Flashback: The Judgment of Paris & the Road Not Taken

June 30, 2026 By in wine history 3 Comments

This is a year of celebrations here in the United States. This week, for example, we mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Wine enthusiasts have reason to pop a cork, too, because 2026 is the 50th anniversary of the “Judgment of Paris,” the famous wine tasting that drew global attention to the high quality of California wine.

Have you ever wondered how things would be different today if the Declaration had not been agreed upon back in 1776? How would history have unfolded if Britain’s American colonies didn’t break away?  It’s an interesting question. Counter-factuals like this give us a chance to appreciate how the past has shaped the present and how events today might be transforming the future, too. It’s the Back to the Future effect.

Here is a Wine Economist column from 2022 that tries to imagine the present if the Judgment of Paris didn’t happen (or if it happened and didn’t get much attention, as is often the case with wine tasting events). Something to think about over the Independence Day weekend. Cheers!

P.S. Be sure to click on the video below to see what Napa and its wine industry looked like 50 years ago. Amazing!

The Judgment of Paris and Napa Valley’s Road Not Taken

The Wine Economist / September 13, 2022

A journalist recently asked me to comment on the impact of the famous 1976 “Judgment of Paris” tasting of California and French wines. The California wines were very competitive, according to the scores given by the panel of French judges, and wines from the Napa Valley actually topped both the Cabernet and Chardonnay lists. Amazing.

Time magazine reporter George M. Taber was the only journalist in attendance and his exclusive story about the unexpected American victory was a shot heard round the world. His 2005 book, Judgment of Paris is worth reading and even re-reading today.

What if … ?

Would Napa Valley have grown and developed if the Judgment of Paris had not taken place? Well, yes, I answered, there was already a good deal of momentum stimulated by, among other things, the successful opening in 1966 of the Robert Mondavi Winery, the first major new winery in the valley since Prohibition.

In fact, local residents were already concerned about the masses of wine tourists clogging local roads and highways and over-whelming winery facilities back in 1972 when a KPIX Eyewitness News reporter paid a visit to see what was happening. Click here or on the image below to watch the vintage video report.

And there was already international attention, too. Domaine Chandon, the Yountville outpost of the famous French Champagne house Môet Chandon, opened in 1973, three years before the famous Paris tasting.

On the Road Again

So the Napa Valley was already on the road to big things even before the Paris tasting. But just about everyone agrees that the international recognition changed things.

It changed things for Napa and for California, but the impact didn’t stop there. Towards the end of his book, George Taber takes a bit of a global tour, showing us how the world of wine broadened as the result of a number of forces including, of course, the new perspective on New World wine that the 1976 tasting provoked.

Second Thoughts?

Revisiting the Napa Valley years after the Paris tasting, to gather insights for his 2005 book, Taber could see the result of the intense focus that his astute reporting helped create. There was growth, for sure, and lots of new investment, both domestic and by a long list of international wine luminaries including, of course, the Rothschilds who partnered with Robert Mondavi in 1978, just two years after the Judgment, to build Opus One.

Taber was concerned about how the boom was unfolding. Enormous wealth, vanity vineyards, trophy wines. “The Napa Valley unfortunately became another proof of the maxim that nothing succeeds like excess.” And a good indicator of excess, he proposed, was the price of vineyard land. Warren Winiarski paid about $2000 per acre in 1970 for the first Stag’s Leap vineyard, Taber reported.  In 1999 the owner of Far Niente winery paid $100,000 an acre for a 42-acres vineyard, which seemed like a lot. Francis Ford Coppola raised the stakes just a few years later, paying $300,000 an acre, a jaw-dropping price at the time.

Now, of course, $300,000 an acre for Napa Valley vineyards is not noteworthy or exceptional. $300,000 to $500,000 per vineyard acre (adjusting for the value of any production or housing assets) seems to be the norm, with some particular parcels going for even more.  The excess that Taber saw 20 years ago has not diminished.

