Wine & Spirits - February 2013 - (Page 43)

FEBRUARY 2013 TASTINGS Cool wines from warm climes The Rhône is on a tear—with three great vintages back to back (’09, ’10, ’11), we’ve gathered the most extensive Rhône Valley recommendations in the history of the magazine. Don’t miss the whites in particular—the dry, cool conditions of 2010 made for some gloriously concentrated, structured bottles from Condrieu all the way south to Châteauneuf. And note the number of vins naturels: It’s clear there’s a movement afoot, and it’s going in positive directions. The Stateside syrah scene is growing in importance as well—from Walla Walla to Santa Barbara—and we turned up as much great syrah as zinfandel for this issue (pages 50 and 53). While the prices of the top zins and syrahs have yet to reach the heights of cabernet, if you have the funds, don’t miss the cabernet recommendations from Napa and Alexander valleys on page 67. Meanwhile, the move to cooler climes is making for more restrained styles of Argentine and Chilean reds (see pages 58 through 64)—a factor Giorgio Benedetti and Patricio Tapia document in their stories about vines pushing southward in South America (pages 30 and 36, respectively). As always, we selected these wines with the help of leading sommeliers and retail buyers, including Eduardo Porto Carreiro from Boulud Sud, Kyungmoon Kim of Jungsik, Pascaline Lepeltier of Rouge Tomate and Erin Scala of Public in NYC. In San Francisco, Ian Becker of Arlequin Wine Merchant, Bianca Jimenez Rivera of Burritt Room + Tavern, Gianpaolo Paterlini of Acquerello and Steve Sherman of William Cross Wine Merchants were a few of the tasters who joined us to vet the US wines. For details on our blind tasting process, turn to page 47, and for access to our online database of all wines tasted and all reviews, go to wineandspiritsmagazine.com. Year’s Best 44 rhône Wines 447 196 216 65 141 176 tasted top wines 57 top wines 35 top wines 26 top wines 13 top wines 33 top wines 49 best buys best buys best buys best buys best buys best buys 37 12 14 7 5 20 50 53 56 58 61 Us syrah tasted tasted tasted tasted tasted Us Zinfandel Catalan Wines Chilean Cabernet & Carmenère argentine Malbec NeW releases 65 72 tasted 531 Us New releases top wines 53 best buys 39 International New releases tasted 787 2,559 top wines 81 best buys 59 total tasted top wines 347 best buys 193 WINE & SPIRITS FEBRUARY 2013 43 http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2013

Wine & Spirits - February 2013
Editor’s Note
Happenings
Contents
Fined & Filtered
Austral Spirits
Petite Conversion
Sydney’s Sommelier Hangouts
Pinot Noir at the 46th Parallel
Extreme Patagonia
W&S Centerfold – Kimchi & Red Wine
Extreme Values
Introduction
Rhône Valley Reds & Whites
US Syrah
US Zinfandel
Catalan Wines
Chilean Cabernet & Carmenère
Argentine Malbec & Blends
American New Releases
Imported New Releases
New Books

Wine & Spirits - February 2013