Happy Anniversary to me. The first post on this wine blog was on December 27, 2008, and titled "Oh no, another wine blog!" Yeah, I'm still here. :)
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There are a couple big stories to the year. One is the well-known wineries that have sold. These happen to all be in Napa. There were smaller, less recognized ones that changed hands, also. The other story is the post-pandemic high prices.
You'll rarely find ten dollar stuff coming from expensive Sonoma County grapes. Those California wines come from the San Joaquin Valley grapes. Most of the wines listed below will be $20-$30. I consider this price to be a good deal for the quality you're getting. You'll often find them for less than the winery's suggested retail.
In Sonoma County, it's easy to find Sauvignon Blanc or Rosé for $20 or less; it's nearly impossible to find Pinot Noir for under $45.
About 90% of wine purchased retail is consumed within a couple of weeks. Usually it's consumed that same day.
The current wine culture says wine should be ready to drink on release. The trick with many premium wines is to also give it aging potential. Some wines will get better with age, others will get worse. The varietal makes the biggest difference, but winemaking and even the weather during the grapes' growing season make a difference.
This is part two of two. The previous post was part one on things you learn about buying wine. This one is about enjoying the wine.
This is part one of two parts on "things you learn about wine" as you get more experienced with the beverage. Part one here is concerned with buying wine; part two will be drinking wine.
According to a survey from Wine Intelligence, a wine consumer research company, about one in three adult Americans are regular drinkers of wine. That is, drink it at least once a month. Over 60% drink alcohol of some sort regularly. Why don't people drink more wine? The short answer is it's intimidating.
Lots of folks like to laugh at Natural Wines and similar programs. Sometimes the laughter might be justified. Sometimes, maybe not.
At the industry Wine Expo in Sonoma County on December 1st there was a side-by-side tasting of different "adjustments" made to a wine (see link below). There were also several vendors selling additives. I'm not saying any of these are bad or harmful or even can't be done to organic wines. It's just info to show some of the manipulations that might be performed in the cellar.
Here are some basic truths about premium wine sales coming from the point-of-view of a Boomer. There are some issues with wine marketing and sales expectations.
