To The Point
—Newsletter 12.10
Guide to Common Wine Faults Ames, Iowa, seems like an unlikely source of wine information, but
the enology specialists at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach have published the “Wine Faults
Series” that provides basic information about the 12 common wine faults including volatile acidity, cork taint,
oxidation, excessive sulfur dioxide, re-fermentation and more. The guide may be downloaded for free from the
Iowa University Extension Store at www.extension.iastate.edu
Compilation of Location of Grape Varieties David Morrison, who writes The Wine Gourd at
www.winegourdblogspot.com compiled the estimated growing areas in the year 2016 for 300 wine grape
varieties in 50 countries.
Bearing area of Pinot Noir in 2000 and 2016:
California Pinot Noir Crush by District 2015-2019:
Smoke Taint in 2020 Quotes from Wine Business Monthly. A chief executive of a wine company that
buys grapes in Oregon, Washington and California said, “There are winemakers that believe in protocols that
they feel they can use to counter a bit of smoke taste. There’s other winemakers who can’t and won’t deal with
it. A lot of it ends up being about the mindset of the winemaker. What I’ve seen this year is that they’re all over
the beard.” Rick Aldene, North Coast Winegrapes Manager at Agajanian, Inc., “Every vineyard and every
varietal that was hanging after August 17 from Mendocino all the way down to San Luis Obispo has a smoke
taint number. That is a fact. Not one grower can say ‘I don’t have taint.’ I can tell you, every grower has a taint
number now. Some areas are much less affected and the taint numbers are extremely low and completely
manageable in the winemaking process.” Ash on Pinot Noir grapes, EMTU Winery, Sonoma County:
New Book from Michael Browne For Kosta Browne, CIRQ and CHEV wine fans, Michael is
releasing an audiobook narrated by William Shatner and a paperback book on November 10, 2020, titled Pinot
Rocks - A Winding Journey Through Intense Elegance. Michael shares his journey to success and offers
insight and inspiration for those who believe in the American dream and choose to never stop pursuing it.
Learn more at www.brownefamilywines.com/book
Celebrating Hispanic Roots: ‘Raices Unidas’ Oregon’s first annual Latin heritage celebration
was held on October 1, 2020. Two virtual panel discussions (one in English and one in Spanish) included
winemakers Ximena Orrego of Atticus Wine, Carla Rodriquez of Beacon Hill Winery and Vineyard, Sofia
Torres-McKay of Cramoisi Vineyard and Winery, Cristina Gonzales of Gonzales Wine Company, Sam Parra of
PARRA Wine Company and Juan Pablo Valot of Valcan Cellars. Special wine packages were available
throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month at www.celebratinghispanicroots.com
Climate Change Affecting Wine Harvests Globally Gregory V. Jones, director of the Evenstad
Center for Wine Education at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon, is not particularly optimistic about the
future. “The whiplash is becoming extreme. We have two to three years of drought followed by a year of
extreme wet weather, with landslides and mudslides. Modeling shows these whiplashes are going to be
prominent in mid-latitude wine regions like Australia, Chile and the western United States. There’s some
evidence the western United States is in the beginning stages of an extended mega-drought that could bring
20 years or so of extremely dry weather.” Read more at https://wapo.st/3na4C5I
¡Salud! Online The Oregon Pinot Noir Auction will host its 29th annual celebration virtually November 9-16
to raise funds for healthcare services for Oregon vineyard workers. ¡Salud! is offering COVID-19 screenings,
education and support to vineyard workers and their families. ¡Salud! begins Monday, November 8, at 8 a.m.
with the Big Board Auction. Three days of bidding on 36 specially made 2019 cuvées with live, winemaker hosted
panels daily at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Bids can be placed online from anywhere in the country. Friday,
November 13 to Monday, November 6, the Live and Silent Auction offers unique wine packages from Oregon and beyond. Saturday, November 14, ¡Salud! hosts a 1-hour live stream gala with special guests and live
auction packages. To attend the 2020 ¡Salud! virtually, visit www.saludauction.org
Escalating Wine Prices My impetus for concentrating on domestic Pinot Noir priced under $30 in this
issue is the rising prices of desirable domestic Pinot Noir that put these wines out of reach for a majority of
consumers. $60-$70 seems to be my resistance point beyond which I won’t buy a domestic Pinot Noir. I quit
buying red Burgundies after the 2005 vintage because of the crazy escalation of prices that followed that
vintage. This meant I have not tasted or drank any of the world’s great red Burgundies from the last twelve
vintages. As the Wine Curmudgeon pointed out in a posting on November 6, 2020, “We’re at a point where
people buy the world’s great wines not to drink them, but to keep them in a vault and watch them appreciate in
value, using their acquisitions to prove their superiority to the rest of us. How screwed up is that?” Read more:
https://www.winecurmudgeon.com/expensive-wine-pricing-and-snobbery-have-been-institutionalizedlegitimized-and-even-admired/
Age Representation in Wine Purchases
