Wine 1021

Summertime is about many things: outdoor activities, music festivals, sports, holidays, celebrations and gatherings. For foodies, summer signals the start of barbecue season. It’s nothing fancy, just friends and family gathering in the backyard or on the rooftop, sharing delicious food and memorable moments. Like any good gathering, a barbecue isn’t complete without the perfect drinks. While cold beer is a common choice, wine lovers may ask: what’s the best wine for a summer barbecue?

What sommeliers would recommend
Whether you are hosting a barbecue party or attending one but wonder what wine to serve or bring, both traditional human sommeliers and innovative AI sommeliers like VinoVoss, generally recommend bold reds for barbecue. Grenache, Syrah, and GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre blends) are at the top of the list for pairing with barbecue foods. The rich flavors of charred meat, combined with spices, harmonize beautifully with fruity, round red wines that have spicy, smoky, or oaky notes. Zinfandel and Primitivo pair wonderfully with caramelized foods, while other bold reds like Malbec, oaked Tempranillo, or a Bordeaux blend are also popular choices.

Summer wine and barbecue: An unlikely pair?
From a food and wine pairing perspective, bold reds are indeed suitable for barbecue. However, bold reds can taste heavy and often have high alcohol content, which might not be the best fit for hot summer days. This is why many people opt for cold beer instead. In summer, we crave refreshing white wines to cool us down, but does that mean summer wines and barbecue are incompatible? The answer is no. There are plenty of summer wines that pair perfectly with barbecue.

Pork-based barbecue favorites like sausages and short ribs, seasoned with flavorful spices, not only pair well with red wines like Grenache, Syrah or Zinfandel but also shine with high-acidity white wines like Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. The acidity cuts through the grease and adds freshness. Riesling is known to complement savory sauces, while Grüner Veltliner, with its herbaceous, white pepper notes, is perfect for sausages. In their home countries, Riesling and Grüner Veltliner are preferred wines for pork-based German and Austrian cuisine. Additionally, these high-acidity white wines, by nature, pair well with vegetables.

All-rounder barbecue wines
If you’re concerned about going to extremes between bold reds and refreshing whites, don’t worry. There are versatile barbecue wines for your summer gatherings. Barbecue covers a range of foods from vegetables to mushrooms, from fish to meat skewers, so it’s ideal to have a master solution.

Light-bodied, chillable reds
If bold reds feel too heavy, light-bodied red wines are perfect summer reds. Wines like Gamay, certain Pinot Noirs, Loire Valley Cabernet Franc, Frappato, Schiava, and many carbonic or semi-carbonic maceration reds are excellent choices. They have enough body to pair with meat but the fruit-forward character makes them food-friendly, so they won’t overpower vegetables or grilled fish. Most importantly, they are best enjoyed slightly chilled, bringing freshness to a hot summer afternoon.

Orange wine
Some say orange wine is a white wine that tastes like red. It combines the vibrant acidity and refreshing character of white wines with the depth and structure of red. Orange wine is an all-rounder for food pairing, matching perfectly with well-seasoned, spicy foods, grilled asparagus or sausages.

Pet Nat
For some, bubbles and barbecue are the ultimate pairing. Champagne and other traditional method sparkling wines are good choices, but Pet Nat (pétillant naturel) is even better. Its refreshing acidity and bubbles enhance the summer vibe, and its yeasty flavors and slight residual sugar add body, making it suitable for a variety of foods and barbecue seasonings. Plus, Pet Nat is ideal for casual, fun moments with friends. It’s an approachable wine to enjoy without giving it too much thought.

Are you ready to spice up your summer barbecues with the perfect wines? Share good moments, delicious food, laughter, and exceptional wines with your loved ones!

About Sylvia Ba, Wine consultant, Special to lassennews.com

Wine consultant Sylvia Ba is a vinicultural expert with the “VinoVoss” AI Sommelier wine search engine and recommendation system developed by BetterAI. The user-friendly online platform picks the perfect wine every time, for any occasion courtesy of a highly advanced artificial intelligence assist. With a master’s degree in wine business from Burgundy School of Business, as well as diverse background and experiences in Europe and Asia, she currently offers expertise in marketing, research, purchasing, and copywriting for clients in the wine industry all over the world. Sylvia’s experience includes working as a junior editor for a leading Chinese wine media outlet and as a fine wine salesperson for ASC Fine Wines, the largest fine wine importer in China. She also served as Export Manager for Vinum Hadrianum, an artisanal winery in Abruzzo, Italy. Reach her at vinovoss.com

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A month of learning about wine began with a beer.

I had no idea what I was looking at. I had no idea what I was looking for, but Amy Snow at Breathe Wine & Culture in Cross Lanes tolerated my questions and tried to help as best she could.

I wound up at Breathe on a Monday afternoon, on the outer fringe of drive time. People were coming home from work in Charleston and the road coming through town was choked with cars.

