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Covid Corona Blues

Slow Wine Tour, Interview with Giancarlo Gariglio

Wine industry experts are calling for grape growers to reduce the number of vineyards in production because of declining wine sales. We have already noticed some vineyards being ripped out and allowed to go fallow (at least for now) here in Sonoma County. Unfortunately for growers the oversupply of grapes is not a regional problem, but a statewide one.  Sarah Klearman asks a number of industry leaders what type of short and long term solutions should be put in place to deal with California’s wine slump. Craig Camp General Manager at Troon Vineyards in Oregon’s Applegate Valley really knows his way around a winery and his recent post titled 'Wine Kaleidoscope’ is a quick look into the marketing vs reality scene in today’s winemaking world. Craig says, “the wine for the people revolution is happening now”. In this article he offers several ways to avoid the industrial, mass marketed wines and to identify wine of the people.The underwriters at Lloyds of London, the insurers of Cayuse Vineyards have sued La

It’s been rather calm and quite in Northern California of late. Mother nature is giving us a break from natural disasters and has turned her hell raising ways onto the continent of Australia. For months now Australia has been suffering with continuing wildfires which have to date destroyed over 10 million hectares. Phoebe French provides a list of events and organizations you can make donations to for helping those most in need. While Rebecca Hopkins an expat of Australia pens a fine piece on other ways you can aid in the recovery.I’m excited about the new reverse microwave technology that can chill a bottle of wine to the proper serving temperature in three minutes, however Bill does not see its merits. If I had ten dollars for every article I’ve read over the past few weeks on the proposed 100% tariffs on all European Union wines I could take my wife out to a very exclusive dinner in San Francisco and afford to tip big. Translation, the topic of additional tariffs has dominated the wine news. It’s amazing h

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Californians. Bill and I can add evacuee to our resumes as residents of Sebastopol and many other areas of Sonoma County were evacuated due to the Kincade wildfire. Firefighters made their stand at the edge of the foothills as the fires moved downhill towards the densely populated town of Windsor. Many lessons have been learned since the Tubbs fire in the fall of 2017 and in the end the town was saved. Restaurateurs in Sonoma County are struggling with business interruptions from planned power shutoffs and the recent fires. Many are absorbing the losses while other restaurant owners have elected to close. Heather Irwin of Sonoma Magazine writes a piece that explores how business owner are facing the realities of the PG& E public safety power shutdowns. E.J. Gallo has just purchased Pahlmeyer, a high end Napa Valley Wine Brand. W. Blake Gray gives us some details about the buyout. West coast grape growers are in the middle of a grape glut. The glut is putting a lot o

Sonoma County wine world recently lost another former winery owner. Chris Smith of the Press Democrat pens an obituary about Robert Rue, who was farming old Zinfandel/ field blend vineyards as a side hustle before the term was popular.We’ve suspected that litigation of this sort was on the horizon and now we have two sizable California vintners suing several insurance companies. The vintners claim that the insurers have failed to reimburse them for smoke taint damages as a result of the wildfires in October 2017 in Northern California. Lewis Perdue of Wine Industry Insight scooped this story that we will be following closely. Mel Christopher, a top PG&E gas executive is no longer with the company. J. D. Morris of the Press Democrat provides the details.PG&E wants to use a portion of Terry Gard’s vineyard property in Calistoga for a liquid natural gas plant claiming eminent domain and Mr. Gard is having no part of it. They are both headed to court. I guess you could say PG&E has made him and offe

Dorthy Vasser has been growing wine grapes in Redwood Valley for 53 years. Dorthy and her husband John started grape growing in 1964. John passed away in 2008 and Dorthy continued to farm their 26 acre Mendocino ranch. Dorthy has decided to sell her land and Lewis Perdue goes into great detail as to how Constellation Brands may have had a hand in her decision to get out of farming. It’s a very sad story. If you’re interested in getting into grape farming in Northern California here’s the listing. There are too many wine grapes in California or we all need to step up our game and consume more vino. Unfortunately all the data shows that we’re drinking better wine but less of it. Bill Swindell asks some local growers how they are handling the grape glut. Cameron Hughes expresses concern about the current wine glut. He sites declining demand, climate change, negative health messaging and cannabis all as contributors to the wine industries woes. The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is trying

Wine journalist Jamie Goode recently posted a short blog about three of the world's largest wineries. Fred Swan felt that much of the criticism of the blog on social media was negative so he wrote a piece in defense of E.J. Gallo. Having visited several Gallo facilities in the past he offers some great insight into their operations.W. Blake Gray asks, "What's the point in fining a multi-billionaire winery owner when he ignores the rules"? Bill and  I have a good discussion about Gray's premise, that maybe the best way to thwart eco-vandals is to not give them publicity by reviewing their wines.One of Amazon's faux liquor stores in Southern California has been receiving more publicity than the founder Jeff Bezos probably wanted. W. Blake Gray stirs up quite a controversy with some good investigative journalism. Amazons' cleaned up their act but will it be enough to avoid punishment by the California ABC that has recently launched an investigation into their operations. Blue wine? Turns out it may be fake

