Wine Stocks

A quick look at some of the wine, and other beverage, stocks. A few of the big ones and a couple smaller stocks compared to the overall market over the past six months. Performance graphs from Yahoo Finance as of 27 Sep 23.

Paper Wine Bottles?

Glass wine bottles are heavy, making them expensive to ship and subject to breakage. They are a big part of a winery's carbon footprint. Only about 30% of glass gets recycled in the U.S.

In March, I had a post wondering if aluminum might be the answer to replace glass wine bottles. This time we'll look at paper wine bottles.

Plane vs. expensive chardonnay

Your engine goes out while approaching the Sonoma County Airport. You can't make it to the nearby golf course, so what do you do? How about we take out an estimated 100 vines from the El Diablo Vineyard that produces $100-ish Chardonnay for several wineries? The grower's insurance company is going to love this one.

The pilot was fine; the Cessna had minor damage. Getting the plane out of there will probably be expensive.

image from winespectator.com courtesy Sonoma County Sheriff

Food & Wine, Simplified

 In the past, I've made suggestions of food to have with Sangiovese or wines to have with your grilled burgers, for example. I once attempted a more all-inclusive post on wine and food pairing guidelines. I said "attempted" because it got so confusing that I gave up and it was never published. It doesn't help that I'm not an expert on the subject. This time I'll try to get the basics right.

AirBnB Has a Vineyard Category

 The Airbnb website and app have a Vineyard category to go along with Lakefront, Tiny Homes, Tree Houses, and all the rest. There are vineyards and wineries that offer guest housing, so this makes sense they've made this a separate search.

The Wine and Tourism Industries Head for Amador

Amador County (pop. 41,000) in the Sierra Foothills is about 40 miles east of Sacramento, a metro area of 2.4 million people. The county is a mish mash of elevations and soil types, both things that make for interesting grape growing. 

Vineyards have been in Amador County since the mid-19th century, right when the nearby Gold Rush started. Zinfandel has been the star, but diversity has come to Amador in this century. Even with the history and great vineyards, not much attention was paid to the area. Economic reasons are now changing that. Old is meeting new in Amador County.

Hugh Reimers, What the Hell is Wrong With You, Man?

  Ol' Hugh is a wine executive. He's held upper-level corporate jobs with Constellation Brands, Kendall Jackson, and Foley Wines. Ten years ago he started Krasilsa Pacific Farms LLC, apparently out of his home near Windsor, CA and listing himself as the only employee. Then he repeated what other rich guy landowners have done. He raped the land.

U.S. Wine Sales are Down

After 27 years of gains, the wine market is in a multi-year decline in sales volume. Is it post-pandemic settling out or are we in a years-long trend?

As a wise man once said ...

Scenic Drives in Napa & Sonoma

Besides wine tasting, another activity you can do is travel some of the scenic roads. With several small mountain ranges, rivers, and an ocean, there are numerous spectacular car cruises in the area. These listed below are all two-lane roads, so you may have to be patient with the tourists.  :)

Cool Towns in Sonoma County

There are lots of interesting and even cutesy small towns in Sonoma County. Many people know about the two biggest tourist destinations, Healdsburg and Sonoma, but there's more. The biggest city and county seat, Santa Rosa (pop 185,000) will be skipped. Too big to be cute. :)

Silver Oak Cabernet and the American Wine Style

Silver Oak Cellars has been around for over 50 years, that's pretty long by California standards. It's not just that the winery has been here for a half century, but the effect they've had on California wine drinkers. They make a Napa Valley Cab and an Alexander Valley (Sonoma County) Cab and neither has changed much in those 50 years.

Sonoma County's Major Appellations

Below is a description of the major appellations / American Viticultural Areas / AVAs you are likely to see on a bottle of Sonoma County wine. You may not understand what these AVAs imply, so below is an overview and a generalization -- meaning just because I don't mention Sauvignon Blanc in a particular growing area doesn't mean it's not grown there. Small microclimate zones can spring up almost anywhere. Because of the soil and climate diversity, Sonoma County can grow pretty much any wine grape somewhere.