Wine Spectator February 28, 2023

In 2022, we introduced 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 (Dec. 31 – Jan. 15 issue), our intention with this award is to emphasize these qualities even more. The Wine Value of the Year crowns our Top 10 Wine Values list. All of the wines rate 90 points or higher on Wine Spectator’s 100-point scale, cost $40 or less and are widely available. Last year’s Wine Value winner was Allan Scott Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2021 from New Zealand. Following the announcement, we invited winemaker Josh Scott to present the wine on stage at our annual New York Wine Experience. Despite being in the company of many of the world’s greatest wines, Scott…

The watchword of 2023 is uncertainty. Economists are unsure whether the year will deliver a full recession to the U.S. economy or simply a slowdown, with stubborn inflation, rising interest rates and the continued impacts of the war in Ukraine and the pandemic weighing in. A lot of household net worths have been wiped out in the past 12 months, between the stock market fluctuations and sinking home prices, not to mention the cryptocurrency crash. For the wine industry, economic pain has already hit. Several industry sources report slowing sales in the final quarter of 2022, and many industry analysts expect the first six months of 2023 to be worse. “Economists are factoring in strong odds of a recession,” says Stephen Rannekleiv, Rabobank’s global strategist for the beverages sector. “A slowdown seems…

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…

Fifty years ago, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather was released. The Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins 24–3 in Super Bowl VI. And on Dec. 20, 1972, 29-year-old Marvin R. Shanken bought a wine and spirits industry trade publication, Impact Newsletter, for $5,000, which he borrowed from his sister. Over the span of the five decades since, the M. Shanken Communi cations’ portfolio of magazines and newsletters has grown to become an all-encompassing collection of lifestyle and industry publications for the wine, spirits and cigar businesses. The company started with humble beginnings in 1972, when Shanken purchased Impact and was handed a box of index cards containing names and addresses for 200 subscribers. Shanken had worked in investing and real estate before then, but had fallen in love with wine and wanted…

The trial in Bordeaux’s Tribunal last October lasted just six hours, but the figures discussed were mind-boggling. According to the prosecution, from 2016 to 2019, 131 tanker trucks hauled the equivalent of 380,000 cases of cheap Spanish wine north into France, where five wine professionals are charged with passing it off as more expensive French wine, mainly Bordeaux appellations including pricey Margaux, St.-Julien and Pomerol. According to the prosecutors’ case, it all started with miserable weather. Back in 2013, a meager crop left Michel Gilin, sales manager for Celliers Vinicoles du Blayais (CVB), part of the cooperative Tutiac, worried that the firm wouldn’t have enough wine to fulfill their orders and maintain their client base. Gilin reached out to a Bordeaux negociant named Jean-Sebastien Lafleche. They organized the purchase of cheap…

Invented and popularized by European immigrant families in Wisconsin’s cheese belt and California’s Sonoma County, enduring cheese types legitimately claiming status as American Originals began to emerge in the late 19th century: Think Brick, Colby, Monterey Jack and its offshoot Dry Jack. Starting at the beginning of this century, U.S. artisan producers have blessed us with many more unique, delectable and often quirky cheeses inspired by those original Originals. Quite often, these delicacies have graced this page, among them Cato Corner’s Hooligan, River’s Edge’s Up in Smoke, Roelli’s Red Rock and Rogue Creamery’s Rogue River Blue. This plate represents a selection of current favorites culled from several dozen outstanding candidates in a recent tasting: David Gibbons is co-author of Mastering Cheese. 1. KUNIK, NETTLE MEADOW FARM ($12 for 4 ounces; saxelbycheese.com) This triple cream bloomy…