May, 2007
Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Thursday, May 31 2007
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One of the major problems facing the California wine industry and the wine loving public is accessibility. With the hundreds of wineries in the Napa Valley alone, it’s a daunting task to find ones you like. This is one of the goals of Calwineries, and also of other organizations like The Napa Valley Vintners Association (NVV).
The NVV recently launched a new website with a feature that helps you find the Napa Valley wineries that are interesting to you. It’s mainly devoted to finding wineries to tour, so unfortunately has little to do with the wine itself. But it still is a great resource and worthy of attention.
After navigating to the Napa Valley Wineries page, you will be able to search for wineries in three sections, by category, by city or by name.
The “wineries by category” is the most interesting feature, so we should start there. This feature allows you to narrow the winery results based on categories. These include, if the winery is open to the public, if tours are given, if it has a wine club, if it has a picnic area, even if it is dog friendly.
You can see how this would be beneficial if you are traveling to the Napa Valley. You can view your results in the form of a list, or map. The map, pictured below, adds a visual aspect to your results, making them more manageable (its easier to see 100 wineries on a map, then in a list).
The one draw back to this feature is that you cannot narrow you results with multiple factors. For instance, I would like to see a list of wineries that are open to the public, have tastings, have a picnic area and are dog friendly. As it stands, you can only see the wineries in these individual categories.
The next part of the NVV winery finder is wineries by city. These results, like wineries by category, can be viewed in list format of map format. The cities you can search by are; Angwin, Calistoga, Deer Park, Napa, Oakville, Rutherford, St Helena and Yountville.
The last part of this feature is wineries by name. Like many other data bases, you can search NVV member wineries by name. This is mainly useful if you already know what you are looking for, rather than looking to discover new wineries.
Overall, this new feature is a great way to find Napa Valley wineries to visit. If you want to use their new winery feature, click here.
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Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Thursday, May 24 2007
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Today marks the 31st anniversary of the most important day in California wine history. Many regard the 1976 Judgment of Paris as the ‘tasting that changed the world.’ This was certainly true for the Napa Valley wineries that took home top honors, beating wines that were supposedly unbeatable.
There were two categories, Reds and Whites. Six California Cabernet Sauvignons were competing against four of the top reds from Bordeaux, including a 1970 Châteaux Haut-Brion and Mouton-Rothschild. And six California Chardonnays were competing against four of the top whites from Burgundy.
After the panel of eight French men and one French woman went through the blind tasting, they thought it was a landslide victory for France. But after the results were tallied, the French judges were shocked to discover that California came out on top in both categories.
This victory truly was the “shot heard round the world,” and raised California’s wine industry to a new level. The winning Cabernet was the 1973 Stags Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, and the winning Chardonnay was the 1973 Chateau Montelena.
Written by: Ben Bicais on Wednesday, May 23 2007
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Few California wine regions produce Pinot Noir with the same depth and finesse as Carneros. Carneros straddles the southern parts of Napa and Sonoma Valleys about 40 miles north of San Francisco.
Despite the fact that Carneros overlaps both Napa and Sonoma, the region has an identity all its own. This can be seen in every aspect of the terrain which is generally quite flat and less varied than Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Carneros is also decidedly more rustic and less pretentious than its more famous neighbors.
Why Pinot Noir Thrives in Carneros
Summer days are often cooled by fog from the San Pablo Bay. But it is Carneros’ wind that really makes it a world-class Pinot Noir region. These winds can actually shut down the metabolic processes of the vines, retaining all-important acidity. The wind is also critical because it dries out moisture that settles on the vines overnight. This helps protect against mold and mildew.
Pinot Noir is also well-suited to the soils of Carneros, which are generally quite dense and shallow. These soils have medium to low fertility and are comprised of a significant amount of clay. This makes for small root systems and natural vigor management, leading to dense fruit flavors.
The southern part of Carneros is extremely flat, and only a few feet above sea level. This is the coolest part of the region, and generally makes the lightest wines. Undulating hills roll through the northern part of the region, especially on the Napa side. Some of these hills reach an elevation of 400 feet above sea level. Pinot from this part of Carneros, including the warmer Congress Valley, is quite a bit more extracted and fuller-bodied.
