Wine

Wine

Made in Italy, Asolo Prosecco features the DOCG classification, which stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, meaning controlled and guaranteed designation of origin. This is the highest classification for Italian wines, and means that the product has undergone incredibly strict quality control and testing regulations. When you see this acronym on a bottle of Italian wine, you know that the origin and varietal of grapes as well as the aging period have been carefully vetted.

Just an hour west of St. Louis, set along some of Missouri's most gorgeous scenery, is the tiny town of Augusta. The population hovers around 300 people, and it's still a hidden gem for most people not from the Show-Me State. However, this slow-paced small town is also home to one of the richest wine-making traditions in the U.S.-so much so that it actually earned the title of the first American Viticulture Area (an official wine-growing region) back in 1980.

These bottles are generally crowd-pleasers, and they pair well with a wide range of foods. And if you want more certainty that they're esteemed wines, they've also won one or several medals at wine competitions. Although countless delicious wines haven't received awards (that entails actually entering a competition), you can be certain that these bottles have received a seal of approval from plenty of wine professionals ... so your guests should be satisfied!

Every November, one of the UK's leading Italian wine importers, Liberty Wines, hosts a tasting of new-season Tuscan olive oils (and corresponding wines) over lunch at London's River Café - an event attended by the producers and a roll-call of well-known chefs (guests at this year's lunch included Jamie Oliver, Henry Harris, Tomos Parry and the River Café's own Ruth Rogers). The oils are, genuinely, straight off the presses and there's a vitality, a vibrancy to them that I find absolutely thrilling.

In the tasting room of a Bordeaux winery, a photo on the wall shows a pastoral tableau: three generations of the Dubois family, sipping wine on the patio of their Les Bertrands château, with their Australian shepherd, Namek, perched at their feet. Out the window, chestnut trees sway in the breeze, with sunlit vines stretching for acres beyond. It's this mesmerizing serenity that draws millions of tourists to southwest France every year

Domaine Carneros (NV) Cuvee de la Pompadour Brut Rose, Carneros ($47) Named in honor of Madame de la Pompadour the paramour of French King Louis XV this pale pink sparkler from Domaine Carneros is perfect for pre- (or post-) feast sipping. Comprising 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, this traditional-method sparkling wine yields aromas of orange blossom, strawberry and a hint of dried rose petals, followed by watermelon and a generous, creamy mousse on the palate. Available at Bottle Barn and other local retailers, domainecarneros.com.

I am passionate about establishing the Paso Robles region as the new benchmark for Bordeaux varietals in the U.S. market and beyond, showcasing our wines on the world stage, The significant, almost earth-shattering, results this region has achieved over the past decade are why I am thrilled to join the Paso Robles CAB Collective - to continue driving its growth and ensure the region builds an even stronger foundation for the future.

Beaujolais Nouveau is a simple, fruity red known for being the world's 'fastest' wine. It's a 'vin de primeur', best consumed as soon after harvesting as possible . It's illegal to sell 'Bojo' before 12.01am on Beaujolais Nouveau Day, so when that time finally does roll around, wine lovers rush to get their hands on a bottle and festivities erupt all over France and beyond.

Forget the stopwatch and the stress. Thanksgiving is a long, delicious stretch, more like a slow dance than a sprint. With the right bottles on hand, you can glide from appetizers to the aftermath with a glass that keeps every moment bright and buoyant. By the time guests start rolling in, the kitchen crew is deep in the trenches still. For a crowd-pleasing welcome without any fuss, reach for a palate priming sparkler - think Cava, Prosecco, Lambrusco and beyond.

The fine wine and spirits industry gathered for its most prestigious celebration as the 2025 Golden Vines® Awards were presented during an unforgettable ceremony at Miami's iconic Faena Forum on November 8, 2025. Often referred to as "the Oscars of fine wine," this year's event marked a significant evolution in how excellence is recognized within the global wine and spirits community.

Best Wine Advent Calendar Wine lovers, rejoice. Enjoy 24 days of wine from all over the world. An array of wines from France, Chile, Argentina, Australia, and California await, spanning whites, reds, and roses. A glass of wine a day seems like a pretty good way to kick off the holidays.

Now is the best time to buy premium wines in the past 25 years, says Will Harlen, managing director of Harlen Estates, a prestigious Napa Valley winery where the allocation list runs years deep. The quality of wine has improved drastically, and there's a pandemic price correction where producers are lowering their prices. But for newcomers staring at triple-digit prices, the wine world can feel impossibly daunting. Wine has more SKUs than any other product made on Earth.

Travel and wine lovers now have a new reason to stop into any of Bluestone Lane's 25 locations across the U.S. this November. The Australian-inspired café has launched a special "Sip Here, Fly There" promotion that invites guests to enjoy a taste of South Australia while entering for a chance to win a round-trip flight from San Francisco to Adelaide on United Airlines.

Saicho sparkling teas are what I serve friends at home who aren't drinking - no other brand does a better job of translating the taste of the leaf. "We believe that tea is to be revered and celebrated as a cornerstone of culture and tradition," says Natalie Winkworth-Smith, who founded the company with her husband Charlie after growing frustrated by the non-alc options in fine-dining restaurants.

With six restaurants, three books, two kids, one husband and a James Beard Award to boot Shelley Lindgren isn't resting on her laurels. Born in San Francisco and raised in West Marin, Lindgren is best known for A16, the award-winning restaurant she co-founded in San Francisco's Marina District in 2004. Now, there are four locations of the modern Southern Italian eatery, including a new Napa outpost that launched this spring.

