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Affordable-wine maven Arthur Damond’s top-value “Wine Discoveries” (four-page bi-monthly newsletters, $28 per year, P.O. Box 654, El Cerrito, CA 94530) offer concise, clear and reliable reviews of 50+ widely available “Exceptional Wines Under $8” plus some of lesser status, including “Not Worth the Price” and “Awful.”
A more upscale, sometimes Olympian perspective is in “Dan Berger’s Vintage Experiences” (48 four-page issues per year, available by mail, fax or e-mail for $52 from P.O. Box 5857, Santa Rosa, CA 95402). It’s a clear, well-written, savvy and eclectic commentary plus a few selective reviews of top-shelf wines (including wine of the week plus a bargain of the week) by a leading and highly influential wine journalist, judge and impresario. Having judged for several years with Berger at the New World International Wine Competition, I have great regard for his judgment.
“California Grapevine” (six bi-monthly 16-page issues, $40 per year, P.O. Box 22152, San Diego, CA 92103-2618). Each issue rates, ranks and describes in detail 200 to 250 premium California wines and also provides timely book reviews and insightful commentary by Dan Berger; wine competition results tabulating leading award winners will be e-mailed to subscribers in June, August and November. All issues offer a prestigious “Very Highly Recommended” ranking of “the best premium American wines.” Each fall, the publisher also produces an invaluable tabulation of all awards from the 15 major U.S. wine competitions.
Now in its 33rd year, the comprehensive and influential “Wine Spectator” annually publishes 18 hefty, glossy issues of sophisticated bon vivant wine world coverage. Each issue’s influential 20- to 30-page “Buying Guide” reviews and rates several hundred recently released wines from around the world, identifying reliable “Best Values” and “Smart Buy,” plus a few top-rated “Highly Recommended” and “Collectable” superstars — sources for its prestigious, year-end “Top 100” and its ne-plus-ultra “Wine of the Year.” There also are authoritative wine-world features on selected regions, styles and personalities, plus food, travel and other accoutrements of posh living, punctuated by dazzling color photos and ads. To subscribe, go online at www.winespectator.com or call 1-800-752-7799.
The other leading glossy wine magazine — “Wine Enthusiast” — is a less-hefty publication with more of a beverage focus, now in its 21st year. It features 14 issues per year that review and rank spirits as well as wines, including reviews of its annual “Top 100” list of affordable wines plus rating and ranking its top-100 premium wines.
I also recommend a handy and concise trio of inexpensive recent booklets: Mary Dowey’s “Food & Wine,” Fiona Beckett’s “How to Match Food and Wine,” and “Pairing Wine with Food” by Robert & Virginia Hoffman.
John Breitlow is a retired Winona State University speech professor who began learning about good wine in the 1950s while serving in Vienna, Austria, with U.S. armed forces.