Bill and I start this weeks podcast talking about British Master of Wine Tim Atkin’s article Why You Shouldn’t Care Much About Wine. Exploring various topics Tim’s tongue-in-cheek writing style will bring a smile to your face. Jillian Kramer writes a post about What Happens To Your Body When You Quit Drinking. We have a good discussion about all the good things that happen when one abstains from alcohol. Even bartenders in the bay area are getting in the act via the Pin Project. Adding a little air to your wine helps the wine show itself in its best light. Aromas and flavors are enhanced when a wine gets the proper amount of air. Marshall Tilden lll asks, Aerator vs Decanter: Which is Better?Another Napa Winery finds itself wrangling with their insurance company. The key issue being the insurance companies denial of the wineries claim for smoke taint damage to 1,075 gallons of Merlot. According to the lawsuit, the insurance company claim denials are about to cause financial ruin to the winery. The Tennessee

It’s summertime and Europeans have experienced some extreme temperatures. Highs which have eclipsed the torrid marks set by the heatwave of 2003, that killed thousands of people. A lot has been learned since 2003 and the European countries seem better equipped to handle the large high pressure weather systems that cover the continent during the summers. Marshall Shepherd writing for Forbes tries to make the connection between increasing extremes of weather and climate change. Washington Post columnist Dave McIntyre takes a look at how winemakers are streamlining their use of energy, water and reducing their carbon footprint. The article focuses mainly on family owned wineries that are leading the way in reducing the impact their operations have on the environment. Will the big hulking corporate wine concerns follow suit? Stephanie Cain wonders which package is more sustainable canned or bottled wine? Bill and I didn’t come up with a clear cut answer. What do you think?Natalie Wang reports on Chateau Lafite’s

Dr. Vinny of the Wine Spectator fields a question about whether or not one should swirl a glass of sparkling wine. It’s a touchy subject with sparkling wine afficionados. Are you a swirler?For some reason not everyone can do the right thing when it comes to business. A Baltimore businessman whose job was to safeguard wine which his clients where paying him to store is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen goods. Selling someones wine without their consent; how could he not know that this would end badly? Bill and I discuss these topics and many more in this weeks addition of VinoWeek. Thanks to everyone for listening. Cheers!

One of Sonoma’s favorite tourist spots the Ravenswood tasting room has closed. The Ravenswood brand was one of 30 that was spun off by New York based Constellation Brands and purchased by E&J Gallo, but the 12 acre property and the tasting room was not part of the deal.McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC are becoming increasingly more common sights in Italy’s urban centers. Jeremy Parzen pens a post on fast food versus organic and big farming in Italy.When was the last time you cut out drinking alcohol of any type? John Fodera an authority of all things Tuscan decided to take just such a break. Calling it “The Purge”, he sighted palate fatigue and decided to abstain for two weeks. He took notes of how his body responded, one of the most interesting being the amount of weight he lost.It’s not surprising to anyone in beverage journalism that there is a culture of “pay to play”. Offers of free samples, meals and trips in exchange for (wink wink) favorable endorsements are ubiquitous. Should there be more tran

The final week of February 2019 was a disaster for Sonoma County residents and for business owners in the recently developed Barlow center in Sebastopol, California. The Russian River Valley suffered some of its worst flooding in decades. Bill and I both live in Sebastopol and we have a lively discussion about the floods and what the future holds for the affected areas. Brent Young writes an article to explain how vineyards are impacted during winter flooding. The interstate battles between California and Oregon vintners continue as Solidarity of Oregon has prompted Eric Cohen, owner of Justice Grace Vineyards to bring his attorney into the fray. Australia is hot. What type of impact is climate change having on this wine growing region? Glyphosate a key ingredient in the weed killer Roundup has been detected (in low levels) in several leading beer and wine brands. Should we be concerned? Bill and I discuss these topics and many more in this weeks addition of VinoWeek. Thanks to everyone for listening.

