Retrenching in the Wine Biz

Some of the major players in the industry are reducing their footprint in the wine business. This is a sign of uncertainty in the future of the wine market. 

California Wine Industry in the 1920s

This is a snapshot of the wine industry 100 years ago. Why the1920s? Prohibition took effect in 1920 making it illegal to manufacture, transport, or sell alcoholic beverages. It wasn't against the law to drink if you acquired it legally. You could make your own hooch.

1920 was a big year for the country as Women's Suffrage was also ratified, giving women the right to vote. One small step...

Wine and Women

Women and their wine have a special relationship. Here's a sometimes humorous look at this culture.

Interesting Facts About Calfornia Chardonnay

A little bit about Chardonnay from California, the love it or hate it wine. It even has its own "club," the ABC or Anything But Chardonnay. 

What Wine Has Kept the American Wine Business Humming Along

It's the story of California Chardonnay. You've heard the bad news about the current problems in the wine industry. The younger consumers aren't drinking as much wine and there are the tariffs. The fact is, the American wine industry came from an afterthought to prominence a half-century ago and has been growing most of that time.

In 1975 there were over 300 wineries in California. Ten years later it had doubled. Currently, there are almost 5,000. That sounds like success. 

One grape has been Mr/Ms. Steady for all that time. Chardonnay.

Wines With Grilled Meat

Memorial Day weekend is upon us. It's the gateway to summer grilling. Let's take a look at some wine suggestions for grilled food. As always, the best wines are the ones you like, whether they're listed here or not.

Don't forget to take a moment or two on Monday to remember the soldiers and sailors that didn't get to come home.

Get Ready for Summer in Sonoma

Sonoma County in the summer means an almost endless list of things you can do. Some of them are: sit outside at a winery while sipping, swim, float, surf, or kayak on the cool water, hike a trail, go to the fair, and listen to music.

For other ideas, check out previous blog posts on Major Events for Summer and Alternatives to Wine.

Wine Basics

This is a short tutorial on what to look for in a wine. This can help you find out why you like or dislike certain wines.

Favorite Wines By State

A 2022 survey by Wise Voter lists the top five wines for every state. Not sure why Wise Voter cares about wine, but here we go.

Some highlights on the #1 choices:

• Arkansas is the only state with White Zinfandel as the most popular wine. Only four other states have White Zin in their top five. I think rosé has largely displaced White Zin.
  
  
• Several hot weather states have rosé on top, along with Minnesota. Rosé shows up in the top five in 31 states.
  
  
• What do the largest wine-producing states drink? CA Sauvignon Blanc, OR Cabernet Sauvignon, WA Sauvignon Blanc. It's interesting that Oregon, a state where two-thirds of the grapes planted are Pinot Noir and just 4% Cabernet, prefers Cab.
  
  
• Ten states are trendy, you might say, with Pinot Noir at #1. Some of these trendy states are Kansas, Mississippi, and Montana, states that aren't necessarily considered trendy.
  
  
• Sauvignon Blanc is the overall winner, with 16 states having it as their #1 pick. Pinot Noir and Cabernet are tied for 2nd with 10 states. There's a lot of inexpensive imported Sauv Blanc, mostly from New Zealand. I expect that's why it's #1.

The full list - you have to scroll down aways to find the list.

Oldies, but Goodies

In Sonoma County, wine goes back to a Russian settlement on the coast in the early 1800s. A few years later the northernmost California mission came to the town of Sonoma with the mission grapes coming along. The first commercial winery started in the mid 1800s.

The Good Old Days of Wineries' Worries

Wineries and the grape growers are worried. Yes, many small businesses have things to worry about. Grape growers are farmers so are always worried and the weather, government policies, and almost everything else.

May is Sex in the Vineyard Month!

Grapes self-pollinate. In biological terms, they are a hermaphrodite and contain both male (stamens) and female (pistils) reproductive organs. Grape vines don't need bees, wind or other grape vines to pollinate. Yes, self-pollination, that could be something Catholics would frown on. 

May is the month this happens in the Northern Hemisphere.

You mean this isn't what you're looking for when you clicked on the title?

Actually, a few varieties of grape vines do have male and female vines. The main one is Vitis rotundifolia, or muscadine, that grows in the southern U.S.

Commercial vineyards may still need bees for pollinating their cover crops. 

