A former felon (for marijuana cultivation) now runs a cannabis farm with a license allowing tourists to visit and spend the night. Huckleberry Hill is in the redwoods of northern California's famous Emerald Triangle. A little bit of weed country tourism that is about a three hour drive north of the Napa/Sonoma wine country.
Article from sfgate.com
Wine grapes are the canary in the coal mine for food crops. Premium wine requires a certain weather pattern to produce the best wines. With a little wine experience it's easy to taste the difference between a Napa cabernet from 2011 (cool, rainy) and 2012 (a typical sunny, warm year), for instance. Or the difference between a cab from south Napa County (cool) and upvalley (hot).
Climate change is starting to cause problems for the people growing grapes. It's not always about more heat, but about more variability.
Link: French wine disaster
Sometimes you might want something a little different from just a standard wine tasting. Maybe a little art. A couple wineries known for there sculpture gardens on their sprawling estates are Donum and Paradise Ridge.
There's a segment of the consumer base that wants low-sugar, low-carb, low- or non-alcohol adult beverages. You know, like hard seltzer. There are plenty of lite beers and a few zero alcohol ones. There is even low- and no-alcohol booze. I won't vouch for the taste of any of these when compared to their full strength offerings, but generally you can expect less flavor. But no- or low-alcohol wines? Few and far between.
In the last ten years the U.S. has gone from about 7,400 wineries to over 11,000. That's about a 50% increase.
California has 4,800 wineries followed by Oregon and Washington each with about 850. Texas and New York follow each with over 400. Sonoma and Napa Counties each have over 400.
For Sonoma, Napa, and really for California, wine growth started in the 1970s. In the early part of that decade Sonoma and Napa each had a couple dozen wineries. Later in the '70s the region returned to the same acreage of grapes as there was before Prohibition (Prohibition, the Depression, and the war years really set America back in wine production). Since the 1980s the growth in American wineries has been exponential.
It's been quite a ride!
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| Growth in the number of American wineries since the Great Recession. Source: statistica.com Click on image to enlarge |
The 2020 crush was down 14% in tonnage compared to 2019; red wine is down more than white. It's the lowest of the past decade. Why? Part of the reason is the warm growing season, but mostly it's the wildfires and resulting smoke.
Click on the graph to enlarge
No wonder some people are put off by wine recommendations, gold medals, and tasting notes. It turns out everyone's brain reads tastes and smells differently. When you add that to different interpretations based on the tasting environment to your health to social pressure it's not surprising buying based on someone else's favorites often fails.
Wine sales by age group. Boomers are still the biggest buyers especially of the luxury stuff.
Click on graph to enlarge.
The origins of zinfandel were a mystery until about 30 years ago. Through genetic research the grape has been traced to its home where there's now a resurgence in the original zin. Zinfandel is California's best wine (my opinion). Being summer, all I can say is, "zinfandel and barbecue!"
The story from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
