Wine Spectator June 15-30, 2021

FREE RESOURCES FOR ALL WINESPECTATOR.COM READERS BACKYARD DINING Some of the country’s best chefs share their cooking tips and delicious make-at-home summer recipes, while our editors give you great value wine matches from their recent tastings. NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS For wine lovers and the trade, our website is the place to find out which big-name wineries have been sold, the latest news on health, wine crime and much more. Keep up with our News section and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. STRAIGHT TALK WITH WINE SPECTATOR is an Instagram Live series featuring conversations with wine-and-food newsmakers. Recent editions have featured Gaja co-owner Gaia Gaja, Penfolds’ Peter Gago, Invivo X by SJP co-founder Sarah Jessica Parker, California winemakers Justin Smith, Andy Erickson and Thomas Rivers Brown, and chefs Eric Ripert, José Andrés and…

Before our eyes, the United States is welcoming cannabis for medicinal and recreational use on a level that Americans in decades past could not have imagined. The general understanding is that as more and more states legalize cannabis, the market will continue to grow. As the leading producer of cannabis in the U.S., California is on track to fulfill that demand. And the expansion of this new crop into California’s wine country regions could spark the state’s biggest transformation since the emergence of the premium wine industry. The numbers begin to tell the story. Elite wine grapes such as pricey Napa Cabernet Sauvignon typically fetch the farmer $20,000 to $40,000 an acre, whereas a grower can reap $1 million wholesale from an acre of cannabis. For many, the potential rewards are too…

Carmelo Commentary Many thanks to editor Mitch Frank for bringing to Wine Spectator readers the fascinating second life of basketball star Carmelo Anthony as a connoisseur of fine wines (cover, May 31). It comes across loud and clear and this basketball star has a taste for great wines coupled with a strong drive to educate himself on their provenance, and beyond that, the willingness to share what he has learned not only with teammates but also players on opposing teams. While his work in the wine world may not rival his Hall of Fame hardwood accomplishments, it certainly makes for a wonderful read. Joe HopkinsGoodyear, Ariz. In addition to Carmelo Anthony’s contributions as explained in your excellent cover story, here is one more aspect of Anthony’s legacy to the world of wine. When…

Now In Our IGTV Archives APRIL 21 Kurt Russell, actor and owner of GoGi Wines APRIL 14 Fabio Trabocchi, chef and founder of Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants APRIL 7 Emma Swain, CEO of Napa’s St. Supery Winery MARCH 31 Gaia Gaja, co-owner of Piedmont’s Gaja Winery MARCH 24 Justin Smith, winemaker of Saxum Vineyards in Paso Robles, Calif. MARCH 17 Adam Lee, founder of Siduri and head of California’s Clarice Wine MARCH 10 Alberto Aiello Graci, owner/winemaker of Sicily’s Graci MARCH 2 Sarah Jessica Parker, co-owner of Invivo X by SJP FEB. 24 Miguel Torres Maczassek, general manager of Spain-based Familia Torres FEB. 17 Peter Gago, chief winemaker for Australia’s Penfolds WATCH ON INSTAGRAM Scan the QR code to start watching on our IGTV channel, or visit instagram.com/wine_spectator/channel…

Napa Valley’s Duckhorn Vineyards became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange on March 18 when it began offering 20 million shares of common stock at an initial asking price of $15 a share. It opened at $18.60 that morning. Its trading symbol is NAPA. The Duckhorn IPO comes 45 years after the company’s founding by Dan and Margaret Duckhorn and makes it the first major wine company to go public since the late 1990s, a move that potentially marks a new chapter in the history of California wine but raises numerous challenges. “From somewhat humble beginnings it’s hard to believe where we are now,” said Duckhorn CEO and president Alex Ryan. In 2007, private-equity firm GI Partners bought a majority stake in the company, then valued at more…

We didn’t make any red wines in 2020,” is a refrain echoed by many California winemakers these days. Perhaps no year has seen so many wine regions affected by so many wildfires. Months after the fires ended, the full impact is only now coming into focus. What made the vinatge so difficult was that multiple blazes during the growing season meant smoke lingered for weeks at a time. It often felt like the flames and smoke were never-ending. The devastating LNU Complex fires ripped through Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Yolo and Lake counties in August and September 2020, producing a cloud of smoke that hung over vineyards for weeks and severely impacted harvest. In Monterey and Santa Cruz, multiple fires razed land near vineyards. Then, just as the smoldering was ending in…