Breathe Wine & Culture felt like a cute little oasis, slightly off the main drag. I’d come for the wine but knew absolutely nothing about buying wine.

“Is there something I can help you find?” Amy asked.

I shrugged. I had no idea.

Less than a week before, I’d been sitting at a table with my family at the Watauga Lake Winery near Watauga Lake in Tennessee.

We were waiting on pizza and drinks. Everyone was having a good time, enjoying lunch out on a hot summer day, while I groused about not having any idea what to write about in the coming month.

This is routine for me. About half the time, I’m not entirely sure what comes next after I finish a project, but I’d had plans this summer, all of which had been upended after the hernia.

There had even been some concern that I wouldn’t be able to make the annual reunion in Tennessee. I’d worried that I might not be cleared to drive that far or, if I made it, I’d be pretty much marooned on my sister’s couch.

The trip was important to me. It’s one of the few times I see most of my family, and my sister Laura and her husband Bart are gracious hosts at their spacious home by the lake.

Laura has a fleet of kayaks, and Bart bought a pontoon boat a few years ago, which seems like the equivalent of a lake-bound minivan.

This is what I call my vacation. Most years, I show up, eat, drink, laugh, and goof around near the water with my nieces and nephews. The older relatives are already wise to my brand of silly and give me a wide berth.

Everyone has a blast, though I usually only manage to last a day or so. Inevitably, I get an awful sunburn. Then, I spend the rest of the week sulking indoors, near Bart’s mostly stocked bar.

I try not to drink the expensive stuff. I’m only a brother-in-law.

Still, getting away for the reunion this year was hard. Between recovering from surgery and a second round of COVID, I’d gotten so behind on everything. A new topic to write about in July eluded me.

“So, what am I supposed to do?” I asked anybody and everybody. But workable topics were scarce and a lot of people I might get help from were on vacation — like me.

At the restaurant, the waitress came around and took our order. Bart ordered a mountain of food for the table and then checked on what we wanted to drink.

He asked about sangria.

“We have that in bottles,” the waitress said.

He shrugged. That seemed fine.

“How many glasses do we need?” Bart looked down the length of the table.

People raised their hands. He counted six, seven people. He looked at me, the guy who’d been raiding his beer fridge all week.

“I’m going to stick with water,” I said. “It’s hot. I’m thirsty. This is good.”

Bart nodded. No wine for me.

Laurie, my stepmother, asked if I was sure. I was an adult, after all, and sitting at the grownup table. The grownups were drinking sangria.

“Yeah,” I said. “I can pass. I’m a beer and whiskey guy. I don’t know anything about wine. I’ve had wine, sure, but I don’t know …”

I could count on one hand the number of times I’d had wine. Always, somebody gave me something. I never ordered it.

Remembering when I’d had wine was easy. Wine, I thought, was refined, cultured. I read books. I watch public television. I own a vest. I liked culture. I could be refined.

But wine did nothing for me.

“What kind of wine is supposed to go with pizza?” I asked.

Pizza was Italian. Sangria, I thought, was Spanish? That didn’t make any sense.

Laurie, who’d been listening to me harp about not having a project, looked at me and said, “Do wine.”

It made sense, and I knew people who knew things about wine.

Before we got our appetizer, I’d sent texts out asking for help. Before Bart picked up the check (he’s really a decent guy), I’d received three responses — not bad for a national holiday.

One of those who’d gotten back to me was Cheryl at Breathe in Cross Lanes. So, on Monday evening I stumbled in looking for a place to start.

Cheryl wasn’t there when I rolled in. Instead, it was just Amy and me going through the shelves, while I tried to come up with questions.

Amy was eager to help, even though she mentioned that the owner knew much more. Undeterred, we discussed the different varieties of wine. There was red, white, rosé, and something called rosato, which was a mix of red and white.

There was moscato, a sweet, white wine that Amy mentioned they sold a lot of, although not as much as cabernet sauvignon.

“It’s an earthy, red wine. Very popular,” she said.

In the back of my mind, I vaguely recalled television commercials for it, but I couldn’t pronounce cabernet sauvignon clearly. The words jumbled in my jaw, highlighting why I struggled with high school French.

There was also pinot grigio, a white wine, and pinot noir, a red wine.

Neither of us knew what pinot meant. Maybe grape?

Breathe had malbec, zinfandel and chianti, which I correctly guessed was red because I figured Hannibal Lector in “Silence of the Lambs” would probably drink red wine with his fava beans.

The alcohol by volume for the wines varied from around 5% to well past 14%, which put it on par with the “black out juice” beers I sometimes buy.

The wines ranged in price from about 14 bucks to just under $113, though I’ve seen wines in stores that cost as much as my mortgage payment.

I had no idea what any of it meant, what wine went with what food or whether that even mattered. I thought about buying the first bottle that caught my eye, but that seemed like a bad place to start.

So, I got a four pack of beer with a cat on the can and figured I’d work it out over the next couple of weeks.

