A Few Legal Changes for Alcohol Coming?

There are items on the legal side that may be coming to alcoholic beverages, including wine, in the next few years. These are related to public health and safety concerns.

2018: The Year in Craft Beer

This was another high growth year for craft beer in the U.S. A few things stand out:
1) The number of small breweries made a huge increase.
2) That increase is not matched by a growth in craft beer sales.
3) The haze craze (the hazy, juicy beer style) is huge.
4) The switch from bottles to cans.

What Wine to Leave for Santa

Santa Claus has got a very long night ahead of him. Sure, you might put out some cookies, but what about something to wash down those sugary baked goods?

Natural Wine -- Here it Comes!

Natural wine has been around for awhile, but not well-known by consumers. This is changing as the organic food movement has grown its popularity.

Does the Winemaker Make the Wine?

In smaller wineries making up to a few thousand cases of wine a year the winemaker, maybe an assistant, and/or a cellar master all play major roles in the wine you get. In the smallest wineries it's pretty much just a owner/winemaker who could be doing everything from vineyard management to sorting the grapes to bottling.

Sparkling Wine in the U.S.

  During the holiday season you find more writers and consumers talking about champagne / sparkling wine / Prosecco because this is when most of the bubbles are consumed in many countries, including the U.S. These wine are tied to celebrations (New Years, weddings, etc.). That's great, but it's also too bad as sparkling wines are much more versatile than just being used for a celebratory toast.

Gallo's Thunderbird Wine; It's Ba-a-ack!

You may be old enough to have memories of Thunderbird. If you do they probably aren't fond ones. It was sweet, high alcohol and cheap. It was fortified to 20% alcohol and sold for a buck. This made it a favorite among the town drunks and got Gallo some bad PR. A few years ago it made the Top Five Bum List Wines.

Little-Known Facts About Prohibition

Last week was the 85th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition -- the worst amendment ever to the Constitution. From Wine Spectator here are some surprising facts about Prohibition. For instance, it was actually legal to drink during that time.

Wine Sales Flatten

It seems the bull market for premium California wine may have hit its peak. Sales are flat though revenue is up slightly because of rising prices, I expect. And I'm guessing the days of rising price may be over (there have definitely been significant increases over the past five years).

The good news for the consumer is that 2018 was a big harvest and there are grapes that don't have a home. These grapes get bulked out at lower prices. This basically means better quality lower-priced wines.

Sonoma County's Michelin-Starred Restaurants

The latest ratings were recently announced.

Single Thread Farms Restaurant in Healdsburg opened in 2016 to great fanfare. This year the restaurant received three Michelin stars--the highest award possible. This is a first for a Sonoma County restaurant. Want to go? It's $275 pp paid in advance. They will call you to customize your meal.

Madrona Manor in Healdsburg continues its streak as a one star restaurant as does The Farmhouse Inn in Forestville. Over in Napa County the Meadowood and French Laundry restaurants received three Michelin stars.

There are about 15 three star restaurants in the country.

Objective & Subjective Traits in Wine

Whether the review comes from someone who gets paid to rate wine, from a friend, or you -- how you rate a wine is a combination of objective and subjective traits. Why is that important? Because objective notes will tell you if you will like a particular wine. Subjective traits will tell you if the reviewer liked the wine.

Diversifying Sonoma County Tourism

Sonoma County is pretty well locked in on being a premium wine destination. But as many business leaders will tell you it's not always best to have all your eggs in one basket. So how does the county diversify? Unlike a business you can't go out and buy another company; you have to go with what you've got or can easily develop.

Here's what Sonoma County has that can easily be expanded further, as needed, or maybe just talk about it more so folks realize the options are here.

If a Cork and a Screw Cap had a Baby

In the battle between Big Cork and screw cap lovers a cork manufacturer has decided to fill a niche that maybe you didn't know needed filling.

Meet the screwcork. It's a cork, it's not aluminum, and it's threaded. The screwcork requires a specially made bottle with a matching thread. Then you can unscrew and reseal the bottle all without a corkscrew.

Chardonnay, The Secret Love

A whole lot of wine drinkers will tell you they don't like Chardonnay. It even has a name, ABC, Anything But Chardonnay. At the very least they'll tell you they don't like buttery Chardonnay. Why? Because they've been told to hate Chard. So how do you explain the fact that it's still the top selling wine in America?

Organic Wine -- Will it Ever be a Thing?

The market for organic food is a $50 billion business in the U.S. Wine, not so much. Part of the problem has to do with market confusion as there are organic grapes, organic wine, biodynamic, sustainable and natural wines. 

Growing grapes organically is more difficult meaning more expensive and a bit risky. The real risk is when you try to produce an organic wine as this is much more difficult. Organic wine doesn't mean better wine.

This article from the Press Democrat explores the issues. 

Sonoma is Better Than Napa for Your Visit

Hey, I didn't say it, she did. She can't spell Guerneville but we'll let that by.

Why Sonoma is so much better

Who Spends the Most on Alcohol?

