Rumblings on wine part #*&%$@*&!

[David M. Bueker]

Rumble...rumble...

It's really hot and dry out west. After the disaster that was the 2020 vintage for so many wineries, I hope we are not headed for a second fire vintage in a row. That, combined with the business effects of the pandemic, might put a lot of wineries out of business.

Speaking of adverse conditions, there has been some really awful weather in Champagne. They had frost, then they had hail, and just recently some really violent thunderstorms with high winds. It's a mess. Champagne was hit very hard by the pandemic (not a lot to celebrate for the last 18 months), and gets pummeled by Mother Nature.

Despite my ongoing desire to support wineries, I am highly ambivalent about anything that has 2020 on the label. The year sucked! I don't like thinking about it. I am sure I will eventually get over it, and buy my favorites, much as I do every year, but maybe I'll do some extra 2019 backfilling, while waiting for 2021 wines to hit the market.

If you have not yet tried a Benoit Dehu Champagne, find one! Laura and I had our first bottle last week, and it was a revelation. Despite our overstuffed cellar, she sent me on the hunt for more. We're trying a different Dehu bottling this coming weekend, and I am excited to see if it lives up to the first.

We have a five year reprieve (OK...it's really under four years, as the next guy can put them back) on the aircraft tariffs that blew up imported wine prices. So far new offers are not showing a decrease from the tariff-inflated pricing. I am dismayed by that but not at all surprised.

Not exactly upbeat rumbles, but that's where my head is at right now.

[Robin Garr]

Rumble rumble ...

[Jenise]

Drinking and buying wine has been a fair constant for us for the past few years. I seem to replace at about the same level we drink without even trying to hit any targets. But our cellar, once almost 2000, has dropped back to about 1700 over the past year. I'm actually kind of glad about that. We need to 1) drink less and 2) drink down a lot of older wines no matter what turns my head (last purchase: Halcon Mourvedre).

Looks like 2020 is going to be a lost vintage for Washington too. I already purchased my first 2020: Kiona chenin blanc that didn't taste smoke-tainted, a mercy purchase.

Temperatures are going to be in the 90's this weekend which will probably set records--and fires. We don't have air conditioning, but we do live on south-facing waterfront which is the next best thing. Cool air off the water's surface rides in when we open the sliders. I dread the inevitable.

David, I saw that Ridge has bottled an Evangelho, first in 25 years. I presume you've already placed an order.

[David M. Bueker]

I already have the 2018 Ridge Evangelho in the cellar!

Will open one soon.

Despite my ongoing desire to support wineries, I am highly ambivalent about anything that has 2020 on the label. The year sucked! I don't like thinking about it.

Interesting take. When drinking older bottles, I do sometimes reminisce about what was happening in the vintage year. But I don't associate calendar years with such strong emotions. (Exception being for my birth year!)

[David M. Bueker]

Despite my ongoing desire to support wineries, I am highly ambivalent about anything that has 2020 on the label. The year sucked! I don't like thinking about it.

Interesting take. When drinking older bottles, I do sometimes reminisce about what was happening in the vintage year. But I don't associate calendar years with such strong emotions. (Exception being for my birth year!)

Colon cancer, and deaths of friends and family from COVID have left me rather emotional about 2020.

Colon cancer, and deaths of friends and family from COVID have left me rather emotional about 2020.

Indeed. That is a lot!

Rumble rumble ...

Mutiny mutiny ...

-Paul W.

Looks like 2020 is going to be a lost vintage for Washington too.

Here in Ontario, 2020 turned out to be one of the best, if not the best vintage so far (not there have been all that many since fine wine making got serious here in the late 1970s). See this article in Wines in Niagara: https://winesinniagara.com/2021/02/full-report-on-the-ontario-wine-vintage-for-2020/.

I've been buying up Ontario 2020s as they become available. So far, only some rosés have made it to market.

And here's an interesting article about the idea of G.O.A.T. vintages and the Ontario vintages from 1998 to 2020, for those who have access to Ontario wines (sorry Jenise and Bill): https://winesinniagara.com/2021/02/ontario-wine-vintage-charts-going-back-to-1998/

[David M. Bueker]

I will be on the lookout Ted.

