October 2009

Features

• F&W Wine Guide 2010

  Food & Wine’s Wine Guide 2010 is like a pocket-size sommelier eager to tell you what to drink, why it’s good and what the important trends are. Here, a peek.

• How to Be a Smarter Wine Shopper

  F&W’s Ray Isle tells how to navigate every part of a wine store, from the discount bins to the cabinets under lock-and-key, and come home with a delicious bottle.

• Editor’s Letter

• Favorite New Dessert Cookbooks

  This preview of fall’s top baking books celebrates easy American desserts of all kinds, from a creative chocolate-nut pound cake to a classic Southern lemon icebox pie.

• 15 Rules for Great Wine and Food Pairings

  F&W’s Ray Isle created pairing principles for the world’s most important wines, then the F&W Test Kitchen came up with stellar recipes to match. The result: the most comprehensive pairing guide we’ve ever created.

• American Wine Awards 2009

  F&W’s 12th annual American Wine Awards honor a shrewd importer, several terrific winemakers and great bottles that are also great values.

• Ultimate Napa Wine & Pizza Party

  Building a clay oven is a little like a barn raising, the owners of Napa’s Fatted Calf and their friends discover: When the work’s done, the celebration starts.

• Understanding Oregon Pinot Noir Country

  Novelist Chang-rae Lee explores the Willamette Valley and meets winemakers stubbornly protecting their independence.

• What Sommeliers Know Best

  F&W asked 24 of the country’s savviest wine experts for tips on everything from finding the best value bottles to coping with a crumbly cork.

• Wineries by the Sea

  Some of the world’s best beaches are minutes from world-class vineyards. F&W’s Jen Murphy names the best places to combine wine tasting with surfing, swimming, sunning and eating.

• Wines for Drinking, Not Overthinking

  Why can’t we talk about wine as easily as we talk about food? Writer Salma Abdelnour seeks out a common language while drinking Pinot Grigio with burgers.

• Mind Blowing Glass Designs

  Twisted or puffy, tall or squat, the international assortment of glasses and decanters at Clo wine bar in New York City are a beautiful break from tradition.