Michael Mondavi’s venture at the Oxbow Public Market has ended. The Folio Enoteca and Winery quietly pulled out of the Oxbow Market at the end of March. This has to be a major blow to the Oxbow Market and their merchants. No doubt the recession has made it tough on the Oxbow Market but perhaps a greater concern might be its location. The Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco owned by the same company is teeming with tourists and visitors on a daily basis.
Wine News
50ml Wine Bottles from Napa Wineries & Other Wine News
Trefethen 2008 Fallow
First, I receive a bizarre miniature bottle called Fallow from Trefethen Vineyards. No information about why the bottle was sent, just a very hilarious winemaking note describing the aroma and flavors of this empty 50ml wine bottle. What’s up with this I thought. I don’t get it. Then, last Friday, my UPS guy rings the door and has me sign for a small box that he says is wine. I know better, no box that light or small can contain wine. Wrong, here from Trefethen again, is a small fancy box containing four 50 ml. wine bottles. But this time, the bottles are filled with wine. Yeah! Two each of their Double T 2008 Chardonnay and their Double T 2007 Red Wine. Now, I get it. This is a new concept for sampling wine that makes sense. Wineries using these small bottles can send out many samples instead of just a few regular-size bottles to wine bloggers, restaurants, and others without busting their PR budget. Although I would rather get a full bottle, this is a wise option for a winery that wants to introduce its wines to a host of people. Ggrich Hills, Patz & Hall, and Chateau Montelena in the Napa Valley are also early adopters of this novel approach to wine samples. The company behind all this is TastingRoom.com and if you look at their website you can find out how they go about processing these miniature bottles of wine. Incidentally, I polished off the four bottles of wine that I was sent and have judged both the Chardonnay and the Red Wine to be of delicious quality, as are all the Trefethen wines I have tasted.
Buehler Vineyards — Strange Encounters and Other Napa Valley News
Spring is here in the Napa Valley, the sun is warm, and many of the vines are alive with recent bud break. It is a very enjoyable time to travel to the Napa Valley. Not only does spring bring tourists to the Valley but other creatures as well. We had just finished tasting some delicious Buehler wines and were on our way to the terrace to enjoy a picnic lunch. There it was basking in the beautiful sunshine, a rather long and ominous looking rattlesnake. John Page Buehler was the first to alert us and then quickly raced into the tasting room and returned with a shovel. Page with his handy long shovel was able to corral the snake and move it away from the picnic area. What a man!
Napa Valley Bits & Pieces of Wine News – Napa Valley Under Attack
Last week bad news came on two fronts for Napa. The first came from a Silicon Valley Bank report about a potential swath of Napa wineries on the verge of bankruptcy and land values dropping 15% from their peak in 2007. Then came more bad news with the European grapevine moth on the attack and quarantine orders in place for big portions of the Napa Valley. If that is not bad enough, other wine regions are trying to kick poor Napa Valley when it is down. We keep hearing the same old song when we visit other wine regions about Napa Valley’s overpriced wines finally getting their comeuppance. The truth of the matter is any wine that is currently priced over $20 is going to be a tough sell in 2010. In every wine region we travel, even lonely Lodi, there are many wines priced above the $20 and well beyond, from $40 to $60. All wineries, no matter where, are facing a very tough consumer frugality and need to take a new tack if they want to survive. Now for some pleasant news!
Napa Valley wine prices in 1970 why not roll them back!
I was digging through some of my old wine books and came across two items of interest from 1969-70. In those days I kept very meager notes of the wines I purchased, this of course was well before computers and spreadsheets. I scanned one of the pieces of notepaper so you can take a look at what I paid for these wines back then. The second item I found was a wine list from Orsi’s Restaurant in San Francisco. I scanned one page that listed the Claret wines from the Napa Valley. Take a look at the prices, very interesting!