The Journal of the American Medical Association did a study showing that overall the percentage of American adults drinking is on the rise. They also looked at the spending in various cities. Here are the top five.

Tidbits for Enjoying Wine

   Wines come in thousands of variations based on variety, region, winemaker, etc. On top of that there are many things you do that will change a wine. Some of those might be more obvious like storage conditions, wine temperature, and the wine glass used. Others are less obvious.

When Marketing of Wine and Cannabis Collide

Sorry, I'm a little too buzzed to be speaking
to you all right now

  Francis Ford Coppola, owner of the Coppola Winery here in Sonoma County, recently got into the marijuana business. Now that it's lawful to grow and sell in California there are lots of entrepreneurs trying to figure out how to make money legally.

  As any self-respecting vintner-type would he has teamed up with a grower to do a "limited edition" of special strains calling it the Grower Series. And he'll charge a lot for it since his name is on the packaging. Sorry, no nickel bags. One report called it the luxury marijuana business.

  For better or worse it got me to thinking now that California is in the cannabis biz maybe they should copy some of the verbiage from the wine biz just like ol' Francis did.

Sonoma County for Distilled Beverages

You know there's wine. You may know there's craft beer. There's cider. And, yup, there are distilled spirits, too. You can taste at several small distilleries.

Article from Sonoma Magazine

2018, a Great Vintage for Sonoma County?

It doesn't take perfect weather to make great wine, but it sure helps. Jordan Winery thinks this recent year's will be one of the best and their winemaker tells you why. BTW Jordan has a great wine blog and is worth bookmarking and reading.

An incredible vintage

Who Are Wine Tourists

Wine tourism is big business. Here in Sonoma and Napa counties we count on it to keep our economies healthy. There are, of course, studies and surveys of the visitors and why they come. I think you can break them down like this.

Why People Don't Drink Wine

Americans preference of alcohol breaks down to something like a bit over 40% prefer beer, 20% spirits and about a third prefer wine (no, it doesn't add up to 100% -- numbers are approximate). For those 60+% that prefer something other than wine why do they pick a different beverage? The main reasons aren't taste or cost as I might have guessed. It's something that producers and marketing folks should pay attention to.

Best of Sonoma County 2018

The Santa Rosa newspaper does annual "best of" awards as voted on by locals. It spans many categories. Here are a few that may be of interest to the visitor. All are in Santa Rosa unless otherwise noted.

How Constellation Brands Sees the Future

Constellation Brands is one of the largest owners of alcohol brands in the world. Of the over two dozen wine labels there is Robert Mondavi, Simi, The Prisoner, and Woodbridge. The several beer brands include Ballast Point, Modelo, and Corona. In spirits there's Black Velvet whisky and Casa Noble tequila among others. They recently made a large investment in a Canadian cannabis company. They were only about wine at one time. That sure has changed.

Napa Grape Prices

Napa Valley's grape prices hit a record high in 2017. Yeah, this seems to happen most years. The total value was $750 million, up about 3% even though the tonnage was down about 7%.  Of Napa's total agricultural value wine grapes are 99.2%. Note this is for 2017; the 2018 numbers won't be in for a few months.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot account for 70% of the plantings and 80% of the value. Surprisingly, the grape earning the highest average price per ton was Cabernet Franc showing its rising popularity.

BTW, there was only a tiny percentage of vineyards lost to the October 2017 fires and 90% of the crop was already picked.

What's this mean to you? Higher prices for Napa wines.

Wine and Food--Not Such a Big Deal in the U.S.

Americans don't pay much attention to putting main dishes with side dishes and then with the beverage. That's why we have Coke and Jello salads and the like. In some countries wine and food just naturally go together. In certain places the food was designed to go with the local wines available or maybe it was the other way around.

When it Comes to Eating and Drinking ...

It's the good life. We are fortunate to be consumers during this age when micro, rather than global, is the in thing.  Sure, the global stuff is still readily available and still commands much of the market (think McDonald's and Budweiser), but small producer and local food and drink are what's happening.

The Wine Country Lifestyle

People visit the wine country maybe more for the lifestyle than just the wine tasting.  So if you've never visited know that it's not just a way to get drunk (you can go to Vegas for that).

Petaluma Gap

Sonoma County's newest American Viticultural Area (AVA) is called Petaluma Gap. Actually, it's Sonoma's and Marin's newest AVA as it is one of the few that cross county lines. It expends from the Bodega Bay area along the coast and through a low-lying area inland area including the town of Petaluma and almost to the town of Sonoma.

Visiting Sonoma County? Stay in Petaluma

Town of Petaluma near the bottom of the county map
Click on map to enlarge

If you're visiting the area chances are you'll find lodging in Sonoma, Santa Rosa or Healdsburg--maybe even the Guerneville or Sebastopol area. Not too many consider Petaluma in southern Sonoma County as it's a bit farther from the wine areas. It's actually about a half hour drive to the town of Sonoma or to the Russian River area wineries.

From the local newspaper here are some reasons you might like a few days in the town of Petaluma. Key among them are an interesting downtown for browsing and a nice selection of restaurants.

