Wine
Features
The Basics
Wine Enthusiast Magazine Wine for Beginners Red | White | Tasting Food Pairings | Cheese |
Epicurious A Champagne Primer Food & Wine Champagne Guide |
GQ Magazine GQ Descending Wine Course New Rules | White Wine 101 |
Features
Wine-Tasting Workout Wine pros focus on 6 key things. Megan Krigbaum collects exercises from experts to help even a novice become a smarter taster. |
Best Sommeliers, 2012 F&W grilled 25 sommeliers about everything. Here, their wisdom. |
American Wine Awards 2011 One works with ancient vines others ignore; another is a great comeback. The five here are the most thrilling new US producers. |
Classic Insights & Recommendations
Robert Parker: 30 Years of Wine Trends A concise history from the world’s most famous wine critic. |
50 Classics You Must Try What is a classic wine? It’s a wine that gives a definitive sense of a region or a style. |
Most Trustworthy Wineries The F&W Wine Guide highlights 500 of the most reliable producers. Ray Isle picks some of his favorites. |
Recommendations
Wine Lists Made Simple Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle dreams up his ideal wine list. |
100 to Drink Right Now Top vintages, up-and-coming regions, new sommelier favorites, best trends, wine-geek choices, great values and more. |
50 You Can Always Trust F&W’s picks for the most reliable, most readily available wines in the world—50 that won’t let you down. |
150 Best Wines for $15 or Less
25 of Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle’s favorite bargains. Plus: Reds (Cabernet, Shiraz, Merlot, and Malbec) from some of the world’s best wineries; more than 60 refreshing Whites, like unoaked Chardonnays and zippy sparkling wines; and impressive Rosés from top regions like Rioja and Provence.
10 Best Bargain Wines in the World Ray Isle blind-tasted 120 popular, under-$13 wines to discover the best, most delicious, easiest-to-find red and white values. |
In Search of Good Cheap Wine Ignore cheap Pinot, stock up on Malbec and other rules of bargain hunting from Ray Isle. |
America’s Best and Most Accessible Value Wines Ray Isle makes it easy to find a wonderful bottle no matter where you are—even if it’s a so-so wine shop or a chain restaurant. |
Stanley Tucci & Ray Isle: Best Wines Under $15 When they began hosting public TV’s Vine Talk, actor Stanley Tucci and F&W’s Ray Isle set out to find inexpensive but terrific wines. Here, best finds for under $15. |
Amazing Value Wines These 20 brilliant bottles are terrific deals. |
10 New American Value Reds Faced with a surplus of grapes and wine, more top U.S. vineyards and wineries are selling to négociants, who release wines under their own labels at value prices. |
Global Value Cabernets Great Cabernet grows around the world. Here, 11 great values. |
50+ Values, Legendary Regions Here, Ray Isle tastes through six of the world’s great regions and uncovers fantastic values in each. |
67 Best American Values After tasting more than 300 American value wines, Ray Isle reports on his most exciting finds, from Chardonnay to Zinfandel. |
N. California’s Best Values Northern Cali produces values, from crisp Sauvignon Blancs to lush, fruity Zinfandels. |
S. Australia’s Best Values South Australia makes great affordable Shiraz. But it’s also a source for succulent Chardonnays and spicy Rhône-style whites, and Cabernet-based reds. |
S. France’s Best Values Languedoc-Roussillon, Rhône Valley and Provence produce spicy Syrah- and Grenache-based reds, and exotic whites from varieties such as Clairette and Viognier. |
Med. Spain’s Best Values Spain’s warm coast is a great source for robust reds, made mostly from sun-loving varieties like Grenache and Monastrell. |
Coastal Chile’s Best Values Casablanca, San Antonio, Leyda and Limarí have become some of the world’s best sources for crisp, zesty whites. |
Argentina’s Best Value Reds Argentina is producing some of the world’s best values. Here, Ray Isle spotlights 13 terrific reds. |
