Wine

Wine Spectator has learned that Constellation Brands, one of the world’s largest wine companies, has acquired Oregon’s Lingua Franca, the Willamette Valley producer founded by Master Sommelier Larry Stone. The deal includes the brand, winery, vineyards and inventory. The price was not disclosed. Lingua Franca’s winemaking team, led by Thomas Savre and French consultant Dominique

Americans are mad for the full diversity of fine Italian cuisine and wine, and for that they largely have restaurateur Tony May to thank. Best known as the man behind New York restaurants San Domenico, Palio and SD26, May passed away at age 84 on April 3 after a brief illness. The oldest of eight

Kosta Browne’s next chapter will include wines from Burgundy. This summer, the California Pinot Noir star will add five bottlings from France’s Burgundy region to its portfolio: 2020 Pinot Noirs from Beaune (a blend of Les Bressandes and Les Teurons), Gevrey-Chambertin, Pommard and Volnay ($125 each), plus a Chardonnay from Meursault ($120). “We’ve been dreaming

Ben Calais, founder and winemaker for Calais Winery in Hye, Texas, has a simple question: “Are we in the process of killing our vines slowly but surely?” Calais Winery is one of the dozens of Texas wineries and vineyards that have been impacted in recent years by herbicide drift from cotton fields in the High

Researchers from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine found evidence linking moderate alcohol consumption during meals with a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes. The team presented preliminary research at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference earlier this month. “The effects of alcohol consumption on health have

America’s newest wine appellation is all about coastal weather. When the backers of the San Luis Obispo Coast American Viticulture Area (AVA) assembled a petition for the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), they sourced data from 34 climate stations to help determine the now-approved appellation’s borders. The result is the most

2022 is shaping up to be a big year for acclaimed Alsace-born, New York-based chef and restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who is expanding his restaurant group within the United States and to Japan and Monaco. Following a late 2021 entry into Nashville, he reopened Jean-Georges Philadelphia, a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner in the Four Seasons

On March 9, the European Union imposed sanctions on Russian businessman Dmitry Pumpyansky, 57, his wife, Galina, 56, and their son Alexander, 34, paving the way for the French government to freeze the oligarch’s assets, including the two French wineries he owns, Domaine Prieuré St.-Jean de Bébian in Languedoc and Domaine Ganevat in Jura. It

More than two decades ago, Wine Spectator editor and publisher Marvin R. Shanken was granted a rare interview—the first and last of its kind—with the famously private Ernest Gallo, co-founder and chairman of what was then and continues to be among the world’s largest wine companies. The interview, at Gallo’s home in Modesto, Calif., nearly

As people once again enjoy traveling and mingling free from COVID restrictions, Wine Spectator looks forward to gathering with longtime readers and new friends at its annual Grand Tour tastings, and tickets for the three evening events are now on sale. After a highly successful run in late 2021 after a year off due to

A new study has added to the evidence that moderate wine drinking could protect your mind as you age. The report by researchers at Penn State University, Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and other institutions found that the consumption of flavonoids—polyphenolic compounds found in plant-based foods, including grapes and wine—could lower mortality

Difficult, expensive wine projects have exerted a lifelong gravitational pull on Pablo Álvarez Mezquíriz—one that has not weakened with time. Two years shy of his 70th birthday—the date he has promised to step down as chief executive officer of his Vega Sicilia Spanish wine empire—Álvarez just announced he is building a new winery in Galicia,

Atlanta restaurant Lazy Betty, a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner, is making its dining experience more inclusive and comfortable for those with sensory processing needs, such as people with dementia, Parkinson’s disease, autism and post-traumatic stress disorder. The restaurant’s team has been working toward this goal with nonprofit KultureCity, which specializes in helping businesses

Firefighters raced to the Larson Family Winery, a small producer in the Carneros region of Sonoma, on the evening of March 2, as a fire raged through the barn that serves as the winery’s tasting room. They were able to save adjacent structures, including the winery. The majority of the winery’s inventory was also spared,

The two Englishmen started showing up at investor conferences in 2015, armed with an enticing proposition. Attendees could, via their London-based wine brokerage, Bordeaux Cellars, lend money to wealthy borrowers-in-a-bind who needed fast loans, no questions asked. The lenders would receive interest at the rate of 12 percent, paid quarterly. Normally, such a high rate

As part of ongoing efforts to improve diversity in the wine industry, the Roots Fund, Wine Spectator and Zachys have partnered to create a new wine auction to raise money for the nonprofit organization’s initiatives to help members of Black, indigenous, Latinx and other underrepresented communities enter the wine industry. The auction, taking place April

Freshly revamped for a post-pandemic wine world, Premiere Napa Valley introduced a new auction partner and approach for 2022, raising $2.7 million for Napa Valley Vintners (NVV), the local trade group that promotes the wines, producers and appellations of the Napa region. The live auction on Feb. 27 brought in $2.1 million of the total.

Alain Graillot, whose eponymous domaine became the standard-bearer for the Crozes-Hermitage appellation in France’s Northern Rhône Valley, passed away due to a stroke on March 3, according to his longtime exporter. He was 77. In 1985, Graillot was living in Paris and pursuing a career in agricultural chemicals when he suddenly changed course. He bought

The Southwest Florida Wine and Food Fest charity auction is back on track after going virtual in 2021, hosting an in-person event and raising $2.1 million for local pediatric healthcare programs, with more than half of the money coming from live auction bids. The last time this top annual charity event bested the $2 million

One of Napa’s iconic wineries is changing hands. Doug Shafer, president of Shafer Vineyards, announced this morning that Shinsegae Property, a luxury brand firm based in Seoul, South Korea, with department stores, shopping centers, golf resorts, hotels and other interests, has acquired his family’s winery. While neither side disclosed details, the price tag is a reported