By overripe, I mean the soft, lush, blockbuster fruity wines of California. By questioning if they are finished as a style, I mean they aren't going away anytime soon, but are they losing popularity. We are seeing a return by some winemakers to what I consider more balanced and structured wines.
If you're flying into Northern California to visit Sonoma County or Napa Valley, rather than landing in San Francisco or Sacramento, consider flying directly into wine country. There are plenty of flights into the Sonoma County Airport (STS).
Here's the current list from the Petaluma Argus-Courier. This information is also at the airport's site.
Approximate drive times from STS:
Healdsburg 13 minutes
Sonoma 50 minutes
Calistoga 32 minutes
Napa 65 minutes
Wine same customs have been around for many generations, and it seems almost impossible to change any of them. It's not all necessarily bad, but some things make you wonder.
California's wine industry experienced explosive growth in the 2010-2020 timeframe, adding roughly 1,500 wineries between 2010 and 2020 alone. Since the mid-1990s the number of wineries in America has been on a steep climb.
Premium Zinfandel appears to be bucking the broader trend of declining wine sales. Some white wines are also bucking the trend.
About 20% of U.S. wine is sold to restaurants generating at least 40% of sales in dollar value, because of restaurant mark-ups. There's bad news on that front as inflation eats into people's eating out habits.
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| image from sonomamag.com |
Wineries Embrace Happy Hour from Sonoma Magazine.
Wine tourism has always meant visiting wineries, tasting wines, maybe buying, and moving on. Sometimes there might be a look at the wine production facility. This is changing.
The Sonoma Mountain range that sits to the west of Sonoma Valley separating it from the Santa Rosa and Petaluma plains. The highest point in the range is Sonoma Mountain at about 2,500 ft.
Within the Sonoma Mountain range is the Sonoma Mountain appellation or AVA.
The common opinion is that wine sales are in trouble. While overall sales are definitely down, not all market segments are the same. Here's where you'll find growth.