Self-pollination does allow reliable and timely pollination, and it helps maintain the best traits. It does not promote diversity or help in adapting to a changing climate.

Hey, it's not polite to peek while they pollinate

 

Why are Sonoma and Napa Wines Different?

The key factors in growing premium wine grapes are the microclimate and the soil. They impact the ripening and flavors, and define the characteristics of a wine. The microclimates and soils in Sonoma County are different from those in Napa, even though the two counties are side-by-side. Winemaking is also key to the properties of the finished wine, but we can assume equipment and practices are similar. 

So it's the microclimates and soils that make the wines different. Let's take a deeper dive into why the grapes coming into the winery can be different in these two neighbors.

Sonoma County Wineries Off the Beaten Path

Below are a few suggestions for smaller, maybe somewhat hard to find wine tastings in Sonoma County. For every Chateau St Jean or Kendall Jackson, there are dozens of little charmers like these.

American Wineries by State

Below is a map of the US with the number of wineries per state. There are some surprises.

America's Favorite Wines

Polling and surveying company, YouGov, released data on American's wine habits. Following are a few highlights, some surprising.

The Los Angeles Connection to California Wine History

  How could Los Angeles have any influence on the wine industry? Well, it turns out that the start of California's commercial wine business was in LA.

  The California missions run from San Diego's Mission, founded in 1769, to Sonoma's Mission in 1823. BTW, there were also missions throughout Baja California. The missions were known for planting wine grapes and making mission wine for church services and to serve at their own dinners.

  You might consider the San Diego Mission as the oldest winery in the country. However, they haven't made wine there in a very long time, it was never really a commercial winery, and California wasn't part of the US at the time.

Has the Tasting Room Lost Its Way?

I'm old enough to remember when the tasting room was a plank across a couple of barrels in a corner of the actual winery. You walked in, got a small, cheap excuse for a wine glass, the tasting list was on a chalkboard on the wall, and you tasted while standing at the bar. You either purchased or you didn't, but you went on your merry way after a half hour, no charge. The purpose, like the tasting room, was simple, to introduce you to their wines and hope to make you a customer.

Things have changed. It's not everywhere, but the Disneyland style is spreading.

Tariffs and the Wine Industry

What are the likely effects of the American tariffs and retaliatory tariffs on the American wine industry? This is educated guesswork, but we'll know for sure if the tariffs are still in place in a few months.

Why should you care? Besides price increases, there are well over a million jobs at stake.

Alternatives to Wine in Sonoma County

So you're not much of a wino, or someone in your group travelling to Sonoma County couldn't care less. What to do?

The Difference Between Inexpensive and Premium California Wines

   The biggest difference in wine quality relating to price is in the ten and twenty dollar bottles. Premium wines start in the $20 or $30 range. Upward from there, you will usually find increasing quality, but with diminishing returns. So what are the major distinctions between the cheap and the fancy stuff?

California Agriculture

California agriculture is big! How big is it? In production value, it leads the nation. Part of the reason is the number of high value crops such as nuts, dairy and, of course, wine grapes. It's a $60 billion industry, with $23 billion of it exported. The value of organic products is increasing significantly.

The next biggest ag states are Iowa, Texas, and Nebraska.

Sonoma County Events -- Summer 2025

A look at what's happening for the warm weather season in Sonoma County. Following are events scheduled from May through Sept 2025. This was published in late March, so there may be events added later.

Interesting Wine Trends

 Below are a few graphs on trends in wine. The first three are from the American Assoc. of Wine Economists, a world-wide organization based in New York. The last one from Gomberg-Fredrikson, of Sonoma, CA.

Who Makes California's Best Zinfandel?

Ah, Zinfandel, it's sort of California's own. There's quite a history to Zinfandel that was very mysterious until about 30 years ago. The short version is Zinfandel comes from a rare Croatian grape that took off in Italy as Primitivo and in California as Zinfandel.

So who are some of the top producers? Let's take a subjective look.

Why Low/No Alcohol Wines Taste Like Crap

There are some low or no alcohol beers that are pretty good, that taste similar enough to regular beer to be enjoyable. It seems like the wines aren't good enough, yet anyway. So why are low and no alcohol wines so crappy?

Old Style Napa

This is an interesting read about a few grape growers and winemakers who are stuck in the mid-20th century, and I mean that in a good way.

