Vintage New World

Latest updates:

• Alternative Packaging is a Good Thing

  (Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:37:00 -0800)

  Two interesting stories today about wine packaging. I've espoused the use of screw tops for a long time, but these two stories go a bit further.
  
  First, Delta Airlines is now pouring Three Thieves' Bandit wines, packed in a Tetra Pak, as their by-the-glass wine on international flights. International travelers, one assumes, are more open-minded and accepting of alternatives than stodgy Americans on domestic flights.
  
  Next, a vintner in New Zealand, the land of wine innovation (along with Australia) is now bottling his Sauvignon Blanc in plastic bottles. He says his market is the 70% of Sauvignon sold in supermarkets for under $20, and consumed with a week. The bottles will even have an "18-month best-before date" because of the possibility of oxygen spoiling the wine. See the story here.
  
  I've purchased (and sucked down) quite a few bottles, uh Tetra Paks, of Bandit Pinot Grigio. It's great on a hot day. I've even taken it to parties and defended it against snide comments from my wine-savvy brethren. I say the more alternatives we have in the wine world, the better.
  
  And while I have only my own gut feelings as evidence, I believe that alternatives also attract the attention of new customers.
  
  We don't have any plans to use Tetra Paks or plastic bottles at Clayhouse Wines, but we do now bottle all of our Adobe and Vineyard series wines with screw tops, a great step in the right direction.

  

• Olive Oil Production

  (Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:38:00 -0800)

  On California's Central Coast, olives and grapes co-exist very nicely, thank you very much. Not only are they complementary crops, but they're both part of a healthy lifestyle. Olive oil is a wonderful substitute for saturated fats, and it tastes great, especially when it's made with the care and attention that many small growers practice.
  
  Paso Robles even has an olive festival every August, with olive oil sampling, a cooking contest, and plenty of local wines. WeOlive, just off the Paso Robles town square, sells LOTS of different oils from producers all over the state.
  
  The market for artisan olive oil has boomed in California. California olive growers pressed 675,000 gallons of oil from 21,000 acres in 2008. Plantings are expected to grow by 10,000 acres annually through 2020, according to the California Olive Oil Council. American consumers currently enjoy an average of 750 milliliters (same as a standard bottle of wine) of olive oil per year, compared with 24 liters in Greece and 14 liters in Spain and Italy. Currently, 99 percent of the olive oil consumed in the U.S. is imported.
  
  Before you can sell olive oil, of course, you have to make it. Growers pick their crops and transport their olives to olive mills or presses located throughout the State. But now there's a new company that's taking the mill to the growers.
  
  Olive to Bottle (O2B) was founded recently by Prospero Equipment Corporation. It's run by entrepreneur Mark Robinson out of Davis, California, coincidentally where the University of California, Davis started an Olive Center a few years ago.
  
  O2B has the first mobile olive mill to be established in the United States and they're Certified Organic by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).
  
  ?The timing is right for the burgeoning California Olive Industry,? said operator Robinson. AWS/Prospero is a major supplier of wine, beer and olive processing equipment. Along with his brother Andy, Mark Robinson installed Prospero equipment in a custom-designed trailer that travels directly to olive orchards.
  
  Click here to see the mill in action on YouTube.
  
  According to the U.C. Davis Olive Center, the amount of time between harvest and milling is a key component to good olive oil. Robinson says that?s the mobile mill?s key advantage: ?we can travel directly to the olive growers, and whether they hand harvest or mechanically harvest, we can have their olives processed within hours, reducing costs, providing a fresher product, and streamlining efficiency.
  
  O2B?s mill processes one ton of olives per hour, and the mill?s size was chosen to allow mobility. O2B focuses on small to medium producers, with emphasis on the highest quality and standards available.
  
  This is great news for California's small olive growers. It means there might even be a step up in quality for their premium products. As big a paradigm shift as refrigeration was to the wine industry? Maybe not, but it certainly gives small growers a point of difference compared to the big competition.
  
   

  

• The Hard Part is Over

  (Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:03:00 -0700)

  Clayhouse winemaker David Frick has finished harvest. He reports that he's been on a roller coaster this past month, with rain, frost and potential rot all happening in the span of several days. Temperatures have been seasonally mild, but the threat of unseasonable early frost at the beginning of the month had winemakers and growers around Paso Robles pushing to get all grapes off of low-lying blocks (where cold air pools). David said that, in some cases, they had to accept a compromise between proper ripeness and the risk of damage to the crop.
  
  Then, in the middle of the month a rain storm, fueled by tropical moisture leftover from Typhoon Melor, arrived. Again, they listened to the forecasts and worked hard to bring in the grapes that were ripe and at risk for rot damage (which was essentially everything but Cabernet Sauvignon).
  
  After the deluge, it took two weeks for everything to dry out and for sugars in the grapes to build again. This delayed some picking, but at that point the winery was at capacity anyway, so it was a non-issue.
  