Money, Taste, and Wine

Naturally this is reflected in the wine. Not all of it, of course, but it is easy to see a pattern. The focus in Napa is increasingly on its signature grape variety, Cabernet Sauvignon. I am sure this is about taste — the best Napa Cabs I’ve tried are really good — but it is also about money, I think.

Cabernet is the grape of Bordeaux, too, and some people are happy to pay much more for Cabernet than they would for Zinfandel, which was once widely grown in the valley but now not-so-much. Sky-high land prices require high grape prices which mean high bottle prices for the wine. King Cabernet is the surest bet, many believe, and so it increasingly carpets the valley floor.

Many of the wines are really distinctive — Sue and I have tasted some real stunners! — but some of them taste the same to my amateur palate. I call them Napa Valley Red Wine. Maybe this is true of all wine regions, even the great ones? In Napa they often sell for more than $100 a bottle and seem to satisfy the thirst of buyers looking for the taste of Napa.

They Think I’m Bragging

I am not the only one who is concerned about how the wines of Napa Valley have changed and how the flood of tourist dollars and investor wealth has led to excess. But whenever I bemoan certain aspects of the Napa wine industry environment to international audiences, they think that I am just bragging. All those tourists and fancy restaurants! All the celebrities and trophy wines! Such economic success and pure opulence!

Napa Valley is a dream to international wine visitors, and for foreign winery owners who long for their own Napa moment, their own Judgment of Paris. Who can blame them?

But what if the Judgment never happened? If you know the story, you can appreciate that it could easily not have taken place (of the results could have turned out differently).  Napa Valley would still have grown the thrived, I think, but it would be different today. What might it look like? Come back next week to see what might have been … and is.

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Thanks to Tony Correia for his help nailing down vineyard valuations. Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank’s Rob McMillan for his help locating the KPIX video, which was originally featured in a very memorable post on Rob’s blog.

Wine Goes to the Opera: Nota Bene June 2026

June 23, 2026 By in Nota Bene 1 Comment

Nota Bene is a periodic Wine Economist column that briefly highlights short stories that might otherwise escape attention.

Wine Goes to the Opera

A recent Wine Economist column examined the relationship between wine and classical music and worried that wine could become like opera, mainly relevant to a shrinking audience of affluent, aging enthusiasts.  Once upon a time wine was for everyone. What happens if it is mainly for elites?

Given these concerns, we were interested to discover that Festival Napa Valley has commissioned an original opera to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris. Bacchus and Venus are the opera’s main protagonists, supported by characters such as Steven Spurrier, Patricia Gallagher, Mike Grgich, Warren Winiarski, and others.

It’s an ambitious undertaking. Cheers to a successful premiere performance.

Against the Tide: K&L Opens in NYC

There is so much negative news in the wine press these days that signs of growth and optimism are both noteworthy and welcome. So you can imagine the excitement that has greeted the news that California-based K&L Wine Merchants has opened a new shop in New York City.  NYC wine news has been dominated by closings, not openings, in recent years, with the loss of Sherry-Lehmann Wine & Spirits in particular.

What does K&L see in the NYC opportunity that many others do not? K&L CEO Brian Zucker writes that

My father Todd co-founded K&L in California in 1976 on the premise that careful selection and producer relationships could build a sustainable independent retail business. Fifty years later, that’s the model we’re testing in a market where several other independent shops haven’t held up. We built the ecommerce business in the late 90s and early 2000s, and that multi-channel base is part of why we have a thesis about why ours can work.

According to K&L’s press release, “The expansion follows six consecutive quarters of wine sales growth for K&L, even as much of the U.S. wine industry continues to navigate declining consumption, pricing pressure, and shifting demand. With four California stores, a national e-commerce business, the most active wine & spirits auction platform by bids and users, and now a New York location, K&L is betting that the category’s next phase will be driven by more selective consumers seeking value, access, and expert guidance.”

