Table of contents for May 31, 2024 in Wine Spectator

Visit WineSpectator.com/053124 to find links to all of the following resources. FREE RESOURCES FOR ALL WINESPECTATOR.COM READERS MOTHER’S DAY TIPS Planning a big day for Mom? Celebrate her with new recipes from some of the country’s best chefs, or peruse our 8 & $20 feature, showcasing easy-to-prepare recipes matched to delicious wines priced at $20 or less. Plus, sign up to receive more recipe suggestions in our free, weekly Sips & Tips email newsletter. PRIVATE GUIDE TO DINING Our free twice-monthly email newsletter spotlights the best restaurants for wine lovers, from bucket-list destinations to perfect pizza places. Get great wine picks, keep on top of drinks trends, learn about new restaurant openings and more. WHAT AM I TASTING? Test your tasting skills in our mystery wine game. Every two weeks, we post a…

Far Niente is one of Napa Valley’s most prominent labels. Its story starts in 1979, with Gil Nickel and a Chardonnay that went on to become one of California’s most popular bottlings. Gil and his wife, Beth, revived an abandoned property and 19th-century winery building 60 years after Prohibition had shut it down. The Nickels paid $500,000 for the winery and spent $2 million on renovations, including digging 30,000 square feet of wine caves. Those were huge sums for the wine business in those days. They added a Far Niente Napa Cabernet bottling after the renovations were completed in 1982; like its Chardonnay sibling, it went on to become one of the valley’s workhorse wines. (The Nickels would go on to create the successful Nickel & Nickel brand, among other…

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. 96 Viña Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Puente Alto Vineyard 2021 $175 CHILE A remarkable effort that channels the finesse of the vintage with rich, muscular edges, offering a base of graphite and cassis notes that gather around elegant layers of dried rosemary and white pepper. The richly textured core of raspberry and plum flavors show precision and just enough acidity to keep things sailing onto the finish around well-integrated tannins and touches of cocoa. Best from 2026 through 2040. 18,300 cases made, 5,000 cases imported.—A.R. 95 Viña Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley Casa Real Reserva Especial 2021 $100 CHILE This red is tightly wound…

CALIFORNIA Cabernet Sauvignon 94 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2021 $65 See Highly Recommended, page 81. 94 Forgotten Union Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Vidi Vitis Old Federal Vineyard 2021 $100 This has sappy, vivid kirsch, blackberry and açaí berry fruit flavors that bounce through, carried by a nicely embedded graphite spine. Flashes of anise and apple wood ripple through the finish, augmenting the expressive fruit. There’s lots to like here. Drink now through 2038. 150 cases made.—J.M. 94 Frias Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Block Five 2021 $150 See Highly Recommended, page 81. 94 Frias Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Prado 2021 $175 This flirts with exotic, with açaí, boysenberry and linzer torte notes that assert themselves right away, plus a nice girder of graphite running underneath. A backdrop of roasted apple wood and violet sits…

At Hacienda Patrón, located in the unique terroir of the Jalisco highlands, the approach to tequila-making is a meticulous fusion of tradition, place, and innovation. Their process, refined over decades, honors the artisanal methods of tequila production. Every step, from the expert harvesting of Blue Weber agave, to ancient tahona milling methods, to pinewood fermentation and copper pot distillation, is executed with purpose and care. The distillery team and Hacienda family collaborate to produce an array of distinctly fine, flavorful tequilas. Their deliberate choice of time and labor-intensive practices ensures that each bottle is an uncompromising tribute to flavor, complexity, and the art of fine tequila-making.…

ALL NATURAL, 100% ADDITIVE FREE. ONLY THREE INGREDIENTS: WATER, AGAVE & YEAST. All Natural, Additive Free Every bottle of Patrón is made from only three essential ingredients: Blue Weber agave, water, and proprietary yeast. That’s it. There are no additives or mellowing agents, known locally as abocantes, of any sort used to mimic the effects of aging or to compensate for the limited lack of complexity of taste that results from time and cost-saving production methods used by some. The mosto, the juice and fibrous pulp of the agave, extracted by the tahona wheels and uncompromisingly unadulterated, is then fermented in pinewood tanks and distilled in traditional copper pot stills. This commitment to quality is evident in the liquid—a tequila free of abocantes, unadulterated by artificial flavors or shortcuts. The…

