Each and every year I look forward to reading the findings of fellow MS Ronn Wiegand’s Restaurant Wine newsletter issues that unveils the “Top 100 Brands” and “Top 100 wines”. Ronn, who is also a MW (one of three in the world who carry both titles), has been coming out with this information annually for several years and it’s always a good read and information packed. Though this year’s findings have been out for awhile, I just “re – came” across it in my files and was intrigued to revisit the findings.

The information is based on exhaustive research by Ronn and is always accompanied by interesting trend numbers from the previous calendar year, in this case 2007. According to the study, the top one hundred wine brands control a 41.5% share which is down from the previous year though the market grew between 2006 and 2007. Coming from only six countries (USA, Australia, Italy, France, Germany and Chile) all were up less Australia who had supply issues due to drought. You can see the heavy hitters on the list and a summary of this survey here. Continue reading »

Given the current economy, I polled a few restaurateurs who are friends on guest’s wine habits these days. The refrain was pretty consistent – people are trading down but still drinking wine. The reality is that, over time, the alcoholic beverage industry (wine, beer and spirits) is a fairly resilient industry. Responsible drinking is a mini-luxury that people won’t forgo. My friends have said that they’ll give up a few other incremental “nice to haves” before giving up their wine. That said, it seems all are spending a little less per bottle, both at home and in restaurants. Continue reading »

It is inevitable that people die. As we become older death is more tangible as our contemporaries, rather than just older relatives, older friends and folks you read about in the newspaper, pass. Professionally, the true impact is felt when you lose colleagues that you know, respect and admire. Recently these losses have been tough on the wine business, as we have lost what seems a large number of folks. Or maybe it’s just that they are people I knew, knew relatively well, and respected even more.

The past few months have taken from us Robert Mondavi, Didier Dageneau, and most recently David Lett. There are others, many others in fact, but these three icons are people whose lives personally touched mine. Words can’t begin to express the loss sustained, and the leadership void that each of these gentlemen leaves in their “back yards” of the Napa Valley, the Loire Valley and the Willamette Valley. All were influential advocates, spokespersons extraordinaire and visionaries for their collective vinous passions. My encounters with them over the years, always excitedly anticipated, were striking, instructive, educational, and memorable. Continue reading »

I was going through my files the other day and came across a few statistics that were intriguing, though not surprising, in the “big picture”. Both pertain to cars and, while this blog is not about wine and driving, heaven forbid, well… you’ll see.

According to our friends at AAA, the American Automobile Association, we spend 3.5 billion hours each year stuck in traffic. A staggering figure of lost time, productivity, frustration and, of course, wasted gasoline. I am sure you can relate and, like me, contribute incrementally to that count. So what do we do in that time frame? Well, many of us chat on the phone, some text (an activity that will soon be illegal here in California and likely in other states), others listen to the radio/CDs/MP3s and the like and a good number of us eat. In fact, our same friends at AAA state that the average American consumes 34 meals per year in their car! Now the definition of a “meal” is not specified in this study, but I can say with some confidence that it’s not Niman Ranch steaks, rich Dungeness crab or even a piquant spaghetti alla puttanseca. Continue reading »

I was lunching recently with a dear friend and one of the industry’s most prescient individuals, Randall Grahm, of Bonny Doon Winery (among others). He’s a brilliant and forward thinking gent who has generally chosen to go left when others go right and has been ultimately rewarded for many of his strong and opinionated positions. Three tangible examples which come to mind are his stance on screwcaps, his love of producing wines made from alternative French and Italian varietals, and his recent position on aromatic white wines in Washington State. Randall is always inquisitive, naturally curious and, as I have learned over the years, a few steps in front of us all.

As we lunched, we chatted about two main items, firstly the world of publishing and book promotion, as we share the same publisher (University of California Press) and luckily for both of us, the same ab fab editor in Dore Brown - a professional gem. However, the back and forth on those subjects isn’t the fodder of this blog. It was our second item, and robust discussion about our shared belief in the ongoing importance of the maturation of the Asian wine market. Continue reading »

The other night over a glass of crisp and zippy Sauvignon Blanc, a friend asked me what he should try next. He’s a HUGE fan of the varietal and has seemingly exhausted most of the usual suspects - California’s Sonoma, South Central Coast and Napa Valley appellations, New Zealand’s Marlborough and Hawkes Bay, Chile’s Casablanca and Curicó and, of course, France’s celebrated Loire Valley appellations of Sancerre, Pouilly Fume and Menetou Salon and Bordeaux’s Graves and Entre deux Mers. He is a true Sauvignon Blanc fan of the highest order.

In exploring his “SB holes”, I found a few missing places that I thought he should explore: Austria and environs east (Bulgaria, Slovenia and Moldova), Israel (especially in the Golan Heights) and finally, South Africa whose Sauvignon Blanc exploits are well documented over the past decade and getting better all the time. In his case, South Africa made extra special sense since his preferred style is New Zealand and those from South Africa most closely resemble their counterparts in kiwi land. While there are no “go to” regions that are as distinctively knee-jerk to South Africa, as Marlborough is to New Zealand, there are nevertheless several areas worth his exploration. And yours… Continue reading »

I don’t recall how the conversation came up but the query of what wine to match with this “acquired taste” came to my radar screen again last week. If you are a fan of Southeast Asian food, I need not explain the legendary durian to you, or all that it represents. If you’re not registering, let me explain.

Durian is polarizing. It’s a fruit that is considered, by many, to be a delight. Native to Southeast Asia, it has a profile that is… well, unique would be one way of putting it. Hard on the outside and ranging in size, the pulp/flesh of this pod is pungent. This can be a good kind of pungent, causing you to want more and more or, if you are like many (especially westerners who simply didn’t grow up with it), pungent that makes you want to head to the proverbial hills. Continue reading »