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2025 Rheinhessen-Nahe and Mittelrhein: Opulence, Clarity and Sweet Marvels
featured, Germany
, Aug 2026
The 2025 growing season was marked by evenness: no frost, hail only in tiny pockets, warmth without heat spikes and sufficient rain. This spelled fast-advancing ripeness and an early harvest, which was punctuated by rain for some. The resulting wines are fruit-laden and opulent, but beautifully contoured because acids remained stable. Lovers of sweet wines will find alluring higher Riesling Prädikate in 2025, while the 2024 Pinot Noirs drive home that Germany can and does excel with Spätburgunder.
Vatan Sancerre Clos La Néore: 2005-2022
France: Loire, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured
, Aug 2026
Mention Clos La Néore and oenophiles’ ears immediately perk up. One of the world’s rarest and most distinctive whites, Clos La Néore represents the pinnacle of artisan farming and winemaking. This vertical spanning thirteen vintages back to 2005 showed Clos La Néore in many facets, from wines driven by steely minerality to those marked by textural richness and weight. With one or two exceptions, the wines were superb.
Sancerre: An Undulating Landscape
France: Loire, featured
, Aug 2026
The only thing that growers in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé can rely upon seems to be unpredictability. There is no longer such a thing as a normal growing season. Two thousand twenty-five marked yet another set of contrasting conditions to the past two vintages, creating a vastly different style of wines from those of previous years.
The Original Napa Valley Icon: Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V.
napa, Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, United States: California
, Aug 2026
Fifty years ago, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars’ 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon Stag’s Leap Vineyards bested some of France’s best-known wines at an unassuming blind tasting. That tasting, chronicled as the Judgment of Paris, became a cultural phenomenon that changed the wine world. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of this momentous occasion, Vinous was thrilled to host a deep retrospective of the estate’s Cabernet Sauvignon S.L.V. going back to the 1973.
Mvemve Raats MR de Compostella: 2014-2022
Verticals & Retrospectives, featured, South Africa
, Aug 2026
Many years ago, the MR de Compostella from winemakers Bruwer Raats and Mzokhona Mvemve lit the torch for my South African wine journey. It was thus an enormous pleasure to taste through the last decade of releases with Raats, solidifying the MR de Compostella as one of the Cape’s finest Bordeaux blends.
Inflections In Chardonnay: Chablis 2024 & 2025
featured, France: Burgundy
, Aug 2026
While Chablis is a constant source of quality in the Burgundy landscape, what is not constant is the weather. The 2024 and 2025 growing seasons posed very different challenges that stymied quality in some places but gave rise to marvellous wines in others.
Jura: France's Mysterious Outsider
featured, France: Jura
, Aug 2026
Winemakers in Jura rarely follow a script. Neither did the last two vintages. While the mercurial 2025 growing season produced promising young reds, the frost- and mildew-ravaged 2024 vintage has emerged far more positively than anticipated, led by whites that are at times outstanding. This report focuses on Château-Chalon AOC, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, explores the newly released 2019 Vin Jaunes and Château-Chalons, and offers an early look at a 2026 growing season that is on track to become the earliest on record.
Campania’s Reawakening: Beyond the Shadow of Taurasi
Italy: Center & South, featured
, Aug 2026
From the ancient, high-elevation vines of Taurasi to the moonscape-like vineyards of Cilento and the volcanic slopes of Caserta, Campania is experiencing a region-wide evolution. A new wave of terroir-focused, quality-driven winemakers is bringing the distinctions among Campania’s varied landscapes into sharper focus.
Lower Austria 2025: Back to the Future
featured, Austria
, Jul 2026
The 2025 vintage in Lower Austria is like a souvenir from the past: Grüner Veltliners are textbook examples of peppery verve, while Rieslings come with wonderful cut, afforded by the acidity of a year that had sufficient rain and no real heat spikes. These squeaky-clean wines are super-classic expressions that recall another age.
Chile: A Recalibration in the Heartlands of Maipo
featured, Chile
, Jul 2026
Chile's most iconic wine region is undergoing a stylistic recalibration. As Santiago grows past the historical borders of Maipo, vineyards are migrating to new territories that are redefining the region's flavor palette. From the plush, rich wines of the past to the tenser, more precise modern reds, a new Maipo is beginning to emerge, while other Chilean regions are also finding their own voices.