Senior editor Bruce Sanderson has been Wine Spectator’s lead reviewer on the wines of Burgundy for the past 20 years. He has been visiting and navigating the no toriously complex region for even longer. For his most recent trip, in February, I dispatched him to visit and write updates on a number of top wineries, including a highly regarded small-production winery in Chassagne-Montrachet: Domaine Jean-Claude Ramonet. “I was thrilled with the task of writing a cover story about the family, but subsequently discovered that Jean-Claude is a very elusive and private man. The story was going to be a challenge,” Sanderson recounts. Undeterred, Sanderson was able to visit and spend time with Anne-France Ramonet, part of the next generation of the domaine along with her sister, Clarisse. “I was able…

From his teetotaling childhood home to Opus One’s debut vintage to putting Argentine Malbec on the map, winemaker Paul Hobbs talked about his career-defining moments with candid humor and insightful analysis on the season 2 premiere of the Straight Talk With Wine Spectator podcast, published Feb. 23. “I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off our second season than with Paul Hobbs,” said host James Molesworth, senior editor and special projects director for Wine Spectator. “I’ve been fortunate enough to cover Paul’s work for more than 20 years—which is still just barely half of his career—from growing up on an apple farm in upstate New York to becoming one of California’s most prominent winemakers.” Now available on Apple, Google, Spotify and more, including at WineSpectator.com/podcast, episode 19 of…

Chilean Bounty As Chilean vintners work to define their wine regions and fine-tune their winemaking, the country continues to produce great value. This group showcases several varieties and appellations at affordable prices. VIÑA CASA SILVA Cabernet Sauvignon Colchagua Valley Doña Dominga Gran Reserva 2022 (92, $30) Elegant; calendula, dried currant, cranberry, chocolate-covered raspberry, loam HACIENDA ARAUCANO Clos de Lolol Red Lolol Valley 2020 (91, $27) Raspberry, cranberry, dried lavender, baking spices, mineral, cedar; fresh VIÑA HARAS DE PIRQUE Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley Hussonet Gran Reserva 2021 (90, $20) Suave, dense; macerated plum, cherry, leather, loam, fresh thyme, licorice, cassis VIÑA SAN PEDRO Carmenère Colchagua Valley 1865 Selected Vineyards Las Lagunas 2022 (90, $19) Raspberry, plum, mace, dried rose petal, mineral, cocoa bean; sleek, refined CASAS DEL BOSQUE Carmenère Rapel Valley Reserva 2022 (89, $14) Generous,…

Remember the “rosé shortage” of 2014? By Labor Day that year, wineshops in places like the Hamptons were running out of pink wine. A decade later, retailers face the opposite problem: As the 2023 wines arrive, many are still sitting on last year’s unsold rosé. There is no denying it: The once fanatical enthusiasm for pink wine has waned. Sure, wine sales overall are stagnant. But might the rosé slump also be driven by consumers’ fatigue with a decadeslong deluge of mediocre pink wine from every corner of the world? “People are bored by generic rosé,” Jesse Salazar told me. A longtime head at New York’s Union Square Wines, Salazar now runs Stave Wine Cellar, a wineshop and lounge in Pebble Beach, Calif., and he has been predicting a rosé…

This Buying Guide contains ratings of new releases from around the world. Complete tasting notes are provided for new releases scoring 85 or more points (on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale, explained below). Hundreds of additional reviews appear each month 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. Bruce Sanderson Burgundy, Piedmont, Tuscany James Molesworth California Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, Bordeaux, Port MaryAnn Worobiec California Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, Australia, New Zealand Alison Napjus Spain, Italy, Champagne, South Africa Tim Fish California Zinfandel and Merlot, Oregon, Washington, U.S. sparkling wines Aaron Romano Argentina, Chile Kristen Bieler Rhône Valley and other France, Germany, Austria How We Do…

PATRÓN SILVER IS THE BENCHMARK AGAINST WHICH ALL OTHER TEQUILAS ARE MEASURED. Provenance Matters In the fertile highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, the Blue Weber agave plant is distinct among hundreds of agave species, flourishing and absorbing the land’s unique flavors. This specific plant, the region’s mineral-rich volcanic soils, the day-night temperature swings found at high altitudes, and traditional cultivation methods intersect in a concept known as terroir. Wine connoisseurs obsess over how this concept shapes the character of a fine wine, but it is just as crucial to fine tequila, as opposed to most other spirits. As confirmation of terroir’s importance to tequila production, in 1974 the region was recognized as the first Denomination of Origin (DO) outside Europe, taking its name from the historic center of production and highlighting…

