Musings on wine, food, sake and other stuff from W. Blake Gray, Certified Wine Professional
Duckhorn bought a top Chardonnay brand for about 40% of the price that it cost Treasury to buy a hot new Cabernet brand just two weeks ago.
Let's take a look at the numbers behind the deal.
Merlot specialist Duckhorn buying Sonoma-Cutrer is a smart move – but a whiskey brand might have been smarter. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
If you like classically styled wines with full flavors at lower alcohol, 2023 is a vintage for you.
After weeks of worrying about possible late-season fire or heavy rain, Napa Valley got neither. The grapes are in the tanks and the nascent wines look outstanding.
It's relief all round in Napa as the weather holds out until the end of the grape harvest. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Napa Cab fans won't want to miss this online auction. There are some incredible verticals from famous winemakers, but there are also going to be some bargains from small Napa wineries you might not have heard of.
An online auction has a wealth of Napa heavy hitters on offer – but you need to be quick. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Is the ability to sell wine tastings to visitors a civil right? Three Napa Valley wineries think so.
They have asked the same state and federal agencies that investigate police shootings and employment discrimination to look into Napa County's regulation of tasting rooms.
The Constitution guarantees the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but what about the pursuit of customers? Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Wine lovers in Ohio scored an unexpected courtroom win last week. It could have been a bigger deal if it made it to the US Supreme Court, but a win is a win.
Advocates for interstate wine shipping can mark one down in the win column after an Ohio lawsuit took another twist. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Treasury Wine Estates, which doesn't have a great record of building or maintaining brands, just bet more than 10% of its market value on buying a successful upstart winery in Paso Robles.
It's also a $900 million bet AGAINST climate change.
Why did they do it? I found experts to answer that.
With its purchase of Daou Vineyards, the giant Treasury Wine Estates is looking to turn the brand into another Penfolds. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
I keep writing this story this year -- "this is going to be a great vintage if nothing goes wrong" -- because it continues to be true. The harvest is late, but we're nearing the finish line and it's looking really good.
With a superb vintage in the offing, growers are racing against time to get the grapes into the winery. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Having served his prison sentence for wine fraud, and having been deported, Rudy Kurniawan is in Singapore and is back to making fake wines -- this time for an adoring audience of wealthy people.
Which isn't so different from how he developed a customer base here.
The world's most notorious wine counterfeiter is at it again – this time with his clients' blessings. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Now that Sauvignon Blanc is the trendiest grape variety in the U.S., it's worth taking a look at producers who take it more seriously. Not surprisingly, you can find one in the heart of Napa Valley.
Tom Gamble is upping the ante with his Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Unlike basically the rest of the world, California had a cool summer, which meant the harvest season has been delayed.
Now, though, with the grapes finally reaching ripeness and rain forecast for the weekend, it's all hands on deck.
Unless sudden disaster strikes, California growers will have their best harvest in decades. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Here is the tale of what has become of Robin Williams' Villa Sorriso -- aka "Smile House" -- in Napa Valley.
Robin Williams' Smile House, bought by Château Pontet-Canet owner Alfred Tesseron, now produces Pym-Rae to rave reviews. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
This is an interesting experiment several years in, and the wine is now coming to the US market. It comes from one of the most famous names in New Zealand wine.
They're only doing it with white wine at this point. But with so many Americans (often mistakenly) averse to sulfites, there's a market.
For many people, sulfites can be source of allergy and other problems, but what if there was a clean, green alternative? Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Ohio's wine shipping court case is an oddity: it's one of the only cases where the appeals court actually paid attention to the Supreme Court's ruling. It's shocking how little higher court rulings seem to matter these days.
Now the state of Ohio is asking the Supreme Court to step back in. Will it? We'll see, but states have a better chance of getting the Court's attention than wine shops.
The state of Ohio has requested the Supreme Court to take on another wine shipping case. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Good news about bad news. We've been hearing for a while about wine sales slumping.
Turns out it might be true mostly for the Big Seven wine companies.
Moreover, big companies' domination of supermarket shelves is waning.
Analysis reveals it's the big companies that are slowing the wine market. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Sauvignon Blanc is the hottest wine in the US. Here's a feature about some good ones from one of Italy's coolest regions.
Hot off the chilled mountain slopes of Alto Adige. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
An extremely rare Prohibition-era Bourbon in unusually good condition is the highlight of a whiskey auction Tuesday that has several fascinating unicorns.
Even if you're not planning to bid, you might find the history of whiskies bottled during Prohibition interesting.
Me, I want to taste this whiskey, but it's gonna cost about the same as a new car.
