Each year, the wine world eagerly awaits Wine Spectator's "Top 100" list. Since 1988, the magazine's editors have looked back over the wines they've reviewed over the previous 12 months to rank the 100 wines that most impress them "based on quality, value, availability, and excitement." This year, the competition
“Here we are,” I thought when I got off the bus at Dinastia Vivanco Wine Museum in Rioja, Spain. “Exactly like six years ago, when everything started...” No, wait, that’s not precisely true. At that time, here in Logroño there were maybe 50 of us from a handful of countries,
If you've never put your nose inside a few well-wrought barrels, it may be hard to understand just how excited winemakers can become about oak - and also, just how varied the contribution of oak to the profile of a wine can be. The range of smells, the different characters
By Lopez de Heredia standards, this is a short-lived wine—meaning that at close to ten years of age, it may not have more than a few interesting years in front of it. A rather reasonable longevity for any wine, but when compared to the feisty and still bright 1991 Gran
To say that the 2002 vintage was a challenging one, in Europe, would be too much of a euphemism: this rainy, wet, cool year really, really sucked. The only good thing that can be said about it is that since-read more-
Let's start with the conclusion: this is a QPR crazy bottle of wine. What do you do when you're having a couple of dozen people over for a barbecue, but one is your wine-loving boss? Buy this wine. Bright cherry-read more-
Clear, medium ruby to garnet. Aromas of cherry, pepper, oak, cedar, spice, red fruit, currant, violet, vegetal. Dry, medium tannin, medium-high acid, medium-full body, cherry, strawberry, anise, soft oak. WHO: Bodegas Beronia WHAT: Tempranillo, Garnacha WHERE: Rioja, Spain WHEN: 2006-read more-
Clear, medium-light ruby color. Aromas of violet, floral, ripe cherry, and strawberry. Dry, medium acid, medium tannin, cherry, floral, soft oak, well balanced. WHO: Pagos del Rey WHAT: Tempranillo WHERE: Rioja, Spain WHEN: 2006 HOW MUCH: $12