  Finally, a hard frost on October 28 spelled the real end of harvest 2009. David is now finishing up with grading the various lots and barreling down and/or consolidating lots, monitoring malolactic fermentations, as well as scheduling bottling.
  
  Hey, I'd be mixing the martiinis.

  

• Crush It

  (Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:18:00 -0700)

  No, this post isn't about crushing grapes.

  It isn't even specifically related to wine, although I'm a wine guy writing on a wine blog about another wine guy and a book he wrote. 

  But it's not a book about wine. 

  Not really. 

  It does cut to the core of modern marketing, certainly modern small production wine marketing, very quickly ... even if it isn't about wine. 

  Gary Vaynerchuk operates a very large wine retail shop in New Jersey. And he's pretty famous, in the world of social networking and blogging, for his video blog: WINE LIBRARY TV

  Mr. Vaynerchuk's new book, CRUSH IT! (Why now is the time to cash in on your passion) has recently been published.

  Within the first 25 pages, Mr. Vaynerchuk sums up what I know matters in marketing, particularly what I know matters in small production wine marketing.

  Referencing the current economic tough times, on page 7: 

  It's never a bad time to start a business unless you're starting a mediocre business. I think economic downturns represent a huge opportunity for everyone to get their focus on and start to crush it. The person who can dominate during rough times is the person who can dominate, period. Yes, we've seen a lot of people close up shop in the past years, but if they had offered a relevant and differentiated product or service, had been adaptable, and most of all had known how to tell their story, they wouldn't have had to close. 

  And, from page 24: 

  Storytelling is by far the most underrated skill in business. 

  How many of us dream of starting a mediocre business? 

  This marketer's advice is aligned with Mr. Vaynerchuk's: 

  1. Be relevant (you and your product); 

  2. Differentiate yourself (and your product); 

  3. Be adaptable; 

  4. Put in the work necessary to be a good storyteller, using whatever communication tools are appropriate and necessary to connect with your target audience. If you don't, how will they know you're relevant and different? 

  Or are you trying to sell the irrelevant and same? Don't bother, nobody wants that. 

  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

   

  
  
   

• Spider Wines

  (Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:25:00 -0700)

  Recent rains in California have pretty much ended the harvest except for a few hearty souls who are still waiting for their Cabernet vineyards to dry out. Clayhouse winemaker David Frick says he was able to get all of his fruit in in fine condition, thank you very much. I asked him about whether he'd predicted the last storm and he remarked that the local tarantulas had tipped him off.
  
  What? Here is what David told me:
  
  "Male California tarantulas, at least the ones near Paso Robles, seem to go walkabout in the fall in search of a female with which to mate. So, frequently one sees what is a typically shy spider become brazen and hormone-fueled, moseying across roads; seemingly without concern for their own safety. I swerve to avoid tarantulas more often than deer. What?s even more interesting is that these males, like the legendary preying mantis, often become meals for the females with which they mate (maybe that?s why I swerve; they have a hard enough time already).
  
  Barring any cross-species comments on hormones and their effects on behavior, why does this winemaker care? Because I closely associate these macho tarantulas with coming rains. You see, I theorize that their instinctual drive is tied to senses of temperature, humidity and/or atmospheric pressure that allow them to make these journeys days before rains come."
  
  Here's a YouTube video of California tarantulas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqygXQJn3NU&feature=related
  
  Not sure if spider predictions work in other parts of California, but whether they predict the rain or not, seeing a bunch of big spiders crossing the road is a pretty cool sight...and just in time for Halloween!

  

• Paso Perfectly Postitioned

  (Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:55:00 -0700)

  While most people in the wine industry have a gut feeling that consumers are trading down, a recent poll confirms that it's true.
  
  Wine Opinions' study not only shows consumers spending less on wine, but it also shows that consumers are still experimenting when they can: while Napa wines have lost customers, wines from Sonoma and Paso Robles have benefited.
  
  
  

  Consumers are purchasing more wine in the $10 to $20 range, and 45% of consumers say they now "never" buy wines costing more than $50. Paso has positioned itself perfectly (alliteration not intentional), with consumers showing a 30 point net shift toward Paso wines (Sonoma had a 22 point net shift) compared to Napa wines.
  
  Wine writer Ben Weinberg just returned from Paso and wrote a great recap on his recent blog. He commented: "Not only did I learn a lot about the region, but I tasted a bunch of great wines that won?t necessarily break the bank." Amen. (You can read all of Ben's story here: Unfiltered/Unfined.)
  
  It's finally raining in northern California; time for a glass of great value, great tasting Paso Robles red wine...how about the new 2007 Clayhouse Cabernet?

