September is California Wine Month

 Over 20 years ago, the California State Legislature gave us a whole month to celebrate wine!

Wine Trends By Decade

There have been many American wine trends over the years. It's not as though wine fashion was invented with that organic non-alcoholic natty orange wine you're drinking. 

The seminal event that kicked-started American wine was the 1976 Judgment of Paris. We'll start from there.

Wine Industry: "The Sky is Falling"

Not quite. 

This has been seen before, and the wine industry recovered, usually to get even bigger than before. That doesn't mean it'll be a quick downturn. Will it be a year, will it be a decade (jeez, I hope not)?

Is the Alcohol % Listed on the Wine Bottle Correct?

Maybe it's correct. A legit winemaker/winery will be very close to the labeled percentage. Those that care more about market perception than honesty may take a different route.

Wines for National Hot Dog Day

Wednesday, July 16, 2025, is National Hot Dog Day which begs the question, what wine to pair with your dogs? I'm glad you asked.

Buying Zinfandel

Zinfandel has been called America's grape for a long time; long before DNA testing took it to Primitivo in Italy and farther back to an obscure grape in Croatia. If you really want to know the Croatian name for American Zinfandel, it's usually called Crljenak Kaštelanski, but sometimes Tribidrag. Hey, you asked.

Let's say you are looking to buy a bottle of California Zin. How should you go about that? Some help follows.

Vermentino in Sonoma County

Several Italian grape varietals are catching on in California, from Fiano to Barbera. The current hot one is Vermentino, as it's showing up in more wineries in Sonoma County, and around the state.

Pinot Noir Without Breaking the Bank

Specifically, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir from premium wine producers at low to moderate prices. Russian River is the primary region of Sonoma County for this wine, and a significant amount is produced. 

Avoiding Palate Fatigue

Palate Fatigue is when you've overindulged. It's not about becoming intoxicated; rather, it's physical and mental exhaustion. You've worn out your taste buds, and can no longer tell the difference between wines. The fatigue stems from physical from sensory saturation and the mental strain of concentrating on the various smells and tastes. Yes, wine tasting is hard work!

Good Value Wines From Sonoma County

These are a few picks of quality wines from Sonoma County that aren't too expensive and should be relatively easy to find in wine shops and big box retailers. There are more, these are a few I know about. 

What is Rosé Wine?

Whether it's Rosé All Day or Yes Way Rosé pink wine is the in wine. Some info about this wine phenomenon follows.

Wine and Women

Women and their wine have a special relationship. Here's a sometimes humorous look at this culture.

Interesting Facts About Calfornia Chardonnay

A little bit about Chardonnay from California, the love it or hate it wine. It even has its own "club," the ABC or Anything But Chardonnay. 

Get Ready for Summer in Sonoma

Sonoma County in the summer means an almost endless list of things you can do. Some of them are: sit outside at a winery while sipping, swim, float, surf, or kayak on the cool water, hike a trail, go to the fair, and listen to music.

For other ideas, check out previous blog posts on Major Events for Summer and Alternatives to Wine.

Wine Basics

This is a short tutorial on what to look for in a wine. This can help you find out why you like or dislike certain wines.

Favorite Wines By State

A 2022 survey by Wise Voter lists the top five wines for every state. Not sure why Wise Voter cares about wine, but here we go.

Some highlights on the #1 choices:

• Arkansas is the only state with White Zinfandel as the most popular wine. Only four other states have White Zin in their top five. I think rosé has largely displaced White Zin.
  
  
• Several hot weather states have rosé on top, along with Minnesota. Rosé shows up in the top five in 31 states.
  
  
• What do the largest wine-producing states drink? CA Sauvignon Blanc, OR Cabernet Sauvignon, WA Sauvignon Blanc. It's interesting that Oregon, a state where two-thirds of the grapes planted are Pinot Noir and just 4% Cabernet, prefers Cab.
  
  
• Ten states are trendy, you might say, with Pinot Noir at #1. Some of these trendy states are Kansas, Mississippi, and Montana, states that aren't necessarily considered trendy.
  
  
• Sauvignon Blanc is the overall winner, with 16 states having it as their #1 pick. Pinot Noir and Cabernet are tied for 2nd with 10 states. There's a lot of inexpensive imported Sauv Blanc, mostly from New Zealand. I expect that's why it's #1.

The full list - you have to scroll down aways to find the list.

America's Favorite Wines

Polling and surveying company, YouGov, released data on American's wine habits. Following are a few highlights, some surprising.

The Los Angeles Connection to California Wine History

  How could Los Angeles have any influence on the wine industry? Well, it turns out that the start of California's commercial wine business was in LA.

  The California missions run from San Diego's Mission, founded in 1769, to Sonoma's Mission in 1823. BTW, there were also missions throughout Baja California. The missions were known for planting wine grapes and making mission wine for church services and to serve at their own dinners.

  You might consider the San Diego Mission as the oldest winery in the country. However, they haven't made wine there in a very long time, it was never really a commercial winery, and California wasn't part of the US at the time.

Tariffs and the Wine Industry

What are the likely effects of the American tariffs and retaliatory tariffs on the American wine industry? This is educated guesswork, but we'll know for sure if the tariffs are still in place in a few months.

Why should you care? Besides price increases, there are well over a million jobs at stake.

California Agriculture

California agriculture is big! How big is it? In production value, it leads the nation. Part of the reason is the number of high value crops such as nuts, dairy and, of course, wine grapes. It's a $60 billion industry, with $23 billion of it exported. The value of organic products is increasing significantly.

The next biggest ag states are Iowa, Texas, and Nebraska.