Article

Sonoma County Harvest Fair 2018

  The first weekend of October every year is a chance to taste the gold medal winners from the Harvest Fair judging. I've been attending this event for decades. Here are my impressions from this year. No sugar coating here.

2018 Harvest -- Looking Good

It seems Mother Nature has been quite good to the North Coast (including Sonoma County) wine grape growers this year. It's been a long growing season leading to correct ripeness and flavors. During the critical last half of the season the weather has been slightly cooler than average with no heat spikes. There were a few days of rain in early October after many grapes had already been picked. As usual, the sun came out, humidity went down, and things dried out.

As of now it seems most everything is is except Cabernet and other Bordeaux grapes along with some of the Zinfandel and other miscellaneous reds. Some are saying this is a late year, but I think those folks are only remembering the drought years when everything from the spring bloom to the pick were moved up by several weeks. This year is the "old norm."

Grape growers love a long uneventful season. So do winemakers as many will tell you if the grapes come in looking great their job is much easier.

Dear Wine Marketers, This is Long Overdue

This is about that uncomfy subject of race. Wine ads seem mostly aimed at upper or at least upper-middle class white people. Whether the marketing types see this as their actual audience or if it's supposed to be something to aspire to I don't know. Regardless you are leaving out a big chunk of the potential audience -- African Americans.

How often do you see a black person in a wine ad? If any it's usually not obvious. How often do you see black people working a wine event? I can answer that one as never.

The first step may be to learn about black customers rather than your own preconceived notions. And then be inclusive. Lots of people might like wine if they thought they were part of the audience.

Article from Forbes

U.S. Wine Sales Growing, But More Slowly

Per the Beverage Information Group, an industry information source, 2017 saw an increase in wine purchases, but at a slower rate.

2016 saw a 2.4% growth over the previous year, but 2017's growth was a bit over 1%. Could be economic reasons, could be competition from beer, spirits, even cannabis. Who knows? A couple notes: (1) Oregon's wine growth rate was 16%. (2) The growth in spirits has been outpacing wine and beer for several years.

Total amount of wine sold was nearly 345 million cases, well over four billion bottles or around 18 bottles per adult. I know some of us purchase a lot more than 18 bottles in a year to make up for the slackers.  :)

The growth was fueled by increasing in what's trendy this year, primarily sparkling wines and rosé.

A Loss and a Win for California Wine Exports

Trade wars. It should be obvious there will be no winners in the short-term, at least. California produces about 90% of America's wine and about 90% of its wine exports.

Why Every Wine Tastes Different

Pretty much every wine tastes different from another even if it's the same wine from the same winery from a different year. I mean, Budweiser tastes like Bud year-after-year. Why the inconsistency? First, Bud is a manufactured product that starts in the lab. And some big production wines are done the same way. These usually strive to taste the same every year. If you want this you can't leave it up to Mother Nature -- you'll need chemistry.

Does Sonoma County Have Enough Wineries Yet?

Both Sonoma and Napa Counties struggle with the growth in wineries in rural areas and tasting rooms in small towns. Here is an interesting article from Forbes with different perspectives on the issue.

Things to do in the Town of Sonoma Besides Wine Tasting

The town of Sonoma is the historical center of Sonoma County. It's in the southern part of the county not far from the town of Napa or from the Bay Area. It gets quite busy with visitors on most weekends. It's mostly about wine in Sonoma, but there are still other things you can do if you need a break from all that great juice.

Things to do in Healdsburg Besides Wine Tasting

Currently, Healdsburg, Sonoma County may be just about the trendiest wine country town in the nation. It seemed to go from hot, dusty farm town to a wine and food metropolis overnight (okay, maybe in the last 10-15 years). Let's say you've been in town and need a day off from wine tasting (we call it palate fatigue). There are tons of options within Sonoma County, but if you want to stay in town what else can you do?

Things to do in Santa Rosa Besides Wine Tasting

Santa Rosa is the hub of Sonoma County. You may find yourself staying here or at least visiting the biggest city in the county. In case you wish do do something besides wine tasting here are alternatives.

West Sonoma Coast

Sonoma County has something like 18 different appellations for wine grapes. Each of these growing areas is supposed to have unique qualities that make for unique wines. Note the sea green-colored Sonoma Coast appellation on the map below. Much of it isn't exactly spittin' distance from the ocean.

Harvest Interns

In the autumn grape harvest season there is a group of people that are willing to work long, difficult hours surrounded by sticky juice, insects, and back-breaking work. It's a temp job that doesn't pay a whole lot. Their schedule is up to Mother Nature and there have been years when they may not get a day off for a month. Without these young men and women you would not have your wine. Who are these people? They're called simply The Interns.

Trendy Guide to Visiting Santa Rosa, Sonoma County

I spent several seconds trying to come up with the correct title for this blog entry. The Hipster Guide, the Hip Guide? Well, I'm too old to be a hipster or know what they like. Besides I'm not a fan of man buns. And hip seems like too old of a word. But here we go with where to stay, where to eat, and what to do for those of you ahead of the crowds.