  

• Bigger is Better, NOT Badder

  (Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:27:00 -0700)

  Clayhouse farms a lot of grapes. At our estate Red Cedar Vineyard outside Paso Robles we have approximately 1500 acres of everything from Chenin Blanc to Primativo. And the fact is, having a large pool of grapes from which to choose gives us a mucho flexibility in winemaking.
  
  I was reminded of this last week while showing around Ben Weinberg, winewriter from Denver. Ben gets it. He was suitably impressed with the Red Cedar vineyard as we drove from the Petite Sirah and Malbec blocks on the lower benchlands, up to the Bordeaux varietals planted on terraced hillsides that rise up to 1500 feet in elevation. There's a commanding view of the Estrella River valley from the top. And while it's clear that the vineyard is large, bigger isn't always "badder."
  
  Ben kept saying, "wow."
  
  Of course the view is impressive, but what Ben picked up on was the soil variation, from loam to almost white calcareous. And he noticed the topographical differences, not just the elevation gain, but the rolling hills above the benchlands, and the shaded, eastern sides of the hills where cooler afternoon temperatures allow for production of great Sauvignon Blanc. There's nothing at all flat about the Red Cedar vineyard.
  
  Clayhouse doesn't use all of the fruit from Red Cedar, there are many other wineries that buy Red Cedar grapes. But having a vineyard of this size and diversity at our disposal gives us the flexibility to choose exactly the blocks we want, to pick at exactly the time winemaker David Frick dictates, and to make quick production decisions based upon sales or consumer demand.

  

• Pioneer Sundown

  (Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:45:00 -0700)

  I'm sad to note the passing of David Lake, a Washington wine pioneer. I knew David only a little, from running into him at wine events in Washington and elsewhere, and through the Rhone Rangers organization (the image of David in a cowboy hat sticks with me). 

  David Lake was a Master of Wine, a Canadian, a winemaker (for Columbia winery for many many years), a gentleman, and a gentle man. I associate him very clearly with both single vineyard wines from Washington State, and with the rise of Syrah as a benchmark varietal in Washington.

  You can read more about David on the Wine Spectator website, HERE.

  I must be getting old, feeling emotional, with the image in my mind's eye of a Rhone Ranger riding down the sun at the end of a long day in the saddle. 

  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

  
  
   

• Media Sea Change

  (Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:48:00 -0700)

  Conde Nast yesterday announced that they were shutting down GOURMET magazine, despite its 980,000 subscribers (last year) and 70 years in publication. The print magazine business model requires lots of paid advertising, and GOURMET isn't generating enough ad pages. Conde Nast also publishes BON APPETIT, and will undoubtedly push for any subscribers and advertisers orphaned by GOURMET's demise to move over to BON APPETIT.
  
  Today the FCC announced new guidelines specifying that  bloggers should reveal their receipt of free goods and services. There has been some brouhaha over the past year and more that some bloggers may be swayed to post favorable reviews of goods and services which they received free of charge. Or which came from companies that otherwise provided something of value (travel is a frequently cited culprit), possibly in return for favorable reviews.
  
  In the wine business, we've been watching the decline of 'traditional' media for at least a decade, as daily newspapers countered declining circulation and advertising revenue by reducing their editorial range - eliminating staff wine and food writers is an easy way to save on salaries.
  
  But I think these two announcements, the end of GOURMET and new attention being paid to bloggers, signals a real sea change in wine media. The first is a dramatic reminder that our promotional opportunities with major print 'traditional' media are becoming increasingly limited. The second points out that even the government (usually pretty slow to respond to changes in social trends) has noticed that blogging and the 'new media' are gaining growth momentum and increased influence.
  
  We wineries must ride these waves and learn new ways to tell our stories.
  
  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

• Beef: It's What's for Dinner

  (Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:25:00 -0700)

  One of the stories we like to emphasize at Clayhouse is that we're dependent upon the earth, the soil and the vineyard to produce consistent varietal wines. On its own, that's not very unique, but when we talk about our proximity to California's historic missions and local adobe structures (we have one on our Red Cedar ranch), and the idea that making adobe bricks is analogous to making wine (stay with me here), the story becomes more our own.

  (Adobe bricks: local mud, water, sand and straw blended together in specific proportions, to yield long-lasting, quality building material. Varietal wine: local grapes, maybe more than one variety, fermented with yeast to yield a great tasting beverage. Talk about value-added products...)

  Bricks, wine...the other aspect of this is keeping things local. We hope to tie-in a local grass-fed beef producer in the near future, as well. And as preparation for upcoming meetings, I purchased a few of their products to try alongside Clayhouse wines. When UPS delivered my grass-fed tri-tip, I grabbed a bottle of the new Clayhouse 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, and started the Weber grill.

  A few grass-fed beef facts (compared to "combined animal feeding operations," or feed lots):

  - Its production produces less waste than feed-lot beef. Animals are rotated through numerous pastures, sustaining complexity, supporting diversity on the grasslands, improving soil fertility and eliminating waste management problems.

