Through the Grapevine #19

Wine news and just a smidge of commentary for June 5, 2024

Funny Things About Living in California

In just a few days I will mark two months of living in the Golden State, and so far I’ve observed that the most unique thing about living here is how often residents talk about how unique it is to live here. They (we?) are hyper-conscious of its positive attributes: the beauty and variety of the natural landscapes, proximity to the ocean and mountains, an abundance of amazing food and wine of many types and price points, and stupidly good weather. They (not we, yet) also talk incessantly about gas and taxes. I lived in New York for thirteen years, where the tax burden is higher than California, and I think I heard people complain specifically about state taxes twice. Here it comes up at least a handful of times a day, including from coworkers who advise me not to bother trying to make more money, because if you’re in a higher tax bracket “they take it all away anyway.” Friends, that’s not how tax brackets work. If it was, no one would ever try to get a raise. But this is not a tax blog, it’s a wine blog, so on to the wine news.

The News

• The big news this week is that the Federal Trade Commission is preparing a lawsuit against Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, the largest alcoholic beverage distributor in the U.S., in an attempt to enforce the Robinson-Patman Act, which prevents suppliers from offering favorable pricing to certain retail customers over others. The question we should always ask regarding laws and their enforcement is, who does this protect, and correspondingly, who does it punish? The “winner” if the Robinson-Patman act is enforced is small businesses, because they would be getting the same wholesale prices as large retailers. The most obvious “loser” is Southern Glazer’s and other distributors, but there is some question as to whether consumers might lose as well by way of increased prices. On the other hand, similar suits against Ticketmaster and Apple have been used to benefit consumers by removing their near-monopoly market power. As the article notes, the intractable knot of federal, state, and sometimes local rules around alcohol distribution and sales make this an especially sticky wicket.

  

  Photo by Akshay Chauhan on Unsplash

• Burgundy’s Domaine Faiveley has expanded its Pinot Noir reach into Sonoma’s Russian River Valley with purchase of a majority share of Williams Selyem Winery. This winery is comically close to where I live, so of course my first thought upon reading this article was that I should pop over for a tasting. But no! Their tastings are members-only, and their membership isn’t in a club, it’s on a list that receives the opportunity to purchase their small-production, allocated wines, with your allocations dependent upon your purchase history. If you’re thinking this all seems a little out of my realm, you are correct.

• One of the things that fascinates me about wine is how much innovation can still continue to happen after millennia of viticulture and winemaking. See: double trellising as practiced by Mark Neal in Rutherford. Multiplying the carbon sequestration and grape yield while reducing costs? Sounds like a win all around. The only thing I’m missing from this article is pictures of the actual trellising system.

• The VinePair podcast discussed whether consumers care where their wine grapes are grown, and below a certain price point and accompanying particularity, the answer is probably, “Not really.” Anecdotally, I do find among casual wine consumers a lot of misunderstanding - and sometimes apathy, although more often just unawareness - about where the grapes in any given bottle of wine are grown, what the labels mean, and whether/why they should care. To some, the idea that all the grapes would necessarily come from the place mentioned on the label is surprising and novel (in a positive way). Others are surprised to learn that a winery in the Napa Valley can produce wine from grapes grown in the Russian River Valley (appropriately labeled, of course), and that not all the vineyards are always on the same property as the winery facility. Anyway, the podcast addresses some of the economic and environmental subtleties of growing grapes around the world and producing reasonably priced wine, as well as moves toward international blending in premium wines. Also check out their previous episode about Bonanza, the “baby Caymus” produced generically from grapes grown…anywhere in California. Bonanza has a certain caché because of its association with the Wagner Family, but is it really that different from blends incorporating bulk wines from Chile, Argentina, or Australia?

• On the other side of the place specificity argument is areas like the Finger Lakes, which increasingly produce high quality, terroir-driven wines.

• In Lodi (coincidentally, where a lot of people think the aforementioned Bonanza originates) red wines dominate the scene, but whites are on the rise, with surprising varieties producing unexpectedly fresh and light wines. In my WSET education and as I explain wine basics to others, we often generalize what one might expect in terms of flavors and textures in white wines grown in cool, moderate, and warm climates, but this article does a great job of sussing out some of the nuances that might come from different grape varietals and winemaking choices. A simple decision about when to pick the grapes - whether they are just barely ripe or overly ripe - can make a huge difference in the resulting wine.

Housekeeping

Several of the paid subscribers to this newsletter are about to come up on their one year anniversary! Thank you to all of you who have supported my writing and my ongoing education in wine over the last year and beyond. It’s hard to believe that last June I was barely out of my former vocation in the church; a whole lifetime may as well have happened since then. I hope Just a Smidge has contributed positively to your wine appreciation and your life more broadly, and that if it has, you will renew your subscription and continue to enjoy full access to all the content here, including the special features below the paywall of every Through the Grapevine edition: The Best Thing I Drank This Week, a weekly food and wine pairing, and more.

Ongoing thanks to all of you who like, share, comment, and subscribe. Got questions? It’s come to my attention that commenting on the Through the Grapevine posts is limited to paid subscribers because of the paywall, but you can always email me and I’ll get back to you directly, and possibly feature your question in a future article!

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