Wine Fads and Trends

Things change in the wine industry. There seem to be as many trends and fads as you find in the fashion industry.

Restaurant Wine Ripoffs

It seems we're accustomed to $14 restaurant prices -- for a glass of wine, a cocktail, a salad, a burger. Ever wonder about the markup on wine in a restaurant?

Tourism is Down in Sonoma/Napa

Yes, we had the infamous Wine Country Fires about a year ago. On the news it appeared the whole place burned to the ground. A few wineries, restaurants, and hotels were affected, but the vast majority are just fine. But the perception is there and a lower number of visitors was expected for this year.

Blurring the Lines Between Beer & Wine

Sonoma County's Murphy-Goode Winery is best known for their Liar's Dice Zinfandel and their Sauvignon Blanc. Kendall-Jackson bought the winery from the founders about ten years ago. St. Florian's Brewery was founded five years ago by a local fire captain. St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters.

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

In Sonoma Wine Shoots Down Cannabis

"Big wine" wins for now.

The little town of Sonoma (pop. 11,000) is known for boutique shops, restaurants, visitors, and, oh yeah, wine tasting rooms. Under California Prop 64 voters legalized marijuana sales for recreational use. Well, the town of Sonoma isn't about to let in that competition. In fact, they don't even have a beer taproom downtown. Hmm.

Voters were going to decide this November on allowing cannabis businesses in town. The city council decided to delay the vote for a couple years. Maybe in that time people will just kinda forget about it?

Article

What to Drink for the Rest of the Summer

It's still summer and it's still hot in most places and maybe you're tired as hell of rosé. Or like me you never got too excited by the rosé fad. What can you do?

Napa's Monocropping vs Sonoma's Diversity

  In agriculture monocropping is defined as growing one crop year after year on the same land. Obviously with vines you can't exactly rotate crops. What I mean here is the varieties of grapes  planted in the vineyards.

Getting More People Engaged With Premium Wine

Pretty much every wine made in Sonoma County, and most of coastal California, falls into the premium wine category. What is premium wine? It's anything over $20 or thereabouts. The inexpensive stuff, certainly under $10 is commercial grade. This wine is about quantity and made mechanically in an industrial setting.

How do you get more people engaged with more expensive wines?

Sonoma County Wine Shipments

The numbers for direct-to-consumer (DTC) shipping from Sonoma County's tasting rooms show strong sales. Overall wine shipments are flat in the U.S., but Sonoma County's are up 12% from last year.

The Three-Tier System

What is known as the 3-tier system for alcohol sales was set up after Prohibition. It separates producers, wholesalers, and retailers. During Prohibition you had mobsters bootlegging alcohol and they moved into the wholesales business after legalization (plus into other fields) and took their corrupt practices with them.

Here's a good read on the modern day problems with this system.

Alcohol Sales Control & Corruption from the Fermentation wine blog. 

California Agriculture and the Trade War

California is responsible for 11% of total U.S. exports. After Mexico and Canada, China is the state's next largest export destination. Computer equipment is high on the list of exports with China, but so is agriculture.

Top ag exports to China are nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios), cotton and wine.

Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California

Why should you come to Healdsburg and what fun can be had in town? Well, if you like to eat, drink, and shop there is plenty to do in Healdsburg with most of it within walking distance.

The town has gotten numerous glowing reviews from travel and wine writers over the past few years. Here's the latest from Vogue.

Beer is Flat

Okay, beer sales are flat. The incredible growth in the craft beer business couldn't go on forever. The American beer conglomerates, basically Anheuser-Busch and Miller-Coors, have been shrinking in share to beers with flavor. Who is winning in this battle? It appears wine.

Visiting Sonoma County This Summer? How to Pack

The weather in the Northern California wine country is not typical of most of the country.
Lots of visitors aren't prepared for the variable temps. If it seems a little crazy just remember the climate here is why we make such fantastic wine.

Friday's (not so PC) Wine Memes

It's Friday!
😀

Red, White, and Blue for the Fourth of July

Sorry about that blue wine shit.   :)

Fourth of July in Sonoma County

Here are the happenings for the mid-week holiday around the county. Lots of fireworks shows, of course.

Friday Wine Quotes

Some thought-provoking quotes concerning wine because after a couple glasses you can get quite philosophical and brilliant at the same time! Not to mention having great dance moves.

Looking for Vegan Wine? Good Luck

Yes, people are quite picky about what they will eat. It might be because consuming a certain thing might actually be deadly or it might be a life choice.

So, is there such a thing as vegan wine? I'll tell you right away, no. But then, do you think every salad you've ever eaten is vegan? You mean a tiny insect has never snuck past the washing of the greens and down your throat? Packaged foods have no insect parts? LOL

Cool vs. Warm Climate Wines

You hear wine industry folks brag about their cool climate wines, especially when it comes to grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. You don't hear much bragging about warm climate wines even though places like (most of) Napa Valley, Paso Robles and Lodi are definitely warmer growing areas.

