebrity. The best versions, along with Austria’s top Rieslings, became staples at the world’s finest restaurants. After a fling with a more flamboyant wine style through the early 2000s, the country’s vintners changed tack, going after balance and precision. The result: Austria is making its greatest wines ever—particularly in terrific vintages such as 2019, 2020 and especially 2021—as this tasting report of nearly 150 Austrian wines attests. Until recently, though, missing from this trajectory had been a fully…

"This case is about dog toys and whiskey, two items seldom appearing in the same sentence.” Those words don’t often appear together in Supreme Court opinions either, but here we are. In June, the highest court in the land weighed in on whether Bad Spaniels violated the Jack Daniel’s trademark. For close to a decade, Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. and VIP Products LLC have been locked in what might be the most fascinating of trademark and designation cases to hit the alcohol industry in recent years. Arizona-based toy manufacturer VIP Products has been making a line of punny, booze-themed toys called “Silly Squeakers.” But you know who wasn’t laughing? The entire beverage alcohol industry, which has taken issue with the bold and numerous parody knockoffs of popular drink brands. Some…