•Somms in Oz
On her first night in Australia‚ Lindsey Whipple-Fletcher found her wine. “The Ngeringa Syrah from the Adelaide Hills—although it wasn’t until much later that I realized why I liked it. Before the trip‚ Baskin-Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip was always my tell for shiraz. But it wasn’t there in the Adelaide Hills wines. I didn’t taste eucalyptus in the Ngeringa‚ in the Shaw + Smith Shiraz or in the syrahs from the Yarra Valley‚” she says‚ recalling others she tasted during the trip. “They were more varietally correct‚ more like Côte Rôtie. You get a lot of spicy aromas out of syrah from the cooler climates.”

•Value Brands of the Year
Looking for sure-fire values on the fly? No time to seek out that wild zin that sells for $12 in exactly two stores nationwide? No worries: Here's your go-to list.

•Critics’ Picks for Summer
If you hadn’t already figured it out from our tasting notes‚ we critics at W&S are a hungry bunch. For us‚ wine is a good excuse to eat. And food is a good excuse to drink. The two are inseparable. That’s why we talk with our tasters about dishes they’d serve with a recommended wine‚ and often mention their suggestions in our notes.

•Cocktails: from inspiration to tasty libation
The cocktail scene in bars has exploded.
    Bartenders who create the most compelling new cocktails have developed their own personal followings‚ on their way to the celebrity status chefs have gained over the last decade.

•Carignan & Me
I met Zorrito about five years ago on a trip to Cauquenes, two hundred miles south of my home in Santiago, in the Maule Valley. Zorrito—the “little fox”—was one of many growers who barely eked out a living farming carignan.