On Friday, we published our latest Issue—the largest of this year thus far, with over 5,100 wine reviews and 21 articles spanning 18 major wine regions from nine countries around the world. (Our reviewers have really outdone themselves.)

Coming from editor-in-chief and Napa reviewer Lisa Perrotti-Brown is the insightful and in-depth Napa Valley: 2007 Retrospective – Napa's Turning-Point Vintage. It all started two years ago when she joined Robert Parker as he presented a master class on the 2007 vintage in Napa Valley. "I came away from the tasting not just with an appreciation of how incredible 2007 was as a growing season for Napa Cabs but also that this was an important turning-point vintage for the region," Perrotti-Brown explains. "Over a decade on, the best 2007 Napa wines are now shedding their puppy fat and emerging magnificently, demonstrating this was truly a seminal year for Napa Valley Cabernet and serving as a preview of more singular expressions of this great region to come."

 

In order to get reviews of the hardest-to-find wines in your hands as soon as possible, Joe Czerwinski has prioritized Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas for Part One of his report on Southern Rhône: The Great 2016s, with over 800 reviews. He sums up the 2016s as "incredible wines produced in reasonable quantities that are still largely undervalued (outside a few trophy collectibles). The wines are approachable yet age-worthy." 

 

You can also read about the best exemplars coming out of one of Burgundy's top regions in William Kelley's Chablis 2016 and 2017 report, in which he focuses on "the best producers and most exciting new talents, several of which are reviewed for the first time." With just over 475 wines reviewed, there's a lot of great Chablis to be discovered.

 

Meanwhile, Stephan Reinhardt was meticulously working his way across the Champagne region, "from south to north and then back to the south again," keying in on the region's terroir and unique vignerons to bring you over 300 reviews of the oh-so-cool and of-the-moment Grower Champagnes. And Luis Gutiérrez may have set another new record with the number of wines reviewed (over 350!) in his latest coverage of Spain's Ribera del Duero, but more importantly, he also found a few new projects and revamped names "that seem to be following the path toward terroir wines."

 

Oregon reviewer Erin Brooks makes her debut in this Issue with her report on Oregon: 2016 – Hot, Dry & Sunny, Take Three. You won't believe how many fantastic wines and producers she's discovered—there are over 800 wine reviews in this report, and it's only Part One.

A mammoth of an Issue like this brings forth a multitude of great wines. These 15 listed below received a perfect 100 points. Enjoy.