“There’s a lot more demand out there than the headlines suggest. Customers haven’t lost interest in wine, they’ve gotten more deliberate about it, and that’s something retailers can work with,” said Brian Zucker, CEO of K&L Wine Merchants. “Wine’s bigger problem was where prices went leading into COVID and during the consumption spike that followed. That’s working itself out now. We’ve seen significant growth in wine in each of the last six quarters, and it’s accelerating.”

Second Glass Test Update

Regular readers will be familiar with our “Second Glass” test for non-alcoholic wines. The wines have to remind us of the type of wine they represent and be tasty enough that we would happily drink a second glass. We recently met with research assistants Nancy and Michael to apply our test to a few editorial samples we received.

The news is very good. Two wines passed the Second Glass test with flying colors and we are pleased to add them to our “highly recommended” list.

Missing Thorn Sparkling White was simply delicious, with medium body and bright tree fruit flavors. Michael, who was initially disappointed to learn that we would be tasting NA wine, commented that he would not have guessed that the Missing Thorn was missing alcohol. Second glasses all around. Congratulations to the Missing Thorn team.

The Pierre Chavin Signature Zero Sparkling Chardonnay was an even bigger hit with our tasting panel. They appreciated the body and mouthfeel of the wine and the complete flavor profile. The label notes that nine percent of unfermented grape juice is part of the blend and I think this might have had something to do with the positive response. Grape juice is often blended into NA wines to restore some of the sensory elements that the alcohol removal process takes away. Missing Thorn’s blend includes an unspecified proportion of grape juice too.

Pierre Chavin is widely distributed by Kobrand and, at about $20 per bottle, is more affordable than some NA wines we have sampled.

Port Hits the Cocktail Circuit

Prosecco-based Aperol spritz drinks are everywhere these days, proof that cocktails and wine can be a profitable and delicious combination. Port producers have long encouraged enthusiasts to experiment with cocktails as a way of growing their market by introducing new customers to Port’s many pleasures. At one point a famous producer even redesigned some Port bottles and labels so that they would look more at home behind the bar.

Ruud Scholten (a.k.a. The Port*ologist) has written an impressive new book to help cocktail-curious Port lovers and Port-curious cocktail drinkers discover the pleasures of Port cocktails. The book, The Port*ologist: Crafting Port Wine Cocktails, seems at first glance to be a collection of recipes for cocktails featuring all manner of Port wines. On closer inspection, we found a lot more information about Port, Porto, the Douro Valley, and the fundamentals of mixology, too. The book is beautifully illustrated. An impressive package.

It is clear why a Port lover would want to try cocktails, but what’s the appeal for the cocktail set? Well, there is a taste, of course, but more than that there is also the fact that Port wine  has about half the alcohol of many liquors,  so the book’s Port Old Fashioned drink has less “punch” than the traditional drink. This aligns very well with current market trends favoring moderation.

Sue and I love to drink The Portonic, a white Port and tonic spritz, so we are already on board. Next stop is to experiment with other summery white Port cocktails as well as those for the other seasons and occasions based on Ruby, Tawny, and other types of Port. What fun! (Available direct from the publisher or from Amazon.com.)

The Trouble with Gewürztraminer

June 16, 2026 By in Italian wine, wine, wine markets 2 Comments

The trouble with Tribles, as Star Trek fans all know, is that everyone falls in love with them at first sight. The trouble with Gewürztraminer is very different!

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Sue and I were fortunate to attend a big dinner at Cantina Tramin‘s strikingly beautiful winery a few years ago. Although I can’t really remember what we ate or who we sat with, I know for sure which wine we most enjoyed: Gewürztraminer!

The town of Tramin, in Italy’s Alto Adige region, is thought by many to be the birthplace of the Gewürztraminer grape variety, which is Cantina Tramin’s most-planted grape. The Nussbaumer Gewürztraminer is their signature wine and the wine we returned to again and again at dinner that night.

Cooperative Economics

We’ve written about Cantina Tramin before because it makes such a good wine economics story. Cantina Tramin is a cooperative winery and, like every cooperative I know of, it started life as a defensive effort. Faced with a soft market and low grape prices, growers banded together to make and to sell their own wines and share in the profits (if any). The initial focus was on bulk wine production, but about 50 years ago the bold decision was made to shift from quantity to quality, building a strong brand and earning higher margins. There was no guarantee that this would work and some other cooperatives that have tried it have not succeeded.

