Through the Grapevine #54
Wine news and just a smidge of commentary for March 28, 2025
Life Among the Vines
I’m writing to you from another land of vines, the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County. When I moved to California, this is the kind of thing I envisioned doing all the time: loading up a bag and the dog and heading off to explore one of the many wine regions, national parks, scenic beaches, or vibrant cities this state has to offer. But it turns out that two days off per week often ends up feeling like barely enough time to catch my breath, and there are all these tasks that need to be done during those 48 hours. It also turns out that gas in California has been hovering around $5/gallon the entire year I’ve been here, while my financial tank has been hovering around empty. I finally took an extra day off and cashed in some of those Hilton points, and here we are. Yesterday we explored the tiny, adorable, and almost entirely consisting of tasting rooms town of Los Olivos, and today we’re headed out to the vineyard areas. You can expect to hear more about our adventures in a future post. For now I’ll just say, there are some fabulous wines to be had here, and if you are traveling with a dog, there could not be a friendlier location.
The Grape News
This month’s Wine Conversations cycle is about Old World vs. New World categories. Are they still useful? Are they accurate? Do they fit our needs in the current world of wine? You can check out the most recent post from Kate Reuschel, and find the whole thread of posts there as well.
There’s nothing quite like touring a less established and significantly more chill wine region to make you feel like Napa is an entirely separate country. A highly regulated, extremely litigious country where the residents want to benefit from the wine tourism economy but not be bothered by wine tourists. Napa is always a tug of war between the desire to maintain its agrarian origins, and the need for reasonable infrastructure to accommodate all these visitors. Plus healthy sides of personal politics and winery competition.
The current round of the endless tug of war centers around trade visits at Dalla Valle Vineyards in Oakville. As far as I can sort out from all the brouhaha I’ve read, the winery is accessed by a private road that crosses multiple other properties, and is not permitted to host consumer tastings. However, they have treated trade visits as a separate category and have been hosting groups of wine professionals for tasting and education purposes. Neighbors don’t like the traffic, but Dalla Valle argues that this is a necessary function of their business.
My extremely outsider view is that it seems awfully convenient that large, wealthy wineries who can afford property on the main drags are allowed to do basically whatever they want, while small wineries with more remote properties are severely limited in how many visitors they are allowed and what kinds of events they can hold. See the ongoing Napa County vs. Hoopes case for another example. But what do I know?The Sauce on the radical act of eating together is one of those pieces I enjoyed, and that I think other people should read, and that I think is ultimately true, but also found frustrating. I’m a single person. I’m a fairly recent transplant to an area where I don’t have a very developed social circle. I’d love to eat with some humans, but it just doesn’t happen that often. And it still feels like a subversive act to eat by myself in a restaurant, which I do all the time but which is often treated as an oddity. Anyway, I’ll just be over here enjoying most of my meals under the watchful eyes of Valkyrie.
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Dave Baxter wrote about why we might keep rattling on about tariffs while it seems like there are so many more serious abuses coming from the current U.S. presidential situation. Essentially, hit ‘em where it hurts: the pocketbooks. Unfortunately, we have seen entirely too clearly the last several years that we can’t count on our fellow citizens to have even the barest hint of basic concern for humane, let alone ethical or equitable, treatment of other people. But occasionally the economy gets through to them. So, here I will be, explaining the negative effects of tariffs, instead of constantly screaming into the void about selling slaves to El Salvador and generally dismantling the government. Oops, maybe I’ll do both.
Tom Wark suggests that maybe simplifying wine and pitching it to a 20-something crowd isn’t a winning strategy. I go back and forth on this one. I was drinking some wine in my 20s but it was terrible wine. I just didn’t know that yet, and that is fine. Most of the things we drink in our 20s are terrible, and the blessing of being in your 20s is that you can cope with the cheap stuff because you don’t know better yet and your body hasn’t yet lost the capacity to process the sugar and alcohol combo pack. I’m not panicked about 20-somethings choosing other beverages over wine; hopefully wine will be a more appealing option as their tastes evolve. At the same time, less complicated, less intimidating entry points to wine - good wine - for all ages would be fantastic. In every alcohol category, there are collectors with extensive libraries, and folks casually knocking back shots of whatever is on the well. A similar dynamic is fine in wine, too, even if I might wish the “well” options were better.
The SOMM TV Podcast takes fruit wine seriously for a moment and interviews the Matthiassons about their Chardonnay and peaches co-ferment. I haven’t tried it yet, but I have sampled some of the things they mention from Mad Marvlus and they are weird in the most wonderful way.
Janina Doyle on Eat Sleep Wine Repeat quizzes The Wine Wally, Liam D’Arcy, about Chenin Blanc - and there’s a lot for you to learn along the way, too.
Vineyard Maintenance
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The Best Thing I Drank This Week
It is solidly spring in California, especially down here in Santa Barbara County where the budding is well on its way. Spring calls for rosé! My preference is for rosé with a bit of heft rather than the feather light and barely pink “pool water” styles. I’ve had two on this adventure that fit perfectly with all the blooming life of the season. Kaena’s Rosé of Grenache pops with watermelon and strawberry on the nose and in the front of the palate, but finishes with guava and fresh herbs. I had this on its own in the tasting room and again with a skirt steak and tomatillo pizza at Industrial Eats in Buellton, and it didn’t lose a single step when paired with those zesty flavors.
Lucas & Lewellen in Solvang surprised me with their Toccata Rosato di Barbera. It’s important to note that Barbera and I are not the best of friends, and actually the only Barbera I’ve ever had previously that I genuinely liked was…also a rosé. Look at the color on this!
It’s as vibrant as it looks, and I was oddly reminded of raspberry bubblegum, which isn’t normally a flavor I’d predict that I would like in wine, but this was a delicious afternoon sipper.
Wine and Food Pairing of the Week
I’m currently experiencing some sort of gallbladder nonsense, and because the U.S. healthcare system is a complete mess, I can’t check into it until next week when my insurance kicks in. So, I’m staving off gallstones with an extremely low-fat, low-spice diet (read: boring). But both of the rosés I listed above are excellent with light spring salads, especially if they contain fruit. I’m thinking this watermelon, cucumber, and mint salad with the Kaena, and something like this spinach and berry salad with the Toccata. Until next week - cheers!