 |
| Personal bottle cellars can offer discovery at times. |
Day after day of unhealthy air in the recent skies of wine country prompted locals to stay indoors, and probably had many investing in long put off house chores, like re-arranging furniture or finally going thru stacks of old wine magazines. Such is not unlike 'cellar spelunking', where you can re-discover forgotten treasures and contemplate past vintages. It was little more than a year ago when these same skies were again tainted with the weight of heavy smoke, when local wineries and growers paused to consider what they would do if everything was lost due to an invasion of nature's 'disasters'. Yet, many of these industry veterans also may have reflected that in these cycles of nature, 'we've seen it all before', and will probably do so again.
Back in
2004 there were numerous headlines teasing of a packaging revolution with innovative units of polyethylene and aluminum, of screw-cap closures invading with the wave of Australian wines and of the demise of the un-reliable traditional cork stopper. This packaging metamorphosis is today still displayed on our retail shelves. It and can be found across the lower end and bulk products that anchor most retail displays. But, it also still appears that the traditional cork bottle landscape has not changed all that much, as it continues to dominate the mid-to-upper tiers of wine merchandising. By most assessments, cork producers have markedly improved their standards and reliability, and there are more unique glass bottle designs on display to attract consumers than ever before. As the bottle turns...
A
2005 Wine Spectator news feature alerted consumers to the acquisition of one of the largest alcohol-beverage companies in the world by a rival who would now "quadruple" their wine volume. One of the newly acquired wine brands,
Callaway, of
Temecula AVA, was sold to a private investment group months later. That earlier headline sat above an important notice of fraud allegations of mis-labeled wines by one of Italy's internationally prominent and Tuscany's most historic brands. It seems that the fruit came from southern Italy. Later that same year, a news capsule shared that French authorities will break with steadfast tradition, allowing the
Malbec producers of the historic Cahors appellation to begin labeling their wines with a varietal designation(most
AOC wines can only carry region/sub-region names). The varietal has become the consumer-loving flag-ship and the most-widely accessible wine from Argentina, where it was introduced in the mid-19th century.
 |
| Traditional packaging continues to change |
Headlines in a worn
2002 Vineyards & Winery Management publication displayed the name(s)s of early local pioneer(s). Robert Pepi, the story goes, acquired Napa cabernet property in 1966 and re-planted a vineyard with cuttings he brought from Italy in 1983. As it turns out, he may have planted the first
Sangiovese vineyard after Prohibition, and is recognized as a pioneer in a marketing movement(?) that is known as, 'Cal-Ital', or California grown indigenous Italian grape varieties. Following his retirement in 1994, Robert Pepi sold his property, his brand, to a much larger emerging wine company. Almost immediately, the new owners enjoyed success with Willamette Valley(Or)
Pinot Grigio, and a natural, crisp-style
Chardonnay. Today, the once-Pepi ranch is the home of an ultra premium wine estate, and the Cal-Ital excitement slowly fades. After more than 50 years, there's little exhilaration about California Sangiovese, yet, those good quality Italian imports remain a persistent, growing category. And, consumers will have a very hard time finding the once notable Pepi-brand anywhere.
A more recent
Wines & Vines issue headlines the continuing growth trend of mid-premium wines, and growing concerns over newly devised global trade disputes. Those notable industry articles were found sandwiched between full color advertisements for attractive packaging, for shiny tanks and eye-catching labeling. Other media sources announced the formally requested urgent federal disaster relief assistance for crops lost to this years wildfires, just prior to the WHIP programs's December cancellation. And, there's even a
Napa Valley AVA winery who is having a declarative product labeling problem with its Oregon sourced fruit. How can it be an Oregon AVA declaration, if it is not produced there?
 |
| It's a time to celebrate...anything! |
As the bottle turns, so does our wine industry. There will always be another story, always something new that echos the past. Looked at from a distance, with glass in hand, you can see a pattern, a cadence, or even a rhyme as this ag-industry passes one vintage on to the next. These are recurring farming stories, tales of dreamers and consumerism, its regulation and our protection. In the end, the industry is consistently trying to offer reliably better, confidently innovative products that display a distinctive identity and are more readily available for consumers. It is then in this season of traditions that we should all raise a glass to the pioneers, those dedicated grape people, and to all of the wonderful things that bring us with increasing convenience and standards a good wine to enjoy.
For all the trends ahead,
Salute!
