Wine Spectator April 30, 2023

Visit WineSpectator.com/043023 to find links to all of the following resources. FREE RESOURCES FOR ALL WINESPECTATOR.COM READERS SPRING ENTERTAINING Celebrate the change of seasons with new recipes from some of the country’s best chefs. Whether you’re celebrating Passover, Easter, a birthday or an anniversary, we’ll make it easy and delicious, with meals just right for milder weather paired with our editors’ picks of highly rated wines. 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. Sign up! STRAIGHT TALK PODCAST Host James Molesworth explores the latest issue of Wine Spectator with stars of the wine industry, Dr. Vinny and more. WINE SPECTATOR ON YOUTUBE Watch all our great…

Although I don’t snowboard, practice yoga or compete in triathlons, I can understand why some people do. In this issue, our editors profile a diverse group of nine individuals in the wine and culinary world who successfully balance a healthy lifestyle that includes wine, with the joy of physical and mental disciplines. These men and women are passionate about their respective pursuits and the importance they play in their health and quality of life. Jean-Charles Cazes energizes his role as director of Bordeaux’s prestigious Château Lynch-Bages by fitting in some surfing, residing near the Atlantic while just 30 minutes from the Pauillac estate. Laura Bianchi, an accomplished athlete and the winemaker at Castello Monsanto, brings her practice of yoga even closer to her office, striking poses refined over 30 years atop…

While 2023 was just getting started, three weeks of storms dumped a tremendous amount of rain on California. The weather led to at least 22 deaths and scores of washed-out roads, mudslides and flooded neighborhoods, but many farmers couldn’t help but welcome the rain after years of on-and-off drought. Many areas have already attained their average rainfall for the entire year. As a result, aquifers are recharged and reservoirs are full. And for the state as a whole, according to the California Department of Water Resources, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain range currently holds more than twice the water content than in an average year. Melt from the snowpack provides approximately 30% of the water supply to the state each year. The atmospheric rivers that carry warm moisture from the…

An unidentified firm recently purchased Napa Valley’s Seven Stones Winery for $34 million, following the death of its founder, Ronald Wornick, in 2021. The price includes a 45-acre plot of land on the outskirts of St. Helena near the Meadowood resort, including 3 acres of planted vineyards, a 6,600-square-foot residence and a winery. Winemaker Aaron Pott will stay on at the winery under its new ownership. The sale was announced by residential brokerage firm Compass. The buyer is a “multinational corporation with a significant U.S. presence,” said Compass real estate agent Damian Archbold, adding, “This acquisition will form part of a newly established entity for their wine business.” The buyer has been identified as a holding company registered as HSIH NHH INV LLC. As first reported by Santa Rosa’s The Press Democrat,…

Several of Argentina’s leading wine regions were devastated by widespread freezing conditions on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 of 2022, impacting tens of thousands of acres of vines throughout the country. At a time when nearly all vineyards were budding and many were beginning to flower, it was a particularly bad time for a cold snap. In some areas, temperatures dropped to the low 20s F. Magdalena Pesce, general manager of Wines of Argentina, said numerous winery representatives believe it’s still too soon to have accurate data, but that an average loss of 32% of yields nationwide is the early estimate. “We have to wait to see how the plants react,” she said. Argentina experienced very warm days before the sudden temperature drop. Zonda winds—warm, dry gusts blowing down from the Andes—raised…

Luciano Sandrone Luciano Sandrone, a vintner who was part of a movement to elevate quality in Barolo for more than four decades, died in January after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 76. Sandrone came from a family of carpenters in La Morra. An allergy to sawdust led him to start working at the Borgogno winery at the age of 17, then Marchesi di Barolo winery, where he eventually became the cellar master. In 1978, he acquired a small parcel in Cannubi Boschis; after the harvest, he and his wife, Mariuccia, made 1,500 bottles in a garage. During the Vinitaly wine fair in 1981, he met importer Marco de Grazia, who began selling the wines in the U.S. market. Sandrone gained acclaim for trying new techniques in the vineyards while following tradition…