Wine Spectator September 30, 2016

Visit www.winespectator.com/093016 to find links to all of the following resources. Free resources for all of our WineSpectator.com readers: WINE AND FOOD MATCHMAKING Our “8 & $20” series shows you how to use eight ingredients, plus pantry staples, to whip up a quick weeknight dinner or even an elegant entrée for spur-of-the-moment entertaining. We pair each recipe with a delicious under-$20 bottle of wine, to make any meal an occasion. LABOR DAY ENTERTAINING Don’t work hard to throw a great party! We recruit leading chefs and cookbook authors to share some of their favorite crowd-pleasing recipes that will allow you to spend time with your guests. Wine Spectator editors pick well-priced, highly rated wines to enjoy over the long weekend without straining your wallet. SIPS & TIPS NEWSLETTER Get new recipes delivered to your…

There’s an old saying in the wine trade: “Buy on apples, sell on cheese.” The juicy acidity of apples acts like a spotlight, revealing any flaws in the wine. But the creamy softness of cheese smoothes over and conceals any problems. Which is kind of a negative way of expressing a basic truth about taste: Wine loves cheese. There may be a physiological basis to this attraction. Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia have found that the astringency of wine tannins creates a drying sensation in the mouth; the fat in cheeses delivers a creamy sensation that brings the palate back into balance. Cultural factors also play into these affinities. Cheeses, like wines, are products of local terroirs and traditions, and “what grows together, goes together.” The Loire Valley’s aged…

READERS REMEMBER MONDAVI Readers respond to senior editor James Laube’s profile of vintner Robert Mondavi and his storied impact on Napa Valley winemaking, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of Robert Mondavi Winery. (“The Enduring Legacy of Robert Mondavi,” cover, July 31). I thoroughly enjoyed your wonderful tribute to Robert Mondavi. It brought back many memories. I knew Robert when I was a teenager in the 1950s at my grandmother’s home at Larkmead. My family, the Salminases, owned Larkmead Winery until 1943 and they were close friends with Robert when he started out at Sunny St. Helena Winery in the 1930s. Robert was everything you wrote in your tribute and more. Very late in her life I met a woman named Romilda Peri Gould, whose husband, Francis “Paco” Gould,…

The 2015 vintage could be Bordeaux’s best in five years. It could also be a watershed moment for Bordeaux sales in America. Over the past decade, sales of top classified-growths slowed as prices rose and consumers looked elsewhere. Yet Bordeaux sales grew dramatically in the U.S. last year, fueled not by first-growths, but by less-famous wineries, which are offering ever more bang for the buck. Barrel tastings of the 2015s conducted by Wine Spectator this spring revealed that the vintage offers the potential for outstanding quality. When the futures campaign began in May, wine merchants knew that prices were going to rise compared to the 2014s, but hoped château owners would keep increases to 15 percent. That optimism quickly evaporated. Pape Clément’s 19 percent rise from its 2014 price to $80 a…

Justin Vineyards and Winery ignited a firestorm in California’s Paso Robles region in June, as fellow vintners accused the company of devastating a 375-acre parcel, clear-cutting thousands of old oak trees as it prepared land for vines and a reservoir. Local officials halted the work to investigate, while environmentalists called for a boycott. Justin’s owners Stewart and Lynda Resnick issued an apology, saying they did not know of the project’s impact. “I went to a neighboring property to take a look and my heart dropped out,” said Saxum winemaker Justin Smith. “Nothing but a wasteland was left. The removal of oaks for agriculture purposes is still legal in our county, but it was an unwritten rule that you don’t denude the landscape to plant when there is plenty of open land…

The Barolo winery Vietti, a family-owned producer in the commune of Castiglione Falletto dating back to 1873, was purchased by the Krause family of Iowa in July for an undisclosed price. Enologist Luca Currado, the current manager of the estate, will remain as CEO, overseeing winemaking, while his brother-in-law Mario Cordero will continue as di-rector of marketing and sales. The deal includes the brand, the winery and 84 acres of vineyards. “Two great families are coming together,” Currado told Wine Spectator. “It will allow us to take a big step up in quality, and [it’s] a guarantee for the future.” For Kyle Krause, president and CEO of Krause Holdings, Inc., the deal fulfills a long-held desire to own a Barolo winery. “My mother’s family is Italian, and I have always had a…