Food & Wine May 2023

2021 BONTERRA ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON ($23) Every bottle Bonterra makes is organic certified by CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers). Given the winery makes about six million bottles of wine per year, that’s impressive—as is this new Estate Cabernet, with its toasty blackberry fruit and light minty notes. 2021 GIANT STEPS YARRA VALLEY PINOT NOIR ($35) What an energetic, vivid Australian Pinot this is. I poured it for a seminar at this year’s World of Pinot Noir event in Santa Barbara, California, and I was completely taken by its cool-climate precision and grace. (The winery’s Chardonnay is a real winner, too.) 2020 DOMAINE BARRAUD POUILLY-FUISSÉ EN BULAND ($40) Even as white Burgundy gets more expensive, there are still beautiful wines out there that won’t kill your wallet. Look to places like the Côte Chalonnaise, the origin…

Adventures Await CELL SERVICE WAS SCARCE when we pulled the camper van off scenic Highway 12 into the parking lot of Hell’s Backbone Grill and Farm, an oasis of fresh vegetables in tiny Boulder, Utah. We ordered snacks and margaritas, and my fiancée, Jen, and I used the restaurant’s Wi-Fi to download hiking maps and make arrangements to meet up with an old high school buddy the next day in nearby Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Soon, we left civilization in the rearview mirror and drove down Hole-in-the-Rock Road, a spine-rattling former wagon route created by Mormon settlers in 1879. Deep in the desert, we pulled the van off the dirt road behind a cluster of trees and made camp. We hiked among the sandstone arches and Easter Island–like hoodoo rock formations. That…

MY IMMIGRANT PARENTS were not cookie people. My French mother found chocolate chip cookies a peculiar American curiosity, and my Tunisian father, in typical Mediterranean fashion, preferred to offer me oranges for dessert. In retrospect, it was no surprise that I developed an outsize fondness for cookies, one that only grew when I discovered kaak warqa. Each summer, my parents would send me off from Philadelphia, where we lived, to visit my Tunisian family halfway across the world. I didn’t like most of the desserts in Tunisia. They came off as overly sweet and were usually studded with whole nuts, while I was more interested in chocolate. I can’t remember the first time I ate a kaak warqa, but it must have been its smooth, doughnut-shaped appearance that first caught my…

DRINKERS ARE SPENDING MORE for their high-end spirit of choice, whether it’s tequila or Tennessee whiskey. But it’s not just what you’re pouring that makes for a refined sipping experience—it’s also what you’re pouring into. “The shape of the glass is vitally important to the experience of breathing in and tasting a spirit,” explains Dave Smith, head distiller and blender at St. George Spirits in Alameda, California. And for each kind of liquor, there are styles of stemware designed to bring out its best qualities. Align them properly, and you’ll instantly upgrade your tipple ritual. AGAVE SPIRITS The key to sipping premium agave spirits is to ditch the shot glass in favor of a flute, like the Zalto Denk’art Digestif Glass ($73, winemonger.com). “It retains aromas near the top of the vessel…

THERE ARE ONLY TWO KINDS OF CHIPS: They can be humble supporting actors for all kinds of dips, or they can be self-sufficient, packing enough flavor, texture, and unbridled crunch to hold their own straight from the bag. Lately, we’ve been drawn to the latter, a new crop of maximalist chips that channel ingredients from every corner of the globe into bite-size bits of excitement. Read on for our four favorites. 1. CONFETTI GREEN CURRY MUSHROOM CHIPS Who knew that shiitake mushrooms could turn into ultra-flavorful preserved magic? Founded in Singapore, Confetti makes baked mushroom chips that are full of surprises, like onion and garlic balanced by herbaceous basil and a kick of citrus. ($6, us.confettisnacks.com) 2. PAQUI JALAPEÑO TROPICALE TORTILLA CHIPS Pineapple isn’t always the easiest flavor to pick out when it’s accompanied…

WINE BOOKS, ARCHER HOTEL, NAPA At this elegant property in downtown Napa, each room has a wine fridge to hold your bottles from the nearby wineries. Another thoughtful touch is the books available for purchase, such as The 24-Hour Wine Expert by wine critic Jancis Robinson. It’s an easily digestible guide that one could read in an afternoon. If you don’t believe me, believe the hotel’s review, printed on the bookmark: “Whether you’re a wine novice or need a quick refresher, this guide is a healthy pour of knowledge in a short amount of time.” (Rooms from $306, archerhotel.com) CAVIAR SERVICE, SILVERSEA’S SILVER DAWN, AT SEA While sailing from Bari to Rome on Silversea’s Silver Dawn (think of it as a fancy hotel at sea!) this past summer, I heard a rumor that…