In This Issue:

• Wrap 'Em Up!

W&S editors recommend 25 wines for holiday gift-giving.

• Rioja Radicals

A new generation of producers is re-defining Rioja. Bruce Schoenfeld reports from Logroño on the quest for more body, color and flavor in the wines of the Spanish heartland.

• Letter from Bordeaux

Fiona Morrison MW analyzes the '95, '96 and '97 vintages in Bordeaux. What's over-hyped and what's ripe for the picking?

• Un-Marqued Champagne

Crafting small lots of wine in the shadow of the more celebrated négociant houses, the grower-producers of Champagne create individualistic expressions of the region's fabled terroir. Rod Smith tours the small villages of Champagne for an exclusive inside look at these artisan producers.

• Reliable Reislings

Following a string of excellent vintages, now's the time to snap up some great German rieslings. David Schildknecht profiles ten reliable producers in his short-list of Germany's most compelling, affordable, age-worthy wines.

• Head for the Hills

David Lynch hikes across the whisky regions of Scotland for a ground-level perspective on the terroir of single malt Scotch. A primer on "hill-walking" in whisky country.