All about Men and the women who love them!
With another challenging year finally coming to a close, it’s time to turn over a new leaf and attempt—with little success—to improve yourself. Here are several common idiotic New Year’s resolutions you’ll never actually keep.
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NPR pop culture critic Linda Holmes lists highlights from the year, including Ted Lasso, a TikTok dog, a twisty mystery, some great performances, and a moment in a mall.
(Image credit: Apple TV+; Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Apple TV+; Searchlight Pictures; Mark Johnson/HBO Max; Brett Roedel/Hulu; Patrick Smith/Getty Images; Apple TV+; Pablo Larraín/Neon )
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Author: Linda Holmes
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Author: Emily Bernstein
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Author: Alex Connolly, Ginny Hogan
Before we look ahead to whatever 2022 may bring, Wine Spectator‘s editors would like to remember the wine industry pioneers, innovators, leaders and chroniclers we lost this year, some of them to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year we bid farewell to Steven Spurrier, organizer of the famed 1976 Paris Tasting, as well as Châteauneuf-du-Pape star Philippe Cambie and Barolo champion Pio Boffa. We also lost California wine pioneers David Bruce and Au Bon Climat co-founder Jim Clendenen, and Hollywood producer-turned-Oregon vintner Mark Tarlov. We’ll fondly remember these members of our community that we lost in 2021.
[article-img-container][src=2021-12/mc_sandy121021_1600-2.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy Legal Sea Foods)] [alt= Sandy Block excelled at his job because he held a deep passion for all of wine’s myriad aspects, from science to history to service.][end: article-img-container]
Alexander “Sandy” Block
The longtime Legal Sea Foods wine director was warm and personable, with a knowing twinkle in his eye.
[article-img-container][src=2021-04/ns_pio041821_1600.jpg] [credit= (Sandro Michahelles)] [alt= Pio Boffa was driven from a young age to help his family’s winery innovate and grow.][end: article-img-container]
Pio Boffa
The visionary leader of the historic Pio Cesare winery converted his family’s négoce operation to one focused on Barolo and Barbaresco’s top vineyards.
[article-img-container][src=2021-05/ns_bruce050421_1600.jpg] [credit= (Melissa Barnes)] [alt= David Bruce believed the gorgeous Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco, were an ideal terroir for Pinot Noir.][end: article-img-container]
David Bruce
The Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir pioneer balanced a medical practice with a life in wine, cultivating grapes 2,100 feet above the Pacific Ocean.
[article-img-container][src=2021-12/ns_cambietall122021_1600.jpg] [credit= (Jon Wyand)] [alt= Philippe Cambie could be warm and friendly over a good meal and a glass of wine, but he took grapegrowing and winemaking very seriously, pushing his clients to realize their dreams.][end: article-img-container]
Philippe Cambie
The larger-than-life winemaker was the driving force behind many Châteauneuf-du-Pape wineries raising their quality.
[article-img-container][src=2021-05/ns_clendenen051721_1600.jpg] [credit= (Steven Freeman)] [alt= Au Bon Climat co-founder and winemaker Jim Clendenen was honored at chef Emeril Lagasse’s Carnivale du Vin charity event.][end: article-img-container]
Jim Clendenen
From his Au Bon Climat winery in Santa Maria Valley, Clendenen helped raise the quality of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
[article-img-container][src=2021-12/ns_eloi120121_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy Domaine de Trévaillon)] [alt= Eloi Dürrbach farmed without chemicals before it became trendy, and when the local wine regulations were changed, he simply sold his outstanding red as a vin de pays.][end: article-img-container]
Eloi Dürrbach
The founder of Domaine de Trévallon did things his way, making gorgeous red wines for decades.
[article-img-container][src=2021-05/ns_alejandro052521_1600.jpg] [credit= (Claes Löfgren)] [alt= Alejandro Fernandez was proud of his hometown and his region in Spain, working to raise its profile in the wine world.][end: article-img-container]
Alejandro Fernandez
The Spanish vintner put the Ribera del Duero region on the map with powerful, outstanding Tempranillos.
