Millennial wine drinkers, we were told, love to try different things. But by contrast, many California winemakers are still trying to make red wines that fit the standard model: soft and plush.
This model is what wine marketing people say consumers want, based on the scores that historically have been given to red wines of dark color and weight. But are such wines selling?
It is risky to make a red wine with "wimpy" color these days, even if the result is a lot better but lighter wine. I reached this conclusion after California's somewhat clumsy, very dark 1997 cabernets came out. A few were OK, but in time, many of them faded.
Updated: Tue Jul 16, 2024