  - It's more humane. Cattle have access to natural forage, fresh air and clean water. They have less stress, they don't receive antibiotics or hormones, and they can roam all over.

  - Grass fed beef is more nutritious for us carnivores. No hormones or antibiotics, 10 times more beta-carotene three times more vitamin E, and three times the omega-3 fatty acids than traditional beef.

  So I cooked my tri-tip as directed, which meant cooking faster because its low fat content means it can dry out and overcook easily. I opened my wine, tossed a salad, and had a meal that convinced me I should eat this way all the time. My new plan is to spend a bit more money for quality, locally-raised beef, to eat a bit less overall, and to try to get through a dinner without finishing the entire bottle of Clayhouse.

  

• On Wine Competitions

  (Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:29:00 -0700)

  Robert Whitley, wine writer and now director of five major wine competitions, convinced me years ago that it was worthwhile for wineries to enter wine competitions because "regardless of whether you win a gold medal, competitions provide a credible alternative to the 100-point scale."
  
  In other words, if you wanted to complain about and eschew the 100-point rating system used by the major wine publications, it made sense to provide consumers with a competing option for evaluation.
  
  Okay, I buy that argument. I also enter competitions because I like the fact that wine competition judges are often wine writers or sommeliers who will have the opportunity to write about or buy your wine (if they like it) after the judging.
  
  But it's also true that wine competitions - and the wineries that enter them - are not infallible. I saw news today that the prestigious Sonoma County Harvest Fair Wine Competition just disqualified their sweepstakes winner. It seems the winery couldn't show proof that they actually had 75 cases of the winning wine on hand, a requirement for entry. The president of the Fair's board of directors said, "our rules were established to make sure the public has access to the winning wines. While this is a very unfortunate situation, we are satisfied our system proved itself."
  
  Good for the Harvest Fair. It's critical that consumers have access to wines that win medals. And let's be honest, 75 cases is only about enough wine to make sure consumers in Santa Rosa get a taste, not readers in New York who get the competition results a few days later.
  
  Years ago, the major wine magazines used to say they only reviewed wines made in quantities of more than (I believe it was) 75 cases. Now they don't say that they have a minimum production requirement, though they sometimes list production figures at the end of their reviews. Wouldn't it make sense, and earn them more credibility, if they established a minimum case production number for submissions? With the ability for anyone to find almost any wine on the Internet now, I think that 75 cases might even be too low of a number.
  
  One of the winery owners that commented on the recent Harvest Fair episode said that he thought "for wines under $20, wineries should be prepared to set aside a lot more wine (than the 75 required cases.) For sweepstakes, you've got to be closer to 300 to 400 cases." I agree. Why win (enter) if consumers can't get your winning wine?

  

• The Year to Make Homemade Wine

  (Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:23:00 -0700)

  While all sides of the industry go back and forth about whether or not the "luxury" end of the wine market will survive or not, there's a more telling indicator of the health of wine industry that many consumers never see: the bulk grape and wine market.
  
  The major brokers in California, Ciatti and Turrentine, say that some grapes won't get picked this year because they don't have a winery to buy them. And lots of small grape growers, who might not be on the big brokers' radar, have grapes available, as well.
  
  That's why I think it's a good year to try your hand at home winemaking.
  
  I get a weekly publication called Wine Country Classifieds (www.winerysite.com). It's lists equipment for sale, job openings, and currently, LOTS of grapes for sale...two full pages of grapes for sale, as a matter of fact. St. Helena Cabernet, Dry Creek Zinfandel, Napa Valley Hillside varietals, Lake County Sauvignon Blanc, Santa Barbara Pinot Noir...even Anderson Valley Gewurztraminer. Not many of the listings quote prices, but let's say you wanted to make some Dry Creek Zin and you contacted someone who would sell you a ton of grapes for $1,500. What would your bottle cost be?
  
  One of my Napa winemaker buddies figures about $5.85 per bottle. You can see his numbers in a PDF here: DryCreekZin. Granted, the price assumes you won't have any bacterial problems or stuck fermentations, but for $5.85 per bottle it might be worth a gamble!

  

• When Wine is Fun

  (Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:21:00 -0700)

  It's not often that I'm impulsive. But it happens with wine.
  
  When I started in the wine business I couldn't wait to pour at consumer wine tastings; there were lots of wines to try, and plenty of like-minded newbies willing to trade a few bottles at the end of the event. Over time, we newbies honed our scatter-shot tasting techniques and ended up focusing on one varietal or region. We got serious.
  
  And we also got a little bit pompous, jumping on the anything-but-chardonnay bandwagon and relegating things like Chenin Blanc to the unwashed tasting room masses.
  
  I think I've grown beyond the pretension. I actually LOVE the Clayhouse Chenin Blanc (tasting room only) and the Adobe White and Red. And every once in awhile I find myself getting excited about a new wine, and I get impulsive.
  
