Wine

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars founders Warren and Barbara Winiarski made waves when their Cabernet Sauvignon stood out at the Judgment of Paris in 1976, enhancing the reputations of their winery and of Napa Valley. They enshrined their legacy 20 years later when they donated $50,000 to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History to

In 2020, chef and TV personality Bobby Flay closed his Mesa Grill at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace hotel and casino. Last month, Flay revived the space as Amalfi by Bobby Flay, his first venture with Italian cuisine. Joining his other restaurants, including Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic

Following a vehicle crash on May 12 on a back road near the town Sebastopol, Calif., in Sonoma County wine country, a winemaker is dead and a young vineyard manager is facing DUI and possible manslaughter charges. Mark Osborne, 53, an enologist at Gary Farrell Winery in the Russian River Valley, was riding his bicycle

Alejandro Fernandez, who revolutionized Spain’s Ribera del Duero region with his determination and his iconic wine, Pesquera, died May 22 in Santander. He was 88. “The passing of our friend and mentor Alejandro Fernández is also the passing of an era bridging the past to the future,” said Steve Metzler and Almudena de Llaguno, founders

Heidi Scheid enjoys a glass of wine every night. “Wine is just a part of everyday living, the perfect way to segue from a busy schedule to a relaxed evening,” says Scheid, who is the executive vice president of Scheid Family Wines in Monterey, Calif. “But I also like to get up early, exercise and

Chef Daniel Boulud opens his highly anticipated, sprawling new seafood restaurant in Midtown Manhattan’s One Vanderbilt skyscraper this week. Le Pavillon debuts with a limited number of dinner reservations May 20, followed by a full opening on May 28. The restaurant takes its name from the New York destination that’s widely credited for putting French

A year ago it was hard to fathom how Bordeaux wineries would conduct a futures campaign, selling their latest vintage as a global pandemic raged. But they managed to pull it off. Now they have launched the campaign for 2020 futures, and while conditions in many of their leading markets have improved, it is hardly

For many wine lovers, relaxation can often be found in a glass of good wine. And stress reduction is a matter of health: High stress levels can lead to adverse cardiovascular effects such as high blood pressure. A new study has found promising results for moderate alcohol consumption and reducing stress-related brain signals responsible for heart

Jim Clendenen, who brought a love of Burgundy to his groundbreaking Santa Barbara winery Au Bon Climat and helped put the region on the world winemaking stage, died in his sleep the night of May 15 at his home in the Los Alamos district near the town of Buellton, Calif. He was 68. Clendenen was

Since the passing of California Proposition 64 in 2016, which legalized the commercial and recreational growing of cannabis, many farmers are moving to the Golden State’s top winegrowing regions to cultivate the cash-crop. While some winegrowers are unbothered by the rise in cannabis farming, many others are worried that they have to compete with the

Anyone thinking that France’s vintners had put the risk of frost behind them with the end of April were mistaken. Frigid air from the Arctic swept over France again the first week of May, less than a month after freezing temperatures devastated numerous wine regions. “We had another hit of frost the morning [of May

When Donae Burston began conversations with Constellation Brands in summer 2020, he saw the United States’ largest maker and marketer of alcoholic beverages as the key to expanding his French rosé brand, La Fête du Rosé. Today, Constellation has announced it has purchased a minority stake in La Fête, marking the first move in its

Two long-established Sonoma County wineries lost their homes this week as the parent companies of Sebastiani and Clos du Bois laid off workers and shifted production to other facilities. The brands will continue, but the wines will be made elsewhere. In the case of Sebastiani, this marks an end of an era. The winery, located

When Louis de Bonnecaze started diving into digital currencies in 2015, he saw a unique opportunity for the fine wine industry. Three years later, the CEO of BTC Wine, a Bordeaux-based wine retailer, became one of the first to accept cryptocurrencies, or “crypto,” as payment for prestigious French wines. “I thought it was a good

Chef John Fraser, whose 701West holds Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence, opened Iris April 21 in Midtown Manhattan. The restaurant offers Aegean-style dining, influenced by Turkish cuisine and Fraser’s Greek background, with an emphasis on plant-based dishes. “This restaurant is such a direct expression of my heritage and passion, as seen through the