Bill Lynch can be reached at 304-348-5195 or lynch@hdmediallc.com.

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Wine & Travel Expert Daniela Garrido joined host Jessica Wills to teleport us to some top summer wine destinations. Watch the clip to get some inspiration for your next travel wine getaway.

This scorcher of a summer calls for more chilled white wine than usual—if anyone needs me, I’ll be sipping Botani’s zingy, aromatic Old Vine Moscatel and staying under the air conditioner vent until September. Before you click away, let me assure you that this is not a sweet wine (though I’m not afraid of a little residual sugar, and neither should you), but a dry wine made from a grape variety better known for its use in sweet wines.

One of the best ways to find value in wine is to seek out unusual or emerging grape varieties and regions. If mainstream American consumers can’t pronounce a wine, or think it might make them look unsophisticated, it’ll sit on shelves for months and get discounted. I spent years managing wine stores and doing this very dance, so trust me. This summer, let sugar-phobic consumers’ loss be your gain and give this dry moscatel a try!

Botani’s Old Vine Moscatel comes from Andalusia, a region on Spain’s Mediterranean coast known for fortified wines that range from sweet to dry (Sherry is the most famous example, but there are others). Unfortunately, dessert and fortified wines aren’t as popular as they used to be, so the winemakers in this region have had to experiment with other wine styles.

Fortunately for us, these grapes make delicious dry wines, and Botani’s is one of the first of this new wave of dry wines from this region. The aromas are typical of moscatel—orange blossom, peaches, white flowers, and a bit of lime zest—with a flamboyant, almost perfumy quality that I just love.

These vineyards are also practicing organic and are dry farmed, so you’re getting a lot of wine for your money! Costco’s $13.99 price is one of the best I’ve seen for this vintage from a big, reputable retailer. (If you’re not a member or live in an area where Costco doesn’t sell alcohol, you can still find it online for a few dollars more.)

Moscatel (or muscat in French, or moscato in Italian — same grape, different names) is one of the oldest vitis vinifera varieties and the sub-variety used in this wine, Muscat of Alexandria, is thought to have originated in Egypt before making its way to what is now Spain. It’s had a long time to travel all over the wine growing regions of the Mediterranean, inspiring different styles of wine from sweet to dry and still to sparkling. Hopefully this modern iteration of dry moscatel will inspire more wine drinkers to enjoy this ancient grape variety and all its beautiful aromas.

Because of its assertive flavors and refreshing finish, this is the perfect wine to serve with summer dishes full of aromatic herbs like basil and mint. Think homemade panzanella, a classic caprese, or a composed salad with peaches, tomato and herbs. Sit outside during a golden sunset with some beautiful summer produce on your plate and this wine in your glass and feel smug that you’re such a savvy shopper.

Find it in stores: Botani Old Vines Moscatel 2022, $13.99 for 750 mL at Costco

Are you picking up wine at Costco this summer? Tell us about it in the comments.

Pien Huang

There’s a fast-growing market for nonalcoholic beers, wines, and canned mixed drinks. Some researchers think there should be age limits for buying them.

Darryl Collins owns a zero-proof bottle shop called Hopscotch in Baltimore, Md., selling over 200 options of nonalcoholic spirits, beer, wine, and canned cocktails.

He opened the shop in August 2023 to get in on the booming market for adult nonalcoholic beverages. These are drinks with less than 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), marketed towards adults who want to cut back on drinking, avoid hangovers, or prevent other ill health effects from alcohol.

“Every day people are buying bottles of [non-alcoholic] wine – that is our top seller,” says Collins, “Outside of that, it’s going to be what we call a ready-to-drink canned beverage, like canned cocktails.”

This emerging beverage category grew steadily in the past few years and received a major boost during the pandemic; it’s now worth upwards of $500 million a year in the U.S., according to the industry trade group Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage Association.

Since these beverages contain virtually no alcohol, they can largely be sold to anyone, anywhere; they’re stocked on grocery and convenience store shelves around the country, and purchasable online. But Collins doesn’t sell to anybody under 18 years old at this store, and he checks ID’s to enforce that rule.

“When there’s no minimum age, can a nine-year-old come into your store and buy a non-alcoholic Corona? For me, I don’t want that perception,” Collins says.

Collins set his own age limit, and he’s free to set it however he wants because in Maryland — as in the majority of states — there are no state age restrictions on who can buy adult non-alcoholic beverages.

Now, some health researchers are calling for clear, consistent age limits for non-alcoholic beers, wines and liquors, likening them to candy cigarettes.

“I think there is a risk that these could be an entry product for alcohol use,” says Molly Bowdring, a clinical psychologist and researcher at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who co-authored a July 8 opinion piece in JAMA Pediatrics on the topic.