Rare first edition and prohibition Bourbons are due to go to auction – both online and off – Tuesday 26 at Kentucky's Speed Art Museum. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
For many years Napa County's Board of Supervisors consistently supported the wine industry when it clashed with environmentalists. Not surprising, considering the great wealth and power that wine has brought to a mostly rural community.
The turnover of two seats on the 5-member board seems to have changed the climate.
The long-protected Napa wine industry faces a chilly new political atmosphere. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Two court rulings on wine shipping in the past fortnight stem from federal district court judges ignoring a 2019 Supreme Court decision.
How does this happen?
"You get some federal judges appointed who aren't very good," O'Leary said. "The (Rhode Island) decision was terrible. The appeals court said, 'Do your job.' "
For out-of-state wine retail shipping advocates, a small legal victory in Rhode Island gives hope for bigger things. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Pinot Noir-dominant Willamette Valley has had two difficult vintages in the last four. How is this year coming along?
The crop looks big. There have been some high temperatures, but if the weather stays mild for the next few weeks there's going to be a lot of 2023 Oregon Pinot -- and more of it will be affordable.
Although the weather gods have been kind so far, there are still a few weeks to go with everything to play for. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
This could be Big wine news I have broken here on a Friday.
A winery in New Zealand claims to have discovered that the conventional wisdom about hang time is wrong -- that sugar and flavor development are NOT necessarily linked.
The winery is making full-flavored wines at lower alcohol purely by pulling a few leaves -- but the right leaves, at the right time.
It could be a crucial discovery for vineyards in the climate-change era.
Careful canopy management may prove crucial to the future of wine. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
One of my neighbors is the world's leading cocktail ice expert! So naturally I looked him up to do a story on ice.
I wanted to do something different than every other publication's ice story, so we talked specifically about ice for whiskey. Wine Searcher readers buy a LOT of whiskey.
We all know what ice did to the Titanic, but what is it doing to your whiskey? Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
You know how when you're shopping for a big-ticket item, like maybe a new refrigerator or stove, and you're in the checkout line and you see something small that you want, like maybe a power adaptor, and you think, as long as I have my wallet out, might as well buy that too?
Gallo just did that, except with Napa Valley wineries.
The world's biggest wine company is getting bigger with its second major purchase inside a week. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Utah no longer requires you to have a license to drink wine, and it even allows cocktails to be mixed within sight of children now.
But it still demands an 88% markup on all wine and spirits and requires that restaurants pay full retail, instead of wholesale.
There's a petition to liberalize, which led me to look into how much Utah's citizens have liberalized over the last 15 years. You might be surprised.
An ambitious attempt to liberalize Utah's liquor laws could face stiff opposition from a devout legislature. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
I completely understand why Gallo would want to buy Rombauer.
The question is why Rombauer would want to sell.
An analysis.
America's favorite Chardonnay finds a new owner as Gallo continues to expand its empire. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Rioja is a great wine region, but sales are slumping and some growers aren't being paid enough to prune, much less harvest, their grapes.
Against that backdrop, energetic entrepreneur Javier Murúa has been expanding. He has ideas about what Rioja producers should do, and he's making wines to back those ideas up.
https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2023/08/rioja-man-sees-opportunity-amid-gloom
https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2023/08/rioja-man-sees-opportunity-amid-gloom
While clouds hang over Rioja's wine industry, one producer is taking a more positive approach to his winemaking. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Sales of Washington wine are in freefall in stores and restaurants.
A big problem is Chateau Ste Michelle, which was bought two years ago by a private equity firm that specializes in brand turnarounds -- but had no wine industry experience. Unfortunately, the decline has gotten worse, not better, since the purchase. And CSM affects the whole Washington industry because it is the company that put the state's wines in stores and restaurants in the first place.
I wanted to know what can be done to rescue the state's wine industry, so I called a brand turnaround expert. We discuss what can be done to create a new image for Washington wine.
https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2023/08/saving-washingtons-wine-industry
https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2023/08/saving-washingtons-wine-industry
Washington wine is defined by what it isn't; it needs to decide what it actually is. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Rob McMillan and Silicon Valley Bank are back from bankruptcy with their annual reports, which in itself is big news for the wine industry. The latest one is on DTC sales.
Consumers' sweet spot for bottles of wine ordered online is now $70 to $90 -- that's the cheapest price range where sales went up in 2022.
The average tasting fee in Napa is now $81! And the average bottle of Napa wine now costs $108.
Yet Napa is one of very few US wine regions where visitation actually increased in 2022. Maybe it's because consumers visiting wine regions like spending more money?
