Through the Grapevine #59
Wine news and just a smidge of commentary for May 21, 2025
Life Among the Vines
‘Tis the season of spring winery events, so I spent last weekend pouring copious amounts of wine at our Moveable Feast, much of it older and from large format bottles like this enormous 2010 Chardonnay.
The aftermath involved a couple of days of feeling like I had been cranked through a pasta machine, but it was a heck of a party and I’m on my way to recovery - after spending yesterday sprawled on the couch doing absolutely nothing.
I don’t particularly want to spend all my days off doing nothing, especially in the absolutely gorgeous spring weather, so I’ve decided to devote myself to finding free/cheap things to do at least one of my days off. Because I’m committed to spend time with Valkyrie when I’m not working, my activities must be dog friendly. Friends and winery guests often ask about budget-friendly ways to visit wine country, so I’m working on a post of suggestions that include inexpensive tasting experiences, as well as some of the things I’ll be doing today: a visit to the Russian River, walking among the redwoods, tacos at the best taco truck in the county, and evening at the Santa Rosa Night Market, a free weekly festival of food, drink, artisans, and music.
The Grape News
Every once in a while, one should consider whether what they’re doing has any value, and Meg Maker is asking just that about wine writing. I’d like to put a poll here, but I think I’d be asking the wrong audience, since you are here. I realize not everyone is going to be interested in learning more about wine, but I’ve actually been surprised at how many people I’ve found who are excited by digging into what might be considered the “boring” parts of wine. In my tastings I have to read the room with regards to how much nerdy detail our guests want, but here you’re coming to a room that is pretty obviously designated as a space with a healthy share of nerdy detail.
Not strictly about wine, but this piece about a critic asked to leave the French Laundry was fascinating. Critics are a pain. It’s extremely annoying that a business can be drastically effected by even an amateur review online written by someone who thinks the measure of their value in the world is how dissatisfied they can be with everything they encounter. Nonetheless, the inhospitality MacKenzie Chung Fegan and her companions faced is staggering. Restaurants with that price tag aren’t on my agenda at the moment and I’m certain Thomas Keller doesn’t care what I think, but one of the highlights of my visits to Michelin-starred restaurants in the past has been the standard of hospitality toward every guest, and this incident means that when I do have the budget for it, I’ll probably skip the clothespin and head for SingleThread instead.
As wine faces an uncertain future, here’s a history of consolidation, which has both been a response to developments in the industry and a cause of some of the current challenges.
Consolidation isn’t the only story in wine; Paul Gregutt on how small wineries can outlast their larger, consolidated counterparts:
The 49th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris is on Saturday, and as someone who now works at a winery that hit the limelight as a result, I’m sure I’ll have something to say later this week. I anticipate plenty of other commentary on the event floating around the web, and I enjoyed this piece from Kevin Ferguson on a re-enactment of the famous tasting, and another surprising result:
Central Europe is getting increased attention in the wine world, but what is Central Europe?
Vineyard Maintenance
I have several pieces in process at the moment that I hope to slot into this newsletter in the coming weeks, but as always, if you have wine questions or topics that you’d like to see me address here, drop them in the comments or email me at stacey@justasmidge.me. A big shout out this week to paid subscribers who provide me a cushion of time and money in which to do this writing and the education and exploration that inspires it. Thanks also to those who participate in this community with likes, shares, comments, and free subscriptions. In a world where there are a bazillion subscription services and pulls on our attention, all of your support makes a huge difference.
The Best Thing I Drank This Week
Sun and heat are back, and so is my desire to drink all the refreshing whites, but in these transitional days I do still appreciate a wine with a bit of weight and texture.
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