“There are so many cues in non-alcoholic beverages that mirror that alcoholic counterpart,” Bowdring says, like how they taste and smell, and provide the cultural experience of sipping from a koozied beer can or a fancy glass. “Additionally, a lot of full-strength alcohol producers are now making non-alcoholic products, so their brands are on these [non-alcoholic] beverages. That might lead to familiarity that then increases the likelihood of purchasing alcoholic products from that producer in the future,” she says.

To figure out which, if any, states limited the sale of adult non-alcoholic beverages, Bowdring called every state alcohol regulator and health department in the country, along with some food regulators. She found that 39 states had no statewide policies, and the states that did were inconsistent – Michigan, for instance, restricted the sale of non-alcoholic beer to those 18 and up, but had no such policies for non-alcoholic wines or liquors.

“A couple of entities emphasized that individual retailers are able to choose to ID if they want to, but that’s really up to their discretion,” Bowdring says, “By and large, there are not restrictions on this. So this seems like a gap we want to fill sooner rather than later to get ahead of a potential public health issue.”

There’s no evidence so far that the boom in zero-proof beverages has led kids in the U.S. to drink alcohol, but Bowdring looks to the recent example of e-cigarettes as a cautionary tale. “Tobacco use was really declining among more recent generations,” she says, “And then there’s this huge marketing push for vaping, and then it led to an uptick.”

With non-alcoholic wine and liquor, Bowdring argues that there should be laws in place to get ahead of that. “If we leave the door open to there being a marketing push for non-alcoholic beverages among kids, could that then lead to increased alcohol use among this generation? We don’t want to wait to find out if that’s going to happen,” she says.

While Marcos Salazar, head of the Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage Association, agrees that kids should not be drinking these products, he doesn’t think governments need to get involved. “We don’t want any regulation that’s going to have an impact on accessibility and cause additional resources to be spent for brands producing these products,” he says.

He notes that the widening availability of zero-proof adult drinks helps people who are trying to cut back on alcohol for their health.

Salazar says this emerging beverage industry can focus its marketing toward adults through advertising and store placement. “When you go into a retail shop or Whole Foods or Kroger and you see a set of these products, they’re usually near the alcoholic beverages and [offered] as alternatives,” he says. “It’s very clear who they’re marketed to and who they’re for.”

And he points out that some sellers, like the chain store Target, already card for the purchase of these drinks. Collins, with the 18+ bottle shop in Maryland, concurs. As an industry, “we have to self-police, because if we don’t self-police and self-regulate, that’s when government regulates,” Collins says.

HOPLAND ― Besides the millions of cases of wine bottled each year at Ray’s Station Winery off Highway 175, the massive facility has been producing something else in recent years, to the chagrin of its neighbors.

An aroma of raw sewage and rotten eggs, with notes of hot garbage and sweaty feet, permeates the air much of the time going back five years and, this year, pretty much constantly since early spring, residents say.

It’s a stench described as that of “rotting teeth” or a “pig farm” or “fecal matter”― an odor so foul it’s ruined parties, driven neighbors to shut their windows and stay indoors and has, they are sure, degraded their property values along with their quality of life―especially when the weather is warm.

“There have been moments where, like, you walk outside and you gag physically,” said one resident, Taylor Macri. “It’s so strong that you have to hold your breath and run to the car.”

And this year, “it’s gotten so much worse ― exponentially worse,” she said.

The source is wastewater from wine production and bottling activities that have expanded tremendously on the site since 2012. That’s the year that what had been Weibel Winery ― the last of several smaller operations there― was snapped up by Vintage Wine Estates amid a period of rapid acquisition that saddled it with debt and since has pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy.

At the time Vintage Wine Estates bought the property about four miles east of Highway 101, then-president Pat Roney said he planned to crush 400,000 cases of wine at the facility in the coming year.

Roney also told The Press Democrat that having a bulk processing facility in Mendocino County was advantageous because “there are no use permits required, so we can continue expanding to unlimited production up there.”

As much as 11 million cases of wine may now be bottled each year at Ray’s Station, much of it made by fast-growing Josh Cellars, though Vintage Wine Estates, whose operational offices are in Santa Rosa, owns close to three dozen brands, including at least one cider.

A call to Ray’s Station Winery bottling manager Scott Wallace was not returned. Operations head Rodrigo de Oliveira said he would find a company representative to answer questions but did not call back. A second call to his office was unanswered.

According to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, it appears the winery’s swift expansion may have overwhelmed its wastewater treatment facilities, which regulators say are poorly designed, in disrepair and lack adequate capacity, though the system is intended to handle an average daily flow of 91,100 gallons at peak production.

The problems go beyond wretched odors and have repeatedly put groundwater and surface water connected to the Russian River at risk of contamination, in addition to violating the winery’s permit and general requirements, regulators said.

After a series of actions over several years, including four formal notices of violation, the water quality agency has issued several new orders over the past month intended to force the company to bring its wastewater treatment system under control at last.

A Draft Cease and Desist order issued Tuesday is the latest attempt by water quality regulators to bring order to a situation that, since June 17, has included a torn or punctured liner in one wastewater treatment pond and the risk of rupture and leakage in the second.

