Wine Spectator May 31, 2021

Visit WineSpectator.com/053121 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. STRAIGHT TALK WITH WINE SPECTATOR is an Instagram Live series featuring conversations with wine-and-food newsmakers. Recent editions have featured Penfolds’ Peter Gago, Invivo X by SJP co-founder Sarah Jessica Parker, Grammy-winning Sun Goddess Wines founder Mary J. Blige, Lingua Franca’s Larry Stone, California winemakers Andy Erickson and Thomas Rivers Brown, and chefs Eric Ripert and Emeril Lagasse. (All episodes…

Many professional athletes enjoy wine, but few are as passionate about it as the subject of our cover story, NBA star Carmelo Anthony of the Portland Trail Blazers. In this issue, “Melo” shares stories from his 17-year journey in the NBA, an illustrious career that recently earned him the No. 11 spot on the list of all-time leading scorers. Anthony’s interest in wine is not as well-known as his basketball career, but it’s nearly as long in the making. He’s been a student of wine for 15 years. He tells the tale of his love affair, from neophyte to evangelist, as he progressed from drinking white wine by-the-glass to becoming a serious collector and aficionado. Many star players in the NBA credit Anthony for sparking their own interest in wine, a…

Doggone Right The other day a colleague called me and said that Wine Spectator has “gone to the dogs.” I naturally responded by telling her, “go soak your head, that’ll never happen.” And hung up. Well the very next day I received my “Dogs of California Wine Country” issue of Wine Spectator (cover, March 31) and doggone it if she wasn’t right. I’ve always enjoyed Wine Spectator and this will probably become my all-time favorite issue. As I see it, you have two important things that need to be at the top of your to-do list. First is to give an M. Shanken Award of Excellence to the individual(s) responsible for this outstanding idea. The second is to contact someone at Merriam-Webster and have that definition rewritten. As for me, it looks like a…

Now In Our IGTV Archives 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 iconic Penfolds winery FEB. 10 Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta, owner of Bolgheri winery Tenuta San Guido, maker of Sassicaia FEB. 3 Annette Alvarez-Peters, former head of Costco Corp.’s alcohol sales; advisor to Wine Unify JAN. 28 Brice de la Morandiere, managing director at Burgundy’s Domaine Leflaive JAN. 26 Olivier Krug, managing director of Krug Champagne JAN. 22 Marilisa Allegrini, CEO of Italy’s historic Allegrini, based in Valpolicella WATCH ON INSTAGRAM Scan the QR code to start watching on our IGTV channel, or visit instagram.com/wine_spectator/channel…

I’ve been urging wineries to up their online game since 2000,” says industry analyst Rob McMillan, executive vice president of Silicon Valley Bank’s wine division. “It took a pandemic to make it happen.” By now, you have undoubtedly heard how the shutdowns that COVID-19 triggered across the nation last year upended the wine market. Restaurants and tasting rooms closed for significant parts of the year, and wineries had to adapt quickly or face financial ruin. They adapted beautifully. Market analysts had predicated that wine would be stagnant before the pandemic began and expected the worst once businesses started shutting down. Instead, the numbers show that sales increased in both volume and value. Wineries showed incredible creativity in finding ways to reach consumers. An industry that had remained stubbornly old-school shifted to digital…

Can you trademark terroir? In the case of Napa’s most famous vineyard, a federal court has ruled yes. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has ruled in favor of Constellation Brands in a suit filed by Jeremy Nickel, owner of The Vineyard House, dismissing his claim that he is entitled to use the To Kalon Vineyard name on his wines based on the location of his Oakville, Calif., winery and vineyards. Following a virtual trial, Gonzalez Rogers issued a ruling Jan. 26 that Nickel did not paint a clear picture of whether his land was once used by Hamilton Walker Crabb for grapegrowing and was considered part of the original To Kalon Vineyard. She found that evidence was weak that Nickel’s land, once called “the Baldridge Property,” had been planted with…