Cab is King -- and Still Growing

Cabernet Sauvignon is called the king of reds or the noble grape. It's been the #1 red wine in the U.S. forever (or thereabouts) with Chardonnay the #1 white. Chardonnay is on top in the amount sold, but in dollar value Cab has passed Chard per WineBusiness.com. Of course, the average price of Cabernet is higher than Chardonnay. Next, but with much less dollar value, is Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. Rosé wines have the highest growth rate.

Zinfandel in Napa

Napa Valley? But it's about Cabernet Sauvignon and maybe Chardonnay. You mean there's even Zinfandel grown in Napa?

Zinfandel was once the main grape grown in Napa with Petite Sirah also having a big presence. Now Zin is 5% of vineyard land; Petite Sirah 0.5%. What happened? Well, maybe blame it on the Judgement in Paris in 1976 where California kicked France's ass in both Cabernet and Chardonnay. That's when those two grapes started to take over.

Non-drinker's Guide to Sonoma County

Coming to visit us, but you or someone in your group is a non-drinker? Fear not, there is stuff for you to do! Here's what a travel writer for the NY Times did on her stay.

Teetotaler's Guide to Sonoma County

Wine Condoms

So you don't finish a bottle in a night (shame on you). What do you do? Put the cork back in? Well, you could put on a wine condom (giggle, giggle).

Alcohol Company in a New "Joint" Venture

Constellation Brands is in the booze business. They own about 30 wine brands including Mondavi, Ravenswood, and Mark West. They also own Corona Beer, Svedka Vodka, plus other beer and spirits companies. They are publicly traded and their stock hasn't been doing great and recently was downgraded to a "sell."

Sonoma County Events for Autumn 2018

It's grape pickin' and wine makin' season so there's lots to see. You can even smell the harvest! There's usually great weather, but you can always count on great wine and great food.

There are many events going on between September and November. Enjoy the bounty of Sonoma County.
        

Harvest Begins

The first wine grapes have been picked in Sonoma County. As per usual, it's Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes used for sparkling wines. These grapes are picked less ripe, therefore earlier, than grapes used for still wines. This is maybe a week or two later than average. It's a fun time of the year in Sonoma County!

From the Press Democrat

The Wine Industry's Biggest Problem Today

Finding workers.

Unemployment is low. It's a great market to be looking for a job. On the other side the employers are hurting for people. It seems almost every local winery is looking for everything from a wine club manager to a finance guru to a part-time tasting room person. There's no doubt this hurts their customer service. But there's something even bigger looming.

How Much Should You Spend for a Bottle of Wine?

There's a question we've all asked ourselves numerous times. And maybe you've asked some wine knowledgeable person that question. Though I would suggest not asking a wine shop sales person.

So where do you get your best bang-for-the-buck, your best value and still get a decent wine? It seems that $20 plus-or-minus five bucks is about right.

Sonoma County's Other Consumables Besides Wine

Yes, you're coming for the wine. But guess what? That's only a small part of what Sonoma County excels in because when you have fine wine you expect everything else you eat or drink to be first-rate.

Americans Becoming Wine Drinkers at an Earlier Age

From a poll conducted for Jordan Winery by OnePoll Americans for turning to wine at an average age of 29. For those 55 and older (the Boomers) their average age was 34. One in four preferred wine to any other alcoholic beverage. Most said they liked wine because it was smooth, fruity or sweet.

Read all about it here

Appointment-Only Wine Tasting

There are over 400 wineries in Napa and another 400+ in Sonoma County. So when visiting you won't exactly run out of choices. However, many tasting rooms that were once allowing drop-in tasting now require an appointment. Why the change?

Sonoma County Cider Week, Aug 3-12

Sonoma County, more specifically the Sebastopol area, has a history of apple growing and production. The apple trees have been replaced by grape vines in the last few decades.

Sonoma County does have a pretty good hard cider industry, including Ace Cider, one of the first producers post-prohibition, opening in 1993. We now have a Cider Week (copying the idea of  a Beer Week) with multiple events at different locations.

Check it out

Natural and Unnatural(?) Wines

This article in the link below talks a bit about natural and low-intervention wines. Then goes into what ingredients you might find in most commercial wines. There's a bit of scare tactics used when talking about some of the chemicals used in making wine, but it's good to have the knowledge. FYI, these things are generally used to make better wine. Also, the part about sulfur is good to know.

What's in your wine