The Cease and Desist Order must be approved by the board’s six members in order to be enforceable. A hearing will be held on the matter in the first few days of October.

A Cleanup and Abatement Order and Investigative Order issued June 20 is enforceable now, however. It requires Vintage Wine Estates to develop an urgent corrective plan by Friday and provide information to regulators necessary to oversee improvements.

The most urgent problem apparently arose when wastewater somehow accumulating underneath the pond liners, backed up underground drains, though they were capped five years earlier, said Jeremiah Puget, senior environmental scientist with the water quality agency’s enforcement unit. The backed-up fluid put upward pressure on the liners so they ballooned outward and, in one case, ruptured, though regulators are still awaiting a full explanation, Puget said.

The agency’s actions go back years and are based, in part, on inspections and findings related to odor complaints raised since January 2019, as well as evidence of problems associated with the wastewater treatment system, which includes two lined aeration ponds for wastewater treatment, one treated wastewater storage pond and five rapid infiltration basins used to dispose of treated wastewater.

At least twice in recent years, an aerator has broken, including this spring, when repairs were delayed because a particular component was unavailable, winery representatives told regulators.

The aerator failure, which persisted for more than a month, happened to coincide with Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, creating havoc for neighbors who had planned to host events. It was reportedly repaired May 29, but the odor has not abated.

An earlier series of violations, from October 2022 to April 2023, involved workers found to be disposing of excess treated wastewater on green and landscaped areas around the property, a practice prohibited since the organization removed a 12-acre vineyard that once grew there, according to water quality board documents.

Staffers informed regulators that the facility’s five quarter-acre rapid infiltration basins, designed for the disposal of treated effluent, were not percolating at the expected rate. This required an alternative disposal route that regulators say threatened contamination of groundwater and surface water resources through commingling with stormwater drainage, according to board documents.

Some treated wastewater has also ended up in stormwater structures that drain to a vineyard pond across the highway, from which it can reach the Russian River, regulators say.

Other issues arose from grape pomace left over from wine production, which was stored in a corner of the property about 150 feet from the nearest home after the facility managers could find no other disposal option.

“That ended up stinking really badly,” said Ken Richter, a neighbor who plans to sell the ranch house he shares with his wife off the north edge of Highway 175.

Richter, a vineyard manager, says there’s no way the wastewater aeration ponds and other facilities are sufficient to “handle the amount of wastewater they push through,” and with only about 35 acres, 10 of them built, it seems unlikely they’ll be able to, he said.

“It’s criminal as far as I’m concerned,” Richter said. “I don’t know how they can get away with it …. Every county agency we’ve talked to has just done nothing for us.”

“It really has affected us,” said Marie Kong, one of a handful of others with rural homes just east of the winery.

Vintage Wine Estates, in a public video touting the site’s tremendous capacity and function as “the primary workhorse” for its bottling operation, said in addition, “We’re proud to be good neighbors and supporters of our community.”

But neighbors say their dreams of living in a beautiful, rural valley and enjoying time outdoors with family have been destroyed.

“They did construction for years and years and years and years and moved a whole lot of dirt for years, and for years and years and years we had construction noise,” said Kong, who, with her husband Todd, built their home in 1991. “They kept adding tanks, and it’s huge, and even that, I was like, ‘OK.’”

“… And then the smell started,” she said.

Russian Riverkeeper Executive Director Don McEnhill said the recent regulatory notices had gotten his organization’s attention, which is now looking into the matter.

“It’s pretty easy to control that environment unless you’re not trying,” he said. “This is not rocket science. It’s about making sure you have the capacity to treat the volume you have, and you have the appropriate protocols and treatment systems.

“It’s pretty simple stuff, and they shouldn’t be getting it wrong, but if you under-invest in your treatment systems or you’re undersized, that’s a real problem.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter).

This story is from an installment of The Oeno Files, our weekly insider newsletter to the world of fine wine. Sign up here.

When we recently tackled the idea of how to spot Napa Valley’s next cult wine, two concepts stood out: winemaking talent and fruit sourcing. That’s simple in theory, but it’s not easy to ascend to the rarefied air of sought-after labels like Harlan, Bond, Promontory, Screaming Eagle, and Opus One. That doesn’t stop wineries from trying. In addition to the roughly 1,000 wine brands from Napa that are already in existence, we are constantly in touch with producers who state that the first vintage of their new wine is sure to be the next big thing. It’s fair for us to be skeptical, but that doesn’t mean our eyes—and palates—aren’t always open to the possibility.

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Then came along Sign of the Dove, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon produced from historic vineyards under the hand of Sonoma winemaker Jesse Katz. The father-and-son team behind the brand, Marc and Jake Taub, chose Katz—whose Devil Proof, Aperture, and the Setting Wines have earned him a reputation as one of the most accomplished young winemakers in the world—to lead their new project using fruit sourced from a pair of Napa’s most sought-after plots, Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III Vineyard and Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard. Talent, meet fruit sourcing. After tasting first vintage and digging deeper into its story, we can boldly state this is Napa Valley’s next great cult wine.

