Recession Proof Wines

While the politicians and policy makers figure out how to fix the economy, it should already be quite apparent to everyone that times are a bit tighter than normal. Of course you don't want to stop drinking your favorite wines, beers, and cocktails, but you'll need to be a bit more shrewd in order to help offset the rising costs all around you.

One of my favorite adages about wine is from Napoleon: "In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it." Therefore, with the spirit of that saying, you either need wine more now than ever, or you deserve it. Or both. Let's talk about some of the best values out there right now.

Everyone has their favorite producers, but I like to empower my friends & guests to start thinking in terms of "region" & "varietal." That is, once you know for example that you like Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara, but not so much from Santa Monica, you'll begin to unlock the treasure trove of wineries waiting for you to discover.

I am defining a wine value as a wine that retails in the $8 - $15 range.

I'll say right now that if you're looking for value from California, you are going to be sorely underwhelmed. Land prices, insurance prices, distribution margins, and a host of other factors conspire to keep the wines from our state at a pretty high baseline price. I would say that for most of what is coming from a defined AVA in the state, not from a more generic appellation such as Central Coast or California, those wines are priced north of $20 -- not the value that we are looking for. There are some anomalies: Paso Robles puts out some nice blends in the $15 range. Same with Amador & Lodi up near the Sierras. Lots of Italian heritage means plenty of Zinfandel, Barbera, and Sangiovese. Actually, anytime you follow the Italians as they made their way around the globe, you will almost always find some great wines with some great values.

Probably the best place in the world for value right now is Argentina. I'm sure you all know that Malbec is the adopted red grape of Argentina, but have you ventured out to taste the incredible Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Charbono from there? How about the incredibly aromatic and refreshing Torrontes? You'll easily find incredible wines in this price point. And lest you think that this is some johnny-come-lately wine region, you should realize that they've been making fine wine down there for far longer than we have here in America.

Chile also offers an incredible bang-for-the-buck, with the star varietals being Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Carmenere. Chilean wines have a distinct "funkiness" to them (for lack of a better word) -- almost a weed or wet earth nose. Some people love this funkiness. I would just decant the wine a bit and enjoy the incredible fruit & structure left behind. And, if we're talking "funkiness," I'd be remiss to not mention South African wines. Chenin Blanc is what they do best, but the Shiraz and other reds are incredible values if you can find them. And decant them -- to take off that funkiness. Pinotage is the premier grape down there, but I find it to be almost always awful.

Moving more to the old world, Spain and the south of France are still pumping out incredible values that defy the Euro/Dollar conversion. Tempranillo is found in almost all regions in Spain, and you really can't go wrong with it. From the meaty & dried fruit versions in Rioja, to the huge lipsmacking bombs coming out of La Mancha & Ribera del Duero. Wine values from France, you say? Sure! Once you get outside the Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and Alsace regions, many incredible values show themselves. The Languedoc region in the south of France is the world's largest growing region (700,000 acres). They produce everything from Chardonnay to Syrah there, and the nice thing for American consumers is that the wines typically are labelled by varietal so you know what you are getting -- no Little Orphan Annie decoder ring needed. These wines are frequently sub $10, so take the time to explore what is available. One of my "go to" wines before I was in the business was a simple Cotes du Rhone. While the press really loves the wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Hermitage, and other notable sub-appellations of the Rhone, very similar aromas & flavors can be had for under $10 from the more generic Cotes du Rhone appellation. This region is where Grenache & Syrah marry into something so wonderfully flavorful and sublime, but with enough character to stand up to most food dishes.

In fact, if you're looking for a magical dinner under $20 for you & your sweetheart, swing by BevMo or Trader Joes for a CDR, and use the rest of the money to buy mussels & french bread. Steam the mussels over some of the wine with some shallot & garlic, and use the bread to enjoy the remainder of the broth. You'll be transported to a French cafe without the hassles of passports & Euro conversions.

Of course, there's plenty of other great stuff out there from the likes of Australia and Italy, but we'll talk more about those next month.

You can absolutely find & enjoy some incredible wines without letting your wine budget go the way of the gas budget. Cheers!

There's a Mad Scientist loose in the cellar!

In my blog last month, I talked at length about the 100 point system used to rate wines and its impact on the wine industry. If you recall, the point system essentially puts a numerical score that is absolute and static on a product that is constantly changing from minute to minute. It's also representative on one person's sole subjective opinion. It's dumbing down the appreciation of wine for the attention deficit connoisseur. Most of all, the point system has indirectly created a monster: wines being created to attain a score, not to be the expression of the grape or the vineyard from which the grapes came.