  I read in Through the Walla Walla Grapevine (http://wildwallawallawinewoman.blogspot.com/) about a new little winery in Washington, and I found myself printing out the order form and giving up my credit card number. It doesn't happen very often anymore, but it's kind of nice when wine makes you feel giddy and expectant again...like those first fairy tale days in the wine industry.

  

• Conventional Wisdom

  (Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:03:00 -0700)

  In challenging economic times, how desperately do you need this business advice?
  
  1. Don't let your inventories grow too much;
  
  2. Make the best product you can for your price point;
  
  3. Differentiate your product from competitors;
  
  4. Take advantage of industry organization promotional efforts; and,
  
  5. Remain flexible, to respond to marketplace changes.
  
  Wow. What amazingly conventional wisdom. And that's what was said, at this wine industry symposium.
  
  WinesAndVines.com on 16-September-2009
  
  

  David Freed, who is chairman of the vineyard company UCC group, offered some advice for vintners to stay financially healthy.
  
  Freed said that forces beyond the control of most U.S. vintners are consumer demand, the weather, the economy, global supply and consolidation of distribution. And though he didn't literally have the last word about when and how wine sales will turn around, he did say,  'There is no way to tell what the consumer is going to like next,' so growers and wineries should focus on the things that are within their control:
  ? Oversupply: Don't overplant.
  ? Produce the best quality wine at the price-point.
  ? Develop and promote a unique selling proposition for each product.
  ? Support and promote appellations and regional associations.
  ? Maintain flexibility and diversity, because consumer tastes will change.
  

  
  Don't get me wrong. We certainly want to keep those five commandments in mind. But I'd rather hear from someone with something fresh to say. Something about how to mitigate risk while taking chances. Something about finding opportunities, even in the dark times.
  
  Maybe I'm too hopeful and aggressive and opportunistic and success-oriented. And so's our wine company.
  
  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

• Lone Star Cadaretta

  (Wed, 16 Sep 2009 06:42:00 -0700)

  We're feeling good today, not just because we make great wine, but because we're shipping a goodly quantity (for us) to our wholesaler in Texas, Glazer's.
  
  The Washington wine business is deceptive. While we rank second nationally in wine production, behind only California, a really disproportionate amount of Washington wine is sold right here in the Northwest. That's right, we like our home-grown grapes.
  
  When we're in the Northwest states, Washington wine looks really big. Wine lists and shop shelves are filled with our bottlings, from wineries small and large, at all price points.
  
  But travel beyond this upper left corner of the U.S.A. and the selection and availability of Washington wines are swiftly reduced. Many markets seem to sell little or nothing from Washington beyond our very largest wine brands.
  
  We make great wine here, no doubt. But we're still showing that to the rest of the world, and many wine accounts and wine sales people are still unsure who's who and what's what in Washington wine.
  
  Which is why it's so heartening that Glazer's, inspired by our Texas agent, Randy Johnston and his SpiriVin Group, has stepped up to the plate. Now it's our job to help them present and sell to the right wine accounts in the Lone Star state.
  
  Because our job isn't just making wine. It's teaching about wine, and helping sell wine. And our job isn't done until the bottle is opened and enjoyed. Since our reds are pretty age-worthy, our job could take years!
  
  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

• US Grows Wine Consumption

  (Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:50:00 -0700)

  Growth in U.S. wine consumption slowed in 2008, but still managed almost a one percent increase, according to the recently released 2009 Wine Handbook, published by the Beverage Information Group.

  Read the news release here. 

  The U.S. has now experienced 15 consecutive years of wine consumption increases. 

  And there is optimism for the future, with the large generation of 'Millennials' reaching legal drinking age. This echo of the Baby Boom generation is the largest population cadre since the Baby Boomers, and they appear to be wine consumers, willing to experiment.

  Stateside wineries are benefiting from a weaker dollar, as well as growing U.S. consumption. Import sales decreased almost two percent in volume in 2008, as domestic wine sales increased almost two percent. This is generally considered to reflect changing currency exchange rates, working against imported wines. 

  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

• A Brasserie 4 Story

  (Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:47:00 -0700)

  I met with Lorraine Alban, owner and manager of J & L Wines, our wholesale distributor on California's Central Coast today. J & L has the distinction of making a rather large sale of Cadaretta reds, to the Cambria Wine Shop, for their club. Not many accounts want 40 boxes all at one time!
  
  

  In any case, we were discussing restaurants, and I mentioned Brasserie 4 in Walla Walla, remarking that I really liked the way they display and promote their wines (their inventory is visible to customers, on wire rack shelves, in price categories), and I like their menu (printed on three-hole-punch lined binder paper!), and I like the decor (retro iron-work and rustic wood mixed with modernist minimalism).
  
  Lorraine said, 'Jim's been there!'
  
  DAH said, 'I know he was in Walla Walla.'
  