Katz and Jake met at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic five years ago, and Jake was immediately impressed with Katz’s winemaking style. They also hit it off because Jake and Katz grew up in and around the wine industry. The fourth generation of his family in the wine and spirits business, Jake is director of business development at Palm Bay International, a powerhouse in wine importation. As a child, Katz traveled the world visiting vineyards with his father, noted photographer Andy Katz. A few weeks after Jake’s initial encounter with Katz, he and his father headed to Healdsburg to check out Katz’s Aperture Cellars winery, which was under construction at the time. Blown away by facility’s design and state-of-the-art technology, the Taubs signed a deal that day for Katz to start making small lots of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for them.

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They put themselves in good hands, as 11 of Katz’s wines have received a combined 17 perfect 100-point scores from a variety of publications, with his Devil Proof 2018 Farrow Ranch Malbec earning top marks from The Wine Advocate, The Wine Independent, and JebDunnuck.com. And in 2021, a six-liter bottle of Katz’s Cabernet Sauvignon fetched $1 million at a charity auction in New Orleans, setting the world record for most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. Katz says the fruit sourcing for Sign of the Dove was a collaborative effort; the Taubs had been contracting some grapes from these sites for another project, but Katz was able to leverage his relationship with one of the vineyard managers to access what he considers the two best blocks in the vineyard. He also teases a potential upcoming release, telling Robb Report, “We have some other world-class sites that might be coming into the portfolio in the future as well.”

The Taubs were drawn to the Beckstoffer sites in Oakville due to their provenance and proven track record. “These two vineyards offer such distinct profiles of different parts of the valley that we have always loved,” Jake tells Robb Report. “We felt they were the perfect wines to begin our project together.” He explains that Katz put his own touch on the farming through trellising techniques that provide an optimal shade-to-light environment for the grapes to allow for slow, even ripening and overall balance.

“The Beckstoffer team are some of the most talented farmers in the world,” Katz says. “I collaborate with them to drive style in the vineyard so we can fine-tune it in the winery. I make all harvesting decisions, but we collaborate on all other elements of viticulture throughout the year as a team.” Once grapes have been harvested, they are subject to a sophisticated infrared optical sorter to select only the best of the best. “This level of sorting gives us the purest expression of the fruit, without extremes, and allows us to remove underripe green berries, stems, leaves, and overripe raisins,” Katz says. He also uses an automated pump over system with air injection “to make the most concentrated and expressive wines, because we can extract when we want and how we want.” He points out that this helps him to preserve wine aromas and build texture during the entire fermentation process. Both wines matured for 22 months in the cellar: Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III in 80 percent new French oak and Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard in 100 percent new French oak.

Sign of the Dove 2021 Beckstoffer Vineyard Georges III Vineyard is inky violet to the eye and has aromas of Luxardo cherry, raspberry, and menthol with a touch of earthiness. A cloak of elegant tannins wraps around flavors of cassis, blackberry, dark chocolate, and a hint of tobacco leaf that lingers into the long finish. Sign of the Dove 2021 Beckstoffer Vineyard Missouri Hopper Vineyard is deep garnet in color with a purple rim. It offers a bouquet of blackberry, caramel, and crushed violet that leads to a gorgeous opening note of butterscotch on the palate. Flavors of black cherry, purple plum, milk chocolate, fennel, and lavender are set into a layer of velvety tannins that endure into a floral-scented finish. If drinking now, decant for 30 minutes before serving. Both wines will age gracefully for another 20 years or more.

The Taubs and Katz really want to keep this an “insider” offering. Besides Jake holding a private tasting for Robb Report at Carbone Privato in New York City, the wines were only submitted to one scoring publication, JebDunnuck.com, whose following is more focused than many of the more mass-market wine magazines and sites. The George III received 97 points, while the Missouri Hopper garnered a score of 97+, a solid showing for a first release.

There are several other high-profile first vintage drops this season, but as we said up front, this is the one we really have our eyes on for the fast track to success. The owner and winemaker are both young—Jake is 27, while Katz is 40—and they will be introducing Sign of the Dove through private tastings around the country and in Napa and Sonoma. While Jake lets Katz “drive the farming and winemaking,” they taste the wines together as they evolve and work on the overall profile. The Taubs chose the name because “taub” means “dove” in German, but Jake also points out that the long-gone New York City restaurant Sign of the Dove was his grandfather David’s favorite. The mosaic-inspired dove on the label is in homage to the restaurant’s mosaic floor. Sign of the Dove packs a lot of history into its vineyard sourcing, label imagery, and bottle design (which has the same shape as David’s favorite wine, Haut-Brion) and we are here to tell you it has a lengthy future as well.

