Wine Enthusiast Magazine

Wine Enthusiast Magazine is one of the most respected and quoted authorities in the world of wine and spirits. We feature the hottest trends in everything related to wine. Our seasoned editors do the work for you, with over 700 expert ratings and reviews in each issue. Plus, in-depth features on all aspects of cocktails, spirits, beer, inventive wine and food pairings, trendy recipes, savvy travel features, and more.

Wine Enthusiast Magazine

PLANTING SEEDS IN AN AGE OF UNCERTAINTY • We face an existential paradox raising children and vines in an era of climate change.

out&about • SIPS AND SNAPS AROUND THE GLOBE

IS THAT SAGEBRUSH I SIP? • Across California, chaparral has a reputation for getting in the glass.

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT • Monarch Tractor founder Carlo Mondavi talks about bridging the carbon footprint divide.

A grape that can stand up to the Midwest’s polar vortexes.

DIVER DOWN • Earthy-sweet squash draws a clever complement to scallops.

NO SLIP UPS • A cocktail that has sustainable a-peel uses the part you usually throw away.

IN THE WEEDS • THERE IS PROBABLY NO OTHER FOOD SOURCE AS GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT—AND OUR BODIES—AS SEAWEED.

HACKING THE FUTURE OF SHIRAZ • Reimagining Australia’s most famous grape.

ATTACK OF THE LANTERNFLIES • The invasive insect is the latest added challenge to growing grapes in the Northeast.

WEIGHT WATCHERS • We haven’t yet started recording and tracking the weight of the empty bottles we rate, but maybe we should. Think of the possibilities. We could deliver you a price-and-quality-tocarbon footprint ratio. Until we do start weighing glass bottles, you have our alternative packaging feature on pg. 36 of this issue to give you some idea of which of the lightweights you should be drinking.

THE PROBLEM WITH VINTAGE CHARTS • A little more nuance is sorely needed.

FULL SAIL • By transporting bottles across the ocean from France to New York by wind-powered schooner, Grain de Sail II cuts carbon emissions due to shipping (a third of the wine industry’s carbon footprint) by as much as 90%. Turn to page 34 for all the carbon cargo stats.

EMISSION TO Board • The wine industry’s shipping carbon footprint by the numbers.

LIWEIGHTS • Alternative packaging is getting there. Wine we actually want to drink is gradually becoming available in lighter containers that don’t put as much strain on the climate as their traditional glass counterparts. We tasted 36 examples so you don’t have to. Here’s the good and bad.

MATCH the WINE • One column is things that we said while blind tasting these wines. Draw a line from the tasting note to the wine it’s describing.

Rock PAPER Spirits • Producers are slowly making their way toward eco-friendly packaging.

Can hybrid and PiWi grape development save the day for winegrowers grappling with climate pressures?

the Neo-prohibitionists ARE COMING • Are Dry January and other rhyming alcohol abstinence months harbingers of a looming extremist movement? A cautionary tale is playing out in Oregon and spreading to other states.

CAN CHAMPAGNE GIVE UP Farming with Chemicals? • One of the world’s most renowned wine regions has struggled to make progress toward more sustainable viticulture, but it’s getting there.

INSIGHTS FROM THE 2025 VINTAGE CHART

BUYINGGUIDE WINTER 2025

BUYING GUIDE

AUSTRALIA

CALIFORNIA

NEW ZEALAND

NORTHEAST ITALY

TUSCANY

BURGUNDY

RHÔNE VALLEY

Spirits

THE WEIGHT OF WATER • WE Tasting Director Anna-Christina Cabrales opens some eyes during a blind tasting.