Pairing
15 Rules for Great Wine and Food Pairings Ray Isle created pairing principles for the world’s best wines, then the F&W Test Kitchen came up with stellar recipes to match. The result: the most comprehensive pairing guide we’ve ever created. |
Versatile Wines That Pair with (Almost) Anything Ray Isle canvasses restaurant wine pros to find the most versatile wines—bottles that also work with all kinds of meals at home. |
20 Wine Pairings to Try Before You Die Some people think matching specific wines and foods is an exercise in snobbery. But these extraordinary pairings will make you a complete convert—even if the combination is off-the-wall. |
Shopping
Be a Smarter Shopper Ray Isle tells how to navigate every part of a wine store, from the discount bins to the cabinets under lock-and-key. |
10 Best Online Wine Shops Novelist Chang-rae Lee reveals his secret for finding the Web’s best wine deals. Plus: the 10 best online wine shops. |
24-Hour Internet Discounts These super-discount sites offer bargains for only a limited time—usually either 24 hours or until the wine sells out. |
Ratings Guide
98–100 Classic
94 – 97 Superb
90 – 93 Excellent
87 – 89 Very Good
83 – 86 Good
80 – 82 Acceptable
Enthusiast Top 100, 2012 Top 100 Cellar Selections |
Top 100 Best Buys 2012 Top 100 Best Buys 2011 |
Best Buy Cheat Sheet Take this list of value superstars on your next shopping spree. |
Ratings Guide
95–100 Classic
90 – 94 Outstanding
85 – 89 Very Good
80 – 84 Good
Top 100, 2012 |
Top 100, 2011
Note: Year may reflect year of tasting, not vintage.
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Alsace:
‘08 | ‘09 | ‘10 | ‘11 | ‘12 |
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CA Pinot Noir:
‘09 | ‘10 | ‘12 |
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Piedmont:
‘08 | ‘09 | ‘11 | ‘12 |
Top 100 Wines 2012
This year’s list includes both familiar names, like Hanzell and Larkmead, and nascent ones like Jolie-Laide and Lost & Found. In all cases, they’re pioneering the best of West Coast wine. The past few years have been tough for the wine industry — a combination of the recession and a few nail-biting vintages. Out of this many winemakers found a renewed sense of purpose — including, hopefully, a desire for honest wines that cater to our tastes not just for special occasions but also for Tuesday spaghetti nights.
Top 100 Wines 2011
Blogs & RSS
Mouthing Off Blog | Wine
Under $15, $15 to $30, and Over $30
Diner’s Journal | Drinking
Selections, Tasting Room Reviews, News and Features
Column by Janet Fletcher,
author of “Cheese & Wine: A Guide to Selecting, Pairing, and Enjoying”
Smell. Taste. Scribble. Repeat.
The Chronicle’s wine editor on what to drink.
Bigger Than Your Head
Wine writer Frederic Koeppel gazes critically at the creating and preparing, marketing and selling, issues and language behind what we eat and drink.
Drinking, eating, enjoying in Brooklyn.
Dr. Vino
wine talk that goes down easy
Tyler Colman talks, teaches and writes about wine. His book, A Year of Wine: Perfect Pairings, Great Buys, and What to Sip with Each Season described as “witty, lively, and loaded with common sense” by the Chicago Tribune.
Vinography
One of the most influential wine blogs. In addition to reviews, the site’s contributors work hard to create an alternative to traditional sources and styles of wine journalism, partially through emphasis on the stories, people, and passion behind wine, all told from a down-to-earth perspective.
Wine Anorak Blog
By Jamie Goode, wine columnist with UK newspaper The Sunday Express, and two-time winner of a Glenfiddich award in wine writing.
Wine Doctor
Circle of Wine Writers member Chris Kissack shares impressions of wines from his travels to the Loire and elsewhere, visiting vignerons and vineyards, and attending tastings of significance.
Wine Lovers’ Page
The oldest, largest and most popular independent wine-appreciation site.