  Lorraine said, 'He told us all about it! He really liked it.'
  
  DAH said, 'Great!'
  
  Jim is Jim LaMar, the J & L sales rep for the Fresno area in Central California. He'd made a trip to Walla Walla, visited with our team, taken in the sites (and tastes!) and reported back to J & L at a sales meeting.
  
  I love getting a taste of Walla Walla's Cadaretta on California's Central Coast!
  
  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

• A Lost Grape Found

  (Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:03:00 -0700)

  The wine-world is an endlessly interesting place. Carmenere is one of the six grapes upon which the reputation of Bordeaux for red wines was established. The others are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. Yet Carmenere has fallen out of fashion in France, and it has been generations since it held a place of importance there.

  From DECANTER on-line, September 10, 2009:

  Search launched for 'Super-Carmenere clone' (by Richard Woodard)

  'Researchers in Chile have embarked on a quest to find a 'super Carmenere clone' in a bid to improve quality and consistency of the country's signature grape variety.' 

  Click here to read the article on-line. 

  But in Chile there's lots of Carmenere. There's been lots of Carmenere in Chile for more than a century.

  Until the early 1990s everyone thought it was Merlot. So it was sold as Merlot. Wine grape researchers discovered the mistake, and their discovery hurt the Chilean wine industry.
  

  Now that the truth is out, the grape is much more difficult to sell, as is the wine (versus the better known and generally accepted Merlot). When was the last time you found a section of Carmenere wines in your local wine shop? They can be found, but they are sparse on the ground. 

  Next door to Chile is another South American country, Argentina. Argentina also, for many generations, has been a new home to a lesser grape from Bordeaux: Malbec. Argentinian Malbec is hotter than a pistol in the world wine market these days. 

  Carmenere has softer tannins than Malbec, but otherwise claims a very similar heritage (under-appreciated in France, found a new home in South America). 

  If I were a Chilean winerower, with thousands of acres of Carmenere available under vine, and Carmenere grapes that seemed to produce pretty nice wine, but selling for very little, and I watched the Argentinians achieve great success and distinction with Malbec, I might, indeed, say, 'Let's find a super clone of Carmenere and see if we can get a little positive spin going in the world wine market.' 

  And if I were a winery focusing on Bordeaux varietals and blends, I'd pay a little attention in the USA, too. If Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepage (Five Varieties) does so well with a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbect blend, maybe somebody could do well with a Six Cepage approach, adding a super clone of Carmenere. A perfect line extension. 

  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
  

• Washington AVA Legislation Wonderment

  (Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:23:00 -0700)

  So, how does this recently passed legislation work when part of your AVA is in Washington and part of your AVA is in Oregon. How does it work if your estate vineyard is in the Walla Walla Valley AVA, but on the Oregon side of the border, while your winery is in the Walla Walla Valley AVA but on the Washington side of the border?
  
  I'm just full of questions today.

  04-September-2009
  
  Wines & Vines OnLine
  
  Appellation Grape Quota Still Pending
   
  by Kate Lavin
  
  Washington, D.C. -- The Washington state legislature this summer passed House Bill 1812, which requires that at least 95% of grapes used for wine production come from Washington if a label advertises a Washington state AVA. Now that the bill is set to become effective for grapes harvested after Dec. 31, 2009, the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers (WAWGG) is refocusing its efforts on backing a similar federal mandate.

  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

   

• A Modern Pastime

  (Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0700)

  Deriding that about which you know nothing: A favorite modern pastime.

  Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library and Wine Library TV fame tweeted this USA Today link: USA Today on Twitter

  Please note: I would have no awareness of this article if I did not follow @garyvee on Twitter. 

  I have had many conversations about Twitter with friends and associates. Well, not so much conversations. More like rant-control as they go off about Twitter. Or Facebook. Or E-Mail. Or Blogging. Or Podcasting. Or Digital Music. Or Cable TV. Or Cell Phones. Or the introduction of the telegraph. Or the Pony Express. Or Railroads. Or Electricity.

  OK, so the last few, not so much. 

  Or another favorite: Wine is wine. Who cares where it's from? I either like it or I don't. Why do THEY make such a big deal about it? 

  Or as in: Who needs Washington wine? There's already too much wine! 

  Or even: Walla Walla wine! That's stupid. Who cares about Walla Walla? 

  Or: Why Cadaretta? Why do we need ANOTHER wine from Walla Walla?

  The people with whom I would have all these rant-control conversations (I'm doing the rant controlling, they're doing the ranting) are all the same people. Over and over again. Coping with the prospect of new choices by ranting about them. 

  Some people love the new. Often unabashedly and without selectivity. Such people are not the ranters I'm dealing with. 

  Some people are alarmed by the new. Often unabashedly and without selectivity. Such people ARE the ranters I'm dealing with. 

  What I'd prefer: Everyone sorting the old and new and making choices that work for them without complaining (ranting) about the choosing process. 

