Wine

After temporarily closing in March 2020 due to the pandemic, Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner Le Cirque reopened Oct. 28 at Las Vegas’ Bellagio hotel, with Dameon Evers taking over as executive chef. Former chef Chris Heisinger is now assistant executive chef of the entire Bellagio property. “I’m honored to be working

As world leaders meet in Glasgow this week for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to discuss the climate crisis, the wine industry is looking at ways it can reduce its carbon footprint. One Napa winery, Trefethen Family Vineyard, has partnered with Texas company Earthly Labs for an innovative carbon-capturing pilot program at

On Sept. 19, an oven caught fire at one of Argentina’s largest glass factories in Mendoza, quickly spreading across an entire floor, destroying machines and supplies. Verallia, which makes 35 percent of Argentina’s wine bottles, had to take its operations partially offline as it began repairs. The incident sent local wineries into panic mode. Making

Food scientists at Cornell University have found further evidence that red grape pomace offers potential nutritional benefits. They’re hoping that by using polyphenolic compounds from pomace, they can both reduce waste and improve people’s gut and heart health. Vintners are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their waste. One option is recycling pomace, the skins

“Man, it feels good to be here,” said California winemaker Mark Aubert, speaking from on stage at the 2021 New York Wine Experience. “If I had to do another Zoom wine tasting ….” Hundreds of winemakers and wine lovers in the room heartily agreed. After 18 months of pandemic ups-and-downs and uncertainty, the Wine Experience

Hubert de Boüard de Laforest, co-owner of St.-Emilion’s Château Angélus and winemaking consultant, was found guilty yesterday by a Bordeaux tribunal of knowingly using his public roles to influence the 2012 St.-Emilion classification. The court found that he participated in the ranking process despite having a financial interest in the classification and acting as an

Many of the world’s greatest winemakers could be found Thursday night in New York’s Times Square. They had not gathered to grab a show at the recently reopened theaters of Broadway. Rather, they came to lift glasses and toast being together again. After skipping 2020, the New York Wine Experience returned to the Marriott Marquis

Seasoned Italian chef Hillary Sterling’s Ci Siamo is now open in New York. Backed by Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, the restaurant debuted Oct. 12 at Manhattan West, a new development project adjacent to Hudson Yards. The Italian name translates to “here we are” or “we’ve arrived,” which the team notes is particularly fitting

Sotheby’s is going to France. The longtime auctioneer, one of the leading players in collectible wine and spirits sales, announced it will soon open new offices in Beaune and Bordeaux to meet European demand and increase efficiency. The French offices will be the fourth major wine hub for the auction house, which already hosts sales

In 2019, a paper published in The Lancet made headlines when researchers questioned wine’s protective effects against heart disease and instead found that any level of alcohol consumption increased blood pressure and the possibility of heart attack or stroke. But two London-based professors recently took a deeper dive into those claims, and found that the

Should wine lovers have the right to buy wine from retailers in other states? The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it won’t decide—at least not in this session—declining to hear Sarasota Wine Market v. Schmitt. A Supreme Court decision on the case, which challenged Missouri’s law prohibiting out-of-state wine retailers from shipping orders to

The restaurant industry in the U.S. and around the world has suffered a shock over the past year and a half, with the pandemic presenting unprecedented challenges to operators across the business. Within that context, few people are better positioned to weigh in on the future of restaurants than chef José Andrés, whose ThinkFoodGroup has

After more than a year and a half, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, the Wine Spectator Grand Award winner in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., will resume service Oct. 7. The news comes at the end of the six-month chefs-in-residence program showcasing everything from upscale Chilean cuisine to more casual menus with barbecue and wood-fired pizza. The

Brad Pitt and the Perrin family have new partners. Angelina Jolie has sold her 50 percent stake in Château Miraval to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of the Stoli Group, for an undisclosed sum. That makes the drinks group partners with Jolie’s ex-husband on the Provençal rosé winery. Miraval has been a blockbuster since the

The worst-case scenario was a 50 percent tariff on bottled wine. That’s what most insiders in the Australian wine industry were thinking in fall 2020 after tensions spiked between the Chinese and Australian governments over the origins of COVID-19 and Australia’s ban on Huawei’s 5G network. Once again, it looked like the wine community was

After going virtual in 2020, the Sonoma County Wine Auction took in $1.7 million in a downsized, in-person event over the Sept. 16–18 weekend. One of the top charity auctions in California wine country, the auction has raised $39 million since its inception. “It’s great to see everyone in person instead of a computer screen,”

As the NBA season kicks off next week, Brooklyn Nets coach and kosher vintner Amar’e Stoudemire is setting high expectations for the games ahead. The former All-Star with the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks says he now analyzes the game differently and had to learn a lot about how to manage players. It’s the

Earlier this year, charity wine auctions were optimistic about weathering the pandemic this fall. While the Delta variant has made their efforts more challenging, many are finding ways to raise funds for worthy causes. In Napa Valley, the Harvest Stomp wine auction hit its highest total ever, raising $2.7 million for the Napa Valley Grapegrowers

Wine Spectator Grand Award winner Canlis in Seattle welcomed a new team member this month: Linda Milagros Violago, the first woman to run the wine program since the restaurant opened in 1950. Violago succeeds Nelson Daquip, who departed in June 2021 to move to Los Angeles, where he has taken a sommelier position at Best

What happens when you try to act like a sommelier? For Wine Spectator‘s 15th annual Video Contest, Italian winery Caviro brought together Italian wine professionals and a comedian to show what happens when we attempt to seem like an expert instead of just being ourselves. Following last year’s “Wine at Home” theme, this year’s contest