[article-img-container][src=2021-12/1638899732_rc_franchetti120721_1600.jpg] [credit= (Molchen Photo)] [alt= Andrea Franchetti bought his Tenuta Trinoro farm as a retreat with the money he made selling a painting. The idea of planting vines came later.][end: article-img-container]
Andrea Franchetti
After creating a cult wine from the remote Val d’Orcia hills of Tuscany at Tenuta Trinoro, he became a key figure in the renaissance of Sicily’s Mount Etna at his Passopisciaro winery.
[article-img-container][src=2021-01/bsd_goldberg011221_1600.jpg] [credit= (Thomas Matthews)] [alt= Howard Goldberg in 2018.][end: article-img-container]
Howard Goldberg
The longtime New York Times editor and wine writer was knowledgeable and kind, with a quick wit.
[article-img-container][src=2021-01/ns_benjamin012821_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy Edmond de Rothschild Heritage Group)] [alt= Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild were married for 27 years and together built an empire of wine and philanthropy.][end: article-img-container]
Benjamin de Rothschild
The head of his branch of the famous banking family owned seven wine estates in Bordeaux and beyond.
[article-img-container][src=2021-03/rc_sonninoportrait031621_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy of Castello Sonnino)] [alt= Tuscan aristocrat Alessandro de Renzis Sonnino, affectionately known as “the Barone,” will be fondly remembered.][end: article-img-container]
Alessandro de Renzis Sonnino
The elegant, silver-haired and bearded Tuscan aristocrat took over his family’s Castello Sonnino and its Chianti vineyards in Montespertoli more than 30 years ago.
[article-img-container][src=2021-03/tm_spurrier031821_1600.jpg] [credit= (Getty / David M. Benett)] [alt= Wine merchant Steven Spurrier will be remembered most for organizing the 1976 Paris Tasting, but he was a dedicated educator as well.][end: article-img-container]
Steven Spurrier
The British champion of all things vinous was best-known for organizing the 1976 Judgment of Paris.
[article-img-container][src=2021-08/ns_tarlov081121_1600.jpg] [credit= (Shannon Sturgis)] [alt= Mark Tarlov speaks at the 2018 New York Wine Experience during a panel discussion and tasting of Oregon Pinot Noir.][end: article-img-container]
Mark Tarlov
Passionate about Pinot Noir, the movie producer spent his later years founding the Evening Land, Chapter 24 and Rose & Arrow wine brands.
[article-img-container][src=2021-08/ns_becky082021_1600.jpg] [credit= (Jon Wyand)] [alt= Becky Wasserman often hosted Burgundy newcomers at her house for lunch or dinner, ready with advice to help them get started in the wine business.][end: article-img-container]
Becky Wasserman
From her farm near Beaune, she represented small winegrowers from around France to U.S. importers and consumers, and was a valuable mentor.
[article-img-container][src=2021-12/ns_ziliani122921_1600.jpg] [credit= (Courtesy Berlucchi)] [alt= Franco Ziliani, seated, gathers with his children—Arturo, left, Cristina and Paolo—who now run the sparkling winery he helped found.][end: article-img-container]
Franco Ziliani
The winemaker and co-founder of Berlucchi was a Franciacorta pioneer.
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We know you want to be the best you in 2022, so we’re offering a curated selection of excerpts from 2021 Life Kit episodes to help you do just that. Here’s how to say “sorry” — like you mean it.
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One of the greatest joys seasoned (and wannabe) home chefs can experience is unboxing a brand new knife and immediately cutting into a slab of meat or slicing vegetables razor thin. The effortlessness of plowing through prep work with a sharp knife tailormade for certain tasks is akin to reaching culinary nirvana. You see there’s no one knife that does it all. There are a number of knives every home cook needs in their kitchen.
So if you’ve planned on making a resolution this new year to maybe cook more or just whip up some healthier meals, there’s no better motivation than spending a little money on one of these high-quality kitchen knives. We’ve selected a range—from santokus to slicers—that’ll make your time in the kitchen more efficient and enjoyable. Here are the knives every home cook needs.
