Table of contents for April 30, 2016 in Wine Spectator

There are lots of parallels between wine and olive oil. Both have one harvest per year; the best offerings are single-origin, vintage-dated bottlings; tasting them is similar, from nosing and judging body and flavor on the palate to aerating and assessing length. They even grow in many of the same places. A stark reminder of their similarities came in 2014, when many of the European olive-growing regions were hit hard by bad weather. Italy suffered perhaps the worst. Yields were abysmal. Prices went up and buyers had to look elsewhere. New sources are now bottling very fine oils; we recommend a couple below. But Italy is back too: The two examples featured here are bookends of the Tuscan style. CAPEZZANA CONTE CONTINI BONACCORSI BIOLOGICO 2015 www.olio2go.com 500ml, $38 Carmignano is…

Chantal Coady launched a quiet revolution when she opened Rococo Chocolates on the Kings Road in London in 1983. The shop was friendly and warm, and the chocolates had fun, bright packaging. That might not sound revolutionary today, but at the time it was. Coady had been working at Harrods, which was gratifying because the chocolate was good, but she says of London chocolate stores then, “They didn’t make the customer comfortable.” There was a cultural obstacle too: “There was this Anglo-Saxon embarrassment at pleasure or indulgence. If people saw a friend at a chocolate shop, they were embarrassed, like they were at a sex shop.” She wanted to forge an emotional connection with customers. And change was in the air: “I was coming from an anarchist-punk period, and it…

Despite some turbulence in local markets, the global wine-auction scene remained stable in 2015, falling a modest 1 percent in value from $348 million in 2014 to $346 million. The U.S. market was the main driver, as sales in New York gained 27 percent in value over 2014. Despite high lot prices, volume and overall sales, value declined in Hong Kong and dipped 14 percent in London and Geneva, according to figures supplied by the major commercial auction houses. Jamie Ritchie, CEO of Sotheby’s Wine, affirmed that in total numbers, 2014 and 2015 were broadly similar. “This year there was a transfer of volume and value from Hong Kong to New York,” Ritchie said. In 2015, Sotheby’s sold a total of $60.4 million worth of wine, just 8 percent less…

Once the newly bottled wine settles in, vintners compare it to past years. It is then that it becomes the ‘best ever made.’ If you’re an old hand at greeting new vintages, no doubt you’ve heard this refrain from a proud winemaker: “This is the best wine I’ve made.” It’s usually uttered when they trot out their latest creation and begin showing it to prospective buyers. Wine at the highest levels entails some entertainment or theater, and there’s no harm done pitching a given year’s efforts. Yet I have a theory about why and when it occurs that extends beyond the obligatory hype: Vintners have wines to sell, and considering they’ve got more of this market-ready juice, it makes sense to proclaim it to be the best. The truth is,…

Prosecco labels include information that will help you differentiate between the region’s introductory offerings (DOC) and its more select bottlings (DOCG), a distinction that may not be discernible by price. ★ Prosecco DOCG wines will include the words “Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita” on the label as well as on the pale gold DOCG strip (as opposed to the blue DOC strip) over the bottle’s foil. ★ Depending on the particular origin of the grapes, Prosecco DOCG wines must list a specific subzone, either Asolo, Colli Asolani, Conegliano, Valdobbiadene or Conegliano Valdobbiadene. ★ The term “Rive” on the label denotes that the wine was sourced from any of 43 steep hillside vineyard areas in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene sub-zone, highlighting the specific terroir of a given Rive commune. These wines are…

After logging nearly 200,000 miles driving throughout Napa Valley, Jeff Ames’ green Toyota pickup isn’t quite ready for the junkyard, but it’s close. The stereo recently died, taking with it Ames’ favorite ’80s mixtape. But despite his friends’ pleas that he get rid of the vehicle, Ames re-mains attached to the first truck he bought with his cellar hand’s salary. It has become a memento of his beginnings as a winemaker in the region. “That truck and I have been in a lot of vineyards and it has never let me down,” says Ames. “It may sound weird, but I just wouldn’t feel right about ever selling it.” In just over a decade, Ames, 43, has become one of Napa’s rising stars, running his own label, Rudius, and working as…

This Buying Guide contains ratings of new releases from around the world and the results of special tastings reported on in greater depth elsewhere in the issue. Complete tasting notes are provided for all new releases scoring 85 or more points (on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale, explained below); notes for wines scoring 84 points or less are included at the discretion of the taster. Additional reviews appear on our website, www.winespectator.com. Each review carries the initials of the Wine Spectator editor who blind-tasted and scored the wine and wrote the review, based on the regional specializations indicated below. If no reviewer’s initials appear, the wine was tasted by a panel of Wine Spectator editors. James Laube California Harvey Steiman Australia, Oregon, Washington Thomas Matthews Spain Kim Marcus Argentina, Austria, Chile, Germany, Portugal Bruce…