Consumers buying direct from wineries are trading up, but Napa is still too expensive for them. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Toto's O***m Dream is arguably the rarest and most expensive of all of Napa Valley's cult wines.
For the first time, a bottle is on sale to the general public -- and it's Bottle 001. But it will cost you.
A legendary Napa wine is going on public auction for the first time as part of the Harvest Stomp auction. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
I know it's early but ...
So far, this cool summer is looking like it might lead to a great vintage for Napa Valley, and for most of California's premium wine country.
Unlike the heat that has baked most of North America, the weather near California's coast has been really good, wine-wise. Now it's two months of crossing fingers.
This year could be a vintage for the ages as Napa reaps the reward of a cooler growing season. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
One of Germany's premier Riesling producers is now making an Oregon Pinot Noir that ages for 10 years before release.
It's also unique in another way: a high-end Pinot ($175) that is not a single-vineyard wine. The winemaker who made the first releases was against the idea. How does it taste? I'll tell you.
Legendary German producer Erni Loosen also makes wine in Oregon – it just takes a while to reach the market. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Washington's wine industry is in crisis after Chateau Ste Michelle announces it will buy 40% fewer grapes this year.
The head of the Winegrowers Association says that 10,000 acres of vines need to be removed. That's a huge setback for farmers who have to find a different crop.
Washington grapegrowers are facing an uncertain future after a major producer announced a big cut in what it needs. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Wineries change winemakers all the time. But they rarely talk about why.
Cordant winery in Paso Robles was getting good ratings from Wine Advocate, but it just wasn't making the style of wine that its owner likes.
What do you do when you want to change styles mid-vintage? Change winemaker. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Do you live in Iowa? If not, you do not have good enough moral character to ship wine to Iowa.
It's a serious court case but I had fun looking into the superior nature of Iowan morality (Mother Teresa: not moral enough. John Wayne Gacy: Moral enough!) Enjoy.
Also, Rhode Island's shipping laws might be the ones that get wine shipping back to the US Supreme Court.
The fight for interference-free wine shipping continues with two interesting cases testing legal minds in Rhode Island and Iowa. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Young winemakers under age 40 are transforming the Chablis region, bringing new methods and a new emphasis on sustainability and soil ecology.
Let's meet some of them!
A change of generation could see a change in direction in Chardonnay country. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
The FBI -- and the US Postal service -- raided one of the best-known wine shops in the country last week.
How did Sherry-Lehmann, purveyor of fine wines to Manhattan's glitterati for decades, fall this far? And what happens next?
Here's the executive summary.
The fall of the prestigious New York wine shop has echoes of the collapse of the Berkeley firm Premier Cru. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Napa Valley wineries should be alarmed about this. Local environmentalists couldn't get journalists -- including me -- interested in another story about its troubled garbage dump. So they went to Fox Business.
Thanks to Fox, we learned it's all Nancy Pelosi's and Gavin Newsom's fault.
Of course it isn't -- but tying Pelosi and Newsom to Napa Valley wine raises the spectre of a boycott. One Fox commenter said, "Time to 'Bud Light' them."
Misleading coverage of an ongoing environmental issue in Napa could have serious consequences for producers. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Feudo Montoni makes some of the best wines in Sicily because it is run by two of the most earnest people you'll ever meet. They are so earnest that they will insist they have little to do with the wines' quality.
The story of how they met is better than the story of the wines. Which do you want first: unlikely romance, or varietal typicity? Show of hands? OK, let's lead with the romance.
Single-mindedness and a sweet romance combine to produce pristine wines in Italy's south. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
I pour the Diageo Distiller's Edition Scotches for a whisky purist.
Have you ever heard the Joan Jett song "I Hate Myself For Loving You"?
A catch-up with an old friend leads to new whisky horizons for our US editor. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
Catarratto was once the most-planted grape in all of Italy because of the huge vineyards in Sicily used to supply Marsala. So its reputation for fine wine wasn't great.
But now that vineyards planted in the hottest areas are being ripped out, the grape has been revealed as the source of refreshing, salty white wines that are excellent with seafood. The only thing standing in its way is that Catarratto isn't the easiest name to market.
Is it the spelling? Sicily's most-planted wine grape, Catarratto, is being ripped out all over the island. As Sicily has shifted from making boatloads of
I didn't plan it this way or even notice until after I made the choices, but when my editor asked me for my most memorable red wine from this year, I picked two ... and both of them were from Alexander Valley.
Our round-up of our staff's favorite wines of the year concludes with a line-up of rocking reds. Read the latest wine news & features on wine-searcher
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