Author Archive

Mar 1, 2005

Pinot/Carneros Pioneer is Back

Once a pioneer, always a pioneer. Francis Mahoney is back with a new winery: Mahoney Vineyards. Mahoney is perhaps the man most responsible for getting American Pinot Noir vintners to think about the impact of clones, those genetic variations of grape varieties that can the same variety to produce grapes of significantly different character. Mahoney founded Carneros Creek Winery in 1972. Along with Walter Schug and others, Mahoney was a strong, early proponent of the Carneros appellation. But he was…

Mar 1, 2005

Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley and Dealing with the Gorilla

Appellation or regional-based marketing aimed at both drawing tourists to wine countries or enhancing the reputation of a region’s wines has increased tremendously over the past few years. The interesting thing here is that for any region north of San Francisco that wants to promote its wines and amenities must deal with the 800 Lb gorilla: Napa Valley. How to convince people that there is in fact another wine region north of San Francisco other than Napa…That is the question….

Feb 28, 2005

Would You Pay $80 For Wine In A Box?

If the Australians, Swedes, English, Danes and progressively more and more Americans are ready to wrap their arms around premium wine in a box (also known as bag in a box), why aren’t I? While watching the Oscars I was chatting with a great friend who is a marketer at a North Coast winery. She was telling me about the investigation her winery was making into perhaps bottling (boxing?) ultra premium wine. Right off the bat I’m thinking, how better…

Feb 28, 2005

A Sign of the Wine Times

Premier Napa Valley, a Trade-only auction organized by the Napa Valley vintners, delivered another bit of good news for the wine industry on Saturday. A record $1,459,000 was raised, besting last year’s take by 48%. The real interesting number however is the price per lot that was attained at this year’s auction. Retailers, restaurateurs, wholesalers and others spent an average of $8,842 on 165 lots, an increase of 42% over last year. I don’t think there is any way to…

Feb 27, 2005

Oscar Predictions & the Wine Kitty

The Oscars and Wine are have a long history in our home of being paired together. This will be the 8th year will celebrate the Oscars with friends and wine. It’s pretty simple. Everyone brings a bottle for the "Wine Kitty" We each have a ballot. Whoever guesses the most winners correctly takes home all the wine. The winner usually takes home a couple cases. Of course this year is a bit different with SIDEWAYS in the running. Different for…