  What I'm going to get: More ranting, I expect. 

  The USA Today article suggests that 40% of Twitter is babble. 

  Gary Vaynerchuk suggests that 40% of everything is babble. 

  DAH suggests that more than 50% of everything is babble. And that at least 20% of the rest is ranting and complaining. 

  Which is why we should all just chill ... a bottle of Cadaretta SBS ... and just chill. 

  DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bad news if you're selling high-end wine:  Makers of high-end wines caught in 'dead zone'

This isn't really news, if you're in the wine business. But if you haven't been following the game, wine sales are up in the USA, but they're up for wines selling below $20 retail. For those selling at higher prices, times are tough. 

Now's when managing inventories becomes the most important brand management issue. Because if you have too much wine, and a high price point, you are likely in great danger of destroying your brand position by cutting prices in order to get desperately needed cash out of your inventory. 

These are the times I wish we could bottle everything as shiners (unlabeled), for maximum flexibility. Unbranded corks, no capsules, no labels, contents (unprinted) case shippers. Holding wine in bulk, unbottled, might seem preferable, but that's difficult if you need tank space for new vintage grapes. 

But a mix of delayed bottling, and when bottling, putting that wine in shiners, seems like the ideal way to develop a brand. Label as necessary. Label for others, with their labels, to sell at lower prices, so as not to damage your own brand. 

But I guess that would require a bottling line on stand-by all the time. A capital outlay fewer wineries are making these days. 

But having gone the shiners route several times in the past, I can testify that the benefit of offering excess wine to private label, or export labeling, or whatever, gave much more flexibility in managing inventories and protecting brands.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at www.VintageNewWorld.com

I just don't understand social "gaming," specifically, Farmville on Face Book.  As a wine company, we're certainly active in social media.  We understand that using Twitter, Face Book, YouTube and other applications can help us build a base of interested consumers who might someday become customers.

But what does playing Farmville do for anyone except capture more of the time they don't have enough of in the first place?

I have eschewed Face Book surveys and quizes, and no, I don't want to play Mafia Wars, thank you.  It's all I can do to find time to read wine blogs and glance at the weekly food & wine sections in major newspapers.

And no, I'm not a curmudgeon or a luddite, though I admit to being cynical.

All too often, my colleagues and I whip off an email when a quick phone call would suffice.  And if we DID pick up the phone, we'd have the added benefit of producing some meaningful discourse, rather than an email string that begats its own secondary string.

Not to start off a nice Friday with whining blog entry, but I hate to see the promise of the cool things social media can do turn us into anti-social virtual farmers.

Now, if there were a grapegrowing and winemaking Face Book game...

DAH NOTES:

Deriding that about which you know nothing: A favorite modern pastime.

Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library and Wine Library TV fame tweeted this USA Today link: USA Today on Twitter

Please note: I would have no awareness of this article if I did not follow @garyvee on Twitter.

I have had many conversations about Twitter with friends and associates. Well, not so much conversations. More like rant-control as they go off about Twitter. Or Facebook. Or E-Mail. Or Blogging. Or Podcasting. Or Digital Music. Or Cable TV. Or Cell Phones. Or the introduction of the telegraph. Or the Pony Express. Or Railroads. Or Electricity.

OK, so the last few, not so much.

Or another favorite: Wine is wine. Who cares where it's from? I either like it or I don't. Why do THEY make such a big deal about it?

Or as in: Who needs Washington wine? There's already too much wine!

Or even: Walla Walla wine! That's stupid. Who cares about Walla Walla?

Or: Why Cadaretta? Why do we need ANOTHER wine from Walla Walla?

The people with whom I would have all these rant-control conversations (I'm doing the rant controlling, they're doing the ranting) are all the same people. Over and over again. Coping with the prospect of new choices by ranting about them.

Some people love the new. Often unabashedly and without selectivity. Such people are not the ranters I'm dealing with.

Some people are alarmed by the new. Often unabashedly and without selectivity. Such people ARE the ranters I'm dealing with.

What I'd prefer: Everyone sorting the old and new and making choices that work for them without complaining (ranting) about the choosing process.

What I'm going to get: More ranting, I expect.

The USA Today article suggests that 40% of Twitter is babble.

Gary Vaynerchuk suggests that 40% of everything is babble.

DAH suggests that more than 50% of everything is babble. And that at least 20% of the rest is ranting and complaining.

Which is why we should all just chill ... a bottle of Cadaretta SBS ... and just chill.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 

DAH Wine Notes -

Thoughts inspired by grape harvest projections for vintage 2009:

1. Suggestions that Washington grape prices won't fall this year seem rather hopeful, based upon the soft national economy and the increasing supply of Washington grapes;

2. It's good to remember that the California wine grape harvest is more than 20 times the size of the Washington wine grape harvest; and,

3. It's even better to remember that the California wine grape harvest is almost 90 times the size of the Oregon wine grape harvest.