Besides temperature you have to consider elevation, winds (warm or cool), cloudiness, rainfall, and humidity. Here we're just going to look at the differences between warm and cool climates. These descriptions are all generalizations as there are always exceptions.

Put a Quick Chill on Your Wine

It's getting to be that time of year when you want a nice, chilled white wine, take a little warmth out of that bottle of red wine, or maybe cool down some beer.

Common Wine Flaws

Wine is a fragile beverage and things can happen to spoil it. These are the common problems, how to recognize them, and what you can do.

How to Get a Job in the Wine Biz

Let's say you want to be in the wine (or beer) business. You may not be interested in the production side (winemaking, cellar work), but more in running the business. This gives you a nice career path with an office job and something that's still transferable to other industries. Alcohol production is still a business like any other with requirements for leaders and people that understand such things as the supply chain, marketing, finance, and the laws.

June 15th, Chenin Blanc Day

June 15, 2018 is International Chenin Blanc Day. This "holiday" has only been around for a few years and got its start with a sommelier in Portland, OR.

Okay, so what the heck is Chenin Blanc and why should you care?

It's Just Wine, Relax

No, you're not a dummy when it comes to wine. You're not doing it wrong. Who needs this sort of criticism when all you want to do is have a glass of wine?

So you know, it's okay to like merlot or oaky chardonnay. It's okay to not like rosé or pinot noir. It's definitely okay to only buy wines under $10 when you're just able to pay rent and buy food.

Bad PR for a Napa Winery

It doesn't appear Napa Valley's Charter Oak Winery did anything wrong. It's more likely they've been wronged, but it's in a small way and maybe they should have just kept quiet and not get so bent out of shape.

They have a few very negative reviews on Google among many excellent reviews. They claim it's all from one person using different names who, for some reason, wants to ream them. Charter Oak asked Google to remove the negative reviews and they said no. I'm quite sure this isn't the first time a business has asked this.

Friday Wine Words

Fun words of wisdom with wine follow

Sonoma's Secret Wine Regions

They are not exactly state secrets, but these are definitely lesser known grape growing areas in Sonoma County with very high quality wines. Mostly they're unknown to many because they are small with few wines having the region on their labels. They are all official AVAs, or government-designated growing ares (like Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley, just much smaller).

Your Next Imported Wine Might be Coming from ... Mexico!

Mexico, it's not just Corona and Patron anymore. Sure, its latitude would seem to put it too far south for optimal wine grape growing, but there are mountain regions and coastal areas that are cool enough for vineyards.

Article from Forbes

California's Coming Agriculture Water Crisis

California agriculture isn't just about wine grapes -- far from it. The state is the fifth largest ag producer in the world. They are tops in the country in dairy along with crops like lemons, almonds and olives. Some of the more "exotic" crops are figs, prunes, kiwis, raisins, and walnuts. The state also grows a lot of thirsty cotton and rice.

What scientists do know is the earth's wet regions are getting wetter, the drier regions (like California) are getting drier.

Tasting Room Etiquette

  Summer is coming and many of us will be visiting wineries soon. Engaging in wine discovery in tasting rooms is an enjoyable experience, for sure. These tips will help make your visit more enjoyable. Like any public place tasting rooms have rules, especially because there is alcohol involved. Not every tasting rooms will follow these exact rules so check with them before visiting.

Summer 2018 Sonoma County Events

Following are major wine and non-wine events in Sonoma County for the months of June through Labor Day weekend. Lots of stuff happening and it's going to be a fun summer. Come say hi!
 

Thinking About That Dream Job in the Wine Biz?

  "What if your hobby became your job?" is the aspiration of many. The nice thing about the wine business is you can actually make a living on most of the jobs. With the economy humming along now it might be a good time to think about the career change as there are jobs aplenty.

Anderson Valley, Mendocino County

Mendocino County, Sonoma's neighbor to the north, is quite the wine growing region in its own right. Many, though, may know it more as the ancestral home of the marijuana business in California. There are a dozen named wine growing areas (appellations) in Mendocino with Anderson Valley probably the most well-known.

True Stories from the Tasting Room

Things I've been told in the winery tasting room. And this is just in the past few months!

The Thing With Wine Scores

Many wine critics use a point system to rate wines. The idea is to lend some objectivity to the quality of a wine against its competitors. At one time there was a ten point scale that only looked for flaws and that may still be used by winemakers and such. The hundred point scale used now has its own problems as many see a wine with under 90 points as not so great. A 75 point wine? You'll never see that mentioned in print. Too bad that happened.

Garagiste Wine Festival, Sonoma

Garagiste is a term used to denote very small wine producers -- often making a few hundred cases of wine a year. There are actually a lot of them, but you've never heard of these wineries as they don't exactly have a marketing department. Their wines are generally sold to friends and folks that happen to stumble across their wines. Just like we did at this tasting.

Over half of all U.S. wineries make 1,500 cases of wine a year or less. Most of the ones at this festival were much smaller than that.