Wines with a score of 90 points or greater can sell for hundreds of dollars a case more than wines with scores less than that. It is in the best interest of wineries trying to move product to have that magical score -- because it's instant credibility and creates a vortex of demand. But, how do you get a 90 point score?

Enter Enologix, a Sonoma-based firm whose client list includes a virtual who's who of the wine industry. Founder Leo McCloskey used his doctorate in chemical ecology from UC Santa Cruz to identify about 84 chemical compounds, 32 in reds and 52 in whites, that account for the majority of aromas and flavors in wine. Knowing how these compounds interact with each other, and knowing what kind of resulting wines come from those interactions, McCloskey started to feed a database with the recipes for different wines. Once this data was compared to the scores from Robert Parker, you could easily chart the type of wine that scored highly with Parker, and unlock the quantities of those chemical compounds that comprise high scoring wines. Voila! He's reverse-engineered winemaking!

Enologix runs a very secretive shop -- bordering on Dr. Evilish paranoia. Clients sign a NDA for the privilege and presumably very costly process of working with McCloskey's firm.

The process begins in the vineyard. While most wineries use hydrometers to measure brix (sugar levels) to time harvest, Enologix customers deliver grapes once a week to the lab where the grapes are pressed into a quick "laboratory wine" which is then analyzed with a liquid-liquid chromatograph connected to a spectrometer to measure those 84 chemical compounds. The lab reports back to the winery letting them know when to pick.

Once the juice is pressed and in the barrel, Enologix continually monitors the fermenting juice, measuring those key compounds, and recommending changes to the winemaker to get the wine to match those magical profiles.

McCloskey defends his work as being a 21st century solution to centuries old farming methodologies; however, he is cognizant some may wave a finger at him and call him a heretic.

The irony in all of this is that Robert Parker thinks great wines are made in the vineyard. They are expressions of the place where they grow. Expressions of the terroir. He believes in using natural yeasts for fermentation. He believes in not fining and not filtering the wines -- those processes rob the wine of its character -- its soul. Yet, winemakers the globe over are violating all of these centuries old tenets of winemaking in order to get a better score from Parker.

They are making wines in the lab because they have to.

Ignore the scores and discover the mystery of wine for yourself. You'll be amazed, delighted, disappointed, and horrified. But, what a wonderful journey it will be!

Vineyard Place rates 89-92 points

Wine ratings. Are they good for the us, or are they taking the fun & discovery out of wine drinking? Yes to the latter.

You have seen them: Wine Spectator gave this wine an 88, Robert Parker gave that wine a 93, Wine Enthusiast gave another 92 points, Stephen Tanzer rates one at 84, and Wilfred Wong gives everything 88+ points (he does work for BevMo -- of course they want you to buy everything -- why would they let him rate lower than that?).

So what? What does the rating really tell you? It's a snapshot of what the wine critic thought of the wine, in a familiar 100 point scale. That's it. It doesn't mean that you'll like the wine. Unless you know that your palate is exactly the same as one of the critics (very unlikely), the score should mean as much to you as your unused stock options for pets.com

Let's back up and talk a bit of history. Wine critics have been around for centuries -- writing guides, newsletters, and hosting classes. But it wasn't until the 20th century that any kind of "grade" was given to a particular wine. Those grades took the form of stars (one to four, usually), or more commonly a 20 point rating system.

It wasn't until Robert Parker burst onto the scene in 1982 that wine writing would be forever changed. Robert had correctly identified a fundamental problem with wine writers: they were so tangled with the industry that you couldn't trust their reviews. They were accepting dinners, and trips to wine country, and free bottles so often that you had to question their objectiveness.

Parker started his "Wine Advocate" newsletter with the explicit intent of becoming the Ralph Nader of the wine world. He would not accept any of these gifts, and he would pay his own way through the wines he tasted. His reviews, often occupying pages for each of his reviews, became the gold standard for wine reviews. Along the way, he added the 100 point scale, meant solely to use as a quick comparison to like wines. And in doing so he forever changed the way people buy wine.

Having done a lot of research on Parker, I know that he never intended for the score to be the focus. We are kind of an ADD nation -- looking for the quick answer or the bottom line, rushing to the next shiny object to focus our attention. Parker still writes his ultra lengthy reviews for The Wine Advocate, and is a very successful author as well: He penned the definitive guides to Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhone. But most people likely have never read any of that. They just know that Parker gave this wine a 92, so it must be worth buying.

