Wine Spectator November 30, 2017

We publish a wine magazine, but in our expe-rience, our readers appreciate all aspects of the good life. So we also offer articles about dining, cooking and travel, and regularly feature columns on distinctive products in categories such as cheese, chocolate, coffee and spirits. Many wine lovers, for example, enjoy a fine single malt Scotch. A rich Bourbon. And, more and more people, including many wine drinkers, are discovering the spirit of Mexico: tequila. Tequila has enjoyed rapid growth in the United States. Sales have nearly doubled since 2005, to almost 18 million cases in 2016, according to Impact Databank, a sister publication to Wine Spectator. The fastest growth has come from the finest segment: tequila made from 100 percent blue agave. For many years, mixto tequilas (which can contain up to…

Great idea. I actually do not enjoy being presented with a wine list of 300 wines, most of which I’ve never heard of. And with the weakening of the idea that a given region should only offer us one kind of wine, it is increasingly fea-sible to pair most foods with wines from a single region. Then again, there are many people who want to drink only one kind of wine; the Napa Cab–heads come to mind. A Chilean or Italian Cab? Unthinkable to some. Thomas Bartlett Ocean Grove, N.J. Great premise, Matt. I’m sure there are certainly some res-taurants out there that do ap-proach their wine lists in that fashion, but having been a chef in the Midwest for 35 years, I’ve seen that people more and more do simply swagger in and…

Bleu Provence’s proximity to the water has always been a blessing. The Grand Award–winning restaurant in Florida sits just across the street from Naples Bay, enjoying lovely views and cool breezes. But it proved a curse when Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida’s West Coast. Storm surge flooded the restaurant with 2 feet of water. “It’s going to take a good amount of work before we can open again,” said Clement Cariot, who runs the wine program with his father, Jacques, at the family-owned restaurant. “We are fortunate enough to have a generator that covered the air conditioner for the wine cellar and our walk-in fridge.We wish for the community to recover as soon as possible and to have the restaurant open again soon so that our employees can have their life…

Former wine executive Charles Banks reported to the Federal Prison Camp at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., on Sept. 5, beginning a four-year sentence for fraud. Days before he surrendered to authorities, he ended two legal battles with one move: Court documents show Banks has agreed to sell his stake in Napa’s Mayacamas Vineyards and that the money from the sale will go toward restitution for retired NBA star Tim Duncan, whom Banks was convicted of defrauding. Banks, 49, a former financial ad-viser and the founder of Terroir Life, which owns or manages nearly a dozen wineries, pleaded guilty in April to duping Duncan, his long-time client. In June he was sen-tenced to four years in prison followed by three years supervised release. Banks was also ordered to pay…

One of Bordeaux’s most promising properties will soon have a new owner. Belgian businessman Philippe Van de Vyvere has agreed to purchase Château Phélan Ségur from the Gardinier family. The sale price was not dis-closed. The transaction is expected to close in early 2018. The deal gives Van de Vyvere 173 acres of St.-Estèphe vineyard land and a winery whose scores have been rising for the past decade. “I fell in love with Château Phélan Ségur, that magnificent estate overlooking the Gironde,” Van de Vyvere told Wine Spectator. “I spoke many times with the Gardinier brothers, making sure they understood that I was a buyer who would respect the estate’s venerable history and who was determined to carry on the excellent work done thus far. My intention is to ensure Phélan…

Mexico City is in its prime. Luminaries like Pujol chef Enrique Olvera have made waves on the international dining scene, and the city’s hub of new-meets-old eclectic architecture has earned it the title World Design Capital of 2018 from the World Design Organization. After the region was rocked by pow-erful earthquakes in the fall—one of which, in September, wreaked devastation in the city—today the capital is vi-brant and welcoming. Here, check out our recommenda-tions for eating and drinking your way around the area. Next, head west to Guadalajara and the town of Te-quila, where contributing editor Gordon Mott offers travel picks (page 22) and delves into the time-honored traditions of crafting agave liquor (page 60). DINING Sud777 Website www.sud777.com.mx Since it opened in the residential Jardines del Pedregal neighborhood in 2008, Sud777 has become a…