February 2019 - Wine & Spirits Magazine

February 2019

Departments

Editor’s Note
Rhône Currents, Rhône Wave

Contributors

Fined & Filtered
Luke Sykora
on Syrah’s Second Coming

Happenings

Spirits:
Aquavit
by Rachel DelRocco Terrazas

Books
Flawless by Jamie Goode, reviewed by Joshua Greene

Tastings

Year’s Best

US Syrahs

Bairrada, Dão & Douro Wines

Amarones & Valpolicellas

Mosel Rieslings

Riesling, Shiraz & Grenache from Barossa, Clare & Eden

Swartland Wines

Focus On

California Grenache

Crozes & Hermitage

New Releases

Best for $12 or Less

Imported

United States

Editorial Features

Ultrafine Aussie Wine

Langton’s Classification has been the reference for Australian wine collectors for nearly 30 years. Joshua Greene talks to Andrew Caillard, who established the Classification in 1991 and has seen the list grow from its original 34 wines to the current 136.

Destination: Budapest

John Szabo, MS, regularly passes through Budapest on his way from Toronto to his winery in Eger—and he’s found more reasons to linger, checking out the new wave of wine bars.

Mendocino Riesling

A serendipitous trip to a wine store sends David Darlington to Potter Valley, where he finds a rarity in California: a mecca for
refreshing riesling.

Full Transparency

Patrick J. Comiskey reports on the transformation of California grenache, from big hyper-ripe wines to cool and crunchy reds you can see through in the glass.

Mosel, Plat 211

David Schildknecht follows vintner Jochen Clemens, chronicling his discovery of what may be the world’s oldest riesling vines.