2000 Ad

Wines & Vines, Dec, 2000

As is usual this time of year, we try to take stock of the current year's events and look forward to what is yet to come in the New Year.

Last year, for example, the world was eagerly awaiting the New Millennium.

This year, as of Nov. 13, we didn't know who, if anyone, was elected president of the United States. This even though election day was Nov. 7.

And, we have no clue as to the makeup of Congress. In short, the grape and wine industries, like others in the nation, must await the reading of tea leaves, court decisions, ballot recounts and who knows what else.

We do know that no matter who is announced as president, and no matter which party gains control over the House and Senate, somehow we will muddle through it all.

Let's put the emphasis on "somehow.

As for the year 2000, some good things did happen.

One concerned labeling of flavored wine products (see page 14), the low-ethanol "peach" Chardonnays and the like. The integrity of varietal labeling has been upheld, so the United States no longer is a worldwide laughingstock in the loophole, non-varietal wine category.

It didn't hurt that the market decided to just say no to the low a.c. "Chardonnay" and "Merlot" wine products with so-called natural flavors.

Also on the plus side was a bountiful harvest in California that promises high-quality wines. While the final crush report for California isn't due from the Department of Food and Agriculture until February, the crop for this season was estimated at 3.2 million tons. The record winegrape crush, 2.9 million tons, was set in 1997, another banner quality year.

On the downside was the price for winegrapes in the large Central Valley. Sources reported prices of $80 per ton for Chardonnay, a price that wouldn't cover the cost of harvesting.

What this latter means is one can expect a readjustment--read grubbing up of unwanted vines--in certain parts of the San Joaquin Valley.

For good or ill, the market seems to be demanding quality above all else.

That great humorist Jonathan Winters once advised sallying forth to confront life with a bible in one hand and a .45 in the other.

I think what he meant was be optimistic, but be careful as well.

That's not bad advice as we head into the New Year.