Wine Spectator April 30, 2019

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Wine drinkers who love Italy know Tuscany and Piedmont. The top red wines from these regions, based on Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, respectively, are renowned worldwide. But Italy grows hundreds of other grapes and today the country’s winemakers are producing a wide range of red and white wines of high quality and distinctive character. This issue’s cover story spotlights six grapes that deserve your attention alongside Brunello and Barolo. Senior editors Alison Napjus and Bruce Sanderson, our lead tasters for Italy, have selected three white and three red grapes to profile. They range from Pinot Bianco in the Alpine north to Nero d’Avola on the southern island of Sicily. For each grape, some benchmark producers and their wines are featured, to guide your discovery. In Italy, as in most historic vineyard regions, the local…

Swiss Bliss It is very gratifying to see Wine Spectator acknowledge that the Swiss make some fine wines (Wine Focus, Jan. 31 – Feb 28). Over the years I have spent a lot of time at our family château near Neuchâtel and have tasted most of [that region’s] fine wines. I would recommend some of the great reds made from the Humagne Rouge grape. When you travel in Switzerland don’t hesitate to visit many of the small wineries and enjoy their wines. Ron Fick Dillon, Mont. Ice, Ice, Baby I was in disbelief when I read James Laube’s article titled “Ice Age” (columns, Oct. 31, 2018). He put forth that the best way to preserve leftover wine is to freeze it and then thaw it out later to enjoy it again. I had always…

In 2016, Doug and Mary Ketchum decided to move to Tennessee and buy a wine store. Their daughter, Stacie, has cerebral palsy and her doctor urged the family to seek a different cli-mate. The Ketchums found a store in Memphis, Tenn. Their daughter would be in a healthier environment, and being owners of a store would allow them the flexibility to care for her. “Mary loves wine,” said Doug. “It’s something she’s really passionate about.” But when the Ketchums applied for a liquor license, the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association (TWSRA) pointed out to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) that the Ketchums did not satisfy a state law requiring applicants to live in the state for at least two years before obtaining a license. Furthermore, that license would only…

Napa-based Chardonnay specialist Rombauer Vineyards is staking a claim in California’s Gold Country. The family-owned wine company has purchased the 65,000-square-foot Renwood winery in Amador County from Ren Acquisition, Inc., an Argentinian investment group whose owners include billionaire vintner Alejandro Bulgheroni and winemaking veteran Carlos Pulenta of Vistalba. The sale includes the winery, a 20-acre estate vineyard planted mostly to Zinfandel and a tasting room, but not the Renwood brand. Rombauer will move production of its Zinfandel to the facility, which will reopen in April. The sale price was not disclosed. Rombauer had been looking to increase its production capacity and approached Ren Acquisition to buy the winery. “The demand for our Zinfandel is continuing to grow at a pace that really required us to do something in terms of capacity in…

Earlier this season, New Orleans Pelicans’ Jrue Holiday (pictured) promised to buy teammate Nikola Mirotic a bottle of wine every time he scored 30 points or more. Mirotic quickly earned a bottle of McEvoy Ranch Montepulciano 2014. Samantha Dorsey, general manger at the Petaluma, Calif.,–based McEvoy, invited the team for a tasting and dinner in January while they were in town for a game against Golden State. Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry called it, “One of the best experiences on a road trip.” In turn, the Pelicans invited Dorsey to the following night’s game. Mirotic was traded in February, so he’ll have to find a new enophile teammate.…