Sour Grapes in Golden State

[Craig Camp]

California's wine industry is weathering the worst downturn in the industry's history after a string of bumper crops and a souring economy has led to plunging prices and financial problems for some vineyards.

[John W.]

I really like the part about replanting the Chardonnay with Petite Sirah.

How much is this going to affect the premium market? I would guess none at all. Just a whole lot of two buck Chuck.

[Craig Camp]

How much is this going to affect the premium market? I would guess none at all. Just a whole lot of two buck Chuck.

That is exactly right. When you look at the trade publications that is all anyone will talk about.

[melkor]

How much is this going to affect the premium market? I would guess none at all. Just a whole lot of two buck Chuck.

There has been a minor adjustment on the premium market; most of the high-end Napa Cabs that aren't all sold through mailing lists (Insignia, Caymus SS, Opus, etc) have lowered their prices slightly. The major change that I'm seeing is the $20-$30 mass produced wines are not selling (Mondavi, BV, Sterling, ...) and are being repackaged and sold for half their original price with a different label and sometimes an entirely different brand name.

[John W.]

Do you see a drop-off in price in those cabs as "coming back to earth" or because of the amount of fruit available. I would say the former.

I love the re-packaging technique. Even cheaper and in a new bottle the wines aren't good.

Someone needs to take all that fruit and make honest, unoaked wines for $10.

[Mark Sommelier]

This over-supply problem is not new in California. It is several years old, already. Note that the growers mentioned are not vineyardists in prime Napa Valley locations. Lodi, Central Coast and Sonoma are feeling the pain. As far as Charles Shaw being the fastest selling wine in history, that is wrong. In its heyday, the mid to late 80s, Riunite sold in excess of 300 million cases a year.

[russ parsons]

i was talking to a winemaker a couple of months ago who pointed out that in the last crush report, half of all the pinot noir acreage in california is nonbearing. essentially that means it was planted in the last three years and will be coming online probably next year and the year after. that is a truly scary statistic if you're in the business of selling wine.

[Craig Camp]

i was talking to a winemaker a couple of months ago who pointed out that in the last crush report, half of all the pinot noir acreage in california is nonbearing. essentially that means it was planted in the last three years and will be coming online probably next year and the year after. that is a truly scary statistic if you're in the business of selling wine.

The real question to ask on those statistics is not how much but WHERE they planted it. A lot of the acreage of pinot noir is is the wrong place and should be ripped out for more appropriate varietals. I think people have learned a lot about pinot and some of this new acreage is in better locations.

[russ parsons]

"where" is always the question with pinot, but i've seen no indication that any is being ripped out or grafted, merely more coming on board. of course, a lot of the places pinot is doing well now, it had at one time been "common knowledge" that it would never work. i'm thinking of monterey and santa rita, in particular. the latter, it took more than 20 years for someone to follow up on sanford & benedict. go figure.

[Craig Camp]

"where" is always the question with pinot, but i've seen no indication that any is being ripped out or grafted, merely more coming on board. of course, a lot of the places pinot is doing well now, it had at one time been "common knowledge" that it would never work. i'm thinking of monterey and santa rita, in particular. the latter, it took more than 20 years for someone to follow up on sanford & benedict. go figure.

Thank you Richard Sanford.

[russ parsons]

Thank you Richard Sanford.

for so many things. anyone who hasn't been to the new Sanford winery ought to try to arrange a tour. and this from someone who has looked at way too many bottling lines. it is really a thing of beauty, both practically and architecturally.

[Craig Camp]

Thank you Richard Sanford.

for so many things. anyone who hasn't been to the new Sanford winery ought to try to arrange a tour. and this from someone who has looked at way too many bottling lines. it is really a thing of beauty, both practically and architecturally.

Let's hope his new association with Paterno does not lead to winemaking by committee.

[Mark Sommelier]

Let's hope his new association with Paterno does not lead to winemaking by committee.

I deal quite a bit with Paterno, though mostly for French wines - the domaine estates of Michel Chapoutier and the marvelous Alsatian wines from Josmeyer. They also represent J. Rochioli here locally. I don't think they are involved in telling their suppliers how to make their wine like some other notable importers.

[russ parsons]

i think the real story there was more of a wine glut thing than anything else. with an expensive new winery to pay for and tough times ahead for the business, i think richard thought he needed a more national sales force than an independent could afford.