Slideshows

Some years ago, the tide of opinion turned against Merlot after a scene in the film Sideways convinced audiences that well-tutored palates avoid this varietal. Today, Syrah has met a similar fate, falling out of favor with U.S. consumers. Yet, just as many of the world’s most captivating reds are produced from Merlot—Château Pétrus and […]

A white wine with heart. Many wineries in California include the word family on their labels—a descriptor intended to suggest not only that the contents of the bottle are the result of a multigenerational labor of love but also that future generations will heed the call of the vine. In many instances, the families in […]

Never has necessity given birth to more arresting offspring than in Portugal’s Douro Valley, where production of fortified wines is capped by government regulators to ensure that the supply of port does not exceed global demand. The portion of each harvest that does not make the cut for Portugal’s best-known bottlings is diverted into table […]

For some, viticulture is a career of choice, while for others it is a calling. One suspects that Dick Erath falls into the latter category. After experimenting with making his own wine at home, Erath, an engineer by training, enrolled in courses at the University of California, Davis. Not long thereafter, he moved his family […]

At gatherings where more than two oenophiles are present, the question inevitably arises—in one form or another—of which wine is a given grape fancier’s favorite. Though responses to this query are as varied as the varietals themselves, among the cognoscenti, Nebbiolo always figures prominently. The reason for this is simple: Just as certain gemstones reflect […]

Leslie Rudd’s quest for quality is steadfast. His roles as owner of Standard Beverage Corp., chairman of Dean and DeLuca, and owner of Rudd Oakville Estate in Napa Valley have attuned his eye to identifying excellence in all things. His rocky, red-soiled acreage at the foot of the Vaca Mountains in Oakville, for instance, is […]

Founded in Napa valley in 1862 by the German immigrant Jacob Schram near the town of Calistoga, Schramsberg was an early benchmark of quality in the region and even figured in the writing of Robert Louis Stevenson, who mentions the winery in his accounts of his journey to California. About 30 years after Prohibition, the […]

Tucked among the hills of Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley is a 600-acre laboratory where fascinating oenological experiments are carried out by Matt Dees. An alumnus of the University of Vermont and a veteran of the very different growing conditions of New Zealand and Napa Valley, Dees now presides over the complex winemaking at […]

The winemaker Mark Aubert is perhaps best-known these days for the supple, silky Chardonnay he crafts from the finest vineyards in Calistoga. Yet he made his original reputation with the red wines he produced for such important labels as the Peter Michael Winery, Bryant Family Vineyard, Sloan Estate, and Colgin Cellars. His passion for Chardonnay—the […]