His 100 point system became so popular and so powerful that prices started to move up or down instantly after review. The other players in the wine writing world had to co-opt it. Now, everyone has a 100 point system. The only difference is that Parker still writes exhaustively about the wines he tastes, while the others throw a Zagat-type paragraph with 3 or 4 adjectives to accompany their score. Sadly, the score has become the focus.

This column is too short to go into all the reasons why the scoring system is bad, but suffice to say that scores can't be compared to one another; that is, a 90 point Cabernet is not the same as a 90 point Chenin Blanc (the first a good score for a Cab, the latter a great score for a Chenin). And, a Parker 90 is not the same as a Wine Spectator 90. Certain grape varietals never achieve the classic scores of 95+. You won't see a Pinot Grigio there or a Zinfandel. Why? If someone makes a perfect example of a Zin, shouldn't it warrant a score of close to 100? Only the premier grapes or regions get to play in that exclusive sandbox. Which begs the question, "if certain varietals have a handicap, how useful is a global scoring system for comparison?"

Everything is relative. Relative to the person tasting & his/her palate, relative to expertise, relative to the implicit benchmark used to grade against. Everything is subjective. There is no piece of paper you dip into a wine that gives you a reading of the score. Even the scoring system has changed. Parker used to give points for color, for balance, for bouquet, etc., adding all the parts to get the final score. Now, he magically pulls the number out of the air and with the stroke of his pen (or mouse) he makes or breaks a wine.

I'll go into more detail about scoring and show you all some interesting data behind it next month that will make you question motives and usefulness. I humbly suggest you ignore the score when looking at these publications and focus on the tasting notes. That's where you will start to realize whether or not a particular wine might be a good match for your palate. Better yet, temper all of that and explore some new wines yourself. The more you drink, the more you'll know your palate. You'll know whether you like or despise Pinot from Oregon, and whether anyone can make a great Cabernet in Paso Robles. Once you start to unlock those skills, you'll never need the score crutch again.

Robert Mondavi was the Patriarch of American Wine

Robert Mondavi passed away last month just shy of his 95th birthday. Surely every wine drinker knows of the man & his eponymous winery, but I'm guessing that not everyone understands the tremendous impact he had on the world of wine. Not just American wine, which he single-handedly drove from bulk jug wines to some of the best wines in the world, but also the global wine business.

Robert had always been an advocate for the fullest expression of the grape. He understood the importance of terroir, and the place wine had in the homes and restaurants of Europe -- it was inextricably linked to food, art, religion, history, and family. This idea put him at odds while running Mondavi-owned Charles Krug winery, a winery his father Cesare had purchased before his death. His brother Peter was purely a businessman -- not interested in Robert's ideas for making truly fine wines. The friction was so great that the family ousted Robert from Krug and forever changed his relationship with his brother and mother. Robert sued for being fired and removed from the board and he won. It took ten years and caused irreparable damage with his family, but this was the single biggest event in Napa Valley since prohibition.

Robert's next step was to start his own winery, modeled after the great chateaus he visited in Europe. It was the first new winery bonded and built in Napa Valley since prohibition. It's a grand structure located directly on Highway 29. It was built with the intention of holding tastings and educating visitors. These concepts were brand new to the valley. Let me repeat that -- wine tasting at the winery was a concept introduced by Robert Mondavi. Limo bus drivers the state over should bow their heads in a moment of silence.

Robert was truly a visionary in the valley. He sought out the best land to plant his vines. For example, he correctly recognized and bought most of the vineyard known as To Kalon to plant to Cabernet Sauvignon. "To Kalon" means "highest quality" in Greek. This fruit would become the benchmark for great Bordeaux-style wines in the valley and would later drive producers to emulate this style.

Robert brought European techniques to the American wine industry. Cold soak fermentations for cleanliness & crispness, open top fermentation for gentleness, and the use of oak barrels in aging. These requisite techniques in today's wineries owe their lineage to Robert Mondavi. All of them have a specific role in the delicate dance of turning grapes into wine, and they were systematically ignored before Robert's dedication to them.

Perhaps Robert's greatest achievement was the role of ambassador for American wine. He wasn't content to simply make the best wines ever to carry a California heritage, he took it upon himself to fly around the country and the world to hold tastings and educate restaurant owners and staff about California wine. You simply didn't see California wine on restaurant lists in our own country until Robert, on his own dime, made the effort to change that.