Cantina Tramin today is a noteworthy success story. Its 160 grower families farm about 280 hectares of grapes, producing 150,000 cases of wine. If you do the math you will quickly realize that the individual vineyards are tiny, so cooperation mobilizes strength in numbers. The small scale of individual holdings is exploited to highlight terroir. Higher quality grapes are rewarded with higher prices. Although it produces both red and white wines, Cantina Tramin is best known for its white wines, especially Gewürztraminer, for which it is famous in Italy.

The White Shift in Action

As most Wine Economist readers know, wine consumers today seem to be shifting from red wines to white wines, much to the  benefit of Alto Adige producers and those in other regions of the Italian northeast such as Friuli and the Veneto. The white shift is especially important to the degree that it compensates somewhat for the general decline in wine consumption. White wines have a larger share of the smaller market pie, so to speak. Smaller share, smaller pie for red wine producers overall.

So this is good news for Cantina Tramin because their Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon, and white blend wines are all very popular. But the situation is more complicated for Gewürztraminer. Or at least that’s the case here in the U.S. market.

Gewürztraminer is well-known in Italy and nearby Austria, for example, and the Nussbaumer Gewürztraminer has a stellar reputation. But Gewürztraminer seems to be a hard sell here in the U.S., even though excellent Gewürztraminer wines are made here (think Anderson Valley, for example). The story is told that the famous Napa winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff endorsed Washington State’s potential as a quality wine producer upon tasting a glass of excellent local Gewürztraminer.

Gewürztraminer & the Riesling Curse

Gewürztraminer has the qualities that wine drinkers today look for. It is crisp, aromatic, delicious. It might not be the next “boom variety,” but it should be more popular than it is, don’t you think? What’s the problem?

I hate to put it this way, but maybe Gewürztraminer has the Riesling Curse. Like Riesling, Gewürztraminer has a name that some people are afraid of getting wrong (Jancis Robinson has written that some people are uncertain if it is Rice-ling or Rees-ling or something else). Gewürztraminer is kind of a long word (see Mark Twain’s essay “The Awful German Language” in this regard) and cautious people are sometimes afraid to try to sound it out, I guess.

A second problem is that, again like Riesling, Gewürztraminer can be made in different styles and consumers may be afraid to make a mistake. Is it sweet or is it dry? How can I tell? Gewürztraminer can even fool you a bit because a sweet aroma can disguise a dry finish. Gewürztraminer is what is sometimes called an “experience good.” You won’t know if you like it until you try it. But it can be hard to get to that first sip.

Maybe Catina Tramin’s stellar line-up of Alto Adige white wines can be an onramp for Gewürztraminer. All the wines we’ve tried have been great. A glass of the Troy Chardonnay might lead to a bottle of the Stoan white blend, which includes a touch of Gewürztraminer along with Chardonnay and other grape varieties. Then, maybe, who knows? Gewürztraminer isn’t that hard to say once you’ve tasted it!

Message in a Wine Glass: How Does That Wine Make You Feel?

June 9, 2026 By in wine, wine markets 5 Comments

Why do so many people love Champagne (and other sparkling wines, too)? Is it the way they taste? Or is it the way they make you feel? Here are a few thoughts inspired by a message in a wine glass.

Not Necessarily Clear as Glass

As regular Wine Economist readers know, Sue and I have this thing about specialized wine glasses and wine paraphernalia generally. Wine is an everyday drink for us and we try not to take it (and ourselves) too seriously. The purpose of wine is to make life better. Why complicate that?

But it is important to have an open mind, so we experimented for a while with specialized tasting glasses designed by Raj Parr and manufactured by Glasvin. As reported on The Wine Economist, we found them pretty, but a bit awkward. They didn’t really improve our wine experience very much, although, to be fair, they always seemed to delight guests. Maybe it was just us?

