Wine Spectator's Top Wine Stories of 2013

(WS) - Vintners Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, a brilliant new invention, another reason to drink Champagne (as if you needed one), tumult at Torbreck and more from the year in wine.

What caught your attention in the past year? Celebrity power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sold out their brand-new French rosé, but classified-growth Bordeaux had to cut prices to boost sales. You can now drink a wine without opening a bottle, then save the rest for weeks, months and maybe longer. And if you want to become smarter, never mind studying—just drink Champagne!

In this brave new world of wine, Wine Spectator's columnists and bloggers pushed you to ditch your preconceptions, drop habits that don't make sense anymore, put aside pretensions and try new things—from under-the-radar steals to new-fangled closures.

Meanwhile, readers turned to Washington for hot values and took a new look at Nouveau, but still stuck firmly to their favorites: Pinot Noir from California, Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa and, yes, Bordeaux (as long as it was priced correctly). And under the influence of Millennials, America looked like it was reliving the 1980's, with pink wines (albeit dry ones) and Italian sparklers such as Lambrusco back in fashion.

Here are our most popular news and feature articles, tasting reports and blogs of 2013 (determined by page views). Take a look back with us at the best, worst and weirdest of the vintage, and see what you may have missed along the way.

1. Jolie-Pitt Star Power Propels New Provence Rosé

For the second year in a row, a celebrity wine story lured in more readers than any other. But unlike last year's Skinnygirl wines launch from Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sourced their rosé from their own Château Miraval in Provence and made it in partnership with the Perrin family of the Rhône's famed Château de Beaucastel. The 1,000-acre Miraval estate, with a mansion at which Pink Floyd recorded The Wall, was purchased by Pitt and Jolie in 2012, the first vintage of their wine. Miraval, an organic blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah and Rolle, was released at $28, with 15,000 cases imported beginning in April. "It is not a celebrity wine—it is a great terroir and we produce a family wine, so that's why we are there," said Marc Perrin, who added that Jolie and Pitt helped craft the blend. The Jolie-Pitt & Perrin Côtes de Provence Rosé Miraval received 90 points, outstanding on our 100-point scale, and earned a spot in our Top 100 Wines of 2013.