Maybe the greatest compliment of his dedication to fine wines came from the unlikely partnership with the Rothschild family of Chateau Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux for the creation of Opus Wine Winery in Napa. Other than the famed Paris Tasting of 1976 where some California wines bested the French in blind tastings, this partnership was the most visible and concrete example that California was on the same playing field with France in terms of truly fine wines. Not to mention the family's partnership with the Frescobaldi family of Tuscany, a 700 year producer of fine Italian wines. Mondavi's hand was touching wines all over the world. He held property in Argentina, Mexico, and the Languedoc region of France. To truly know how respected he was, even in the Old World, Mondavi was awarded France's Legion of Honor in 2005 -- the highest decoration in France.

Practically every great winemaker in the valley worked at Mondavi at some point -- Mike Grgich & Paul Hobbs immediately come to mind. Mondavi set the style for the valley -- opulent fruit, but made with grace & structure. It's slightly ironic that some of the most iconic and hard-to-get wines today come from Mondavi's old property: Screaming Eagle, Schrader, Hobbs, and Harlan come to mind.

And in that last comment lies the great tragedy of Robert's life: the loss of his winery and vineyards to Constellation Brands in 2004 for $1.04 billion dollars. The winery still operates with his name, and in the structures he had designed, in the shadow of the vines he had planted, but the current releases from the winery are not the same wines. It's more than tragic once you know the way in which the winery was lost: Robert was an extremely philanthropic fellow. Following the listing of the winery on the Nasdaq, Robert used the escalating stock price as currency to fund his extravagant donations: The Cantor Art Center at his alma mater Stanford, a $35 million dollar donation to UC Davis for the construction of The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, the restoration of the Napa Valley Opera House, the creation of The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa (COPIA), and many other projects. When the stock price started to tank (largely because of brand dilution with lower priced wines), any reasonable business man would have renegotiated those donations. Robert was never a good businessman. He was always a man of character, passion, and drive. He begrudgingly agreed to sell his stock in order to meet the promised money to these projects.

Perhaps the last great compliment for his wines came last year when Wine Spectator listed the family's last offering, a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon, as one of the top 10 wines of the year.

We sadly mourn the death of this iconic figure. The patriarch of American Wine. Every glass of wine you enjoy, no matter if from Napa or Tuscany, was somehow touched by the standards and traditions that Robert Mondavi brought to the table. We will be holding a tasting at The Cask Room on June 18th of the family wines of Robert Mondavi. We'll be taking a portion of the proceeds to gift to his Copia center for wine education. I can't think of a better way to celebrate this man than to drink his wine and donate money to the project that he was most passionate about.

Wines are going green!

It's Spring, and everything is turning green. I guess that's why it's the perfect time to have a reminder of protecting Mother Earth. We have just passed the official Earth Day, and seemingly every day we see somebody reminding us to recycle and "go green." The wine industry has increasingly been following this trend, not simply to save the planet, but to make better wine.

You may have seen the terms "organic" or "biodynamic" on a bottle of wine or in some literature, so I thought that I would take this timely opportunity to explain what those terms mean, so that you can confidently "go green" with your wine purchases.

I'm sure that it's no surprise that agriculture today uses a multitude of pesticides, fungicides, and other chemical-cides to help control and guarantee the health of the crops. But, it wasn't always this way. If you've ever picked up a Farmer's Almanac then you might know that it's chock full of moon phases, tidal information, and other information vital to agriculture. This publication has been produced since 1792 -- but, somewhere along the path we lost our way and have tried to use science and technology to control Mother Earth.

Organic wines are very simply wines that contain grapes grown conforming to the National Organic Program guidelines. These guidelines prohibit the use of all of the aforementioned 'cides, plus outline what may or may not be done in the winery. That is, little or no manipulation of wines by reverse osmosis, excessive filtration, or flavor additives (such as oak chips). Many organic winemakers also prefer wild yeasts for fermentation. There is one tricky situation to watch for: "wine made with organic grapes." These wines started out with organic grapes, but the winery did something in the processing to lose the "certified organic" status. This something is most often the addition of sulfites. Now, sulfites occur naturally in wine, so no wine is sulfite-free. But, most winemakers add sulfites during vinification to enhance this natural preservative. So, if you are sensitive to sulfites, certified organic wines may be something worth searching.

