North Coast Wine Challenge 2023

  This is an annual judging of wines entered from the North Coast grape growing area of California. This included the counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Marin, and Solano. Yes, some of these are better known than others, but all are making premium commercial wines.

California Wine Grapes and the Historic Rains

Will the heavy rains and floods that went on from Christmas well into March harm the 2023 wine grape crop? Nope. 

Napa is NOT a Tourist Trap!

 Meanwhile, in Carneros near the town of Napa...

image from Napa Register

Yep, Napa has a cruise ship! For six grand and up you can visit San Francisco, Napa, plus exciting stops like Stockton!

Article from the Napa Register.

 

Update 7/29/23

Oops, just like that, it's gone!

Bay Area River Cruise is no more

Ways to Shop for a Red Wine

You know a little about wine, you've done wine shopping, but still get confused and overwhelmed when trying to choose something. If you find a wine sales person to assist, you'll still want to help them nail down what you want. It's better if there's something to go on besides, "I want a red under $25 to take to mom's."  

Following are some ways to help you choose quicker and choose wisely. This is aimed at picking out a dry red dinner wine, but will kind of work for whites. The methods go from less knowledge required to having a bit more experience with buying wine.

Pick the method that works best.

The "Minor" Red Wines

Most consumers likely think of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon when they think of California wines. Many probably believe Napa = Cab and Sonoma = Pinot. Well, I'm here to tell yah there are other grapes grown that can be purdy good and less expensive than the likes of Pinot and Cab.

This article will focus on what you might call second tier wines. Second tier doesn't mean second class. Some of these wines have been in California since the beginning of wine production, others are relatively new to the state.

Do Wine & Baseball Have the Same Problems?

Take me out to the ballgame, take me out with the crowd. Buy me some sauv blanc and Cracker Jacks, I don't care if I never get back.

It's finally baseball season again. I suppose it's always wine season. What do baseball and wine have in common that's giving both businesses headaches?

Is Aluminum the Answer For Wine Bottles?

All sorts of beverages and other products come in aluminum containers. Aluminum is lightweight, stackable, and theoretically infinitely recyclable. An aluminum container will chill quicker than a glass bottle and retain its chill longer. 

Craft beer certainly made a quick move from glass to aluminum cans.

Wine, however, is a lot more traditional with heavy glass bottles, corks, and foils. Not too long ago there was lead in your wine bottle foil that extended right over the opening of the bottle!

Wine's Big Problem

Premium wine sales are down in the U.S. Premium generally meaning any wine over $20/bottle; luxury wines are over $50. Sales are down across most age groups except those over 60, and are really down for the youngest drinkers.

Sales boomed from the time of the French Paradox in the '90s until the Great Recession of '08-'09. With the recovery, sales increased, but not as rapidly as before. Early Covid saw a short uptick, then a dropoff more recently. Is it a temporary adjustment or a sign of things to come?

Local Wine News

  It's been quite the couple of weeks! News from Clos Pegase Winery, Heitz Cellars, and Gundlach Bundschu Winery. The big shocker is the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.

Sangiovese, An Italian in California

  Sangiovese (san-jo-vay-zee, or thereabouts) is the most-planted and the most well-known grapes from Italy. Chianti is at least 75% Sangiovese.

  You'll also find Sangiovese from Australia, France, Argentina, and the U.S. It grows best in warm, dry climates. This might be a reason it's become more popular in California, as it grows well in heat and low water conditions.

Some Family Wineries in Sonoma County

There are many family-owned and operated wineries in the county. Most are pretty small. I will not be able to find and list all of them; these I am familiar with.

Why should you and I support family owned and operated wineries? They will tend to care more about the land, what goes in a bottle that might have their name on it, about the local families that make a living from the wine business, and, of course, the money goes to a family trying to make a living rather than a string of corporate managers that don't know how to spell m̶e̶l̶l̶o̶  m̶a̶l̶o̶l̶a̶k̶  malolactic.  :)

There are large companies that own multiple wineries calling themselves family-run, and they're not lying, but it's not the same as a ma and pa operation. There are ones that continue to have the word family in their name even though they've sold the business to a company and no longer run it. There are millionaire or billionaire owners, usually absentee, that also don't count, because you don't see many of them on a tractor.

Are Family-Owned Wineries Disappearing?

It seems I'm reading about an old family winery going under every few weeks. How bad is it really?

Here are some facts found at jordanwiwnery.com, a Sonoma County family-run winery.