Do you want access to rare and outstanding reds from Napa Valley? Join the Robb Report 672 Wine Club today.

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Trefethen Family Vineyards, Dragon’s Tooth Red Blend 2021, 14.2% ABV, 750 ml

The Decanter World Wine Awards is among the most prestigious and largest wine competitions in the world. The 2024 judging saw more than 18,000 wines submitted. Just .64%, only 117 of these entries were recognized with Platinum medals as among the world’s best. Among the more than 1,000 American entries, only 106 medaled, and only two took Platinum medals. The sole North American producer to claim the honors for the top red wine varietal blend, with a score of 97/100, is Trefethen Family Vineyards.

Trefethen Family Vineyards is a prominent and historic winery located in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley, California. Established in 1968 by Eugene and Catherine Trefethen, the winery has remained family-owned and operated, now in its third generation, embodying a deep commitment to quality, sustainability, and the expression of Napa Valley’s terroir.

The property had a winemaking history dating back to the late 19th century. The Trefethens restored the original 19th-century winery building and replanted the vineyards. They focused on creating estate-grown wines that showcased the unique characteristics of their land.

The winery adheres to an “estate-grown philosophy”– all their wines are made from grapes grown on their property. This approach ensures full control over the quality and consistency of their wines. The vineyards are farmed sustainably, with a focus on environmental stewardship, including water conservation, soil health, and biodiversity.

Located in the heart of Napa Valley, the Oak Knoll District is known for its moderate climate, which is ideal for growing a wide range of grape varieties. The district’s diverse soils contribute to the complexity and depth of Trefethen’s wines.

Dragon’s Tooth is a signature red blend inspired by Trefethen Family Vineyard’s commitment to producing bold and distinctive wines. Named after the volcanic rocks found in the vineyard, which resemble dragon’s teeth, this wine is crafted to reflect the strength and uniqueness of its Oak Knoll volcanic soil terroir.

The wine is typically a blend of Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2021 vintage was 49% Malbec, 37% Petit Verdot, and 14% Cabernet Sauvignon. The exact proportions may vary slightly between vintages, but the focus remains on creating a robust and balanced wine.

These three varietals blend well together. Malbec adds deep color, ripe plum and blackberry flavors, and soft tannins. Petit Verdot contributes intense color, floral notes, robust tannins, and structure. While Cabernet Sauvignon provides backbone, structure, and complexity with flavors of blackcurrant, cedar, and spice.

Blends of Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon showcase the versatility and complementary characteristics of these grape varieties. Regions like Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Mendoza, Cahors, South Australia, Colchagua Valley, and Tuscany are renowned for their ability to craft exceptional wines that highlight the best qualities of these varietals, offering wine enthusiasts a diverse range of flavors and styles to explore. Outside of Argentina and to some extent Cahors, however, it is unusual to find blends that feature such a high percentage of Malbec.

Trefethen’s Historic Winery

Trefethen Family Vineyards, Dragon’s Tooth Red Blend 2021, 14.2% ABV, 750 ml

The wine exhibits a deep, dark ruby color, with a slight purple hue.

On the nose, there is a profound aroma of ripe blackberries, dark cherries, and plums. There are also hints of violets, cocoa, and a touch of vanilla and spice from the oak aging.

On the palate, Dragon’s Tooth is a dense, full-bodied and well-structured wine. The initial burst of dark fruit flavors of blackberry and black cherry are followed by layers of dark chocolate, espresso, and a subtle, dusty minerality. The tannins are firm yet velvety and well-ripened, giving the wine a noticeable backbone.

The finish is long and smooth, with lingering notes of dark fruit, spice, and a hint of smokiness. Although readily drinkable now, the wine’s structure and fruit forward character make it an ideal candidate for extended aging. At an average retail price of $45, it also represents excellent value.

The Decanted World Wine Awards Judging Panel described the wine as featuring:

Intrepid aromas of richly peppered blue and black fruit with a sheen of minty refreshment. Structured, polished and densely textured, with indulgent tannins and a penetrating bead of fine acidity. Built for the long haul.

Trefethen Family Vineyards is a testament to the enduring legacy and commitment to quality in Napa Valley winemaking. Their dedication to sustainable practices and estate-grown wines is evident in the character and complexity of their offerings. Dragon’s Tooth is a standout example of their craft, showcasing the bold and unique qualities of their vineyard’s terroir. Whether enjoyed now or cellared for future enjoyment, Dragon’s Tooth offers a rich and rewarding wine experience.

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Courtesy of Cuyama Buckhorn

The post-covid world has us exploring our ‘backyards’ in ways we never have before. Finding excitement in unexpected places just a hop, skip, and a jump from our homes is one of the greatest discoveries. If you’re based in Southern California and looking for a new haunt to joyride to, do not miss Cuyama Buckhorn. The 1950s revamped roadside resort stands just an hour north of Ojai and 2 hours from Los Angeles. This year they won a Wine Spectator Award and they have a new chef who hails from Mexico City with quite a pedigree. There has never been a more exciting time to venture out to Cuyama.