From The News Tribune (Tacoma WA) on 19-August-2009

Washington expects record wine grape crop
By Andy Perdue, Wine Press Northwest

A report by the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers indicates record crop of 155,000 tons of wine grapes this fall. That would be up from 145,000 last year.

That said, the annual 'crop estimate' is often on the high side. Based on past years, I would expect the tonnage to come in a little lower but still be a record.

After nearly two weeks of extremely hot weather at the end of July, August temperatures in Washington's Columbia Valley have been just about perfect for wine grapes, with highs in the mid-80s. Temperatures are expected to spike today and the rest of the week to the mid- to high 90s.

Oregon's wine grape crop is expected to be about 37,000 tons, up from 2008 but down from 2007, which was 38,600.

Meanwhile, California's wine grape crop is estimated this year at 3.3 million tons.

DAH is David Anthony Hance at www.VintageNewWorld.com

Just returned from the seventh annual Petite Sirah Symposium at Concannon Winery in Livermore (great host winery, by the way).  What really struck me is how  Petite Sirah acreage in California has increased so dramatically since 1995. 

There was actually more Petite planted in 1976 (over 14,000 acres), but it's clear that growers began to pull it out as Chardonnay's popularity started to rise.  I imagine White Zin also took a chunk of Petite's acres, so that by 1995 there were only 1,738 acres of Petite Sirah in the Golden State.  Since then, acreage has increased annually, to over 7,300 acres in 2008.

And the region with the most Petite?  It's Lodi and the Delta area.  But coming in second is the Santa Barbara/San Luis area, including Paso Robles.  Forty four percent of California's Petite Sirah comes from these two regions.

Why does Petite continue to do well?  It's not because any one winery makes a truck load every year (though Concannon and Bogle produce a bunch...), but it's because of how versatile Petite Sirah can be.  It's not only bottled as a varietal, but it's often blended, especially to enhance thinner reds.  It was noted today that with all of the Pinot Noir planted in marginal areas over the past few years, Petite should have a guaranteed place over the next few years as a 25% component of otherwise insipid Pinot.

By the way, at the walk-around tasting following the meeting, one rather prominent wine writer, who is not generally given to admitting preferences, told me that she really preferred the Clayhouse 2006 Estate Petite because it was one of the few being poured that had a real peppery character.

After attending the Blogger's Conference last weekend I'm convinced that wineries need to be more involved, or at least better informed, about social media and its implications for future customer interaction.

But I've also been in the wine industry long enough (someone at the conference said I was "legendary"...I don't know if that's good or bad) to know that there's no substitute for face-to-face contact.

The challenge for PR people is that, while we're trying to embrace the new media and Web 2.0, we still have to manage our "traditional" media contacts and relationships.  I used to sit down with writers on the east coast at least once a year for dinner and a glass of wine.  That can't be done on FaceBook or Twitter.

And while wine writers used to be concentrated on the coasts, bloggers and the new media can be anywhere, making face to face contact even more logistically difficult.

(My one gripe with the Blogger's Conference was that, while they provided names and email addresses for all attendees, they didn't supply physical addresses.  Hey, I might want to send samples to some of those bloggers out there.)

We wineries need to get involved with social media and figure out how to make it work best for all participants.  Meantime, it's clear to me that my U.C. Extension class, "PR for Small Wineries" (December 4th in Davis, http://tinyurl.com/nxaxg4), needs a major social media overhaul.  One has to stay relevant...

Frankly, Napa does it well.  Hospitality is number one in the land of wine tourism.  A rousing, albeit ego-filled keynote address by Barry Schuler (founder of AOL), Jim Gordon's (Wines & Vines tips for better writing...and blogging), then lunch, tours, panel discussions and an ultimate Napa tasting at Quintessa; there's plenty of Sonoma and Napa wine foder for the bloggers to tackle over the next couple of weeks.

Interesting notes for the day:

Sterling, where I've never been despite living in Sonoma/Mendocino counties for 27 years, was actually kind of cool to visit, though their box lunches on the fly paled to some of the other lunches other groups experienced...  They also poured us their new line of Mendocino County organic wines, which pleased me since I live there, but probably pissed off the Napa Valley Vintners, which might have assumed they'd pour Napa wines.

Amazing dinner at Leil wines, not the winery (it's virtual) but the owner's home overlooking the Valley, right above Aberege du Soleil.  What better way to personalize a brand than to have a bunch of folks to your HOUSE, not your WINERY, and to serve them your awesome Sauvignon Blanc?  Also there: Paula Kornell with her tasty Cabernet Franc from Oakville Ranch.

Next year the conference will be in Walla Walla, June 25-27, 2010; make your reservations now (and be sure and try a bottle of Cadaretta Cabernet or SBS soon, to entice you to register for the conference...).