DR. VINNY Dear Dr. Vinny, What is the difference between organic and biodynamic farming? Do these farming methods have an effect on the final product? —Leong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Dear Leong, Both organic and biodynamic farming avoid the use of synthetic chemicals, and both emphasize soil health. Think of biodynamic farming as a type of organic agriculture taken a step further. Biodynamic farming attempts to add vitality by using preparations from minerals and herbs, kind of like homeopathy for vineyards. Biodynamic farming also incorporates cosmic and astrological influences, taking into account lunar cycles, among other things. Both of these farming techniques usually mean higher labor costs and lower yields, meaning you might pay more for the wines. Their methods are useful for producing high quality grapes, but they don’t guarantee…

When he opened Spago in Los Angeles in 1982, Wolfgang Puck wanted to shake up the fine-dining scene, whose formality struck him as fussy. “I said, forget about that—the only serious thing should be the food,” he says. Puck’s idea of serious food—loosened up locavore cooking drawing on diverse cultures—is known today as California cuisine, and the now-iconic Spago has held a Wine Spectator Grand Award since 2010. “Now everybody talks about farm to table, farm to table,” Puck remarks. “You know, I grew up on a farm, so to me that was totally normal. For me, luxury was a canned pineapple.” Puck’s early training included a stint at the Michelin three-star L’Oustau de Baumanière in Provence, an experience he describes as “transcendent.” The restaurant specialized in lamb dishes, which…

DO THE DOURO Portugal’s Douro River Valley is one of the Old World’s most dynamic regions for dry red wines, marked by steep, hillside vineyards, ample sun and slate and schist soils. Based on Touriga Nacional and other local grapes, the wines are dense and structured, brimming with fruit and mineral character. This group offers the region’s distinctive flavors at excellent prices. QUINTA DO CRASTO Douro Superior 2013 (90, $30) Savory; plum, dried raspberry, hot stone, paprika QUINTA DO PASSADOURO Douro 2013 (90, $25) Cocoa powder, dark fruit; velvety, refined POÇAS JUNIOR Douro Vale de Cavalos 2013 (90, $32) Lithe, powerful; raspberry, currant QUINTA DO CRASTO Douro 2014 (89, $20) Black fruit, espresso, mineral; robust LEMOS & VAN ZELLER Douro Van Zellers Red 2013 (88, $19) Cherry, damson plum, dark currant,…

We discern something we call minerality. Whether it’s actually from minerals is irrelevant to wine appreciation. If you care to trace it, you can track with reasonable precision the growing discussion about the legitimacy of the word “minerality” when talking about wine. Simply put, academic wine scientists are opposed to its use; some (but not all) wine writers and wine lovers see it as not just legitimate but essential in conveying a particular sensory experience. It was, of course, inevitable that “minerality” should land in the crosshairs. Because grapevine roots are incapable of extracting mineral elements from soil (so far as scientific instrumentation can tell), the use of the word “minerality” should be eliminated from the modern wine vocabulary according to academic wine scientists. Or should it? For decades, wine…

Harvest is a busy time of year in Campania, the sunny, fertile region south of Rome. As a countryside’s worth of vineyards are picked, grapes flood the wineries. But first, wine from the previous vintage must be hauled off to warehouses for shipping. In one of those warehouses, located in a settlement called Oplontis, a man named Lucius Crassius Tertius does business. As the wine-laden carts trundle in, Crassius’ workers scramble to fill up terra cotta amphorae—more than 1,200 of them, the equivalent of 3,300 cases of wine. But then things take a turn for the supernatural: The sky begins raining ash and rock all up and down the Bay of Naples. Fifty-four men, women and children take refuge in a storeroom at Crassius’ place, where they can see boats…

LOVE ’EM AND LEAVE ’EM Wine lovers today are inundated with so many wines from around the globe that wine monogamy grows unrealistic, argues contributing editor Matt Kramer (“Cool About Wine?” online, Dec. 1, 2015). In the face of sheer abundance, have today’s enophiles traded emotional commitment for a more forensic approach to wine? Readers respond to what Kramer calls “the contemporary wine paradox.” Great article, but I think you’ve oversimplified for the sake of controversy. Many enthusiasts start with an inclination that sparks interest and turns into obsession; we tend to get deeper before we go broader. Some of us don’t venture broadly, and some love the idea of infinite variety of vintages, varietals, makers, etc. I disagree with the idea that there is “a then and a now”…

