February 2007
Features

Departments
• Editor’s Note

• Happenings

• Fined & Filtered:
Max Allen on Australia's recent frosts;
Ben Canaider on crown caps;
Patricio Tapia on Chile's water lottery;

• Critics’ Picks: Best Buys

• Spirits: New & Rare, by David Wondrich

• Best American Zinfandel & Syrah

• Drinks
Peter Meehan on artisan shochu

• Joshua Greene on coastal California syrah

• Short Finish Extreme Winemaking by Graham Harding
 
Tastings
OLD-VINE REDS
Overview by Philippe Newlin

• Australia
tasted: 465 reviewed: 116

• New Zealand
tasted: 106 reviewed: 47

• Rhône Valley
tasted: 150 reviewed: 90

• American Syrah
tasted: 102 reviewed: 21

• Zinfandel
tasted: 108 reviewed: 21

• American New Releases
tasted: 359 reviewed: 63

• International New Releases
tasted: 541 reviewed: 117

• Total
tasted: 1,831 reviewed: 475

• Kiwi Ambitions
As young pinot noir vines mature in Central Otago, Marlborough and Martinborough, New Zealand's most ambitious producers are garnering international attention. Philipp Blom visits the winemakers behind the country's most promising pinots.

• Barossa Resilience
Max Allen goes to the source—a community of Barossa growers whose vines date back to the 19th century—to consider what a difference vine age can make in shiraz.

• Migrating South
Vine cuttings imported to Chile and Argentina in the 19th century provide a direct link to Bordeaux's pre-Phylloxera past. Patricio Tapia tastes wines from growers working to maintain those old-vine connections.

• Winter Menus for Zinfandel
Whether hunting and roasting a quail, or heading to Taylor's Refresher for a pulled pork sandwich, Wolfgang M. Weber offers tips on wintry dishes to match California zin.