After 45 years in the winemaking business Merry Edwards has decided to slow down. Merry and her husband Ken Coopersmith have sold all their wine holding to the Louis Roederer Champagne house. Roederer, a family owned business already owns three wineries in Mendocino County and plans to keep Merry around through the transition. Bushfires in Australia have been difficult this harvest season, especially at Topper’s Mountain Vineyard where a fire wiped out the entire crop just hours before the scheduled harvest. Lamberto Frescobaldi, owner of Frescobaldi Tuscan wine empire is doing his part to cut down on recidivism. He has established a wine growing culture on the prison island of Gorgona, not far from the Ligurian Riviera. The wines are said to be compelling and expensive. Bill and I discuss these topics and many more in this weeks addition of VinoWeek. Thanks to everyone for listening. Cheers! The wine of the week is the 2016 Artezin Old Vine Zinfandel. This wine is made by Randle Johnson of Hess Co

The effects of climate change are prompting farmers to look more closely at how much water they use and need to sustain their crops. Bill and I start the podcast by discussing dry farming; the pluses and minuses. Have you ever opened up a bottle of wine, poured a glass, tasted it and thought meh? It just seemed like something was off, or worse yet it was undrinkable. Maggie Rosenberg and Trevor Hagstrom, regional food researchers have come up with some hacks to make those wines go down a little easier. We’ve mentioned all of these hacks before at one time or another in past podcasts, but this is a great refresher. Let us know what you think about these ways to fix bad wine. TN Coopers, a company based in Santiago, Chile, has been using Labrador retrievers to track down the source of TCA and TBA in wineries. After working in South America for many years the company is now looking to bring its specialized service to Northern California. Many winemakers would say Mandy Heldt Donovan is flirting with disaster, bu

After watching a video by Julien Miquel, Bill and I jump off onto the topic of cork taint. Julien’s insight on “What is cork taint? Why are so Many Wines Corked?” is a must see video. The iconic wine retailer Bottle Barn now has an online presence. If you already buy wines online, do yourself a huge favor and put them on your list of suppliers. There’s a six bottle minimum, but the shipping is free. Jessica Zimmer writes a post that gives a historical viewpoint of how White Zinfandel saved Napa Valley. Noteworthy wine blogger Tom Wark of Wark Communications, a wine P. R. firm, has moved his family from Napa Valley to a new home in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. He writes his own exit interview for the Napa Valley wine business community. The new Prisoner Winery tasting room in St. Helena is the bomb. Owned by Constellation Brands and perched directly off Highway 29, the tasting room could be described as Napa Valleys newest and coolest foodie and wine destination. So why have they been issued a code violation no

Have you ever wondered when is the best time to drink a wine and will it get better with age? This week Bill and I discuss an article written by Courtney Schiessl titled, how to tell if your wine will age. The Cotes du Rhone region is on a four year streak of excellence. For that matter so is much of Europe. Dave McIntyre pens a thought provoking piece for the Washington Post. The premise of which is, what your wine choices say about you. Thanks to everyone for listening. Cheers! The wine of the week is the 2016 Chionetti Briccolero Dogliani. This is a Dolcetto (dohl-Chet-toh) from the area around the town of Dogliani (dohl-Yan-nee). The Dolcetto of Dogliani are so well known, that the best wines from the area are simply labeled as Dogliani, as this wine is. Briccolero (bree-Koh-layro) denotes a single vineyard. Dolcetto is grown though out Piedmont and Liguria, which occupy the northwest region of Italy. In Piedmont it’s typically cultivated in areas where Nebbiolo cannot be counted on to ripen reliably.

On this podcast Bill and I discuss the lawsuit involving Opus One Winery and one of their barrel suppliers. Joe Wagner of Copper Cane Wines keeps moving forward and is putting the finishing touches on a new bottling facility in Fairfield California. Will he continue to make and bottle his Oregon wines in California? As if you didn’t already know. San Francisco is ridiculously expensive to live in and own a business. Restaurants are changing the way they do business in order to survive. If you are a farmer in Nebraska, Costco is coming to your neighborhood. It just may be a lose, lose situation for the state though. Our favorite gangster is still on the lamb, valiantly fighting extradition to India. The SF Chronicle staff has come up with an excellent list of 12 Sonoma Wineries that offer free tastings. Thanks to everyone for listening. Cheers!

On this podcast Bill and I talk about the economic impact of the past few years of fires on the restaurant and wine business in Northern California. Our favorite billionaire, Liquor/ Indian gangster Vijay Mallya, who now resides in London, is vigorously fighting extradition back to India. So far so good for him and not so good for all the Indian bankers that bankrolled his alleged money laundering activities. Fashion mogul Antonio Moretti has been accused of money laundering and tax evasion by the Italian authorities and has been placed under house arrest with his son Andrea. Moretti owns several high end winery operations in Tuscany and Sicily and those assets among others have for the moment been seized by the government. Entrepreneur Joe Wagner of Copper Cane Wines has run afoul of the TTB and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission . It's a complicated case involving clever marketing , logistics and politics that Liza Zimmerman does a good job of covering for Wine Searcher. Year 2018 by most accounts has bee

We recorded this podcast on Veteran's Day weekend so  a little politics weaved its way into the content. Bill and  I talk about the wildfires we have experienced in California this year and eventually we got around to some wine talk. And yes we've got some good wine recommendations for you as always.Cheers!Referenced in the showFor Veterans Day Watch: FallenRead the XIII AmendmentWatch: Kayne on the XIII and other stuffCamp Fire 2018