Clik here to view.
Wine Price Fluctuations
I enjoy at least one glass of wine per day. I love wine and I like it in a dozen different formats, as I find that even the oddest of them represents a unique opportunity. If you like wine as I do, you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Look for Bargains
Partially as a result of consumers discovering alternatives to wine, including low-alcohol or alcohol-free wines, sales of wine throughout the country are at their lowest level in 18 years. The U.S....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Translating Labels
Approximately four bottles of wine out of every 10 sold in this country are from overseas. When they come from Italy, France or Spain, some of the better wines are not easy to identify. The reason for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Wine Bar
One popular way to experience several wines without buying a dozen bottles is to pop into a well-run wine bar, but that calls for it to be operated with intelligence. Alas, most of the places I've...
View ArticleClik here to view.
RTD
Freixenet, based in Spain, is an extremely successful Cava (sparkling wine) producer. Its bubblies are widely available nationally. Bonterra, based in Mendocino County, is a producer of fine-quality,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
AVAs
More than 70 years ago, on May 3, 1956, a musical opened on Broadway called "Most Happy Fella." It changed the fortunes of the entire U.S. wine industry in a curious way. The musical had a showstopper...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keep on Trocken
Some people adore chardonnay. Sauvignon blanc has become very popular. Rose wines have an increasingly loyal following and sparkling wines are selling as well as any refresher. During the hottest days,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wine Glut
In five decades of reporting on the wine industry, I have seen the cycle so often I can now nearly predict it. It is the boom/bust roller coaster ride that hits the wine business with regularity, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ask Questions
After looking at the wine list and realizing that most selections are too expensive, you finally settle on a compromise. It was made by a winery you've heard of, and the price is not excessive. But are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Collecting Wine
Wine collectors are often a target of derision by people who consider it silly to have a bunch of wine in a dark closet, under the bed, or in a basement. I know the feeling. I began collecting wine in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wine 'Additives'
Anti-alcohol people who would like to see a reinstatement of prohibition occasionally suggest that wine is little more than chemicals added to grape juice before or after it's fermented. They like to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Learning about Wine
My first exposure to fine wine occurred around 1973, when I took a UCLA extension course vaguely titled Wine Education, and I was fortunate to have some background in the subject. The instructor, a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stale Views
A "shelf talker" is a slip of paper or a card with a few words that describe the wine sitting on the shelf or in the box that retailers hope will entice people to buy it. One such shelf talker long ago...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wine Quality Improvement
With wine sales as slow as they have been in two decades, most of the industry news recently has been about the hardships wineries are facing as new wine consumers seek alternative products. Although...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Case for Wine
When it is abused, the alcohol in some beverages can cause enormous problems for society, as was evident in the years before the imposition of prohibition in 1920. During that 13-year dry period,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cabernet Franc
Despite the fact that it's an unlikely grape to be so well-liked, cabernet sauvignon has been the most popular red wine in the United States for the last 40 years. It is a superb grape variety that has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bait and Switch
Sometimes it's simply just a mistake, but it seems always to backfire against the consumer. And sometimes it is a nefarious strategy intended to put one over on unsuspecting diners, almost always with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bargain Bin
American wine consumption has risen steadily since the 1980s, including a huge spike in 1992 when red wine sales jumped radically after a TV program aired good news for wine lovers. It was November...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wine and Climate
One of the most problematic issues regarding wine quality revolves around the question of rain. But the rain that hit heavily on Napa and Sonoma vineyards for several days in early April caused no...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Loire Valley Wines
Visiting France to learn about its wines frequently takes Americans to Burgundy or Bordeaux, the two most widely recognized and praised wine districts in all of Gaul. And there's no question that both...
View Article