[David M. Bueker]

Jenise - I opened the 2018 Ridge Evangelho tonight, and it’s totally terroir. First sip was obviously Evangelho. More later.

You surely had a rough 2020, David.

Dear Husband lost a fellow volunteer to CV19 in 2020. We know of several other cases where folks did recover.

But 2020 will go down as not a good year. Same for the first few months of 2021.

On to better times....perhaps. Thus far, June is....okay.

I don't think 2020 has been a good year for many people but you seem to have had it particularly bad, David. Let's hope no repeats.

Wine-wise, reports in France are of very good quality in most regions in 2020. However, 2021 seems to have got off to a bad start and at present there have been a succession of thundery showers almost everywhere for several days.

Yeah, 2020 was not a good year, with lots of extreme events. But it seems extreme events, weather-wise in particular, are going to be normal occurrences now. This week BC (and Alberta, and Washington, Oregon, etc.) are all having extreme heat - temperature records are being set almost every day now. I was just in the Okanagan, and boy it is dry and hot there! They have had a couple of fire/smoke issues over the last three years in that region, and it seems likely more fires are on the way this year.

A vintner who is in Santa Barbara County opined that 2020 vintage is just fine for that county. He wouldn't venture an opinion on points north in CA.

I may avoid northern CA Cab Sauv in particular. The grape ripens late, so smoke taint risk is greater. And, Napa/Sonoma Cabs are not typically suited to this frugal soul. Not a problem.

[David M. Bueker]

Indeed Napa/Sonoma Cab are not where the values are found. There are a few good value Cabernets elsewhere in California, but they are not obvious.

Some boots on the ground info: wine & hospitality industry. Most I suspected, but helps to get confirmation.

Have a bud who is a silent partner in a Napa winery. He recently visited the area. Overall theme: labor shortages are impacting the travel, wine, etc. sectors substantially. Hotels, restaurants, tasting rooms, airport. Various venues running at below (perhaps below-permitted) capacity. Nearby tasting room laid off 4 experienced staff; his winery hired them right away. A major car rental chain had one person checking in returns at Sacramento airport. They almost missed their flight due to late return.

Also spoke with a Sonoma-based vintner yesterday. Southern OR wildfires (Bootleg) are of greatest concern as opposed to CA. He noted that even before the pandemic, Bay Area restaurants lacked key trained staff due to housing costs; the issue has now worsened. So Napa and Sonoma vintners are quite concerned about declining demand for their wines from a key area.

Sidebar: relatives and friends in CO and as far away as SC are getting the smoke from So Oregon fires. Bootleg in OR and Tamarack in CA/NV and gulf stream supposedly yields SC impact. Makes sense. No impact noted here.

Any other impressions out there?

[David M. Bueker]

The smoke has made it to Connecticut.

New Hampshire as well. You can smell it in the air. And just as our Astronomy club is trying to restart our public observing program....

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

And yet here we are so close to it, and it's all blowing east not north. I feel for you guys but we are SOOO fortunate. We see a few dark streaks in the sky but it's not thick and heavy stuff at ground level we've seen in recent years.

2020 was an awful year for an awful lot of people; I didn't much enjoy it, either, but it sure got my attention.

Since all the grapes I work with are grown in the Sierra foothills, I had some very nice grapes to vinify. We made a smaller amount of wine than in previous years, hedging our bets against a possible weak market; white, pink, and El Jaléo account for our entire production from 2020. All came out just fine; the El Jaléo is the best yet.

[David M. Bueker]

Gosh...I wonder if I will buy El Jaleo...hmm...

Speaking of potential wine values, noted several currencies that may be undervalued relative to US in this post.

https://wineeconomist.com/2021/07/27/global-wine-trade/

In particular, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Chile sound appealing to me. Even So Africa.

Hope others find to be of some interest.

[David M. Bueker]

Are you considering FOREX trading?