Wine Spectator June 30, 2019

Visit WineSpectator.com/063019 to find links to all of the following resources. FREE RESOURCES FOR ALL OUR WINESPECTATOR.COM READERS WINE SPECTATOR’S 13TH ANNUAL VIDEO CONTEST Share your wine story to compete for great prizes! Submit your shorts to Wine Spectator’s annual video contest and you could win tickets to our spectacular Wine Experience weekend or a Grand Tasting. Entry deadline is Monday, Aug. 19. Check out the rules and previous years’ finalists online. OUTDOOR ENTERTAINING It’s time to take the party to the backyard, beach or park, and some of the country’s best chefs are here to help. We share their cooking tips and delicious make-at-home summer recipes along with great value wine matches chosen by our editors. VALUE WINE PICKS Wine Spectator’s free Xvalues app for iOS and Android devices features a regularly updated…

The Golden State holds the spotlight in this issue, an adventure in three acts, each featuring a different part of the state: Napa Valley, Sonoma and Paso Robles. Sonoma County is home to vintners Joel Peterson and his son, Morgan Twain-Peterson. Both have devoted their careers to Zinfandel, California’s signature red grape, and especially to its historic vineyards. Joel founded Ravenswood Winery on a shoestring in the late 1970s. From the beginning, it focused on Zins from Sonoma County. Joel’s passion was bottling single vineyards like Teldeschi and Big River, but success was fueled by his Vintners Blend. The winery grew, and in 2001 was bought by drinks giant Constellation Brands for a tidy $148 million. Morgan did not initially aim at a career in wine. But like his dad, he seemed inexorably…

EXCELLENT EXPO A reader responds to assistant editor Lexi Williams’ article “Vinexpo Takes Victory Lap in New York” (online, March 6) This was a huge improvement over last year’s event and we’ll definitely be back in 2020. This year’s space [Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York] was easy to navigate and clearly laid out, with good signage, etc. The most important part was the quality of buyers, geographically ranging from California to the East Coast. Many of our guests this year have never been to Vinexpo in Bordeaux or Prowein, finding the trip to New York an easy way to experience Vinexpo. Thanks to the organizers for the upgrades! Daniel Greathouse Ohio and Kentucky LIVE FROM BORDEAUX A reader responds to senior editor James Molesworth’s blog “The 2018 Bordeaux Barrels Diary: A Right Bank…

What do California Zinfandel producer Ravenswood, box wine upstart Black Box and Seder standby Manischewitz have in common? They are all part of the biggest sale in the wine industry this year. On April 3, two of the world’s largest wine companies, E. & J. Gallo and Constellation Brands, announced that they had agreed on a $1.7 billion deal. Gallo is purchasing 30 wine brands from Constellation, along with six wine production facilities in California, New York and Washington. The sale, which includes no vineyards, is subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in May. For many industry observers, Constellation’s move made perfect sense. For years, the trend in American wine sales has been premiumization. People are buying less wine but paying more per bottle. Constellation sold 30 brands that…

A gustin Francisco Huneeus stepped down from his position as CEO of California’s Huneeus Vintners in March, two days after he was arrested in “Operation Varsity Blues,” the federal investigation into 33 parents allegedly involved in bribery schemes to gain admission for their children to some of the nation’s top universities. On April 8, prosecutors announced that Huneeus, 53, was one of 14 accused parents who had agreed to plead guilty to charges of fraud. Huneeus stands accused of paying $50,000 to college counselor and scheme organizer William Rick Singer to have a proctor improve his daughter’s SAT score by correcting some of her answers. A criminal complaint filed by the FBI also alleges that Huneeus agreed to pay both Singer’s foundation and a coach at the University of Southern California…

Dick and Ann Grace have sold Grace Family Vineyards, one of Napa’s original cult Cabernet Sauvignon producers, as they step back from the wine business. Kathryn Green, a business consultant and Napa vineyard owner, purchased the Victorian house, small winery and a 3-acre vineyard in addition to the inventory and brand. Production averages 650 cases a year. The sale price was not disclosed. Green first bought land in Napa in 2009. “It had 400 olive trees and no vines, and I never had any thought of getting into the wine business,” she told Wine Spectator. But over time, the wine bug took hold. In 2015, she bought the Van Asperen property in St. Helena, which included a vineyard. Helen Keplinger, consulting winemaker at Grace, conferred with Green on replanting the vineyard,…