Rosé All Day? NO

Just NO

If you are linked to a lot of wine-related social media people and businesses you might get tired of seeing people pretending to drink out of the bottle (done in humor, I think) or of someone drinking a glass of wine in a vineyard (I suppose that might be a dream of some wine geeks). Mine is with so many people pushing pink wines. One more "All day rosé" sign and I think I'll puke.

Online Alcohol Sales Increasing

Per Slice Intelligence, a marketing research firm out of Silicon Valley, online alcohol sales & delivery increased about 33% from 2016 to 2017.

Blame it on (or thank) Amazon. I buy everything from hardware items, to kitchen pantry foods, to drug store stuff online instead of running out to a store because it's easy and convenient. The same is happening with alcohol, with wine being the biggest part. It makes sense that wine is the key piece of this as most wines are high value and low availability (you aren't likely to order Bud Lite online when you can find it cheap at most any store).

Unfortunately, many wineries do a mediocre job with their e-commerce. It just might be worth the investment to do it right.

Blog stats

Maybe nobody cares but me :) unless you also happen to have a social media presence or are a serious data nerd, but from Google's analytical tools here are a few stats on this blog:

Keeping Birds Out of the Vineyards -- Starwars Style

  When the grapes ripen late summer and into the fall they can make a great meal for birds. You can see flocks of  a thousand starlings swirling around vineyard land. There are several different methods used in an attempt to keep them from taking most of your crop (and your money).

How to Tell if a Wine Will Age

Some people buy wine with the hopes of aging it and getting something better two or ten or twenty years down the road. It's risky business trying to find wines that age well, having the proper conditions to store them, and knowing when to open the prized bottle. Here we'll try to figure out how to tell if a particular wine will age.

Rebuilding After the Fires

The October 2017 Wine Country fires decimated neighborhoods -- there's no other way to put it. Afterward it looked like a coordinated bombing campaign had happened. Once the shock wore off those affected had to start the rebuilding process. They were warned it would be a marathon, not a sprint. But instead of 26.2 miles it's starting to look more like a hundred.

Sonoma County Cult Wines

I'm not a big fan of the term "cult wine." The term is usually applied to Napa cabernet that is sought after, gets big points from the reviewers, is expensive, and hard to get. I'll take a shot at naming a few of the wines that some idolize and geek out over that come from Sonoma County. Generally, the ones listed below from Sonoma aren't quite so pricey and aren't even cabernet. Many of these, however, are sold by mailing list meaning you sign up and they'll "let" you buy a certain number of bottles per year.

Things to Know Before Visiting Sonoma County

When visiting a place you aren't familiar with it's nice to get a little advice from the locals. Here are a few things you don't necessarily find on the travel web sites.

U.S. Employment in the Beer & Wine Biz

The wine business is booming along with the economy. Craft beer, however, is exploding. So how is employment in these industries? The wine and beer industries now employ about the same number of people.

Climate, Soil, and Wine

What makes a great wine? Great grapes. What makes great grapes? Soil and climate. Which is more important? Can't answer that, but we can take a look at them.

What it Costs to go Wine Tasting

This is for the Napa / Sonoma area cuz that's what I know best. Many less-visited wine areas will charge less -- places like Mendocino County just to the north or Amador County in the Sierra Foothill. This is strictly an unscientific study. So much for the disclaimers. What's this trip going to cost you?

Should You Visit Sonoma County in 2018?

The October fires were the major news for over a week as it seemed to many that all of Sonoma and Napa Counties were on fire.

First, the reality of what was affected isn't as bad as you might think. Yes, a few percent of the land area of Sonoma County burned with the most destruction to structures in the north of Santa Rosa. Fire also spread over oak tree and grass-covered hills. One winery, Paradise Ridge, was lost (though they still have a tasting room in Sonoma Valley and are still in business). Three hotels were lost in Santa Rosa, but several others have opened in the county over the past few months.

You can still visit with lots of lodging, shopping, wine tasting, brewery hopping, hiking, fishing, or whatever activity is you pleasure.

Shopping for a Bottle of Zinfandel

  Buying a bottle off the shelf is always a bit of a crapshoot because you can never be sure it's one you'll really enjoy. This can be tougher when shopping for a Zinfandel because of the different styles available. They go from structured, firm and ageable to soft and jammy and drink now plus, of course, there are ones in between. What hints can you get from the label?

Why You Should Be Drinking Zinfandel

  As you may have read in the previous blog post zinfandel doesn't get much respect. That's really too bad as it's a great sipping wine and a great dinner wine. It's not as heavy as a cabernet or as light as a pinot noir so it does a nice job of fitting in between for those medium-weight dishes. A side benefit is zin is generally less expensive than a comparable cab or pinot.

Zinfandel's Problem

  First, let's admit there is a problem with zinfandel. It's been called America's grape or California's grape or even Sonoma's best-kept secret. What it's never been called is America's most popular wine. Cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, and now pinot noir are the big ones. Little known fact: Until 20 years ago zinfandel was the most-planted grape in California.

What Wine With BK's Whopper?

