Wine Spectator October 15, 2022

I have a new friend in Sonoma—one I’ve yet to meet in person. Last year, I was listening to The Taste, a podcast by California winemaker Doug Shafer that I’ve found quite interesting over the years. Doug’s guest in that episode was Robert Kamen. Frankly, I’d never heard of him, but I was intrigued by his career and thoughtful commentary. Then, I was inspired to do something I rarely do, which was to track down his cell number and call him directly. I tried him twice and left messages, but he didn’t return my calls. Undeterred, I then sent him an email, which finally persuaded him to pick up the phone. As it turns out, he didn’t believe that it was actually Marvin Shanken leaving messages for him. He assumed it was…

The announcements came from different wine regions on different continents, but the message was the same. In one week this summer, both Favia in Napa Valley and Allegrini in Valpolicella announced that some of their wines would now be sold and distributed around the world, not by local merchants but by the French négociants of La Place de Bordeaux. A remarkable transformation is under way at La Place. Négociants who work through the Bordeaux marketplace are now selling dozens of iconic, non-Bordeaux wines, such as Jackson Family’s Sonoma staple Vérité, Bill Harlan’s Napa Valley bottling Promontory, Oregon’s Beaux Frères, Champagne Philipponnat’s Clos des Goisses, Aussie stars Cloudburst from Will Berliner and The Armagh Shiraz from Jim Barry as well as the super Tuscans Masseto, Solaia and Colore by Bibi Graetz. This development,…

Oregon Pinot Noir country has a new appellation. The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) approved the Mount Pisgah American Viticultural Area (AVA) on June 3, and the designation went into effect July 5. The approval brings the total number of wine appellations in the Beaver State to 23. The new AVA—which, in full, is officially called Mount Pisgah, Polk County, Oregon—is the second-most southern subappellation within the Willamette Valley, next to Lower Long Tom, which was approved in November 2021. Mount Pisgah is southwest of Eola-Amity Hills and Salem, the state capital. (The long name is meant to avoid confusion with another Mount Pisgah, in Lane County.) Encompassing 5,530 acres, Mount Pisgah is the second-smallest AVA in Willamette Valley, but with 584 acres of vines, it is one…

Bordeaux awoke to a shock one July morning when a yet-to-be-identified winery owner was arrested, along with 20 co-conspirators, in a raid by French gendarmes. Authorities first caught whiff of the alleged crime from Spain and bottling it as prestigious Bordeaux ring this past September, when they stumbled upon wine-counterfeiting equipment, including clues to a complaint made months earlier by the his wine was being counterfeited. By November, the gendarmes’ special wine squad was on the case. According to the prosecutor’s office, they found evidence of “a large-scale fraud organized by the owner of a vineyard in the Médoc also having the status of a négociant.” The reported scam involved sourcing inexpensive wine from other regions of France as well as château wines at suspiciously low prices. The investigation is ongoing, but the prosecutor’s…

What’s your wine story? Is there a specific bottle that made you fall in love with wine—or even changed your life? A wine trip that you will remember forever or that you have been dreaming about for years? A special ritual you have for enjoying wine, or ways you incorporate it into your everyday life? A particularly funny or touching memory in which wine plays a key role? Share your love of wine by submitting your short video to Wine Spectator’s 16th Annual Video Contest. Anyone can enter—whether you’re a wine lover, work in the wine or restaurant industry or are a student of film, culinary arts or viticulture and enology. (You just need to be 21 or older.) HOW TO ENTER 1. Shoot Feel free to use your iPhone, Android, GoPro, DSLR or…

Trisha Yearwood traveled to California wine country this summer, performing at Festival Napa Valley’s Arts for All Gala in July, part of the festival’s 16th summer season. The singer, actress, author, chef and entrepreneur has numerous Grammy, Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards to her name. She’s written four best-selling cookbooks and also designed cookware, furniture and home accessories. Her hit Food Network series Trisha’s Southern Kitchen garnered an Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Culinary Show.” Yearwood recently spoke with Wine Spectator about the Napa festival, her discovery of wine after growing up in a family that didn’t imbibe, and what she needs to prepare a delicious home-cooked meal. Wine Spectator: How did wine enter your life? Was there wine at the table when you were growing…