The other day I came across this fact sheet: “Reducing Alcohol Levels In Wine” published by the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). Directed at the professional winegrower, this is the best agenda-free piece on wine alcohol levels I have read, period. It’s worth the interested reader’s time. All of my own efforts to manage alcohol [...]
Archive for the ‘The Market’ Category
Low-Alcohol Trend? Think Again
A couple weeks ago Joe Roberts (1WineDude) queried on Twitter “Curious: I keep hearing about a low alcohol wine trend in the US, but does any consumer data exist to back it up?” Tyler Thomas (winemaker for Donelan Wines) replied on Twitter with a link to a page of statistics compiled by Wine Institute and [...]
Winemakers Will Come To You
At the end of May, the organizers of Hospice du Rhône announced the end of the big annual event in Paso Robles. Predictably, the announcement prompted expressions of sadness and angst over the cancellation of what was a long-running, successful and popular international celebration of wines made from Rhône varieties. In reading through these reactions, [...]
Praise The Thoughtful Wine List
Today I feel like writing about semantics, because the words we use matter (“natural” wine, anyone?). A month ago Jon Bonné put up a piece on “The Bay Area’s incredible shrinking wine lists” where he commented: Years ago, restaurants like Square One and Zuni Cafe pioneered that balance of fancy and fun. Later came Nopa, [...]
Will Drunken Guests Destroy Wine Festivals?
For the last two weekends The Northern Sonoma County Wine Road association held their 34th annual barrel tasting event. Following things on Twitter it was clear that many people were having a great time tasting wines from barrels both weekends. The majority of people attending this sort of wine festival have a responsible good time. [...]
Discount Sites’ Value To Small Wineries
F**k Discounts No I really mean it: f**k ‘em. Much as I don’t like to start a post on a negative, I’m just so done with discounting. No, we are not going to haggle on the price of that bottle of Pinot—I will sell it to you at a discount if (and only if) you [...]
Natural Wine Myth
Tom Wark recently posted a criticism of the “natural wine movement” on his blog, titled “Authentic Wine and Mistaking the Tail For the Snout” where he says: In many ways the “Natural Wine” and now “Authentic Wine” movement is well behind the curve. Winemakers the world over have long embraced the notion of exposing terroir [...]
The Greatly Exaggerated Demise of Syrah
For the past several years when I have shown our wines to distributors, brokers and retailers I have heard the refrain: “Pinot? Sure. Blend? Maybe. But I (we) can’t move any Syrah… especially not at your price point.” It seems to me that many (most?) critic types have piled on, at the very best damning [...]
Demagoguery At The Wine Party
When I am into harvest there is not much else that can get my attention. When harvest is on, I’ve got my head down, in the moment. But at the moment for me harvest is decidedly not on–yet (see my last post). Oh, I am busy–don’t mistake me–mostly selling wine but also monitoring and managing [...]
A Tale Of Two Press Releases
A new winery has opened in Sonoma Valley. Since Roche Winery sold their production facility several years ago we locals have been wondering what all the new construction at the site has been about. There was a sign on the property announcing “Rams Gate,” a very thin web site, and a lot of speculative talk. [...]
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