NoBullGrape

US wine market: Big and soon to be the biggest

In a statement similar to those of my child (he is all about what is big, bigger and biggest), Jon Fredrikson proclaims that the US wine market is in very good shape and predicts it will be the biggest wine market in the world soon.  Speaking at the Unified Grape and Wine Symposium yesterday, Fredrikson said "From the perspective of 3½ decades in the wine industry, I can assure you right now that things have never been better in this market and the future looks outstanding." 
Here are some key points from his speech (as reported here):

• Americans purchased an estimated 300 million cases of wine last year, worth more than $25 billion (both records). 
• Census numbers show drinking age adults in the United States is growing as well, from 164 million in 2000 to an estimated 184 million in 2010.
• If per capita consumption continues to go up 3% every year, the US will be the largest wine consumer in the world by 2010.
• Wine drinkers bought an estimated 187 million cases of California wine last year, 6.5 million more than 2004 and a 4 percent increase.  At the same time they bought 8.4 million more cases of imported wine than in 2004, soaring to 81.5 million cases, an 11 percent increase. 
• sales as Baby Boomers and 20-somethings bought more - and more expensive - wine.

Thoughts on this:
I am particularly struck by the fact that this report shows such broad based expansion.   Fredrikson is saying is that the US wine market is not just growing in volume, but also in price (a weak, but useful indicator of quality).  The price increases are being fueled by a. Baby Boomers and, most interestingly, by 20-somethings who are paying more for bottles than previous generations.  This is most pleasing as it shows that the growth is not just targeted on those who are greying, but also on those who will be drinking wine for the next 60, 70 or 80 years. 

Would think that this kind of data would keep investment in the US and those who import to the US up and support more pushes to improve the quality of the wines produced for consumption in the US.

Also very interested in the faster growth rate among non-US wines.  Past years this kind of stat would be attributed to Australian wine, yet the growth over past years seems to indicate an even broader growth in who is successfully importing wine.  Doubt you will see brilliant numbers from France as they announce annual industry wide results over the next few months, but quality players in France, Italy, Portugal and Spain clearly are improving their ability to pierce the US market.  These import numbers may also be boosted by other countries such as South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina whose wines seem (anecdotally) to be getting more shelf space each year.

Please note: some of this comes from personal notes, but the majority of the info here comes from a very comprehensive article in today's Press Democrat titled "US Forecast to become world's #1 wine market."

Starting the new year with Corie Brown

Happy New Year!
After a longer than expected hiatus, we are back. The end of the vacation from the blog (and things like work) is prompted by: a. real life schedule and b. Corie Brown's article on Mendoza and Paul Hobbs in this Sunday's LA Times.  As life is not so interesting, this post will focus on Ms. Brown's article titled "Putting Place in a Glass."

In particular, want to focus on how much impact one person (or even a few people) can have on defining "place" in the wine world.  Mendoza is a perfect example because, as the LA Times story states,

Politically isolated and economically crippled by its tumultuous history of erratic despots, Argentina and its wine industry were frozen in their last hopeful decade, the 1930s. As for the wines, they were pure plonk—oxidized elixirs made in decrepit wineries and sold by the jug for a few pesos. Argentines drank them by the barrel, unaware that wine could taste different, much less better.

Then came Paul Hobbs.  I'm always wary of such stories as all wine growing seems to be a community based activity, yet the LA Times says that Hobbs had a big influence on the changes that took place in what is now one of the most interesting wine growing regions in the world. 

Hobbs, so the story goes, taught them about pruning, oak barrels, oxygenation, etc.  He even sent some of them to California to learn about US winemaking practices. 

In the end, he makes some of Argentina's best wines.  Personally think they are too heavy in alcohol, but that is not relevant as his Los Cobos continues to impress critics year-after-year despite its extraordinarily high price -- $150.   

Yet did he really "Put place in the glass" as the LA Times claims?
By capturing the essence of a particular place, I am convinced that Hobbs clearly makes wines that could only come from Mendoza. 

However, is he the standard bearer for all of Mendoza? I'm not sure for the following reasons:

1. He is not really an industry leader -- I would expect this list of names to include Catena, Archaval-Ferrer, Susana Balbo, and the leaders of Altos Los Hormigas, Terrazas, Salentein, Ruca Malen and even Luigi Bosca. 
2. He makes a tiny amount of wine.
3. His best wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, not the Malbec that distinguishes Argentine wine.  In fact, Hobbs is quoted as saying ""You have to make a great Cabernet to be taken seriously."