Then, a couple of months ago, we started experimenting with a Glasvin product called The Universal , and we surprised ourselves. We really enjoy using it. It’s a drinking glass rather than a tasting glass, of course, which suits our preference. It is super lightweight and pretty to look at. They have become our first-choice glassware for everyday enjoyment (we still rely on our OG INAO tasting glasses for analytical work.)

Hold Me, Touch Me, Taste Me, Feel Me

So here’s the thing. Does the wine taste better in nicer glasses than it does in regular wine glasses? I know that the type and shape of a wine glass is supposed to affect perception, but I have never paid too much attention to that side. I know that the Raj Parr tasting glasses had some effect just because they were designed for you to focus on particular elements rather than just enjoying the wine.

After some thought (and a few more glasses of wine), I’ve decided that it doesn’t matter to me if the glass makes the wine taste better. The point is that using these nicer glasses makes drinking the wine feel better. It elevates our experience (your mileage may vary).

This is not a very important observation on its own, but the idea of tasting versus feeling might be worth considering in a broader context. Wine descriptions often tell consumers how the wine tastes, sometimes in intimidating detail. This is useful information, but is it what buyers want to know? Or would it be better to suggest how the wine might make you feel?

Think about the last time you entered a friend’s home or attended an event where a glass of sparkling wine was quickly put in your hand. How did that make you feel? I’m pretty sure it felt good. How did it taste? You might not be able to remember because the feelings of welcome and relaxation were so strong.

I wonder if the feeling effect explains the success of some celebrity wines? Do you think it just feels good to connect through wine to someone you know, like or admire? Sue and I often remark that we especially enjoy wines with a personal connection, usually to the winemaking family.

Don’t Jump the Shark

If this is true, then I wonder why so many wine producers go out of their way to ignore the feeling effect? Some labels feature tasting notes or technical data suitable for a WSET study guide. Not a lot of feeling there. Now I don’t think you should tell people how they should feel when they drink your wine. But the right language can set an emotional framework that consumers can fill in themselves when they lift the glass.

I think emotion is an obvious part of the wine experience and it seems to me that wine producers don’t always pay enough attention to this in telling their stories. That said, I don’t want to push too hard on this point or some desperate winemaker might start crafting products for specific emotions. Moody Malbec. Silly Sauvignon. Passionate Pinot. Who knows where that might lead?

That’s the message I found in our new wine glasses. I wonder what the corkscrew has to say?

The Battle of Land versus Brand

June 2, 2026 By in wine, wine markets 4 Comments

In the wine market’s continuing battle of land versus brand, brand has several built-in advantages. Brands are often backed by big business marketing and distribution muscle, for example, and brands are scalable in ways that vineyard- and region-specific wines never can be.

My first wine book, Wine Wars, charted the path of several famous brands, including Blue Nun and Two Buck Chuck. Wine Wars II went deeper into brand land, searching for the keys to brand success. We are living in the Age of Identity and brands offer wine companies the opportunity to craft identities to fit specific market segments (think 19 Crimes, for example).

So brand trumps land, right? Not so fast. Here are three brief reports from the battlefront.

Noble Nobile

Sometimes land trumps brand or maybe it is that land reinforces the brand. The point is illustrated by two Italian wines Sue and I had the pleasure to sample.

Avignonesi Poggetto di Sopra is a relatively rare thing: A vineyard-designated Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The map on the label shows the particular vineyard rows that were used along with the precise latitude and longitude of the block. The goal, we are told, is to let this particular place tell its story through the wine with as little intervention as possible.

The result is a rather elegant wine that changes and shifts in the glass as you drink and consider it. Sue was impressed, saying that it is just the kind of wine she most enjoys drinking. It paired very well with our homemade prosciutto and arugula pizza (the sauce was made with tomatoes from Sue’s garden).

The Avignonesi brand is famous, of course, but the wine is about the land and I think this elevates the brand rather than competing with it.