However, climate does not explain everything. A couple decades ago, most Carneros Pinot Noir was light-bodied and known for its dried cherry, dusty cranberry, and herbal flavors. But when phylloxera struck in the 1980s and 1990s, the older Martini clones were largely replaced with Dijon clones. These grapes make distinctly darker wines with more concentrated flavors that are often more a matter of plums, black cherries, and blueberries.
Carneros is in a bit of a transitional phase right now. Although the region’s Pinot Noir is famous the world over, there has been a lot of talk about Merlot or Syrah possibly supplanting the grape. While it is true that some of the warmer microclimates in Carneros are perhaps better suited to Merlot and Syrah, Pinot is still alive and well in the wine region.
Written by: Ben Bicais on Wednesday, May 23 2007
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Written by: Ben Bicais on Tuesday, May 22 2007
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Matanzas Creek Winery will host their 11th annual Days of Wine and Lavender festival on June 23rd from 1-4 pm. Each year, as the estate’s trademark lavender begins to bloom, Matanzas Creek celebrates the beginning of summer with wine, live music, vineyard tours, and food prepared by the winery’s chef.
Matanzas Creek is located on an impeccably landscaped property in Sonoma County’s Bennett Valley wine region. Patricia Kaczmarek cares for about 4,500 lavender plants including Provence and Grosso varieties. The winery also makes several lavender products that can be purchased online.
Matanzas Creek was established in 1977 under the leadership of Merry Edwards. With her meticulous winemaking practices and careful clonal selections in the vineyard, Edwards brought the winery to national prominence in a matter of a few years. Her Sauvignon Blanc was particularly acclaimed in the early 1980s.
Current winemaker François Cordesse works closely with vineyard manager Brandon Axell to produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. Days of Wine and Lavender is a great opportunity to try some of these renowned wines as well as enjoy the beautiful scenery. Tickets are $95 per person and $75 for wine club members.
Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Monday, May 21 2007
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For all the beauty that wine is and represents, there is a very dark, dangerous side of alcohol. Alcohol abuse is a semi-taboo subject among people in the wine industry. It’s not hard to see why an industry built on alcohol sales would avoid a subject that shows the negative effects of their products.
This is understandable. However, it is important to acknowledge the sometimes deadly effects of alcohol abuse and advocate the responsible consumption of wine. Unfortunately, there are very few wineries who mention this, and even fewer that support related organizations.
After reading the 94 page Global Status Report on Alcohol from the World Health Organization (WHO), it’s not hard to see that alcohol abuse is a significant problem facing the world’s population. According to the report;
- 2 billion people world wide drink alcohol
- 73 million have diagnosable alcohol use disorders
- There is a causal relationship between alcohol and 60 types of disease and injury
- Alcohol is reported as the cause of about 20 – 30% of oesophageal cancer, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, homicide, epileptic seizure, and motor vehicle accidents (WHO, 2002)
Below is a graph of the global per capita consumption of alcohol from 1961 through 2001.
As you can see, total alcohol consumption increases up to the beginning of the 1980’s. There is a slight decrease, and then remains relatively stable. This would indicate a general stabilization of world wide alcohol consumption, but examination of specific regions shows a different picture.
- SEAR: South-East Asian Region
- WPR: Western Pacific Region
- EUR: European Region
- EMR: Eastern Mediterranean Region
- AMR: Region of the Americas
- AFR: African Region
This graph shows why the overall world wide alcohol consumption is relatively stable. On a regional level, those with the highest consumption are decreasing, and those with the lowest consumption are increasing. Another interesting fact is the positive correlation between increasing alcohol consumption and increasing level of economic development.
Top Wine Drinking Nations
The above table shows the highest beverage per capita consumption. Looking at the data, it is not a surprise that the countries at the top of this list are those that produce the most wine, with one notable exception: the United States.
There will be more to come from this report later.
