Thursday, April 18, 2013

SANTA BARBARA VINTNERS' FESTIVAL 2013 INVITES YOU ©


            Santa Barbara is a deservedly popular relaxation destination for the those close by and from far away. Looking back some thirty years, to my early days in the wine trade, there wasn't a lot to see when I first visited the region. Things had changed a great deal within five years and grown exponentially by the time I worked in the area a dozen more years down the road. Even then (pre Sideways) I could enjoy a glass of Frank Ostini's selection of homemade Pinot Noirs and a slice of local ostrich at Hitching Post II  while nearly alone at the bar. Now, about 40% of the nearly 700 wineries on the Central Coast are located in Santa Barbara County. And 40% of the tourists are lined up for a picture in front of the Hitching Post! It seems like the Buellton to Lompoc corridor sprouts a new Pinot Noir brand every other week. But that's not bad.

Even better, the wines rarely disappoint and are often wonderful. I was able to taste a few of the newer (and established) brands at the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association (www.sbcountywines.com) tasting table at the WiVi trade show recently. I look forward to a greater exposure at the upcoming Vintners' Festival , April 19-22nd. Billed as the Ultimate Spring Wine & Food Festival, over 100 wineries will be pouring, local cuisine will be center stage and live music will be offered in a vineyard setting. All this, plus the fun of meeting new wines and making new friends for only $75 pp. The ticket also gives you access to a four day "visa" pass to a dozen area wineries over the entire weekend for only $25 vs. the regular tasting fees. 

The location is the  Santa Ines Mission grounds in Solvang, marking the return to the site where it first began thirty years ago. But there are is a long list of related events. From special tasting to winemaker dinners, something is happening all over the county. Details and tickets are available on line at the address above as well as information links to many of the local vendors involved. Head to The American Riviera for a long weekend of  wine, food & fun.

Monday, April 8, 2013

GOOD NEWS FOR GROWERS & VINTNERS FROM 2012 ©


            The incoming reports point to last year as having been one of the most successful  vintages ever. From a business standpoint this has led to much optimism about the future and additional investment in both wineries and vineyards. There has also been an uptick in transactions of both real estate and winery brands. It has also seen upward movement in popular pricing as consumers seem to be willing to experiment with new brands and less well known varietals at a bit higher retail sticker. The "reluctance" ceiling for a daily quaff is now more in the $11 to $20 range than the previous $6 to $11.

Some thumbnails from the crush report show that; yield was up, total tonnage was 20% higher than 2011. Price per ton was 21% higher than last year. Growers and estate style winery operators translate this as; last year I grew 100 tons and got 120 in 2012 with an increase in price from $1K/ton to $1,210 for a total of $145,200 this year vs. $100K, a 45% bigger bottom line, than 2011.

Sounds good but causes some to recall 2005, the former record holder which started a cycle of juice glut that hurt pricing. But last year the demand resulted in California wineries importing nearly 600K gallons of bulk wine. Meanwhile demand continues to grow and in the segment mentioned above, meaning buyers increasingly seek the better growing areas rather than staying with brands that are supported by Central Valley plantings.

Both Cabernet and Chardonnay, already the mainstay grapes by demand, continue to sell at higher numbers of cases. Pinot Noir has not slowed, seeing a 45% growth in tonnage harvested while Malbec went from under 9K to more than 18K tons. Even that wasn't enough as sales also grew for the competitive Argentinean brands. Another red that is being planted in hotter regions is the Nero d' Avola (popular in Sicily) where its use in proprietary Italian labels has been successful for off-premise stores. The big surprise is the Muscat/Moscato segment seeing huge demand and requires South American and European import of juice to satisfy consumers. That despite the 15% increase in California tonnage (177K) crushed in 2012.

January is usually a soft month for retailers and on-premise traffic. Yet stores report a 7% dollar increase year-over-year and the direct to consumer efforts saw a 4% gain. I should point out the data is polled from large food and drug store purveyors and doesn't necessarily reflect smaller markets and the fine wine segment. Those stores, which don't exist in all states, reflect an 80% bias for domestic wines and 20% import sales. Again, in their pricing model, imported wine is not the value priced competition in the prized "fighting varietals" market as they once were. Well made inexpensive wines from California have closed the gap in the .750 and upper tier mags and boxes in terms of the price to quality relationship. The lowering in the value of the dollar has also helped our export sales and American wines are finding new markets, such as China.

