Wine Spectator February 28, 2017

Visit www.winespectator.com/022817 to find links to all of the following resources. Free resources for all our WineSpectator.com readers: TOP STORIES OF 2016 We’ve rounded up the most popular articles, blogs, Q&As, tasting reports, videos and Unfiltered items of 2016. Find out what you missed, or revisit your favorites of the past 12 months, in our News & Features section. WINE PICKS Keep on top of exciting editors’ picks throughout the year with Wine Spectator’s free email newsletters. Sips & Tips features a great value Wine of the Week; the twice-monthly Collecting highlights collectibles and highly recommended cellar-worthy wines that can benefit from aging, while our Private Guide to Dining spotlights great bottles to choose from restaurant wine lists. VALENTINE’S DAY The way to anyone’s heart is a night of great food and wine, and…

We decided that a great way to bring in the new year would be to give our readers some insights on new wines to discover— outstanding bottles and terrific values from around the world. These recommendations come in several packages, each approaching the wine world from a different angle. First, we asked our editors, “Which wineries can wine lovers always rely on?” The goal was to identify producers who may be slightly under the radar of many consumers but who consistently deliver great wines at reasonable prices across a wide range of bottlings. Then, based on their answers, we put together a list of 30 wineries you can look to with trust. They come from all over the wine world, and represent many different styles of wine. They include family-owned estates, cooperatives…

Marcus on Israel As a lover of Israeli wines, I thank you for your long overdue in-depth cover story, “The Wines of Israel” (Oct. 15, 2016). The quality and variety of the wines from this underappreciated, ancient yet New World region parallel the development of the “start-up nation” which is today’s Israel. In the span of a few decades, its bottlings have taken their rightful place alongside the best offerings of the wine world—sophisticated, ageworthy, value-oriented and delicious. They deserve to be in everyone’s cellar. Leo Wiener Holliswood, N.Y. Thank you for the in-depth, forward-looking coverage on the wines of Israel. As chair of the Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Richmond, Va., and as a wine lover, I was so appreciative of your nonpartisan perspective and thoughtful analysis of the…

The Year in Wine: 2016 in Perspective WINE FOOD PEOPLE COLLECTING Last year, the editors of Wine Spectator reviewed 18,055 newly released wines—6 percent more than in 2015. That’s a lot of spitting. However, it’s also fun and fascinating work, because the world of wine in 2016 was more dynamic than ever, offering diversity, quality and value. In this annual review, we dig deeper into the numbers, looking at which regions enjoyed strong years, which struggled and where wine lovers could find quality, value or that elusive blend of both. Tracking trends, we saw that traditional regions continue to improve their viticulture and enology, while grabbing the attention of the market; and that young winemakers continue to push the boundaries, trying new methods, reviving forgotten techniques and planting grapes in untested terroirs. Of the…

FRANCE BORDEAUX Quality was high in Bordeaux in 2016, making 2015 and 2016 the region’s first excellent back-to-back crops since 2009 and 2010. The biggest obstacles came at the start. After an early budbreak, spring turned cool and very wet, resulting in some notable disease pressures. But June ushered in a three-month period during which barely a drop of rain fell in the region. Light rains came in early September, followed by warm conditions through early October. “We have had dry vintages and warm vintages before. But we have never had this combination of heat and drought at this level in the same year,” said Pascal Chatonnet, owner of four estates on the Right Bank. —James Molesworth BURGUNDY The big news in Burgundy, as in 2015, was low yields. A frost on April 26 and…

In this ultraluxe wine collector’s compendium, sommelier Enrico Bernardo offers his all-star list of wines for posterity— a fantasy cellar, if you will. Among his selections are Bollinger Champagne 1924, Château Margaux 1928 (Bernardo calls it “one of the best wines I have ever tasted,” which is saying something in this company) and Penfolds Grange Bin 95 1951. His brief notes run from precise and informative to evocative. In a way, the book is more about art than wine; it’s unrivaled in production value and lavishness. It comes in a wooden box with a rope handle, elegant but with a folksy touch. Inside is a gorgeous 14-by-17-inch book. The cloth binding covers heavy boards and is printed with an image of an engraving of Dionysus and gold-stamped lettering. It’s only 200…