Written by: Ben Bicais on Thursday, May 17 2007
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The USDA has confirmed that the light brown apple moth is in Napa County after an adult male specimen was found in a trap near Highway 29. This news is alarming because the pest feeds on many crops during its larval stages including grape vines.
The light brown apple moth is native to Australia, and is also found in New Zealand, the British Isles, and Hawaii. It was not discovered in the Continental United States until March 22nd of this year. The moth has been identified in eight counties and quarantine measures have been put in place to slow its spread.
California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary A. G. Kawamura underscored the efforts to stop the moth, saying, “We are moving quickly to detect the extent of any infestation and contain the problem in the smallest possible area.” Several measures are being considered to combat the moth from spreading.
Because males are attracted to pheromones released by females, researchers may release similar compounds to confuse the mating process. In Australia and New Zealand, insecticides and natural predators have also been used to control the population.
The extent of the threat to Napa’s wine industry is still unknown, and more traps are being set to determine how large the population is. “I would not want to characterize it as being any more or less than it is in any other place in the Bay Area (where the moths have been found), but it is not a good thing that we should find it up there,’’ said Larry Hawkins of the USDA.
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Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Tuesday, May 15 2007
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Cork’d, the social wine notes sharing site, is being acquired by Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library and Erik Kastner for an undisclosed amount. Cork’d is widely recognized in the web development community as the work of Dan and Dan.
Dan Benjamin and Dan Cederholm that is. Benjamin was responsible for the programming end of Cork’d, and is the man behind Hivelogic. Cederholm is a creative designer of Simple Bits, and is widely known as a master of CSS. To see what the Dans have to say about the acquisition, click here and here.
When Wine Library TV changed its look to the Cork’d interface last Friday, it was a sign of the emerging deal between the two. Additionally, Cork’d began the transition by switching to the 100 point rating system, starting a “cork board” to facilitate discussion between members and opened up an easy way to import wines for cellartracker.
According to Cederholm, Cork’d has 20,000 members. This provides a good base for Wine Library TV to begin integrating their live tastings into the Cork’s platform. Because Cork’s is built in Rails, and Erik Kastner is a Rails expert, there is an excellent opportunity for Cork’d to become more than a social “wine notes” sharing website.
Gary V. brings an energy and passion for wine that will surely grow Cork’d into the next big thing in the wine industry. Cork’d was widely thought of as a site for web developers who like wine. But Gary brings the wine knowledge to bridge the gap into mainstream wine lovers.
It will be interesting to see what develops over next few months. Needless to say, the team at Calwineries is very interested and excited to see the new developments.
Disclaimer: The Calwineries team are certified Vayniacs and are evangelists for Wine Library TV.
Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Tuesday, May 15 2007
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Karen MacNeil is a wine educator, television personality, consultant and most importantly, a writer. Many of you may recognize her as the author of The Wine Bible, which has sold over 380,000 copies. And on April 27th, MacNeil was recognized for her efforts, as she was honored as the Wine Appreciation Guild’s 2006 Wine Literary Award (WLA) winner.
MacNeil joins wine luminaries that have won this award, including; Robert Parker Jr., Jancis Robinson, Hugh Johnson and Andrea Robinson. MacNeil is no stranger to awards, as she was honored by the James Beard Foundation when she won the coveted, “Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional Award” in 2004.
As the award ceremony began, Appellation America wine writer, and former WLA winner Dan Berger spoke of Karen MacNeil, and her contributions to the wine industry. Over her 25 year career, she has appeared in over 50 magazines, as well as founding and running the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America.
In addition, she also hosts a television show, Wine, Food & Friends with Karen MacNeil, which aims foster everyday wine enjoyment. Her outlook on wine is refreshing, and is good for the wine industry.
MacNeil is without a doubt one of the most important women in wine. It is no surprise that WLA chairman emeritus Elliot Mackey called MacNeil a “fitting addition” to the list of award winners. According to Mackey, “She has helped prove to the American public that wine is worth the time it takes to learn about it.”