Vermentino and Not Vermentino

Tenuta Argenteria is a well-known producer in the Bolgheri region, best known for Bordeaux-blend red wines. They produce a white wine called Scenario, which is both a Vermentino and not a Vermentino.

How is this possible? Is it another “American wine” naming trick? No, the answer is that Scenario is made from 100% Vermentino grapes and if you put that on the label, then customers naturally define it in those terms (grape varieties are a sort of brand in this regard) and set expectations accordingly. They will evaluate the wine from the perspective of their Vermentino experience.

Argentiera wants to have the land be the defining factor, so Scenario is identified only as Bolgheri Bianco DOC (no grape variety is listed). I don’t know about you, but we haven’t tasted a ton of Bolgheri Bianco wines, sowe had to take the wine on its own terms. Isn’t that refreshing?

How did it taste? Savory not fruity, with nice minerality. We usually drink white wines warmer than our friends do, but this one wanted a little more chill. Did it remind us of Vermentino wines like the ones we discovered in Sardinia a few years ago? No, not really. But why should it? After all, only the grape variety is the same. Land, climate, people — all different. Do the red Bolgheri wines, blends of Bordeaux varieties, taste like Napa Cab?

What is American Wine?

An interesting example is the current debate about American appellation wines. This very broad designation was created to allow the blending of wines from different geographical designations. Some wines from New Mexico, for example, carry the American appellation for the very good reason that they include grapes from California and Washington State. Not really New Mexico, but not allowed to use California or Washington designations, either, because they are made outside those states. American wine? OK.

The VARA Zero Dosage American sparkling wine, for example, is made in New Mexico with Chardonnay grapes from Lodi and Arroyo Secco AVAs in California. It’s a fine wine and good value.

Now, however, we learn that the American appellation rules permit wineries to include imported wine in the blend. So they are “American” but not entirely American either. It is an obvious cost-saving and margin-protecting strategy because the world is awash in inexpensive bulk wine.

The California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) is working to try to correct this situation. It is obviously in the interest of CAWG members to keep imported grapes and bulk wine out of “American” wine boxes and bottles (just as it is in the interest of big producers to keep the rules as they are). But there are more than competing interests at stake. It is hard to take wine regulations seriously if “American” means “not necessarily” or “not entirely” American. If that’s the case, why have an American appellation at all?

Five Buck Napa Cab? Nota Bene for May 2026

May 27, 2026 By in Nota Bene 5 Comments

This week, we introduce “Nota Bene,” a periodic Wine Economist column that briefly highlights short stories that might otherwise escape attention. Use the Comments section to let us know what you think and to suggest future stories.

Five Buck Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon?

I suppose it was inevitable that we would stumble across Five Buck Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. After all, there is a lot of surplus Cabernet out there, even in Napa Valley, and at some point, someone is going to decide that getting next to nothing for the bulk wine is better than getting nothing at all. Still, it was enough of a surprise that we took this photo at our local Grocery Outlet store.

Using the “Rule of 100,” a $5 bottle of wine suggests that the grapes were purchased for $500 per ton. That’s unlikely since the average price of Napa Cab grapes has been hovering around $7000 per ton for a while. Someone suffered a big loss somewhere along the supply chain that produced this wine. No, we didn’t buy any of it. Made me sad to see it on the shelf.

(See Blake Gray’s Wine-Searcher column for more on discount wine today.)

Rediscovering Rex Hill

I guess we sort of lost track of Rex Hill Winery. Rex Hill was one of the pioneers in Oregon wine and it was also one of the first wineries we visited when we started visiting the Willamette Valley in the 1980s. Significantly, Rex Hill was built around its vineyards, specializing in vineyard-designated bottlings and the strong reputation those wines earned.

Eventually, however, Rex Hill was acquired by A to Z Winery when it found itself in sudden need of production facilities. And then A to Z (and Rex Hill) joined Erath Winery as part of Ste Michelle Wine Estates and its Sycamore Partners, which acquired SMWE in 2021. Sycamore Partners sold the Washington assets of SMWE in 2025, but retains the trio of Oregon wineries.