Well-known and respected in Canada for bringing high-quality blades to consumers at affordable prices, Kilne just entered the U.S. market this fall—which is probably why you’ve never heard of them. Add this classic French-inspired chef’s knife to your roster. Crafted from German chromium-molybdenum-vanadium steel with a full tang—solid steel from tip to tail—makes this all-rounder strong and balanced. This knife does it all in the kitchen, from delicate cuts to heavy-duty chopping or slicing.
[$50; kline.com]
The Nakiri is a wonderful blend of a chef’s knife and cleaver. Supremely useful in the kitchen, it’s squared-off shape and straight blade (no rocker) makes it ideal for chopping and slicing veggies. Made in France by fifth-generation bladesmiths, it has an 11.5 inch total length and weighs only 7 ounces for awesome agility around your cutting board.
[$119; madeincookware.com]
The Japanese santoku kitchen knife design has been popular in the West for decades now and it’s clear to see why: The multi-purpose blade configuration combines the best of traditional chef’s knives and a small cleaver to make it worthy of its name, which means “three virtue” of slicing, dicing, and chopping. This beautiful rendition, which is made in Idaho, has a blade crafted from high-performance S35VN steel that uses an etched rendition of the Teton mountain range in Wyoming in place of the traditional dimples, which help keep food from sticking to the blade while prepping. The super-tough handle is made from G10, a fiberglass epoxy composite that comes in multiple color combos.
[$389; newwestknifeworks.com]
This massive knife might not be one you use every day (unless you’re running a barbecue restaurant), but when you need it, it’ll turn any big slicing jobs into easy tasks. The intricate 66-layer Japanese Damascus blade is forged from high-carbon AUS-10 steel that’s honed to a wickedly sharp edge using the traditional Honbazuke method, which is a three-step process that ends with a fine polish. The G10 handle offers a comfortable and ergonomic grip that’ll pull you confidently through any tough kitchen task.
[$110; cutluxe.com]
Not every knife in your block has to be some super-fancy, high-dollar purchase. You can still get great-quality knives at rock bottom prices, like this boning knife from legendary knife maker Case. A staple for thousands of butcher shops around the country, this classic blade is made from durable, long-lasting stainless steel that’s mated to a solid walnut handle. This simple-but-effective cutter will quickly debone everything from ham to venison and can even pitch in for some slicing duty.
[$44; caseknives.com]
Created by bladesmith Quintin Middleton, who makes bespoke blades for such culinary luminaries as Emeril Lagasse and Michael Antony, this light and nimble paring knife is a wonder to wield. It has a featherweight feel and an amazingly sharp blade crafted from a stainless steel called AEB-L, which is known for it’s toughness and corrosion resistance. The special steel also allows the blade to be forged to an extremely thin degree, giving it a delicate, deft feel when taking care of a multitude of small kitchen jobs.
[$100; middletonmadeknives.bigcartel.com]
Toss out your old steak knives that are, by now, dull and uninspiring. Because when you slap down a perfectly cooked ribeye that’s slightly charred on the outside and red-pink on the inside, you owe it to the cow to cut into that meat with a worthy knife. This four-piece set—which is customizable—is made from Benchmade’s special SelectEdge stainless steel and comes with a small serrated edge near the tip for separating tougher cuts of meat like game. This versatile blade is also at home helping out with prep as it’s sitting on the table next to your sizzling steak. Intrigued but don’t need the whole set? You can also pick up a single knife for $160.
[From $600; benchmade.com]
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Author: Adam Bible
The South African leader was key to the anti-apartheid movement. He chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and preached forgiveness. Tutu died Dec. 26. Originally broadcast in ’84 and ’99.
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Author: Terry Gross
Franco Ziliani, the winemaker and revered “founding father” of Northern Italy’s Franciacorta sparkling wine appellation, died of natural causes over the weekend at his home on the shores of the appellation’s Lake Iseo. He was 90.