So why is featured in the LA Times?
Why not a Catena or some of the smaller Argentine winemakers who are well known yet better epitomize the struggle of making wine in Argentina?  Because Hobbs has made it in the States and is a bit of a hometown story for the Times (Sonoma isn't Orange County, but you get the idea).

Yet, despite its flaws, this story is a great window into the perspective of one winemaker in a new land as well as the massive changes that Argentina's wine region have undergone in the last 10 years... making it one of the great places to watch. 

Couldn't have said it anywhere near as well

Guest columnist Richard Olsen-Harbich of Long Island's North Fork winery Raphael has a great piece on the importance of location -- everywhere around the world -- at the always interesting Lenndevours.

As he says:

Remember a merlot grape -- the same merlot grape -- grown in upstate New York or Sonoma or Bordeaux will not taste the same even if we used exactly the same processing techniques. It's the terroir stupid!
In our arrogance, we sometimes forget how little influence we have over the natural world. I want to know what goes into my wine if that’s not too much trouble. (And please don’t bother to tell me its organic -- that’s a topic for another post.) But when I’m enjoying wine from another region, I want to imagine what that part of the world smells like, tastes like and what the people drink. Maybe its because I can’t afford to travel there myself so enjoying the wine is the next best thing to being there.

As you think about going to pick up your turkey, take a read here.

Names, location talked about everywhere!

Tom over at  Fermentations makes some very good points about the previously mentioned Center for Wine Origins.  By the way, they seem to have launched a very nice web site since we last spoke about them.

I highly recommend reading Tom's piece.

In addition, Daniel Sogg of the Wine Spectator does a great job outlining how the California Supreme Court (protecting the name Napa against the Fred Franzia's of the world who want to use the words on bottles that do not include grapes from Napa) are in direct opposition to the position of the US Government (read Wine Institute) in the Wine Accords.

In the end, all 3 -- Sogg, Fermentations and the Center for Wine Origins -- come to a similar conclusion.  Place names matter and semi-generics should cease being used.  As Fermentations makes clear, these names do not inherently guarantee quality, but -- whether it is a truth-in-labeling issue or time for everyone to stand on their own two feet -- they certainly should only be used by these particular regions. 

When it comes to harvest, taste buds still reign

We read a lot of articles about how science is making wines (particularly California wines) better.  It is all probably true, but I think it is important to remember that the grower and/or winemakers taste buds remain an integral part of the process and why one should not always rely on test tubes and gauges when making wine.  Two articles that I ran across this morning brought this to life.  The Spectator's web page has a "Napa Harvest report" from Cathy Corison, one of those down to earth/non 15% alcohol winemakers who we have discussed previously.  After the usual discussion about Brix, etc. she says:

"The tannins in the skins mature over time, so we're looking at the way we chew on the skins and the quality of the tannins. When a grape gets ripe, when you squeeze it the skin begins to slip off the pulp in a way it doesn't do before it's ripe. You look at the uniformity of the color. A completely black berry that is black all the way to the pedicel [is ideal]. And then, of course, flavors. And very important, I do all my own sampling because I've got to be out in the vineyard to see how the vines are doing. I'm in the vineyard every single week and, as we get close to ripening, I'm in there every couple days, watching the vines."

There is just no substitute for chewing the skins  and tasting the grapes to find the best time to pick. 

This is further supported by another article in today's papers.  Corie Brown of the LA Times is one of this blogs favorite writers as she writes good stories about interesting people in the wine industry.  Today she profiles Moraga Vineyards, LA's only bonded winery.  I can't afford their wines, but was inspired by the following description of their decision-making process for harvest. 

"On the first Saturday of this month, Jones, Rich and vineyard manager Carlos Contreras sat down to taste Sauvignon Blanc grapes at the vineyard picnic table, a reconditioned slab of the old Santa Monica Pier. Rich, Moraga's winemaker since 1996, spends the harvest months jetting back and forth between Moraga and his winery in Napa Valley, Talisman Cellars.