What better wine to pair with your Burger King dinner than a blue Chardonnay? The delicate flavors of blue will pair perfectly with your raw onions and bacon. Try it today!

Yes, April fools

Answering Your Wine Questions :)

Because wine is serious!

The Difference Between a Cheap and an Expensive Bottle of Wine

So there's this perfectly good bottle of wine you get from the local market for ten bucks. Then there are these hundred or two hundred dollar wines you'll probably never try, but are curious about. Are they really that much better? I can't really answer that for you as that's really a personal thing. What makes them so much more expensive? That I can shed some light on.

Visiting Healdsburg? Get out of Downtown!

The little town of Healdsburg in Sonoma County can be quite full of visitors on any weekend and during the summer vacation season. It's pretty busy almost any time these days because numerous travel web sites and magazines have named it a place to visit if you love wine.

Besides many hotels and restaurants in the downtown area (what's considered downtown is about three blocks long) there are probably 18 tasting rooms. These can get quite busy especially on weekend afternoons. If you don't like crowds try a slightly longer walk or a very short drive to a few others outside of the immediate downtown area.

Weekend Wine Memes

Cuz it's almost the weekend. Cheers!

What Wine with Your Burger

It's now officially spring so lets think about grilling up some hamburgers. Burgers, the all-American food, with a thousand ways to prepare them. You can start with beef, bison, turkey, chicken, or lamb. Veggie burgers come as mushroom, black bean, tofu. That's even before you get into all the condiments--onions, dill or sweet pickles, yellow or spicy mustard, etc. You can see the problem, or opportunity, with pairing the correct wine.

Eww, Gallo

I mean, yuck. Gallo owns many wine labels from Louis Martini to Barefoot. Their experimental brand is Apothic that does things like age a red wine in whiskey barrels. But the latest? Cold brewed coffee and wine together as they were never meant to be.

Vineyard Damage from Wildfires

A survey of vineyard owners in the five county area affected by the October wildfires (Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Solano) shows that maybe 200 acres were damaged (there are over 135,000 acres of vineyards in these counties). Most growers are waiting for spring rejuvenation to see exactly what comes back and what vines will have to be replanted.

Saving Napa Valley

The valley floor is covered in grapevines. There are over 400 wineries in Napa Valley with more on the way. Where to go next? The hillsides on both sides of the valley.

Wine and the resulting tourism is Napa's lifeblood so some are fine with planting as many grapevines as needed. Others are for maintaining the natural beauty of the hillsides. Some would like to put a curb on growth. Some cite watershed issues.

Yeast and Civilization

The great change in the history of mankind was going from nomadic to settling in villages. Why did that happen? Climate change? Domesticating animals? Here's an interesting read on how yeast actually shaped civilization. Ancient people raised fruits and grains that were fermented into things like wine and bread that could be consumed all year long.

Yeast and Civilization

Women Winemakers of Sonoma

Today, March 8th, is International Women's Day. It seems the struggle women often have in "a man's world" is in the news more than ever. I thought this was an opportunity to highlight a few of my favorite winemakers, not because they're women, but because of the wines.

Per Capita Spending on Wine

The U.S. buys a lot of wine. But per capita? Not so much. The latest figures in money spent annually per capita, in U.S. dollars:

Australia      $409
France         $209
Switzerland  $185
Portugal       $175
Argentina     $170
Then way down in 17th place:
U.S.              $93

It's time to pick up the pace!

The top 20 are all European countries except for Australia, Canada, and the U.S.

Source: American Association of Wine Economists 

Sonoma County Lodging

With the influx of visitors the area has lots of hotel rooms plus camping, VRBO-type lodging, hostels, etc. In case you may have heard the October Wine Country fires knocked out three hotels and about 400 rooms in the county.

The good news is there are lots of new rooms coming online.

Sparkling Wine / Food Pairing

We should have more sparkling wine with our meals. In the U.S. sparkling wine is about celebrations where you have a glass or three at weddings and a couple holidays. That's a real shame because it belongs on the dinner table, too.

Who's Drinking Wine?

A couple charts below from Silicon Valley Bank's annual wine report show what age groups are drinking wine in the U.S. and a look at overall growth. Both are pretty interesting.

Living to an Old Age -- Let Beer & Wine Help

Along with all of the other studies on the good and the bad of alcohol consumption here is one that says a key to living to a ripe old age may be having a couple drinks every day.

Top Wine Brands

Sonoma County is a region of premium wines. "Premium" usually means falling between $15 and $50. And Sonoma County is full of these wines. The reality of the U.S. wine market is a bit different.

Sonoma County Events for Spring 2018

Listed below are major wine and non-wine events in Sonoma County for March into June 2018.

It's a perfect time in the wine country with warming temperatures, vines starting the new year's growth, wildflowers, and lots of exciting events to tempt you.

Wine Quotes

Some wine quotes for Valentine's Day

The 2017 California Grape Harvest

For the data nerds this is the statewide crush report for all grapes. Remember that the coastal premium grape region is dwarfed by the production from the Central Valley of the state. Numbers are collected by the Dept. of Agriculture.

