Wine Spectator February 28, 2022

I hope you all enjoyed our Dec. 31, 2021 - Jan 15, 2022 issue featuring the Top 100 wines of 2021 and our annual wine of the year. It’s a tradition more than 30 years in the making, beginning with the first Wine Spectator Wine of the Year in 1988. With this issue, we are announcing a new annual award: Wine Value of the Year. While price and availability are already two of the important criteria in our annual Top 100, we recognize that good value is increasingly important to wine drinkers when making their purchase decisions. So while we’ve long given readers several values roundups each year, we’ve decided to officially acknowledge the challenges of creating an outstanding wine at a very reasonable price with this new honor. The top wine…

NEWS | FOOD & TRAVEL | PEOPLE | COLLECTING Last year was further proof that the waiting is the hardest part. After the trials of 2020, many vintners, som-meliers and retailers hoped 2021 would be a year of recovery. It was, but not a rapid one. As vaccine shots were administered and pandemic restrictions were eased, restaurants reopened and the wine market began to stabilize. On-premise sales increased, and while off-premise sales, from wine and grocery stores, dipped as people stayed home less, they stayed above 2019 levels. But nothing has proven simple. Vaccination rates have been slow. The delta and omicron variants have upped infection rates. And then there are all of the problems one might expect when the economy nearly shuts down and then tries to regain full speed. Winemakers are…

Vintage charts provide a general indication of a region’s overall performance in a given year. This chart includes quality ratings and drinkability evaluations for most vintages that are currently available in retail stores and at restaurants and for selected older vintages. A score range indicates preliminary analysis based on barrel samples and/or a limited sampling. “NYR” means most of the wines of the vintage are yet to be released. More comprehensive vintage charts, including full descriptions of vintage character, accompany our annual tasting reports and are also available free at WineSpectator.com/vintagecharts. 100-Point Scale 95–100 Classic 90–94 Outstanding 85–89 Very Good 80–84 Good 75–79 Mediocre 50–74 Not Recommended Find Vintage Charts on Wine Spectator’s WineRatings+ App The free download of Wine Spectator’s WineRatings+ app for iPhone and iPad offers extensive vintage charts, wine education and a timely news feed. For…

Our first issue of the new year brings some important changes to the Wine Spectator masthead. Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher, is pleased to announce expanded roles for several key editors, along with the appointment of a new senior editor. James Molesworth, who currently tastes California Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux among other regions, will begin reviewing California Pinot Noir. Molesworth joined Wine Spectator in 1997 as a tasting coordinator and was promoted to senior editor in 2004. “James has done an outstanding job since taking over California Cabernet, and I expect he will bring the same passion and enthusiasm to the state’s Pinot Noir,” said Shanken. Based in Wine Spectator’s New York office, Molesworth travels frequently to Napa to taste wines and visit wineries. Senior editor MaryAnn Worobiec has been appointed…

Wine Spectator senior editor and Napa bureau chief Kim Marcus, 62, is stepping back from his daily duties after more than three decades with the magazine. He will continue as a contributing editor. “As Kim reduces his responsibilities, I want to thank him for his many out-standing contributions to Wine Spectator over the past 30-plus years,” said Marvin R. Shanken, editor and publisher, who hired Marcus as a news writer in 1988. “Fortunately for us, he has agreed to continue to write significant articles in the coming years.” At first, Marcus focused on California wine, but as the magazine’s coverage expanded, so too did his. In 1992, he was named assistant managing editor and the following year he relocated, along with the magazine’s editorial operations, to New York City, where he…

Wine, finance and hockey mogul Bill Foley is buying another Sonoma landmark. His company, Foley Family Wines, has acquired Chateau St. Jean from Aussie wine giant Treasury Wine Estates. The deal includes St. Jean’s chateau in Kenwood, Calif., as well as a 6,000-square-foot visitors center and a 39,000-square-foot production facility. The deal also includes St. Jean’s 79 acres of estate vineyards. Financial terms were not disclosed. Last year, according to Impact Databank, the winery made 329,000 cases. “Chateau St. Jean is a Sonoma County icon, with almost 50 years of history in Sonoma Valley,” said Gerard Thoukis, CMO of Foley Family Wines. “The future strategy of this brand will aid Foley Family Wines in our desire to become the No. 1 luxury wine producer in the U.S.” The winery has been a…