Cathy Corison, a hero to some
image from wannabewino

Napa Traditionalists from The New Wine Review.

Carbon Footprint of Wine Production

The carbon footprint of a business is the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the organization or product. Greenhouse gases are what is causing our climate to change so rapidly. Wineries, like any business, are part of the problem, and many are looking at what they can do to limit their effect. Good for them.

The Great Grape Migration

As temperatures warm, vineyards will have to move. Premium grapes are very susceptible to temperature changes, as each variety operates in a small window of temperatures.

Historical Wineries in Napa & Sonoma

Wineries for the history buff.

High Tasting Rooms Fees and the Visitor Slowdown

It may not be news to you that wine bottle prices and wine tasting fees have gone up substantially since the end of the Pandemic lockdown. Why? Supply and demand. People wanted to get out and do things, whether it was wine tasting in Napa or buying a new car. Consumers were throwing their credit cards around and saying, "Here, take my money!"

It wasn't just the wine, as lodging and restaurant prices jumped. All of a sudden, a trip to wine country was going to cost real money. 

The Small 2024 Calif Grape Crush

Per the U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA), the 2024 California wine grape crush was the smallest in 25 years. Total crush size was 2.844 million tons, a 23% decline for 2023's 3.7 million tons. Average grape prices fell 5%, but the previous year was the highest ever, so not really a meaningful decline. 

These numbers are state-wide. Three-fourths of California's wine grapes come from the Central Valley. Napa and Sonoma Counties are each about 4% of the state's total.

Watering Back Wine

Watering back wine is the practice of diluting the grape juice before fermenting it into wine. The purpose is to decrease the alcohol content of the finished wine. At least that was the idea when the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau that controls wine in the U.S. first allowed the practice in 2002.

Things may have gone awry. 

Wineries That Built Sonoma County

Sonoma County came to prominence as a premium wine producer in the last three decades of the 20th century. Following are some of the wineries that put Sonoma on the wine map. A few of these are historical properties, others came along with the 1970s and 1980s boom time for premium wines. You could say these wineries defined what Sonoma County wine is now.

Appellation of Origin on a Wine Label

The Treasury Department sets labeling laws for alcoholic products. These are usually set and occasionally modified by feedback from interested parties, aka lobbyists. One that needs a change is for wines labeled as American, as in American Merlot. 

Rosé

Rosé wine is a big deal in the U.S. It wasn't always this way. Rosé sales for wine over $7 went from a measly 150,000 cases in 2010 to 2.3 million ten years later!

A look at rosé in the U.S.

The Wine Country for All of Us

Travelzoo is a travel club. You join to get special offers for trips. 

For 2025, Travelzoo chose Sonoma County as one of their nine worldwide best bets calling it the wine country for all of us.

You've been to Napa and Sonoma, now what?

If you've had trips to Napa Valley and neighboring Sonoma County, but want something new, where do you go? 

Alcohol Warning Labels

 The outgoing Surgeon General would like to put cancer warning labels on all alcoholic beverages. Dr. Brian Lawenda, a Harvard-trained oncologist, thinks wine might be the exception. He is on Facebook if you'd like to read what he has to say.

 Dr. Lawenda stated that some studies show the moderate consumption of wine may not increase your cancer risk and may actually decrease the risk for certain types of cancer. This isn't definitive, that's why he says, may not increase your risk.

 There is a lot of detail on his Facebook post dated Jan 5, 2025. Read it and decide for yourself. Wine may be the wise choice.

Excerpt from his post

 Thanks to FB user Sierra Wine Guy for bringing this to my attention.

About Pinot Noir, Part 2 (California)

  The previous post, About Pinot Noir, Part 1, is concerning the origins and characteristics of Pinot. This one relates to Pinot Noir in California and Sonoma County.

About Pinot Noir, Part 1

  You could call it America's most trendy premium wine. Part 1 is a short history of Pinot Noir and some of its unique characteristics. The next post, Part 2, is on Pinot in California.

True Family-Owned Wineries

Some visitors are interested in visiting the smaller, family-owned wineries rather than those with some sort of corporate ownership. Finding true family operations is not that easy, as there's a definite gray area. Let me explain.

Oh oh, here's what's up for 2025 in wine

Trust me. It'll all come true.

Wine One-Liners

 It's a good way to start off the new year.