Napa Valley Cabernet Under Attack
Three factors to ponder for the makers of fine Napa Valley Cabernet: First, the criticism by many wine critics on the high alcoholic content of Cabernet Sauvignon. This ball has been rolling along for a couple of years but it seems to have been gaining steam in recent weeks. The latest comes from wine writer Dan Berger’s “The Collapse of Cabernet,” his article appearing in the St. Helena Star last week. James Laube also addresses the issue in the latest Wine Spectator. Next, is the economy, still? All signs once again are pointing to a dismal year for wines priced above $20 and most Napa Valley Cabernets are well above that price point. The third factor and one I don’t think has been mentioned much is how the American diet is beginning to change. The American diet, especially among the fine-wine drinking crowd is shifting. What is in are soups, salads, fish, more grains, more vegetables and fruits. What’s out are eating lots of red meat, creamy sauces, etc. Not altogether out, but the creed is to cut down. Healthy meals are more easily paired with white wines, rosés, and lighter reds such as Pinot Noir. If this trend is true, will that translate into less Cabernet sales?
Napa Valley Bits & Pieces of Wine News: Tasting Room Booking Widget
VinoVisit and Cellar Pass — Reservation system for tasting rooms
These two competing companies are battling toe-to-toe to sign up wineries with a new concept that is designed to attract wine country tourists to the tasting room. VinoVisit seems to have the head start with more wineries signed up plus a few publishers like our own Wine Country Getaways. The reservation widget for both companies will work much like widgets used by the Trip Adviser to find and book hotels or like Open Table to reserve a restaurant. With the tasting room widget the tourist will be able to book a tour, tasting, and other winery events. For VinoVisit, each winery in their system will have its own individual Widget on its Website, and publishers like Wine Country Getaways will eventually have a general Widget containing information on all the VinoVisit wineries. You can check out this page to see the current wineries using VinoVisit on WCG.
Looking Back at 2009: Napa Valley’s Top Wine Stories
The “Less is More” Era Arrives in 2009
This is not so much an event as it is a pervasive feeling that I think is the biggest factor of the year affecting the wineries and related businesses in California and Napa Valley wine country. I hear about it from my friends, my adult children, financial wizards, etc. Our spending habits were out of control and the recession rocked us back to sensible saving and spending behaviors. The recovery may be underway, but this feeling is likely to stay a long while. It is why people are buying wines under $20 or ordering a glass of wine for dinner rather than a full bottle. It is why folks decide to stay at a budget motel instead of an expensive B&B or why they decide on a day trip to the Napa Valley rather than a weekend visit. It means dropping out of that wine club that sends out those expensive wines every four months.
Napa Valley Bits & Pieces of Wine News: We Need Tourists
Sonoma County, Mendocino, and Paso Robles are doing their best to attract wine country tourists and they are outspending Napa by a large scale. Not long ago, most folks traveling to California wine country were under the impression the Napa Valley was the only game in town. Could it be that people are opting to go to these other wine regions because they are being led to believe that the Napa Valley is too chic, too expensive, or too crowded. Bottom line, tourism is down in the Napa Valley. So in the works is a plan to have Napa hotels and B&B’s being asked to pay an assessment to fund a tourism business improvement district. This likely means we’ll see a little bit more tax on our Napa Valley hotel bill that should generate some 4 million dollars to promote tourism. Stay tuned.
Calistoga Happenings
Talk about no tourists, we spent a couple of days in Calistoga last week and as one tasting room worker said, “things are dark” around here. The popular Brannan’s restaurant was practically deserted except for bar patrons. By the way, Janelle says Brannan’s makes the best Manhatten she has ever tasted. They call it the Branhattan. The secret ingredient we found out is the Punta E Mes Vermouth.
Napa Valley Bits & Pieces of Wine News
The biggest news this month is the approval of the Calistoga AVA. This is a huge win for the wineries that garner their grapes from the Calistoga area. Wineries like Chateau Montelena who have vineyards in Calistoga will benefit and be able to use Calistoga on their wine label, provided that 75% of grapes come from the that AVA. Biggest loser is Calistoga Cellars. This winery has been in existence for ten years and has a tasting room in Calistoga but their wines are made from Central Valley vines. The Feds will give them three years to change their name or start making wine from the Calistoga AVA. This ends an approval process that started in 2004.
The Oxbow Public Market will be getting a new tenant. It will be C Casa, a new style Mexican restaurant run by Catherine Bergen, Napa culinary entrepreneur and founder of “Made In Napa Valley.” Out is Rotisario at the end of the year and C Casa will open in its spot in March of 2010. With the economy such as it is and the demise of next-door neighbor Copia, the Oxbow Market so far has not lived up to expectations. We’ve visited on four occasions during the week and on each visit the place has been a bit somber. It was patterned after the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace but has yet to replicate its popularity.