The Destin Charity Wine Auction made a strong comeback following an uncertain year for live events, raising more than $2 million for 16 local children’s charities. Organizers refocused their efforts by introducing a hybrid model that combined in-person events with virtual auctions, and it paid off by raising nearly $700,000 more than last year’s $1.35

David Bruce, a pioneer in winemaking in the Santa Cruz Mountains and an early advocate of California Pinot Noir, died April 28. He was 89. “He was a trailblazer in the Santa Cruz Mountains,” said Jeffrey Patterson, owner and winemaker of Mount Eden Vineyards. “He was an unabashed Burgundy man, and he planted one of

When Kyle MacLachlan finished a screen test for his first feature film, Dune, director David Lynch thanked him by sending a bottle of Château Lynch-Bages to his L.A. hotel room. It was MacLachlan’s first taste of Bordeaux and the first of many wine encounters he’d have along a storied acting career filled with memorable characters.

As vintners and scientists search for ways to increase the sustainability of farming and winemaking practices, some are looking to give grape pomace, or marc, new life. This oft-forgotten byproduct of winemaking accounts for thousands of tons of waste annually. Past research has suggested numerous alternative uses, however, from grapeseed oil to biofuel to beauty

Kurt Russell was in between takes on the set of Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof when he eyed the vineyards of Sta. Rita Hills. A year later, he started his first wine venture at the same spot off Highway 246. Russell’s passion for wine started nearly three decades before that, tasting wines with his wife, Goldie

Fernando Buscema has been asking the same question for over a decade: Can terroir be measured? The Bodega Catena Zapata winemaker and director of the Catena Institute of Wine, an Argentine enology research program, hoped that answering it could raise the stakes for the wines of Argentina. A new study, published in Nature’s Scientific Reports journal in February

New York’s storied Italian destination, Wine Spectator Grand Award winner Del Posto, has permanently closed. The news was announced April 12 by the restaurant’s executive chef, Melissa Rodriguez, and general manager, Jeff Katz. The duo also revealed that they’ve teamed up with chef James Kent to purchase the space in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood from B

Pio Boffa, leader of the Pio Cesare winery in Italy’s Piedmont, died this weekend after a two-week battle with COVID-19. He was 66. A fourth-generation winemaker, Boffa spent four decades converting Pio Cesare from an acclaimed négociant to a high-end estate winery with more than 173 vineyard acres in Barolo and Barbaresco. He was perhaps

The same cold front that damaged vine buds in an estimated 80 percent of French vineyards two weeks ago also struck Italy, leading Italian vintners report. Piedmont and Tuscany were unable to escape freezing temperatures over several nights. However, the damage was heterogeneous, depending on grape variety, elevation and how much the vines had grown

Thomas Rivers Brown, one of Napa’s top winemakers, has finalized terms to become the sole owner of Aston Estate, a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir brand that he started in 2001 with vintner Fred Schrader, founder of Schrader Cellars, and Chuck Sweeney, co-founder of Vine Cliff. The acquisition price was not disclosed, but the sale includes

Unlike fine wines, eyesight doesn’t improve with age. Over the course of years, age-related visual impairment can be worsened by cataracts, which occur when the eye’s lens becomes cloudy. It can make things look blurry, hazy or less colorful, and surgery is often necessary. But a new study has found a link between low to

Less than a week ago, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers escorted Rudy Kurniawan onto a commercial flight at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport to begin the final chapter of deportation proceedings. Just over 24 hours later, and after one layover, the convicted wine counterfeiter arrived in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, just outside Jakarta, Indonesia, according to

Ponzi Vineyards, a pioneer of Oregon wine, has been acquired by the Bollinger family, owners of Champagne Bollinger. It’s Bollinger’s first winery purchase outside France. The sale price was not disclosed but the deal includes the 40,000-case winery and hospitality facilities in Willamette Valley and 35 acres of vineyards. The Ponzi family retains 100 acres

When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the country a year ago, traditional wine auctions had to move their gavels fully online. For the past decade, houses such as Zachys and Christie’s had already been conducting partially online sales with most bids coming from absentee buyers. The pandemic forced them to develop more creative online

Freezing temperatures during the early morning hours of April 6, 7 and 8 brought severe frosts to Burgundy vineyards, damaging Chardonnay and Pinot Noir buds from the Mâconnais to Chablis and setting up 2021 as a challenging vintage for the region. Growers scrambled to light candles in the vineyards in the hopes of raising the