Wine Faults

Wine is a  living agricultural-derived product that, unfortunately, can have a number of faults. Following are the ones you are more likely to see. Luckily, they don't appear too often. Many are winemaking faults, but some happen after the finished wine has left the winery and may even be your fault. If you don't believe it was your responsibility then return the wine to where it was purchased.

Covid and Wine (and Beer and Spirits)

 It looks as though U.S. wine sales will be flat for 2020. That's probably a relief for the wine biz. Sales had been growing since the end of the Great Recession though the growth rate dropped enough in 2019 to give some people concern. At the beginning of 2020 the predictions were for a leveling off of sales. Once the pandemic hit nobody had any idea.

How Winemakers are Dealing with Smoke Taint

  Smoke taint, it's the latest trend in wine! Okay, it isn't though I recently read one blogger saying smoke taint should be part of your terroir. Um, no. Smoke taint from wildfires is a thing now. It can give a wine a campfire smell and taste. Or sometimes it's said the wine smells like an ashtray. Yuck.

  Local winemakers have been dealing with this on-and-off since 2008. As they gain experience they are learning about what grapes to toss and what might be saved by some special things done to the fruit.

  This is a link to an article on interviews with a few local winemakers and what they're doing this year -- from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

The Unsung Heroes of the 2020 Grape Harvest

The real heroes are the firefighters and other first responders, but ... 

  Great wine starts in the vineyard according to most winemakers. It's not the winemaker doing the work in the vineyard and often they don't even oversee the vineyard management. There are whole crews of mostly immigrant Hispanics toiling away to make sure you get great wine.

Wildfires and the Real Harm to California's Wine Economy

 Real, physical damage? Overall it's pretty small. Where is the actual damage? It's in the perception.

And Now the Bad News About Alcohol

   Yes, you read the good things in beer and wine and how a bit of alcohol a day may be beneficial. You've certainly heard about health benefits of red wine. Of course, there's the downside of too much alcohol.

   A CDC study on alcohol from 2011-2015 gave some dark statistics.

Lodi Wine

"Stuck in Lodi Again," Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969.

When it comes to wine Lodi often gets no respect just like in that song. In the last half of the 19th century settlers were planting the table grape Tokay, but also wine grapes like Zinfandel. Lodi is in the vast Central Valley known for farm crops, but not so much for quality grapes though most of California's wine grapes are actually grown in the valley, but are used for the less expensive wines (Thunderbird anyone)? 

It turns out Lodi is special.

The Harrowing Harvest from Hell

  Smoke taint. What vineyard owners and winemakers have worried about for several years now has hit harder than ever in 2020. Of course, 2020. Why not? Everything else has.

Coming Soon: West Sonoma Coast AVA

In 1987 as interest in planting grapes in cooler areas of Sonoma County grew the Sonoma Coast appellation was born. It immediately took criticism for being too large (500,000 acres/780 sq miles) with much of the land not even being near the coast. The argument in favor was it all had coastal influence, but that description could include most of Sonoma County.

(Appellation = American Viticultural Area = AVA)

Sonoma County Harvest Fair 2020

This would have been the weekend (Oct 2-3) for the annual public tasting of the gold medal winning wines. If ever there was a year where this wasn't going to happen 2020 is it. The event was canceled months ago because of the pandemic. Recent fires, still going strong, aren't threatening the fairgrounds in Santa Rosa that hosts the tasting, but the air quality is unhealthy.

Nonetheless the judging was held and there are winners. I have not tasted any of these as I would have at the public tasting in previous years so I can't offer any insight.

Here is the link to the award winners.

Harvest Fair Grape Stomp competition from a past year

Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is the other white wine. In a number of ways it's a better wine than Chardonnay in my opinion. It's a clean, crisp, refreshing beverage. It's best chilled at refrigerator temp. This is notable because most Chard is better at a cool cellar temp and it's generally served to cold.

Chardonnay is fruity and often heavy, oily. Pinot Griggio/Gris more neutral (a drinking without thinking wine). Sauvignon Blanc is more herbal and bright (acidic). These general characteristics of the wine make it great in warm weather and make it a good food wine.

Sauv Blanc is also less expensive than Chard with most premium ones around $15-30, but there are many around $10-12.