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| A warning about California wine http://cookaholics.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=1595 |
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| Author: | TheFuzzy [ Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | A warning about California wine |
All, I was having this discussion with a visiting wino at CouchConf on Friday; apparently people weren't aware of California's wine troubles over the last 3 years. So I thought I'd warn people before you buy a bottle you regret.
The result is that we've had three bad wine years in a row in California. This means that even normally trustworthy labels will have lowered their standards and accepted poor-quality grapes or allowed substandard products to go out. Beware of any California vintage 2009 or later, especially if it's on sale; don't buy more than one bottle of anything you haven't tasted first. Also look for 2008 CA wines to rise steeply in price as the remaining bottles get hoarded. For 2009, wines from northern Sonoma, the Anderson Valley and Mendocino are probably your best bet as those were relatively smoke-free. Central Coast, Sierra and Paso Robles are right out. Once 2010 wines hit the market, colder-weather varietals like Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Pinot Gris and Reisling are safer bets than valley big fruit wines. |
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| Author: | smokeking [ Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: A warning about California wine |
It's too bad and sad. As a (former) entrepreneur, I hate hearing any stories of possible trouble when a lot of what the trouble was really was "acts of god." As of recent I've become a huge fan of Chilean wines. Great stuff. ....lou |
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| Author: | TheFuzzy [ Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: A warning about California wine |
Lou, Well, what we're seeing is a consequence of climate thrash brought on by changes to the environment which, if not entirely man-made, we certainly contributed to. So I'm a bit reluctant to lay this at any god's metaphorical feet; it seems like the blame is entirely on us. That's climate thrash for you: the hot years get hotter, and the cold years get colder. It's been all too easy for Americans, who mostly think of food as coming from a supermarket, to forget how vulnerable agriculture is to weather. I think we're gonna find out, even worse than things are now; food quality will drop and prices will rise. Here in CA we're already seeing that this year with bad wine harvests and this year no tomato crop. As far as wine goes: yeah, I expect this to be a banner year for South American wines, since they're the only ones which have been relatively unaffected by changes in climate over the last couple years. Time to learn all about Malbec and the Maipo valley. Also, up-and-coming are Argentine wines, which are actually excellent but haven't been much imported before now. |
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| Author: | smokeking [ Mon Aug 01, 2011 2:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: A warning about California wine |
Well said. .......and I'm sticking to bourbon from now on. ...lou |
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| Author: | JesBelle [ Mon Aug 01, 2011 10:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: A warning about California wine |
Whenever stuff like this happened, my granny liked to blame the mafia. Cost of coffee went up? That's because the mob bought a bunch of it in a money-laundering scheme. Then they tell the media some made-up story about drought or revolution or something and the media goes along with it because they're all mobbed up like the Congress. 
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| Author: | KSyrahSyrah [ Tue Aug 02, 2011 4:21 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: A warning about California wine |
2007 wasn't such a great year, either. I was up in my beloved Sequoia's and the smoke from LA was blinding........(some little unattended rugrat was playing with a lighter in the Southland.) |
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