Biodynamics is like organics on steroids. Rather, it's not simply the absence of chemicals, it's a complete change in the way the grower works with the land. All of those things that were naturally occurring and later suppressed are reintroduced to the land. Earth worms, bees, bugs, natural washes, cover plants, birds, bats, chickens, goats, etc. are all welcomed back to the particular ecosystem that was in place before someone decided to drop in some Pinot Noir. Other key elements of biodynamics are the burying of a cow's horn full of manure in the Fall and the use of crushed quartz in the field. Animals help to control the plant growth and the insect population, plus in the case of chickens, their manure helps to fertilize the crops, and their eggs are used for fining the wines as well as feeding the workers breakfast.

Biodynamics has been credited to Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner. He introduced this holistic and self-sustaining method of farming during a series of lectures in 1929.

Quite frankly, I thought of Biodynamics as organic hippie farmers until yesterday. It always struck me as odd to bury a cow horn with manure. I had been led to believe that this was ritualistic -- not necessarily related to anything useful in the farming process.

So yesterday I met with Katrina Fetzer who is in charge of marketing her dad's wines under the "Ceago" label. Her dad is Jim Fetzer, formerly of the ubiquitous Fetzer Wines which he sold in 1992. Ceago has been from the beginning about biodynamics. In fact, they were the first U.S. winery to be certified biodynamic. She gave me a crash course in biodynamics, most importantly correcting my misconceptions about the aforementioned strange rituals.

"The burying of the female cow horn has a very specific purpose: to produce the best compost possible. Tests have shown that the horn is a better host to microorganisms than plastic, glass, or other containers. We pull the horn out in the spring and take the mixture and add it to hot water. The mixture is spun for an hour in each direction, creating a vortex and multiplying the microorganisms. Then, we spray the fields with the best humus mixture we could hope for" she told me. "We do the same with crushed quartz. It is buried in the Spring and follows the same process as the compost. Then we spray it on the land in the wet season to help protect against fungus and to aid in photosynthesis."

The resulting wines made at Ceago are about as clean as you can get. I think the difference shows: The wines have texture. It's certainly refreshing to know what did and did not go into those wines.

Why not go green this month and seek out some organic/biodynamic wines. There are quite a few from Europe, and an increasing number from right here in California. Other than the fantastic efforts from Ceago, I would recommend Robert Sinskey of Napa, and Benziger of Sonoma. Let's help fix the planet one glass at a time...

To Cork or Not to Cork?

There's a huge problem in the world of wine and it doesn't rhyme with Shoe Luck Truck. Up to 10% of the bottles released by any given winery contain a compound that spoils the wine. It's called trichloroanisole, or TCA for short. You may have heard of it by its informal name "cork taint" or "corked" as in, "man, this '85 Petrus is corked! Bummer!"

How do you tell if a wine is "corked?" Smell it. If there's a musty/mildew-like aroma then the wine you were about to enjoy has been tainted with TCA. Sometimes the wine smells like wet dog, wet cardboard, or moldy newspaper. Unless a shaggy dog made the wine in a rainstorm, chances are you're going to be mad.

The production of TCA in wine is complex, but I'll use my mad science skills (ha!) to boil it down for you: airborne fungus around corks mixes with chlorine meant to sterilize it and creates TCA.

If you encounter such a wine you should take it back to where you bought it and the retailer almost assuredly will replace it and send it back up the distribution chain to the winery. If they don't, find a new place to buy wine. You won't want to drink it because all you will smell & taste is that musty wood. This is really what you are testing for when presented with the small pour of a new bottle at a restaurant. You obviously don't want to accept a tainted bottle of wine. Especially not at restaurant prices.

The notion that any industry allows a 10 percent failure rate strikes me as slightly insane. Kind of like casting Eddie Murphy in anything anymore. Enter the Screwcap.

We all know the Screwcap. Perhaps you first met it with a bottle of Boone's Farm Sangria in college, or heaven forbid, a bottle of NightTrain Apple Wine from Circle K. With that kind of history, it's no wonder that the Screwcap is fighting an uphill battle as an alternative to natural cork.

But, I'm here to tell you that the Screwcap may be the best thing to happen to a bottle of wine since Robert Mondavi entered the business.

Screwcaps avoid the problem altogether. Screwcaps also help to ward off oxidation which is the 2nd leading killer of a bottle of wine after your's truly.

I can hear all of you asking "why aren't all wines released in screwcaps then?" The short answer is the stigma. Plus, you can't exactly use that fancy corkscrew anymore. But, times are changing. The more people understand the problems with cork the more they'll seek out wines in screwcaps. Then, the more the industry will understand that the stigma is disappearing and be willing to change their practices.

