Where Do You Find the Winos?

Vatican City drinks the most wine per capita in the world though out of "real" countries Croatia is #1. Of states Idaho is tops. You probably didn't guess Croatia and Idaho, did you?

Of the world's cities the per capita (of adults) consumption finds that Paris is #1 (pretty easy guess) followed by Rome, Milan and Naples (all three are about the same). In the U.S. Washington DC easily tops the list -- because drunk Congressmen make good decisions?

Twenty Reasons to Visit Sonoma County

From a website called The Richest comes an article on why you should visit Sonoma County. To summarize I'd say for the variety of things to do: wine, beer, outdoors activities, Pacific Coast, museums, parks, fairs and special events, scenery and cutesy small towns.

Twenty Reasons to Visit Sonoma County

Increased Competition for California Wineries

Since the depth of the Great Recession the number of wineries in California has increased 31% from 3,540 wineries in 2011 to 4,650 in 2017. Yes, wine sales went up in that time, too, but we now have flatter sales, excess crop from 2018, and a possible recession looming again.

A Key Demographic for Wine Sales Growth?

Wine folks love to talk about the Millennials ad nauseam and how they're changing the wine industry. Occasionally someone will mention that most winemakers and executives are white males. This, of course, isn't a problem just in the wine industry. They might even wonder why the Black American market hasn't been tapped. Well, there's another market that warrants consideration.

Sonoma County's Destination Differentiators

"Destination differentiators" is marketing speak for what distinguishes one vacation spot from another. It's easy to see how a Hawaii beach trip might be a different sort of vacation from an African safari, but how is Sonoma County different from other wine vacations?

Wine Myths and Facts

There's absolute scientific proof, there's bald-faced lies, there's politics where truth is irrelevant. In wine there are many myths, a nice way of saying there's a lot of bullshit.

Sangiacomo Family Wines

A new winery has opened in Sonoma County. Not exactly big news as there are well over 400 wineries in the county. This one is a bit different from some in that it didn't start as a rich guy's dream / write-off. There's a lot of real farming history with the Sangiacomo family. If the saying is true that great wines start in the vineyard then these folks might be putting out some pretty nice juice.

Oregon Wine Sales

California wine sales are almost flat after several years of high growth. California is about 90% of the U.S. market and over $35 billion while Oregon measures their sales in the hundreds of millions. However, the percentage growth of Oregon wine is far outpacing California and the rest of the nation.

The dollar value of Oregon wine sold in retail outlets is up over 12% from 2017 to 2018. Direct-to-consumer sales are up 19% (double the national average). Pinot Noir sales are up about 15% and even Chardonnay is up almost as much even though Chard sales are flat overall. Oregon seems to be the new darling for many wine folks.

Numbers from bizjournals.com

New West Sonoma Coast Appellation

There's a proposal to create a West Sonoma Coast American Viticultural Area as a sub-region of the Sonoma Coast AVA. Why? Because the Sonoma Coast one is a bit of a joke. It's almost 800 square miles with some of it being about 30 miles from the Pacific.

For years those of the "true" Sonoma Coast grape growing region have complained. Then the Ft Ross-Seaview AVA carved out of part of the Sonoma Coast AVA to differentiate some of the growers. This new West Sonoma Coast AVA is a better attempt to correct that original mistake.

Click on the map to enlarge

Wineries Waiting Out the Freeze

California makes 90% of the country's wine, but many other states have a significant wine production and winery visitor economy. Behind California are New York at #3, Pennsylvania #4, Ohio #6, and Michigan #7. What do these runner-up states have in common? This year's Polar Vortex.

Sonoma County Events Spring 2019

Following are the major wine and non-wine events in Sonoma County for March to mid-June 2019.

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.