Monday, April 1, 2013

WiVi WOWS AT MARCH GATHERING - DAY TWO ©


Yes, there is more to report on WiVi and I'll attempt to focus on the items of general interest to you, the consumer.  First up was the Keynote speaker. Peter Faricy runs the entire Amazon Marketplace operation and told us all about a new place for you to purchase wine. They have opened a Wine Store on the site and are rapidly signing up wineries who offer you the opportunity to shop at Amazon and add a bottle or two of vino to your book, music or other selections and check out a single cart vs. going to multiple sites. From the activity at their trade show booth, interest is high in this new way to sell direct to consumer. They currently may ship wine purchases to seventeen states (the winery fulfills the shipping order) and are adding more as the needed paperwork is completed.

The morning general session was a panel discussion of "Quality vs. Quantity" among a winemaker, viticulturist and vineyard manager. For my audience, the important message was a caution re: tons per acre. The cachet of low yield making better wines does not hold up in research. As one presenter noted, "If low yield is good, is no yield better". Given the vast differences in vine density and vigor of the vines from rootstock choice, soil and moisture, pounds per vine is perhaps the best new measure. Filling the trellis, i.e. maximizing the area of cultivation, is key to a balanced vineyard and that is a product of canopy management. That provides the proper combination of sun and shade/air circulation that allows individual clusters of grapes to evenly ripen. So, now you are armed with some "stump the tasting room" staff questions.

Sessions on pests, and vineyard practices from the ground up to the canopy (viticulture) and new product demonstrations were held in the afternoon. The final enology session was the fun one for this writer and of interest to you, the wine drinker. It also gave me a chance to catch up with panel moderator Lance Cutler. Former winemaker at Gundlach-Bundschu, a wine I represented at wholesale, he now contributes to the hosting Wine Business Monthly publication. I'd also worked with Justin's wine production guru, Fred Holloway, in the past and had met another panelist, Guilliaume Fabre of L'Aventure, during a professional wine society tour a few years back.

It was a comparative tasting of similar blended reds from three regions. Look for Lance's article on this in a future edition of WBM. The group ran from 2006 to 2010 in vintage and $40 to $95 at retail. Primarily blended reds of the Bordeaux style, L'Aventure added a significant (and glass coating) amount of Syrah. One set was from Paso Robles. This included Isosceles '09 from Justin, L'Aventure  Estate Cuvee '10 and Robert Nicolas' (RN Estate) Cuvee de Trois Cepages '09. As with all the wines tasted, extensive notes on every aspect of production, soils, barrels, crushing and fermentation etc. were provided and discussed.

Napa offered Cain Five '07, a Howell Mountain (88%) Cabernet from Robert Craig and a red blend that included Sangiovese - Bacio Divino '06. From Washington came Baer Winery's Merlot and Cabernet Franc focused Ursa '10. Also, Rasa Vineyards '09 In Order to Form a More Perfect Union and Two Blondes Vineyard Red '09 from Andrew Will.

The drill for the tasting was to identify regional character. The short version of the consensus was that Paso and Napa differed in structure, primarily from the acid and tannin evident in them. Both areas had moderate to deep coloration and generally shared anise and dark berry notes to the nose. The Napa wines had distinctly more tannic attack, a drier and more aggressively chewy texture than those from Paso Robles. Paso showed softer tannins but also a hold on the acid balance that made them more accessible. They retained aging potential but were approachable for being youthful. All the wines were provided pre-poured with about two hours of air time.

The wines from Washington (to me) seemed to have less central defining character than the other regions. They were interesting, well made and differed individually within the group. They were also much nicer than many of the attempts I recall from earlier days of red wine experiments from that area. Maybe Lance's article will tie them together after more thought. But at this point, I saw them as different from Napa and Paso wines yet doubt I would carry over a true recollection that would lead to me identifying a Washington wine based on these varieties in a blind tasting.

All in all, the inaugural WiVi Central Coast was a fun and informative success. I look forward to the 2nd Annual version and believe it can become an important part of the wine trade calendar.