Another Winery to Pass On

 An earlier post mentioned Christopher Creek Winery and sexual misconduct by one of the owners.

You also might want to skip on Skipstone Winery. It's owned by a rich guy who made is money in the tech business. Okay, he's not the only rich guy that gets into the wine biz as a hobby or maybe a tax write-off. Fahri Diner put in a vineyard while knowingly flouting environmental rules. He got caught. "His people" called the land protection rules unconstitutional. He paid the fine which is probably not much of a burden to him and made it known he's quite unhappy about it. Sorry buddy, but the rules apply even to you.

Kind of Wild - First of its Kind

 Kind of Wild is a direct-to-consumer only winery. The part that's unique is the wine is certified organic and vegan. It's not the only organic wine, vegan wine, globally sourced wines, or mail order only wine, but they claim they're the first to do it all. Okay, is the wine any good? I dunno. You should look for reviews.

 The startup was crowdfunded. Kind of Wild was started up by a couple guys that are in the wine sales business. They talk up sustainability and healthy life styles. Not sure why are they're using the traditional glass bottles, corks, and labels if they are big on sustainability.

 Read all about it on winebusiness.com.

Some Things Locals Do and Don't Do in Santa Rosa

If you visit Sonoma County you may be spending time in its biggest city. Santa Rosa is a good central location plus has lots of lodging and dining choices. Here are a few hints from the locals.

American Cabernet Sales in 2020

  There was this little thing in 2020 known as The Pandemic with one effect being a drastic drop of in-person sales, including wine sales, but a huge increase in online sales. The economy crashed, but people still bought wine. However, the most expensive wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, took a hit.

Christopher Creek Winery; Avoid it for Now

Brothers Joe and Dominic Foppoli own and manage Christopher Creek Winery in the Russian River Valley. They and the winery are in various trade groups and gov't positions. I should say were as they've been kicked out of the likes of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers organization. Dominic, also the mayor of the small town of Windsor, has been accused of sexual assault by several women. One, a married deputy district attorney, accused him of using a date rape drug.

Like any "innocent" man he slammed those calling on him to resign as mayor. He accused the victims of sexually assaulting him.

His brother Joe claims he knew of none of these alleged attacks, including some at their winery. I'm gonna call bullshit on this one for now. Joe says he's in the process of having his brother removed from the winery. Does this mean just no official title? Does it mean he will have no financial interest or will Dominic still be getting income to help pay for the coming criminal cases?

The California District Attorney's Office is investigating. We'll see what kind of dirt comes out.

Don't support sexual predators.

When Will We See the Budweiser of Cannabis?

  Yeah, this is a wine blog and sometimes a beer or vacation blog. Cannabis is as much a part of Sonoma County as wine and craft beer. Legalized marijuana is here to stay so we might as well get with the program. It'll eventually be nationwide.

Are California Wineries Looking to Sell?

  Silicon Valley Bank does a yearly state of the wine industry. One of the things they found this year is a high percentage of owners would consider selling. Over half of the Northern California wineries say they might be willing to sell while less than one-quarter in the southern part of the state. The north includes areas like Sonoma, Napa, Lodi, and the Sierra Foothills (includes Amador and El Dorado counties).

Your Wine Vacation -- Where to Go

Where to visit on your wine vacation? Some of these destinations well-known, a couple maybe not. These are reasonably easy to get to if you're flying in.

Where the Wine Drinkers Live

  According to Wine Intelligence 17% of regular wine drinkers in America live in three metropolitan areas. These areas are about 12% of the country's population, btw. 

  The big three metro areas for regular wine drinkers are NYC, L.A. and Dallas-Ft. Worth. Rounding out the top ten are Chicago, SF-Oakland-San Jose, Miami, Houston, Philly, Boston, and DC-Baltimore.

  See where you and your neighbors stand. Click on image to enlarge.