Recently we had the opportunity to taste Rex Hill Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and the Rex Hill Seven Soils Chardonnay. They were both delicious (the heart of Rex Hill is still beating), but the Chardonnay was especially impressive. Sue and I agreed that we’d be very happy to drink it on any occasion.

Diving into Vinho Verde

The folks at Quinta da Aveleda contacted us a few weeks ago in response to a Wine Economist article about Vinho Verde. There’s more to Vinho Verde than the simple, delicious summer wine we all know and love, we wrote. You are right, the Aveleda folks said, let us show you more. So we accepted the offer of editorial samples and have enjoyed discovering that they are right.

We started with two single grape variety Vinho Verde wines, an Alvarinho and a Loureiro. Both are Vinho Verde, but so very different. The varieties and the corresponding blend possibilities make for many potential styles of Vinho Verde wine.

But that’s not all. A second pair of wines, Solos de Granito and Solos de Xisto, highlighted the different of soil types for a single grape variety. Interesting! They were so intense and so different, too, both from each other and from our expectations regarding Vinho Verde and Alvarinho wines, too. The Granito was full of tree fruit flavors, golden apple evolving into pear. The Xisto was all about structure and minerality. What a difference soil type can make! A really memorable experience.

And a final pair of wines, which we hope to taste soon, promise to take our explorations to the next level. Parcela do Convento Loureiro and Parcela de Roseiral Alvarinho are single-vineyard expressions of Vinho Verde featuring the Loureiro and Alvarinho grape varieties. Can’t wait to see (and taste) what’s next.

Wow! There is more to Vinho Verde than we thought. That’s a rabbit hole we’d be glad to dive into!

Canadian Boycott Bites

We started today’s Nota Bene with a story about bargain Napa Cab and we end with a story about bargain Napa Chardonnay. This photo shows the bargain board outside our local Metropolitan Market that recently caught my eye. That’s a pretty big discount on a name-brand Napa Valley Chardonnay from a recent vintage. What’s the story?

The explanation became clear with a quick peek at the back label. It was in English and French with the required Surgeon General’s warning pasted on a separate label. No question in my mind: This wine was bottled for the Canadian market, which is a market that doesn’t really exist in the way it used to because of regional boycotts of U.S. wine and spirits.

First time we’ve seen this situation on store shelves, but I understand ex-Canada market wine is available on discount re-seller websites. Have you seen it? No, we didn’t buy any. Made me sad to see it on the shelf.

Three Things We Learned about Sicilian Wine

May 19, 2026 By in Italian wine, wine, wine tourism Leave a comment

Sue and I recently returned from a trip to Sicily. We had a great time and learned a lot about the region and its history, the people and their culture, and, of course, the wines. Here are a couple of things we want to share with you about our experience.

Sicily vs Italy

Sicily is part of Italy (it is Italy’s largest region), but Sicilians aren’t Italians. They are Sicilians. You can ask anyone and you’ll get the same answer. The history and culture are different. Even the language is different. Sicilian isn’t an Italian dialect; it is a different language. And the wines are different, too. There are commonalities, to be sure, but the differences are impossible to ignore.

Some members of our tour group were pretty familiar with Italian grape varieties (Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese) and regions (Chianti, Barolo), but they found that didn’t help them navigate the Sicilian wine scene, which features grape varieties such as Catarratto, Zibibbo, Grillo, Inzolia, Nero d’Avola, Nerello Mascalese, Frapatto, and regional designations such as Etna DOC and Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG.

The differences between Italian and Sicilian wines were initially a barrier, but soon evolved into an invitation to experiment and discover. One important factor is the fact that Sicilian wines, like their Italian cousins, are what we call culinary wines, best enjoyed with food and not on their own (the ubiquitous Aperol spritz is good for that).

(Note: I use the term “Italian wine” here to designate origin, but nothing more. As I wrote in “Around the World in Eighty Wines,” there is no such thing as Italian wines. There are only the regional wines of Italy.)