Meet the Familia Patrón The beating heart behind every sip of Patrón isn’t just the finest agave or traditional methods; it’s also a community of passionate individuals, each bringing an unmistakable imprint of craftsmanship and quality to the process. Initially a small team of 32, Patrón tequila has grown to a community of over 2,500 employees, becoming the largest employer in Atotonilco el Alto and of any distillery in Mexico. From the skilled jimadores in the fields to the master distillers and craftsmen in the Hacienda, each member of the team contributes their unique skills and passion, a collective effort that is a testament to the belief that the best tequila cannot be produced by machines or automated processes—it requires the human touch: the intuition and care that can only…

Patrón extends an invitation from its house to yours—welcoming you to explore, to savor, to celebrate. Every bottle of this vibrant and alluring spirit is crafted with care and steeped in tradition, embodying the culture of Mexico and her people. Whether savoring a private sip, entertaining at home, or out at a favorite restaurant or bar; sipped neat, on the rocks, or elevating a delicious cocktail, every bottle of Patrón is a journey—of time, tradition, flavor, and perfection.…

One of the great parts of my job is attending Wine Spectator’s tasting events, including our Grand Tour. This spring’s edition will showcase wines from more than 230 wineries stopping for action-packed evenings in New Orleans (April 26), Las Vegas (May 4) and Denver (May 11). Along with meeting local wine lovers and engaging with them over great wine, I love to experience the cities themselves. I first visited New Orleans in 1991 as a stop on a special around-the-country train trip with my dad and sister. I was 14, and many of New Orlean’s 21+ activities were lost on me. Yet I vividly remember the distinctive sights, sounds and feel of New Orleans, and of course the beignets! Fast forward to the present: My husband, Tom, “rides” every year…

EXTRA DRY, DRY & BLANC Bordiga Extra Dry (Italy | $32 | 18%) This workhorse shines by itself or in a wet Martini. Bordiga’s Excelsior, an aged Barolo-based rosso, is also worth seeking out. Key lime, orange flower, toasted fennel seed, rosemary, thyme. Chazalettes & Co. Extra Dry (Italy | $30 | 18%) Highly perfumed and floral, this head-turner deserves a place in your rotation. Try a splash to jazz up a French 75, or sip it as a whimsical aperitif. Grapefruit pith, lime flower, Meyer lemon, lavender, mandarin orange. Dolin Blanc (France | $18 | 16%) The first blanc Vermouth de Chambéry, Dolin is subtle, elegant and stylish. Don’t be afraid to sip this classic neat. Lemon, baked pear, toasted coconut, cinnamon, bitter almond.. González Byass La Copa Extra…

CHILE Cabernet Sauvignon & Blends 96 Viña Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Puente Alto Vineyard 2021 $175 See Highly Recommended, page 81. 95 Viña Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley Casa Real Reserva Especial 2021 $100 See Highly Recommended, page 81. 94 Viña Montes Alpha M Apalta 2020 $120 This understated version wows with finesse, opening with fresh tobacco and cigar box details that reveal a smooth-textured frame. Shows a sneaky concentration of cassis and blackberry, with excellent length, plus iron twinges to the finish and round, polished tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot. Best from 2025 through 2036. 500 cases imported.—A.R. 93 Viña Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley Gold Alto Jahuel 2021 $100 This structured red leads with lots of graphite, toasty coffee bean and peppercorn…

THE BEST TEQUILA GOING INTO THE BARREL ENSURES THE BEST TEQUILA COMING OUT. The Patrón Approach When it was first founded 35 years ago, Patrón adopted traditional, authentic tequila production techniques in the distillery: tahona and roller milling, pinewood fermentation and copper pot distillation. The brand quickly became a luxury icon and demand grew. This created a challenge: how to increase production without compromising on quality? The answer lay in the talented distillery team and their unique approach to making tequila. Instead of automating the process, Patrón replicated its traditional small-batch methods in a second distillery, built side by side with the original. This is a deliberate choice to maintain the time and labor-intensive methods that preserve tradition—and superior quality and flavor. Tradition Takes Time After being expertly harvested by…