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Written by: Ben Bicais on Monday, May 14 2007
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The 18th annual Culinary Evening with California Winemasters raised an impressive $1.52 million for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Held at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles, the event bested last year’s total by 9% and is one of the top charity auctions in the nation.
The evening began with a tasting featuring over 60 California wineries. This was followed by a silent auction of 700 lots and then a live auction of 46 lots. There were several notable bids at the event, and everyone seemed to be in the spirit of helping the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; an extremely worthy cause.
A dinner for three couples at the French Laundry including a vertical tasting of Gemstone from 1997 to 2003, and an overnight stay at Meadowood Resort, went for $15,000. One of the more remarkable lots was a dinner for eight at Garric Cellars as well as three bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon for the rest of the top bidder’s life. The winning bid was $10,000, but the winery’s owners, Ricardo Cajulis and Gary Ochwat, graciously agreed to award the runner-up the same lot for $9,000.
A few of the other notable lots was a magnum of 2003 Screaming Eagle that went for $7,500, a 3 liter of Harlan Estate brought in $6,600, and a 9 liter bottle of 2004 von Strasser Reserve with a dinner at Grace Restaurant was sold for $12,000.
Written by: Ben Bicais on Friday, May 11 2007
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Several of the wine industry’s biggest names recently spoke at Yountville’s Villagio Inn & Spa for the 2007 Executive Wine Summit. The agenda included looking back at the past few decades as well as thoughts on where the wine industry is heading.
Panelists included Michael Mondavi (owner of Folio Fine Wine Partners in Carneros), Joel Gott (owner of Joel Gott Wines), Carolyn Wente (owner of Wente Vineyards in Livermore Valley), and Leonardo LoCascio (CEO of Winebow, an importer of Italian wines).
After speaking extensively about his family’s experience in the wine industry since the 1960s, Michael Mondavi turned to the growing importance of wineries’ sales and marketing departments and the increasing internationalization of the industry. Exposure, Mondavi believes, is the key. “Once people taste our product, they will continue to be drawn to it.”
Joel Gott talked about the increasing demand for organic wines as well as his recently launched True Earth label. True Earth is an ambitious, relatively high quantity venture consisting of non-vintage organic wines that are made at Sutter Home. Gott also spoke about the challenges of making products that are truly environmentally friendly, citing packaging concerns.
Although Carolyn Wente’s family has been making wine for many years, she contended that, “the California wine industry is still in its infancy.” She continued by saying there will be many opportunities for fostering new international markets over the next decade. Wente also talked about the importance of connecting wine to a specific location and lifestyle. “Wine is about enjoying the lifestyle experiences and we have to keep going back to the consumers and tell them our stories.”
Leonardo LoCascio spoke about America’s increasing consumption of wine and the opportunities that this presents. He predicted that, “By 2009, the U.S. market will be the largest in the world, surpassing France and Italy combined, with its 300 million people.” Since he founded Winebow in 1980, LoCascio has had an uncanny ability to keep his importing business in line with changing demographics and preferences. Robert Parker has called him, “One of the most influential wine personalities of the last 20 years.”
Written by: Ben Bicais on Thursday, May 10 2007
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On their recent trip to the United States, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, were honored with the first white tie dinner of George Bush’s presidency. Dignitaries enjoyed three California wines along with a five course meal prepared by White House chefs.
The first wine poured was the Newton Chardonnay “Unfiltered” 2004. Made with grapes from the Carneros wine region, this wine was fermented with natural yeasts and aged in French oak. It has a nice mix of fresh, citrus flavors and tropical fruit notes. The Wine Advocate has called this wine, “Consistently one of California’s finest, longest-lived Chardonnays…”
The Newton Chardonnay was followed by the Peter Michael Les Pavots 2003. This is a single vineyard wine made with grapes grown at an elevation of 1,800 feet on Mt. St. Helena. Les Pavots was originally developed by famed winemaker Helen Turley during the mid 1980s. The 2003 is a Bordeaux blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot, and 5% Petite Verdot.