Why Some in the Alcohol Industry aren't Smiling

You may hear the buzz about craft cocktails, craft beer, and premium wine sales. It would seem like everyone in the alcohol biz (producers, wholesalers, retailers) is sitting happy. Well, the trends aren't making everybody smile.

Wineries, a brewery that deserve your business

It's been over four months since the fires ravaged Santa Rosa and damaged other parts of Sonoma and Napa Counties. Donations flowed to fire relief efforts for a month or two afterward, but have slowed. The need to assist those displaced is still there, however.

A couple local wineries and a brewery recently made substantial donations to help.

Alexander Valley, Sonoma County (photos)

Photos taken February 3, 2018 in Alexander Valley

A.V. sits inland and in the northern part of the county making it a warmer growing area that's great for Cabernet Sauvignon. Other notable grapes from here are Merlot and Chardonnay.

Wine and Home Remodeling Ideas

In case you are planning on a little home remodeling. Okay, "little" is the wrong term. Even if you're thinking of only dropping a few thousand on fixing up the ol' dump don't forget about wine!

Wine Sales Growth

  Last week's blog post said wine sales seem to be leveling off based on results from Silicon Valley Bank. Here's a deeper look.

Making Wine for the People (and Hitting a Moving Target)

People who grow wine grapes and make wine, and even those in the marketing side, are constantly aiming for a moving target. Along with that there is usually a long lead time to implement changes. It's not quite as bad as making cars, for instance, where styles, engineering, and technologies change every couple years it seems. But it's definitely more unpredictable than growing soybeans!

The Struggle is Real :)

Sparkling Wines in the U.S.

Sparkling wines are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. wine market.

In the last few years America discovered Prosecco, an inexpensive and very nice Italian bubbly, and its sales have grown 25% over the past couple of years. Why Prosecco? Value.

All sparkling wine sales have increased enough to where the U.S. may surpass the UK as the world's largest importer of sparkling wine (they love their French Champagne). England is even making its own sparkling wines now.

Wine Sales Leveling Off

It couldn't keep going like that forever. Every year since 2009's negative growth during the recession U.S. winery sales have averaged about 10% growth each year -- until 2017. Last year's growth (thru 9/30/17) was just 0.3%. (Info from Silicon Valley Bank).

Does this mean a contraction is coming or just a leveling off?

Sangiovese - A Food-Friendly Wine

Sangiovese (san joh vaze ay) is Italy's most popular wine grape and the Italians know a thing or two about putting food and wine together. What makes a wine a particularly good food wine? One key element is acid. The acidity of the wine is what stands up to food. Lower acid wines get wiped out by many foods. As a byproduct the acidity is a preservative and helps the wine age.

Organic vs Biodynamic vs Sustainable vs Natural Wine

As if buying a bottle of wine isn't confusing enough with trying to interpret what's on the front label especially on many imported wines. Their labels sometimes aren't even in English!  :)

There are corporate-farmed grapes and industrial settings for making many popular, high volume wines. Those producers don't talk about that, but smaller wineries in the premium end like to differentiate themselves with how the grapes are grown and how the wine is made.

Calories in Your Glass of Wine

Among the flurry of studies telling you the health benefits of wine it still comes down to the fact that it's an alcoholic beverage. You have to decide for yourself how much alcohol is healthy for you to consume. What about the calories?

Favorite Places to Visit in Sonoma County

Following up on favorite wineries and restaurants here are places that fall under the "other" category.

Favorite Santa Rosa, Sonoma County Restaurants

Coming after the last post on favorite wineries is favorite restaurants. I've stuck to the town of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County as that's where I'm based and know best. It's not a complete list as there are many other excellent restaurants and I could probably add another 20 restaurants to the list.

Favorite Sonoma (and nearby) Wineries

Well heck, after years of writing this blog I've never actually listed my favs from the area. Will they be close to yours? Probably not. Think of it as another data point to use in selecting where to stop on your next visit.

Is this a "best of" list? Probably not. I can't really define best without a lot of "personal parameters." It comes down to things like the people, the place, prices and my history with them. Plus I don't often go to appointment-only wineries as it's easier to not be locked into time slots though a couple of these are appt-only places, but are easy enough to get into with a quick phone call.

The difference between this list and all the others? This one comes from living in Sonoma County for going on 40 years; not from a wine writer who visits for a week. Also, I don't make any money off this so there's no influence from that.

2017 The Year in Beer

Per the Brewers Association (whose job it is to promote independent craft brewers) there are now over 6,000 breweries in the U.S. That's 700 more than a year ago and double what we had just four years ago. Supposedly 83% of drinking age adults live within ten miles of a craft brewery. If you live in places like Portland, San Diego, or even Grand Rapids that number might be dozens.

Future of Wine

It wasn't that long ago we were wondering what the wine industry would look like in 2025. Suppose we go out 20 or 30 years from now and look at potential external changes and see what their effect might be on the wine in your glass (or container made from recycled materials).