WHERE TO GET IT MurraysCheese.com: Solo di Bruna ($25/pound) Bonati ($30/pound) iGourmet.com: Cravero ($29/pound) Vacche Rosse ($26/pound) Santa Rita ($34/pound) Whole Foods: Hombre ($23/pound) Few man-made sights are more awe-inspiring than the great cathedrals, palaces and art masterpieces of Italy. The same must be said of a full wheel of genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano. Burnished with age, convex, broad and stout, it weighs 80 pounds or more and is adorned with elegant stamps and lettering marking it as one of the world’s oldest and most coveted culinary brands. No wonder they call it the King of Cheeses. The best Parmigiano-Reggianos feature a flaky-yet-moist consistency; toothsome, melt-in-your mouth textures; and long-lasting, eye-opening flavors. They deliver a big, balanced, complex mouthful, inevitably rounding to a seemingly endless savory, meaty finish. An oft-heard refrain is…

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 94 Sojourn Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Gap’s Crown Vineyard 2014 $59 CALIFORNIA Lightly aromatic, but rich and layered, this offers excellent density and depth, with fine-grained tannic grip and a long, persistent finish. COLLECTIBLE 95 Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio Barolo Monprivato 2011 $150 ITALY This is expressive, with alluring cherry, strawberry, floral and mineral flavors building to the expansive finish. The elegant profile belies the serious structure underneath. SMART BUY 93 Bodegas La Emperatriz Rioja Finca La Emperatriz Crianza 2010 $22 SPAIN Fresh and focused, this red delivers black cherry, licorice, black olive, tea and smoke flavors that mingle harmoniously. BEST VALUE 87 Ca’ Furlan Extra Dry Prosecco Cuvée Beatrice NV $10 ITALY Balanced and lightly juicy, this creamy Prosecco offers textbook notes of white peach, almond skin…

If I’m to be as independent and objective a wine writer as humanly possible, blind tasting is crucial. When it comes to tasting wines for review, Wine Spectator editors adhere to a particular methodology: single blind tasting. Our mission is similar to a courtroom jury’s: to arrive at a fair and objective verdict. So, as in a courtroom, certain facts are permitted, while other information is not. In our tastings, editors are told the vintage, appellation and varietal of the wine, but not the producer or price. We feel this removes the most powerful sources of bias and gives each wine an equal opportunity to show its best. Our goal is to provide you, the reader, with the fairest and most objective wine reviews possible. But there are many in…

Prosecco, the light, bright sparkling wine from northeastern Italy, has seen phenomenal success in the United States in recent years. Imports of Prosecco to the U.S. skyrocketed from fewer than a million cases in 2010 to almost 4 million cases just five years later—more than double the volume of Champagne coming to the U.S.—according to Impact Databank, a sister publication of Wine Spectator. Prosecco’s success is undeniable, but with so many new producers and labels in the market, consumers may wonder: Are all Proseccos created equal? The answer is no. As with any wine region, shoppers need to do their homework to find top examples. In 2009, Italy’s Ministry of Agriculture made this task simpler, technically, by promoting bottlings from two sub-zones that encompass roughly 25 percent of the larger…

Highly Recommended The issue’s most impressive wines. Includes top-scorers and wines that represent optimal purchases based on their combination of score, price and availability. 95 G.D. Vajra Barolo Bricco delle Viole 2011 $70 ITALY Graphite and iron aromas lead off, with cherry, floral, licorice, tea and underbrush flavors. This is intense, vibrant and resonant on the long, fruitand mineral-infused aftertaste. Best from 2019 through 2032. 1,500 cases made.—B.S. 94 Lemos & van Zeller Douro Quinta Vale D. Maria 2013 $68 PORTUGAL Ripe, rich and lushly spiced, this muscular red features dark cherry and plum compote flavors that are accented by light pepper notes. Dark chocolate and cardamom accents show on the creamy finish. Drink now through 2022. 1,800 cases made.—K.M. 94 Sojourn Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Gap’s Crown Vineyard 2014…

AUSTRALIA Red 94 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon South Australia Bin 707 2013 $500 A powerful, bold, creamy and generous red, with plenty of vanilla, mocha, dill and cedar notes forming a base for the juicy black cherry and plum flavors. Velvety, smoky and fragrant on the finish, which lingers effortlessly. Drink now through 2030. 100 cases imported.—M.W. 93 Twelftree Grenache Barossa Valley Vinegrove Greenock 2013 $67 A vibrant, juicy, fragrant blend of rose petal, white pepper, raspberry coulis and red licorice, showing details of fresh earth. Offers a long, lush finish. Drink now through 2030. 41 cases made.—M.W. 93 Twelftree Grenache McLaren Vale Moritz Blewitt Springs 2013 $67 Brimming with black tea and smoky overtones to the plum and huckleberry flavors, this is intense and dense, yet shows plenty of refinement…