There is another reason that some winemakers avoid the screwcap -- especially French winemakers: a small amount of oxygen enters through natural cork and helps to age the wine, or so it is believed. The argument against screwcaps for them is that the seal is too perfect and the aging process will be stifled. This is just a suspicion because it will take years to see how wines in screwcaps age. But, there's some alternatives on the horizon just for them. New types of liners used in the seal can allow a controllable amount of oxygen into the bottle to help soften the wine over time. Maybe this will finally win them over.

You can help the cause by not furrowing your brow when you hear that fun crackle of the metal closure. You can further help the cause by seeking out bottles in this better type of closure. Plus, you'll have a way to save that unfinished bottle for another day. I don't have that problem, but I hear that some people may.

Where the Sun Shines Through the Mist

San Diego is lucky to have a premier winegrowing region right in its backyard. Mention Temecula to someone and memories of warm afternoons spent sipping a chilled Chardonnay or a decadent Dolcetto come to mind, but few people likely know the history of the region and the special attributes that make it such a unique place to grow grapes. In fact, the Luiseno Indians had a word for what makes this place special: Temecula -- "Where the Sun Shines Through the Mist."

The mist is the primary reason that grapes do so well in this region. What does mist have to do with ripening grapes? Well, ideally grapes do best when the days are very warm and the nights are cool -- and that's exactly what conditions prevail in this southern corner of Riverside County. Temecula sits on a 1,400 foot plateau with direct sun & very warm days. Fortunately, cool & moist ocean air drifts in through the Rainbow and Deluz Gaps of the Coastal Range in the afternoon, cooling the grapes. You see, warm or hot days alone are not going to necessarily make the best grapes. Otherwise, Phoenix would have a burgeoning wine industry. You need some cool temperatures at night to slow down the ripening of the grapes and lock in some of that mouthwatering acidity.

It was precisely these conditions that brought Mission Padres east from Capistrano to plant the original vineyards in 1820. It would be another 150 years until vines for commercial wines were first planted. Vincenzo Cilurzo, an ABC-TV Emmy Award winning Lighting Director, and his wife Audrey purchased a 100 acre parcel with thoughts of retiring and making some wine. A weather study he saw indicated the region had the same climate as the mid-Napa area. So, in 1968 the Cilurzos planted the first commercial vineyard in Temecula: 40 acres of premium Petite Sirah and Chenin Blanc. Ely Callaway of Callaway Golf fame came in a year later and began his eponymous winery.

It wasn't until 1984 that the area was officially recognized as its own American Viticultural Area -- something very special and important to consumers, as grapes from specific areas tend to have their own unique charms. Prior to this designation, wines from the region were classified as more generic South Coast wines. Officially, the region encompasses 33,000 acres, but only 1,300 are currently planted to vines.

Recent history in Temecula shows that the region has been facing some enemies -- shrinking the acres planted by as much as 45% over the last ten years. The first enemy was Pierce’s Disease. Leaves on vines with Pierce's disease will turn yellow/brown and eventually drop off the vine. Shoots will also die. Then, after 1 to 5 years, the vine itself will die. This vine killer is carried by the glassy-winged sharpshooter which has migrated from the South Eastern U.S. Tragically, the bug helped destroy over 1,000 of the 2,300 acres of vineyards in the late 1990s. Fortunately, steps have been taken to isolate and combat this devastating pest.

The other enemy has been urban sprawl. The Inland Empire region is one of the fastest growing housing regions in the country. Thankfully, the Temecula Agricultural Conservancy, a non profit public benefit corporation, was formed with the primary mission of preserving vineyards and open space suitable for vineyards. The agency works with the County Supervisors as they implement new zoning ordinances by holding open space, vineyards and/or conservation easements, ensuring that the land remains in vineyards in perpetuity.

The good news is that new rootstock has been planted and is better matched to the strengths of the land. There is too much opportunity cost now to growing the wrong grapes, so the twenty-plus wineries that call Temecula home have started to focus on the grapes that flourish in Mediterranean climates similar to Temecula: Syrah, Barbera, Sangiovese, Dolcetto, Viognier, and many more. Moreover, several of the wineries are purchasing grapes from other areas in California to vinify in Temecula. Callaway, for example, is buying some fruit from Napa and Santa Barbara to bolster its portfolio.

Of course, the best thing about Temecula is that it's so convenient to visit and sample the wonderful wines. We are very lucky to have such a beautiful and diverse collection of vineyards so close to San Diego. The best way to learn about Temecula wines is to try them all! Look through the mist to find some new favorites!