The final wine served was the Shramsberg Brut Rose 2004. Over the past few decades, Schramsberg sparkling wines have been enjoyed many times at presidential events and dinners. Probably the most famous occasion was the 1972 “Toast to Peace” by President Nixon and China’s Chou En-Lai.
Overall, it was a great day for the California wine industry. To see the complete menu for the White House dinner, click here.
Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Tuesday, May 08 2007
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For those of you who don’t know, Twisted Oak is a Sierra Foothills winery that has taken the world of wine by storm. Their innovative marketing approach is refreshing in a sea of traditional, borderline boring campaigns.
But what would marketing be without the wine to back it up. Twisted Oak’s Calaveras County Tempranillo (quite possibly their most popular wine) won the Silver Medal at the San Francisco Wine Competition. It has also received rave reviews from the wine bloggers, including this one from the winehiker.
Recently, Twisted Oak launched a new website to back up their online and offline marketing campaigns. They have really hit the nail on the head with this one. It has all of the elements of a great winery website.
Even though there is a lot going on, it is still relatively simple. It would be easy to get lost in the nine different navigational choices, but they bring the most important elements into the right hand side bar: the wine list, their wine club, latest news and newsletter sign up. Very good.
As someone who uses the Twisted Oak website, I must say that Intertia Beverage Group and the Twisted Oak team put a great deal of thought into its development. Too many wineries spend all of their money of flash based websites that are almost non functional. It’s good to see that Twisted Oak refrained from using flash, and stuck to good old “indexable” html.
A congratulations is in order to the Twisted Oak team for launching of a beautiful website. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here.
Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Friday, May 04 2007
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The wine industry is not known for crime. But there are cases where someone takes advantage of the trusting nature of this industry. Ehlers Estate is a St Helena Winery known for their Cabernet Sauvignon and charitable donations to Cardiovascular research.
It came as a surprise to everyone that the former general manager, Daniel Brady Sibert was arrested and accused of embezzlement. On April 26th, four Napa County Sheriffs searched the property of Sibert looking for related information.
Captain John Robertson said that Sibert embezzled more than $100,000 from 2005 to 2006. The amount continues to rise as they uncover more evidence. Sibert also faces charges of grand theft and passing worthless checks.
Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Thursday, May 03 2007
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These posters were scare tactics to keep Russians from drinking during Prohibition, which lasted from 1914 – 1925. It was introduced at the beginning of World War I to keep peace within the non fighting population.
Written by: Ryan Fujiu on Wednesday, May 02 2007
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On May 4th, a research study is going to be published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry explaining that a chemical in red wine actually KILLS cancer. The chemical in question is found in the skins of red grapes and was found to kill human leukemia and lymphoma cells.
This beautiful molecule, C-3-R (cyanidin-3-rutinoside), is found in high concentrations in red wine. It is produced by certain red varietal vines to protect the berry from ultraviolet radiation.
It was tested on leukemia and lymphoma with very promising results. All of the cancerous cells died within 18 hours or less, and none of the non cancerous cells were injured. This is a major breakthrough in the medical community. For years, researchers were searching for something that would kill cancerous cells and not harm healthy ones, this is a huge breakthrough.
The health benefits of red wine have come to light in recent years. The relationship between red wine and cardiovascular disease has been documented in famous studies like the French Paradox. But this discovery may be the most important to date.
If used as a cancer treatment, C-3-R would have to be commercially produced. As the levels found in red wine would not be high enough to be therapeutic. One would have to drink near lethal amounts of red wine to have the effect needed to combat leukemia or lymphoma.
Also, this research has shown that certain varietals and regions produce higher amounts of beneficial anti-oxidants. For example, Pinot Noir has a higher amount of C-3-R and Resveratrol than almost all other red varietals. Additionally, specific regions, like Oregon and Burgundy were higher in the desirable antioxidants than those of warmer regions like California.
The physiological reason for this isn’t very well understood, but researchers are very optimistic that they may be on track to finding a cure for certain cancers. C-3-R is currently being tested, so don’t expect it to be available anytime soon. Hope is on the horizon, and it may be in your glass. Cheers.
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