In a section of a Napa Valley warehouse, more than half a million bottles of wine rest on pallets stacked 30 feet high. Every bottle was purchased by customers of Underground Cellar, a San Francisco-based internet retailer boasting 24,000 clients. Among a variety of perks, the bedrock promise of Underground Cellar was that it would store wine for free under ideal conditions until customers asked for delivery. But last April, one of Underground Cellar’s lenders called in an $8 million loan, pushing the firm into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. All that stored wine, instead of belonging to the firm’s cust ..read more

Who’s behind it: Rubén García, an acclaimed Spanish chef, has worked with culinary leaders such as the late Jean Luc Figueras and Martín Berasategui, and at celebrated restaurants such as Ferran Adrià’s now-closed El Bulli. As the creative director of José Andrés Group (formerly ThinkFoodGroup) for 16 years, he also worked with the avant-garde, chef's table–style, tasting-menu-only Minibar, which holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Why you should know about it: Restaurants spotlighting the culinary traditions of Spain and significance across the U.S., thanks in no small part to chefs l ..read more

Renowned Piedmont vintner Michele Chiarlo, founder of the winery that bears his name, died Nov. 18. He was 88. Born into a winegrowing family, Chiarlo studied enology at the wine school in Alba, counting among his contemporaries future enology consultant Giacomo Tachis and winery founder Renato Ratti. He established his winery in 1956, bottling his first Barolo, made from purchased grapes, in 1958. He believed the future success of the region lay in selling the wines internationally. Chiarlo was part of a generation looking to improve methods in both the vineyards and winery to try and produce ..read more

Why do red wines give some people headaches? There have numerous unproven culprits: sulfites, histamines or maybe just too much alcohol. But a new study, published in Scientific Reports by researchers at the University of California, Davis, has found that one of the healthier polyphenols in red wines keeps some people from quickly metabolizing alcohol, which can lead to an aching head. Quercetin is a type of polyphenol called a flavanol, and it is naturally present in all kinds of fruits and vegetables, including grapes. It’s considered a healthy antioxidant and is even available in supplement ..read more

A New Red Horse by David Burke Opens at the Bernards Inn Chef-restaurateur David Burke isn’t done growing his portfolio, which already includes Wine Spectator Restaurant Award–winning establishments in multiple states: David Burke Prime Steakhouse in Connecticut, 1776 by David Burke in New Jersey, and Double Barrel Steak by David Burke in Rhode Island. Earlier this year, Burke and the David Burke Hospitality Management team took over the food and beverage programs at the Bernards Inn, a 116-year-old hotel in Bernardsville, N.J., opening the new Red Horse by David Burke on Nov. 2 (following an ..read more

The rain started falling across much of the Italian peninsula in May, and it just wouldn’t stop. In Emilia-Romagna, six months worth of rain (20 inches) fell in six hours, flooding the streets of Bologna and Ravenna and triggering hundreds of landslides in the hills. Many of the region’s 130,000 acres of vineyards flooded as well, and workers couldn’t get to them to try and prevent mildew for days. Emilia-Romagna was just the hardest hit region of much of central and southern Italy in what proved to be one of the most challenging growing seasons in years for many vintners. Overall, wine produc ..read more

What's New at Napa Valley's Dry Creek Kitchen? Over the two-decade run of Charlie Palmer’s Best of Award of Excellence winner Dry Creek Kitchen, the Sonoma County restaurant has seen a few touch-ups to its dining room in downtown Healdsburg, Calif., but nothing like the facelift that debuted this fall. Among the noteworthy transformations is the relocation of the wine cellar, now a glass-encased showpiece adjacent to the kitchen. The biggest change to the dining room itself is the addition of a grand, round, eight-top table dubbed “The Terroir Table,” which sits beneath an elegant glass-steel ..read more

When members of Hamas crossed the border of Gaza and launched attacks against Israelis on the morning of Oct. 7, winemaker Victor Schoenfeld quickly learned that a number of his employees at Golan Heights Winery were being called back to military service immediately. That included his son, Shai, who is currently serving his mandatory military service at an Air Force base but had been home for a weekend visit. “He’s been working 16-hour shifts every day since he returned to the base,” said Schoenfeld. “This will be remembered as the harvest of the war.” Across Israel, many wineries were mid-har ..read more

Treasury Wine Estates has made another move in the luxury California wine category, agreeing to acquire Paso Robles-based Daou Vineyards in a deal with a potential final price tag of $1 billion. The deal includes an initial payout of $900 million, with an additional $100 million if Daou reaches certain goals. The acquisition includes the Daou brand, Daou Mountain Estate and hospitality site, four boutique luxury wineries and around 400 acres of vineyards in the Adelaida District of Paso Robles. Brothers Georges and Daniel Daou will remain involved in the business, with Georges as founder and D ..read more

The winelands of South Africa's Western Cape region were hit by the largest and most devastating storm in living memory at the end of September, while the country celebrated its Heritage Day weekend. Nearly 16 inches of rain fell in less than 48 hours in some areas, causing catastrophic damage as rivers burst their banks, roads were washed away and bridges were completely destroyed. One month later, some wineries and vineyards are still inaccessible while others are calculating the damage and watching anxiously to see what effect this might have on the upcoming vintage. Trees Uprooted, Roads W ..read more