Coterie Winery has reached a remarkable milestone with its 10th anniversary at 885 West Julian Street, highlighting the vibrant evolution of urban winemaking right here in San Jose. Founded in 2007 by Shala and Kyle Loudon, this spot has turned an old warehouse into a hub for crafting small-batch wines from acclaimed vineyards. Each bottle captures the distinct essence of its origin, drawing in locals and visitors who appreciate the blend of sustainability and community focus that defines the winery.

But what if I told you the same can be true for wait for it bold, warmer whites? Common knowledge dictates that we serve all white wine from an ice bucket, chilled to within an inch of its life it's just what we do but in reality that can kill a wine, particularly if it's a powerful and/or aromatic example.

It's not news that many of the alcohol industry's brand managers seek to bring their products to cities where they themselves don't actually live. These people often live in cities like New York and Los Angeles and commute to smaller cities across the country in an attempt to integrate their brands. But while doing so, they often market through the lens of what's working in their home cities, not necessarily through the lens of what people in their target markets are actually doing.

The Willamette Valley had vineyards in the 1800s, but Prohibition and market forces kept it from becoming a true winemaking region until the 1960s, when rows of cool-climate grapes like pinot noir and chardonnay began to crawl across the Dundee and Tualatin Hills. A few wineries grew to more than 700 today, making the Willamette Valley a global wine sensation. Along the way, a handful of bottles helped define the valley's distinctive character.

Phil Coturri, a pioneer of organic winegrowing in the United States, is stepping down as chief executive officer of Enterprise Vineyards, the Sonoma-based vineyard management company he founded in 1979. Long before "organic" became a marketing buzzword, Coturri was eschewing synthetic herbicides and fertilizers in favor of soil health, inspiring generations of winegrowers to follow suit. Now, he's handing over daily operations at Enterprise Vineyards, which manages over 700 certified-organic acres across Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties.

My grandfather Peter Hall, who has died aged 82, was one of England's best known winegrowers. The writer Andrew Jefford described him as the father of the contemporary English wine scene a significant feat for anyone, let alone a man who taught himself winemaking from a paperback, and whose self-planted vineyard totalled six acres. Breaky Bottom Vineyard, near Lewes, in East Sussex, was Peter's passion. For five decades he worked meticulously on it: tending the vines by hand, labelling each bottle.

Most wine produced in the world is derived from a shared grape species, Vitis vinifera. Consisting of thousands of varieties, vinifera spans broad geographical regions from western Europe to southwest Asia, from the Middle East across to North Africa. When you enjoy wines like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, or Merlot, you're enjoying vinifera. But wine is a mutable force. It's always changing to reflect its present circumstances, and the story of vinifera is evolving.

A former project manager for Francis Ford Coppola's Inglenook Winery in Rutherford is now facing criminal charges accusing him of taking $1.2 million from the sale of wine tanks and using the money for home improvements without the owner's permission. George Giles Beeker III was charged Oct. 2 with grand theft and embezzlement, according to the Napa County District Attorney's Office. The case builds on accusations first raised in a lawsuit Inglenook's owner, Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery, filed in July 2024.

Murakami's collaboration with Dom Pérignon extends beyond decoration - it's a conversation rooted in nature. For Dom Pérignon, nature is where it begins, as well as the medium itself - the grapes, unpredictable climate, and human touch - are all encapsulated within the confines of the glass. Murakami also interprets nature through transformation - his surreal, smiling flowers and dreamlike characters capture both the natural and artificial worlds, between nature's evolution and the artist's reimagining of it.

The concept of terroir has been essential to the history of Burgundy since (at least) the Middle Ages when the Cistercian monks started documenting vineyard sites across the region. Each plot was meticulously mapped out and categorized based on where the vines were most successful and what the resulting wines tasted like. Many of the areas that were selected as the cream of the crop back then are still highly regarded to this day.

There was much to celebrate at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair's 50th anniversary gala on Saturday, when more than 1,300 attendees many donned in their sparkliest cocktail attire gathered to sample award-winning wines and food from some of the region's top producers. The highlight of the event, which took place at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, was the announcement of the top three sweepstakes wines in the professional wine competition.

To collect wine, or any alcohol, is to curate not only bottles but stories, memories, and aspirations. A cellar becomes a gallery of taste and time: a 1990 Bordeaux resting beside a Sonoma Pinot Noir, each label recalling moments of celebration, of refinement, even of restraint. Collectors often speak of wine as a living art, something to be admired and shared, not merely consumed. But as new research from Stanford University reveals, the science of alcohol consumption is increasingly at odds with the romance

We like the way short, stubby wine glasses add a note of nonchalance to a dinner party. The squat stem glass is more casual and understated than their elongated, more fragile counterparts. Case in point: At a recent dinner party, I served drinks in low-to-the-table glasses. I noticed that guests seemed unusually at ease. Maybe it was the glass, or maybe it was the wine, but I'm convinced that shorter is better.

The wind whips the grapevines, turning my meditative picking stance into a full-body workout. I firmly plant my legs, stabilising a thrashing branch with my left hand as my right snips off a bunch of grapes. Local people claim the roaring mistral wind makes you crazy, which I can appreciate as each arid gust chaps my lips and desiccates my eyes. I'm at Domaine Rouge-Bleu, an organic vineyard in the Cotes du Rhone wine region in southern France.