Courtesy of Cuyama Buckhorn

Cuyama Buckhorn—recent winner of a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence—is honored to present a truly special opportunity to connect with one of the most interesting winemakers in the world, Vahe Keushguerian, who was recently the subject of the documentary, SOMM: Cup of Salvation. Cuyama Buckhorn’s Chef Hugo Vera has designed a six-course dinner influenced by the wines to help tell the story of these special grapes. Keushguerian and his daughter, Aimee are revitalizing vines from the oldest winemaking culture in the world (more than 10,000 years of wine making) and bringing the traditions of their heritage into the modern day at their wineries, Keush and Zulal, respectively.

Courtesy of Molana Wines

In addition to growing Armenian grapes on Armenian soil, Keushguerian smuggled indigenous wine grapes out of Iran, where winemaking has been outlawed since 1979, and re-established the vines in Armenia to make Molana Winery—essentially Iranian winemaking in exile. Molana is the first Iranian wine that has been produced in fifty years, and is unlikely to ever be produced again. This is a rare chance to taste this wine, with the winemaker himself, and partake in history. To honor the collaboration between Cuyama Buckhorn and Keushguerian, Chef Vera’s menu will help tell the winemaker’s incredible story with unique Cuyama flavor and locally-sourced ingredients.

Courtesy of Cuyama Buckhorn

On Saturday morning guests are encouraged to attend a screening of SOMM: Cup of Salvation followed by a Q&A with Keushguerian.

This dinner comes amid a summer of Wine Weekends at Cuyama Buckhorn. Other recent wine dinners have featured Condor’s Hope, Marbeso, and Presqu’ile. On August 3rd, Sonja Magdevski of Clementine Carter will be the featured winemaker and September 7th, Austin Hope of Hope Family Wines will be pouring.

WHEN: July 19, 2024

PRICING: Dinner tickets are $250 per person including wine pairings. Book a room for the weekend starting at $285/night.

WHERE: 4923 Primero Street, New Cuyama, CA 93254

Cuyama Buckhorn is located 1 hour east of Santa Maria, and 2 hours north of Los Angeles.

INFO: Call (661) 766-2825 or visit cuyamabuckhorn.com to reserve

Courtesy of Cuyama Buckhorn

By Thomas Lee, The Boston Globe

Chances are, there will be some kind of food and wine festival in Nantucket May 14-18 next year. We just don’t know which version yet.

That’s because two parties are laying claim to the annual event at the same date and venue. On one side, there’s Nancy Bean, who has owned the Nantucket Wine & Food Festival since 2013. The festival, which draws about 3,000 people each year, has been a popular event on the island for over a quarter of a century. The White Elephant hotel has hosted the festival for about a decade.

But in a lawsuit filed in US District Court in Boston, Bean is accusing David Gordon and the Gordon Companies in Waltham, a family-owned chain of liquor stores, of stealing her business. Indeed, the Gordon Companies have set up a website promoting the Nantucket Food & Wine Experience at the White Elephant Hotel on the same dates in 2025 as Bean’s annual event.

Compounding the confusion is a recent press release issued by the Gordon Companies in which it claimed to have purchased the event. But then the company issued another statement saying that it did not buy Bean’s festival and was starting something new.

“Most people learn by kindergarten that you don’t say something belongs to you when it belongs to someone else,” Barry Pollack, an attorney representing Bean, told the Globe.

Neither David Gordon, CEO of Gordon Companies, nor White Elephant returned calls seeking comment.

According to court documents, Bean declined a proposal by Gordon to take over management of the festival. But on June 17, the Gordon Companies issued a press release in which it claimed that it purchased the festival.

“The Gordon Companies, owners of Massachusetts’ Gordon’s Fine Wine and Baker’s Best Catering, has acquired ownership of the Nantucket Food and Wine Experience, one of the longest running food and wine events in the U.S.,” the statement said.

“The rebranded event, in partnership with Nantucket’s iconic White Elephant harborside hotel, will take place on the island from Wednesday, May 14 through Sunday, May 18, 2025, and will feature the world’s top vineyards and culinary minds during wine dinners, seminars, galas, thematic receptions, wellness events, and celebratory brunches.”

But the company soon backtracked from the claim.

On the website Gordon Companies created for its festival contains “an announcement correction.”

“The Gordon Companies have partnered with White Elephant Resorts in a deal to produce a new event titled the Nantucket Food And Wine Experience. Gordons has not purchased, acquired, or rebranded the previously existing Nantucket Food & Wine Festival which has been operated by a still operating entity which is not affiliated with The Gordon Companies in any way. The Nantucket Food And Wine Experience is also not affiliated with the Nantucket Food & Wine Festival.”

Weiss, the attorney, said Bean still plans to host the festival next May as planned. But where in Nantucket remains up in the air.

Be civil. Be kind.