Diet Wine

Dry table wines contain about 125 calories per five ounce glass. That's not a lot if you only have one glass, but what fun is that? Lower alcohol or no alcohol wines will have fewer calories.

Napa (or Other Wine Region) Guide

  Lots of folks planning a trip to Napa Valley, or some other wine region, have similar questions: Where to drink, where to eat, where to stay, can we bring our kids? This is a great little Napa Wine Guide from the wine blogger, Wine Folly, that will help get you started.

Call it Climate Change, Call it Bad Luck

Whatever you want to call it, the weather for the past few years is causing major problems for some of your favorite wineries.

Scorched, Parched, and Uninsurable, from the NY Times 

And it's not just happening here. Fire rips through vineyards in France from Wine Spectator.

OMG they're not drinking wine!

The graph below is meant to worry people in the wine biz. The newest arbitrarily named generation (gen z) isn't buying wine! Similar charts come out periodically. It turns out kids in college or just out of school with lots of debt don't buy much wine. Also, I think wine, along with other beverages like whiskey, are acquired tastes. That is, most people having their first sip of a light, sweet hard seltzer or cider might say, "Ohhh, this is nice." whereas their first intro to cabernet or scotch might be more, "OMG this is terrible!"

The California Zinfandel Trail

It's about time somebody did this! From the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) comes your guide to exploring California's best wine. The Zinfandel Trail has maps, suggested routes, and a blog. The ZAP site has more info about zin and it's producers. 

Just in Sonoma County there are over 5,000 acres of zinfandel planted, some of it is over 100 years old. Sonoma is home to some legendary zin vineyards such as Maple Vyds, Monte Rosso, Bedrock, Pagani Ranch, Jackass Hill, Papera, and the list goes  on.

You owe it to yourself to hit the zin trail. 

Pagani Ranch, Sonoma Valley

Look Out Gallo, Here Come the Feds

  Gallo and its many brands own 22% of the U.S. wine market by volume. Considering there are 11,000 wineries in the country, that is huge! On the beer side, Anheuser-Busch InBev owns 40% of that market. It's not just product, it's also distribution and shelf space.

  Biden wants to rein in companies that have gotten too big and too monopolistic costing customers selection and money plus making it near impossible for the little guys to get a foothold. This isn't just about Google and Facebook as Biden is looking at Big Pharma and Big Agriculture. Booze is part of that.

The California Drought

You've probably read about it in the news, you've no doubt seen photos of the low water levels in some reservoir. In many communities people have been told to cut water usage, to forego things like watering their lawns or washing their cars. Let's take a quick look at where California's water goes.

Bud Wine

There's this new wine brand that is showing up on store shelves, 101 North, which implies the US 101 highway that runs from L.A. then through vineyards, coastal areas, over the Golden Gate, through more vineyards, redwoods then all that way up through Oregon and Washington. Their home page shows many vistas you might see along US 101. I'm not sure what the winery has to do with any of this.

Visiting? There are Covid Changes

With the Delta variant of Covid pushing through the country, locally in Sonoma/Napa, and the general Bay Area, there are some changes in place to stop the spread.

Some counties, including Sonoma and Mendocino, now require a mask for indoor public places. Napa is not yet on the list, but it's only a matter of time. Second, some bars, restaurants, and events are requiring proof of vaccination or a recent Covid test.

Beer vs. Wine, by Country

Some nations drink lots of beer, others lots of wine. Who has the biggest differential between the two adult beverages? This info is from a 2015 data gathering by the University of Adelaide.