After crushing the grapes in six sandwich bags, Rich poured the juice out into six plastic bowls. Each bag of grapes represented a separate vineyard section. Each tasted dramatically different as the men took sips from the various bowls. Only one block delivered the nectarine and ripe banana flavors they were looking for. Several grape samples had the pepper scratch at the back of the throat that signals under-ripe grapes."

In a world where we highlight traveling oenologists and high-priced consultants who try to calculate the chemistry of a 100-point wine, it is wonderful to be reminded that -- whether the wine is from the New World or the Old World -- quality requires human interpretation and involvement.  Kudos to those winemakers who take the time to do this as, I think, it is one of those unquantifiable factors that influences the final product.

Developing clones: EU vs. rest of the world

This blog is dedicated to discovering and celebrating great winegrowing locations.  Yet the discussion often returns to the vines that go into the ground in these places to produce the wine we like so much.  As such, clones (the different sub varieties of grape vines) are very important.  Many of the wine regions that we (as consumers) are just discovering (e.g.Mendoza) are using relatively new clones as the backbone of their resurgence. 
In many places around the world local governments are funding important research into the discovery of newer and newer clones that are disease-resistant and favor certain characteristics that impact grape quality and production.  This is happening in Australia, New York and many other places. 
However, there are some who believe that this is a scandalous attack on the industry and the environment.  An interesting insight into the tension that a very small project in France can be read in this article in today's NYT.   
In addition to being useful in understanding grape clones, this is yet another talking point in the ongoing (and important) dialog about the future of the French wine industry when the rest of the wine world (and not just the New World) is moving so quickly.

Learning about harvest via wine blogs

The Northern Hemisphere harvest season is in full swing.  It is a great time to learn about what goes into your wine.  This year it is even better as there are a number of cool blogs run by vintners that give you unparalleled access.  Remember, winemaking is VERY HARD WORK.  Therefore, don't give up on blogs that don't post much as they have their hands full right now.

Here are a just a few of the ones I like (and I'm sure there are many that I have yet to discover):
Domaine de la Gramiere -- The first harvest of a US family seeking to make organic wine in Languedoc
Anomaly Vineyards -- Napa vineyard that is about to start picking.
Carolyn Tillie's Ultimate Grape Vine Blog -- Great photos, insight, etc. on the situation in her part of California

In high alcohol world, a few stand out

With more and more wine critics giving higher scores to "fruit forward" wines, alcohol percentages have increased.  We have discussed this previously.  Yet, today's San Francisco Chronicle has a great article by Dan Berger that highlights one of the exceptions.  Based in Napa, Cathy Corison makes great Cabernet Sauvignon.  Unlike many of her neighbors, you will find the beautiful numbers "13" and "13.5" on the sides of her bottles, not the 14.5 and 15's that seem to now be commonplace from that region.  Her wine is refreshing and the perspective she provides in the article is also refreshing.  Enjoy the article and -- if you can find it -- her wines.

Clones

Clones, those distinct sub-species of different grapes that winemakers talk about have gotten a great write up in today's LAT.  Patrick Comiskey does a great job of making what is normally a boring subject quite exciting.  He talks in depth about the manner in which Chardonnay first failed and then prospered in Oregon.  This area, famous for its Pinot Noir, never produced great Chardonnays in its early years because -- they have now figured out -- they were using the wrong clones of Chardonnay for the unique Oregon soil and weather.  They have now found replanted and are (apparently as I have yet to try any) making great Chardonnay.  The thing that sticks out to me is the importance that the location has on these clones.  It is one thing to have a bottle labeled "Chardonnay." It is another to have a bottle that includes the Chardonnay that thrives in a particular climate... in this case Willamette Valley.
Patrick clearly got his hands dirty and did some great research (probably while at their famous International Pinot Noir Conference) and we, the reader, really gain from his work.
Enjoy!

Alcohol levels

The high alcohol levels of reds primarily from California has been a big discussion item for the past few months among wine writers.  I found the recent Janis Robinson article very informative.  In this article by Eric Asimov of the NYT it becomes clear that American winemakers a. can control the alcohol rates a bit more than the average consumer might think and b. that there is a real backlash among smaller CA winemakers against this higher alcohol wine.
After having a few too many wines that sting the back of my mouth on the way down, I'm starting to think that there must be more focus on finding the balance between big fruit and alcohol levels for California (and Washington State I suppose) cabs for consumers to embrace them on a regular basis.