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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
If you've had trips to Napa Valley and neighboring Sonoma County, but want something new, where do you go?
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.
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| Excerpt from his post |
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.
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.
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.
