About 80 miles due east of the hustle, bustle, and high prices of Napa is one of California's lesser known and lightly visited wine regions. Amador County is part of the larger Sierra Foothills wine region. Within Amador is the central wine hub of Shenandoah Valley that you enter from the town of Plymouth (pop. 1,100, founded in 1852 as a mining camp). In some ways, you are entering Napa Valley 40 years ago.
The Sonoma County Harvest Fair has been going on since the mid-1970s opening with the 80s and 90s probably its high point. The wine judging is on any wine entered that is made from Sonoma County grapes.
This year's winners can be found here. There's also amateur wine and professional food competitions.
This isn't about points or awards, it's about ingredients. A more natural product vs. one manipulated by lots of chemicals. Many people check ingredient labels when grocery shopping. What about the alcoholic beverages that you consume? Well, there's a problem.
Travel & Leisure says Sonoma County has "charming small towns, incredible wine, and a stunning coastline" offering a lot more than just wine. That's the one thing making Sonoma different from other wine regions, the opportunity to do more than just drink wine.
The bankruptcy sale of VWE holdings of Santa Rosa, CA has taken place. Here are the bigger names and where they are going.
Bill is no dummy. While attending the Air Force Military Academy in the 1960s he managed to make $40,000 in the stock market. While in the Air Force he negotiated contracts with the likes of Boeing. After the military he earned his law degree and launched a career in financial services.
The bankrupt Vintage Wine Estates of Santa Rosa is selling assets, and Foley is there looking for bargains. From the bankruptcy auction he is set to purchase Sonoma Coast Vineyards plus Cosentino and Swanson Wineries in Napa.
What are the top concerns of 2024 for those in the wine business? Per a survey from innovint.us, the top five are:
Current thinking in the wine biz says we are in for slowing times. As I've asked before, is it a permanent slowdown or is it related to the Pandemic/lockdown/shortages/inflation cycle? Most think it's more permanent, with slowing demand for wine.
A survey of wine consumers shows the importance of different factors used to choose a bottle of wine. Here's a look at some differences between American and Italian buyers.
The top reason for both was that they had already tried the wine and liked it.
Wednesday, September 18th is National Cheeseburger Day.
There are deals on cheeseburgers (with restrictions) at McDonald's, Burger King, Wendys, and hopefully at a decent local burger joint near you. BTW Sept 15th was National Double Cheeseburger Day and we missed it. Doh!
Of course, this leads to the question, what wine should I have with my cheeseburger?
For the past decade, the U.S. has led worldwide wine consumption by volume. The much talked about Chinese are actually way down the list.
Per capita, Portugal leads the way with 52 liters of wine per person per year. The U.S. is 16th at 12 liters.
 |
| click on the image to enlarge |
It's not climate or soil or history, it's identity. It's a distant 650 miles from the Sonoma Valley AVA to the middle of Washington, but they share this commonality. Neither has a distinct identity that most well-known wine growing areas possess.
