Through the Grapevine #14

Wine news and just a smidge of commentary for 5/2

The Wine News

• Anecdotally, it seems white wine is on the rise - by which I mean that in selling and pouring wine for a whole lot of people over the last couple of years, I have run into increasing numbers of people who only or mostly drink white, as well as more predominantly red drinkers who are open to whites. American consumers are mostly stuck in a three-choice market when it comes to whites: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, or Pinot Grigio. If they lean toward sweeter wines they might think of a Riesling or a Moscato. But there are many other white wines to be enjoyed, and some other grape varieties are growing well in areas of the U.S. See: Albariño from Lodi. For the most part, these are fruit-forward wines dominated by tropical and citrus notes, with medium body and very reasonable 12-13% ABV. The better iterations have some minerality and even a bit of the salinity I would associate with Albariño from Rias Baixas, where it is famously grown in Spain. Now that Lodi is a mere two hour drive, I’m planning a trip to sample a wider variety of their offerings, and will report back soon.

  

  Photo by Thomas Schaefer on Unsplash

• If you’ve been around Just a Smidge for a while, you’ve probably read some of my skeptical thoughts about “clean wines,” which can be summed up by Wine Folly’s subheading: Clean Wines = Marketing Fluff. But for more info about what makes a wine “clean,” and why the stuff people think is “dirty” is probably not the stuff causing their headaches and other symptoms, check out the full article. Something I learned from this article is that higher acidity wines resist biogenic amines, while malolactic fermentation increases histamine levels in wine. So, if you suffer headaches, flushed face, stuffiness, or other symptoms, try high acid whites without MLC, like cooler climate Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, unoaked Chardonnay, or the the aforementioned Albariño…but probably from Rias Baixas rather than Lodi. The more you know!

• According to Wine Business, “Millennials and Gen X want a wine vacation, not an education.” As a late Gen X-er, I have questions. What is this wine education that was previously being offered, and where was it happening? I’ve been doing wine tourism for 15-20 years and I have had very few tastings that I would describe as a formal educational experience. Most of them have been casual experiences of touring production facilities, sauntering up to tasting bars, and relaxing on patios, sometimes even with live music - which is the preference expressed by this author. As someone who now conducts tastings in an environment that is extremely casual and has no pressure toward education at all, I can also attest that Millennial and Gen X guests are much more curious about grape varietals, viticulture, wine production, and other ins and outs of the wine they’re drinking than the wine world suspects. Where this author is correct is that they aren’t interested in that knowledge as a reflection of status; it has more to do with ascertaining how what they’re drinking aligns with their values, and having an interesting narrative to go with their sensory experience of the wine.

  
  She’s also right on about wine clubs, which are far less appealing to younger consumers. Some of this is simply because the market is saturated with wine clubs, and they’re no longer a novelty. If you spend any time around wineries at all, you soon realize that everyone has a wine club. As I’ve previously written, these can provide good value, a sense of belonging, ongoing connection to a place you’ve loved, and can get you access to great wines you wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience. They can also be a financial drain for wines you may end up not caring about. I’ve been on both sides of that coin, and have loved and hated my memberships in various wine clubs. Regardless, younger consumers are generally less attracted to the idea of institutional loyalty, which makes wine clubs a hard sell. I wonder about the future of different kinds of loyalty programs, like rewards points accumulated by sales that can be redeemed for wine, experiences, and merchandise, rather than the kind of up-front commitments that set some of us on edge, regardless of age.

• The wine-growing world is always shifting: new wine producers emerge, as does awareness of areas where wine has long been produced under the radar. Introducing wine from Japan.

• Attempting to insert some actual science into the World Health Organization’s alarmist war against every drop of alcohol.

• In case you wondered who owns and farms the most vineyard land in Napa, here’s the list. While Treasury Americas (my employer, in full disclosure) farms the most acreage, the Laird family owns the most land.

Housekeeping

I have a few new subscribers this week; welcome and thank you for coming along on this journey! I’m still on a somewhat erratic schedule for the next couple of weeks, so I appreciate all of your understanding for the unpredictable timing of my emails. I’m grateful for all your likes, comments, shares, and free and paid subscriptions. Every bit helps me feel connected with this community, gets this content out to others who may appreciate it, and supports the work of learning and writing.

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