Wine Spectator October 31, 2021

Free resources for all WINESPECTATOR.COM readers STRAIGHT TALK WITH WINE SPECTATOR is an Instagram Live series featuring conversations with wine-and-food newsmakers. Recent editions have featured restaurateur Danny Meyer, actor-vintners Kyle MacLachlan, Kurt Russell and Sarah Jessica Parker, Penfolds’ Peter Gago, California winemakers Justin Smith, Andy Erickson and Thomas Rivers Brown, and chefs Eric Ripert, José Andrés and Emeril Lagasse. (All episodes are archived on our IGTV channel for viewing anytime.) Tune in to Straight Talk on Wine Spectator’s Instagram page and check out the chat schedule at WineSpectator.com/LiveChatCalendar. WHAT AM I TASTING? Test your tasting skills in our mystery wine game. Each month, we post a tasting note with clues from the color, aromas, flavors and structure. Then, you guess the variety, region, appellation and age of the wine. Good luck! WINE SPECTATOR…

When it comes to celebrities, some say the bigger they are the nicer they are. Musical artist, philanthropist and wine lover Jon Bon Jovi, who has achieved worldwide fame, certainly lives up to that statement. Despite his international stardom, when you sit down to lunch with the man, he seems almost unaware of all that he has accomplished. Far from the expected rock star persona, Jon Bon Jovi is as humble and straightforward a gentleman as I’ve ever met. Much of his genuine warmth and humility might be attributed to his upbringing, and our cover story profiles Bon Jovi from an early age. His parents were unusually supportive of the rock star aspirations of a teenage son. With his family and longtime wife, Dorothea, backing him, Bon Jovi pursued his dreams…

Think Again I found senior editor Alison Napjus’ short article “Elegance in Wine” (Columns, June 15 & 30) to be a delightful take. Napjus likens elegance to balance even with regards to more powerful and broad-shouldered wines such as certain Napa Cabernets. I usually find when I use the term “elegant” to describe a wine, it is not only well-balanced but also sleek in build rather than powerful. I realize that a wine can be both elegant and powerful at the same time, like many of my favorite Burgundies (Domaine Dujac and Jouan come to mind). Many times I use the word elegant to describe a wine that is “airy” in weight or comes across as precise; oftentimes “effortless.” Wines that have good “minerality” come to mind as well. That is not…

Drought, fire and smoke, earthquake and a deadly pandemic—Northern California wine country has faced a series of calamities worthy of the Old Testament in recent years. But the Bible doesn’t warn about insurance companies. After the devastating Glass and LNU Lightning Complex fires of 2020, insurance rates skyrocketed and many wineries are struggling to find coverage they can afford. Some can’t secure fire insurance at all. For the insurance industry, wine country is just too risky. Insurers absorbed huge losses following the catastrophic 2017 Sonoma Complex Fire, which was followed by major fires in 2018 and 2019. Some insurers have now dropped out of California to cut losses. On the rugged Northern Sonoma Coast, Andy Peay’s Peay Vineyard lost its fire insurance this year, following five consecutive years of 30% rate increases.…

The United States Postal Service has not been allowed to deliver a bottle of wine since a 1909 law banned the shipping of alcohol by mail. But 19 members of Congress, led by Reps. Jackie Speier of California and Dan Newhouse of Washington, introduced the USPS Shipping Equity Act on May 17 to end that ban. Companion legislation has been introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon. “The landscape has radically changed over the course of the [COVID-19] pandemic,” said Speier. “The time to [repeal] this Prohibitionera ban is long overdue.” Wine’s growing base of online shoppers would benefit from a new route for direct-to-consumer shipments. Speier points out that e-commerce sales have grown significantly; U.S. wineries directly shipped 8.4 million cases of wine to consumers in 2020, a 27% increase over…

Torrential rains in Northern Europe in July triggered devastating flooding in parts of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Moisture from the Mediterranean parked itself over the region and stalled. In some parts of Germany, two months’ worth of rain fell in 24 hours, according to the Deutscher Wetterdienst, the national meteorological agency. Parts of the Rhine and its tributaries in Germany, and the Meuse river in Belgium and Holland, quickly overflowed. The Ahr Valley, a tributary of the Rhine about 75 miles north of the Middle Mosel region, was particularly ravaged. The steep slopes flanking the river are planted mainly to Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir). In the Mosel, there was flooding of some cellars, but winemakers have not reported major damage. The Verband Deutscher Prädikatsund Qualitätsweingüter (VDP), Germany’s association of top-quality…