Previous issue: Jan. 31 - Feb. 28, 2007

Cover Story

50 Bordeaux Less Than $50  Improvements in winemaking and a string of successful vintages have helped France's premier wine region produce many excellent bottlings at reasonable prices   James Suckling, with Jo Cooke

• Bordeaux Values at a Glance  Scoring 50 châteaus in vintages 2000–2005

• James Suckling’s Top-Scoring Bordeaux Values  Tasting notes on the highest-scoring bottlings among our values

• Offering the Best  Profiles of the 50 Bordeaux producers who made the cut for crafting great value wines

• Wine Spectator Online  Watch interviews with owners of some of these featured châteaus-including Christian Moueix, Michel Rolland and Stephan von Neipperg.

Features

Tasting Report

2004 Bordeaux  This less-heralded but very good vintage offers reasonable prices and up-front appeal  James Suckling

• Wine Spectator Online  Bonus Videos: Check out all the Bourdeaux videos in our videos by region channel, from interviews with owners of the top growths to James Suckling's tastings of the 2005 barrel samples.

California Rhônes  Syrah and Syrah-based wines, along with Grenache and Viognier, make a strong showing in the Golden State in 2004  James Laube

• Wine Spectator Online  Bonus Video: Syrah producer Carole Meredith, cofounder of Lagier Meredith, describes growing Syrah on Mount Veeder high above Napa Valley.

• Four Vines  A rebel spirit inspires one of Paso Robles’ most exciting labels  Mary Ann Worobiec

Travel

The New Miami Beach  High-rise condos, fine dining and full-service hotels arrive on the South Beach scene  Bruce Schoenfeld

• Wine Spectator Online  For a complete listing of Miami-area restaurants with Wine Spectator award-winning wine lists, search through our online database of restaurants.

Cellar Notes

Northern Rhône  A preview tasting in the cellars reveals a region back in form for 2005 and 2006  James Molesworth

• Wine Spectator Online  Read profiles of other Northern Rhône domaines visited by James Molesworth in 2006.

Food

Fighting Over Foie Gras  The debate heats up as animal-rights activists and foie gras producers clash over this luxury food item  Sam Gugino

• Wine Spectator Online  Learn more about foie gras and find recommended wine matches for it in our online Encyclopedia of Food.

Departments

This Issue  Marvin R. Shanken

Upfront  Investment pressures in Châteauneuf-du-Pape; Kentucky allows easier direct shipments; Colorado sommelier and chef to make wine; wine may prevent heart attacks in men with hypertension; wine producers struggle with proposal to require allergen warnings; Resveratrol in the news; GrapeVine

• Wine Spectator Online  Keep up with breaking news as well as the people, places and happenings that wine lovers are talking about.

Dining Out  San Francisco  Harvey Steiman

• Wine Spectator Online  Wine Spectator Online's free weekly e-mail newsletter, Sips & Tips, provides advice on wine, dining and travel.

Tastes  Black pepper, cheese knives, milk chocolate, New York Hot Spot: Wined Up, milling about and uncorking made easy

• Wine Spectator Online  Learn more about other spices in our online Encyclopedia of Food.

Columns

James Laube  Trouble with taint

• Wine Spectator Online  Read James Laube's blog on the TCA taint in Pillar Rock's 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon and his followup on understanding TCA. Plus find out more about the subject in our Learn Wine section, under Wine Flaws: Cork Taint and TCA.

Matt Kramer  Adventures in Oz

Collecting  2006 wine auctions break the $200 million mark; Wine Spectator ranks top 10 charity auctions; 1995 Bordeaux reds outshine 1996s

• Wine Spectator Online  Subscribers to Wine Spectator Online can search the complete auction database for prices on collectibles, read analysis of the latest auction results and view a calendar of upcoming sales.

Wine Talk  Chef Daniel Boulud  Laurie Woolever

The Buying Guide

For complete reviews of more than 169,000 wines, use Wine Spectator Online's Wine Ratings Search, where you can sort by region, variety, vintage, price, score and tasting date.

Buying Guide Correction:  Get a PDF with the complete wine names and notes that were misprinted on page 162 of the issue. The notes will also be reprinted in the May 15 issue of the Buying Guide.

EXPANDED VINTAGE CHARTS   We now offer more than 35 charts in total, updated with the latest vintages and more coverage of older vintages. Scan our new vintage chart grid to get an overview of each year in the world's major wine regions, including our editors' scores and drinkability recommendations, or check the individual region charts for more details on conditions in each year. Plus, print our handy new wallet-size chart with a summary of recent and classic vintages. GUEST BLOGGERS  Join the conversation with our newest guests. Caymus Vineyards owner Chuck Wagner is blogging about life as Napa Valley winemaker. Eric Ripert, chef and owner of Le Bernardin restaurant in New York, takes you behind the scenes in an award-winning kitchen. Rocker and wine collector Maynard James Keenan has been revealing his great wine and food moments during his band Tool's tour of Europe. David Myers of Sona, a Grand Award-winning restaurant in Los Angeles, shares his experiences as a chef, from knocking on Charlie Trotter's door to how he finds inspiration and motivates his team. And renowned sommelier Larry Stone, now the general manager of Francis Coppola's Rubicon Estate, provides his take on topics such as life-altering wine experiences, the benefits of blind-tasting and corks versus other closures. As always, our senior editors are blogging on their latest tastings and dining experiences. INSIDER AND ADVANCE RATINGS   Get a jump on the most exciting new wines with our two newsletters. The biweekly Insider provides a first look at our editors' latest tastings, while Advance gives you a sneak peak at selected ratings from Wine Spectator's upcoming issue.

VIDEOS   We now have more than 100 videos! This issue, learn more about California Rhône-style wines from a top Napa Syrah producer. To enhance our Bordeaux coverage, check out our entire Bordeaux channel, with interviews with renowned château owners and senior editor James Suckling's tastings of the upcoming 2005 vintage. Plus, find out what really goes into making wine with the newest updates in our Hard Labor series. You can also subscribe to Wine Spectator's weekly video podcast on iTunes. TRAVEL FORUM   Planning a spring trip to wine country or a great restaurant city? Get tips from fellow readers, or share your own, on wineries, restaurants, hotels and wine stores worth visiting. We're also covering "entertainment" so you can exchange recommendations on museums, golf courses, sporting venues and more. WINE GAMES   Test your knowledge with our Name That Wine game; we randomly select four wines and mix up their tasting notes-you find the matches. Or try What Am I Tasting?, our biweekly mystery game in which we give you a real tasting note, and you deduce the varietal, appellation and age.