Ziliani’s passing came at a historic milestone, 60 years after making his first groundbreaking vintage of a Champagne-style sparkling wine for Berlucchi, the winery he came to own through his long partnership with Count Guido Berlucchi. That wine demonstrated that the region could produce high-quality sparkling wine, in a similar style to French Champagne. Today, Franciacorta is considered one of Italy’s top sparkling styles.
Silvano Brescianini, president of the Franciacorta wine industry consortium, described Ziliani as the visionary who transformed a historic but languishing winegrowing area in Lombardy into an Italian answer to Champagne. “Above all he deserves credit for having believed and invested in something that did not exist—namely Franciacorta,” Brescianini said in a statement.
Maurizio Zanella of Ca’ del Bosco, who launched his family Franciacorta winery in the 1970s, adds that Ziliani’s greatest contribution was in helping to improve the image of Italian wine, particularly sparkling wine, among Italians. “It was not considered elegant to drink Italian. You had to drink French like Veuve Clicquot or Moët & Chandon,” Zanella told Wine Spectator. “But Franco Ziliani broke that dogma, because when you drank Berlucchi in the ’70s and ’80s it was so fashionable, so chic.”
Ziliani, who studied enology in Piedmont in the postwar years of the 1940s and 1950s, turned Berlucchi into a success story on all counts. Today Berlucchi is Franciacorta’s leading winery, producing about 330,000 cases annually from organically farmed grapes grown on its 270 acres of vineyards and another 1,000 vineyard acres it manages.
Earlier this month, the non-vintage Guido Berlucchi Brut Rosé Franciacorta ’61 (91 points, $36) earned a spot among Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2021.
Ziliani often spoke of developing an admiration for Champagne while studying enology in Alba. After attaining his degree in 1954, he went to work for his family’s wine merchant company, which did business throughout Brescia province, including the area that became the Franciacorta appellation. In 1955, Ziliani was recruited by the elegant Count Berlucchi to improve the Pinot Bianco produced in his 17th century cellars in Borgonato. Berlucchi’s rustic white was plagued by instability problems that the young Ziliani traced to the release of iron and calcium from the walls of the winery’s cement fermentation tanks.
Ziliani didn’t stop by solving that puzzle. He famously suggested that to valorize his vineyards, Berlucchi should use the wines as a base for sparkling wine in the “French style.” After three years of experimenting, Ziliani produced about 3,000 bottles of 1961 vintage Pinot di Franciacorta Methode Champenoise Brut. In later interviews, Ziliani recounted how the count’s butler complained the wine would take 20 years to unload. Instead, it sold out in months.
With production and demand climbing in 1965, Guido Berlucchi formally created an eponymous wine company in partnership with Ziliani and another business associate, Giorgio Lanciani. The company set to work replanting and acquiring vineyards and expanding and renovating its cellars.
Berlucchi’s image made it something greater than the nascent Franciacorta. And in 1976, Berlucchi withdrew its wines from the appellation it inspired in order to source additional grapes from the Oltrepò region of Southern Lombardy and from the mountainous Trento area of northeast Italy. It wasn’t until the year 2000—at the urging of Ziliani’s children— that the winery began again producing Franciacorta appellation wines again and returned all its production to the area before Berlucchi’s 50th anniversary in 2011.
Following Berlucchi’s death in 2000, Ziliani became company CEO and embarked on a new era, aided by his three children. He gradually purchased the count’s business shares from his foundation. In 2017, at 86 years old, Ziliani retired, selling nearly all his shares to his children, while maintaining the title of company president. His son Arturo remains CEO today.
Ziliani is survived by his three children—Arturo, Cristina and Paolo—who all work at Berlucchi, as well as eight grandchildren, two of whom work at the company.
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Since hooks’ passing on December 15, social media has flooded with reflections on her public impact as an author and scholar. Here, her friends remember what she was like in private.
(Image credit: Karjean Levine/Getty Images)
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Author: Jireh Deng