Resurrecting Marsala

One of our goals for this trip was to get a better understanding of Marsala, which was once Sicily’s signature wine. Marsala is a Sicilian original, but it owed its popularity to English merchants who fortified it for ocean transport stability and then more or less industrialized its production to compete with Sherry, Port, and Madeira on export markets. At one point Sicily found its wine industry almost completely shaped by exports, with strong white wine made in the western part of the island for Marsala production and strong red “cutting wine” made in the east to blend with lighter Italian and maybe even French wines to bring them up to snuff.

Marsala seems to be used in cooking these days more than as a beverage. I have never understood what the fuss was about back in the day. Maybe we’ve only tasted industrial Marsala? This was a chance to find out.

Marco de Bartoli is known for its commitment to authentic Marsala, but our schedule did not permit a winery visit, so we asked Giuseppina de Bartoli for advice. She sent us to the Versi di Rosso wine bar in Trapani, advising that …

We produce only one type of Marsala, Marsala Oro Superiore Riserva , and at the moment there are 3 different vintages ( 2020, 2009 or 1988). I recommend our Vecchio Samperi Perpetuo, that isn’t a Marsala DOC, but the prebritish wine , the historical wine of Marsala area.

Sylvia, our guide and somm-in-training at Versi di Rosso, was very enthusiastic about our tasting request. Vecchio Samperi Perpetuo was more nuanced and complex than the other Marsala wines we tasted and you could see why the British merchants would be attracted to them. It was lighter in weight and body than we expected and very smooth. The “perpetuo” part of the name derives from the old practice of moving and mixing the wine from barrel to barrel over the years, much like a Sherry solera, but of course not like Sherry in other ways. It doesn’t fit the rules of “modern” Marsala, of course, and so doesn’t wear the DOC label. We tasted the Marco de Bartoli Marsala Oro 2009 at Enoteca Solaria in Siracusa and found it a richer variation on the same theme.

OG Marsala is out there and worth seeking out, but you will have to make some effort to find it. We are glad Marco de Bartoli and other producers keep the flame alive.

Sicilian Discoveries

We discovered a wine called Cerasuolo di Abruzzo when we visited that region a few years ago and loved it right away. I guess we assumed that Sicily’s Cerasuolo di Vittoria (from the Vittori region in the south of the island) would be a crisp pink wine like its Abruzzo namesake. Wrong. It is a deep red wine with great acidity made by a blend of Nero d’Avola, Sicily’s most-planted red grape, and Frappato. Completely different, but we fell in love with it after tasting a sample from the COS Winery.

Sweet wines are another thing that Sicilian producers do very well. Donnafugata Ben Ryé is one of Italy’s most celebrated sweet wines — a powerful, aromatic Passito di Pantelleria made from sun‑dried Zibibbo grapes. We enjoyed this wine in both the U.S. and in Italy, but we dove deeper into this category until we got to Sicily.

Our Versi di Rosso guide Sylvia was excited to serve us her favorite Marco de Bartoli wine, Bukkurum Sole d’Agosto, another Passito de Pantelleria. We enjoyed other wonderfully balanced sweet wines at meal’s end, including the Gulino Jaraya Siracusa Passito DOC shown here.

We had hoped to try some Malvasia di Salina and the Malvasia di Salina Passito, but, alas, it just didn’t work out.

We learned a lot on this trip. This column just scratches the surface, but we hope it inspires you to visit (or re-visit) Sicily.

Wine & Tourism in Sicily: Benanti Winery Shows the Way

May 12, 2026 By in Italian wine, wine, wine tourism 3 Comments

Sue and I have just returned from a trip to Sicily. We went as tourists — Sicily is one of the few regions of Italy we haven’t visited until now — but you can be sure that wine was always on our minds.

Sicily’s Tourism Boom

We were not alone. Tourism is booming in Sicily, with international visits growing even faster than on the mainland, according to official statistics. As anecdotal evidence, I offer this: The Rick Steves “Best of Sicily” tour we enjoyed is essentially sold out for the rest of the year. Add Sicily to the list of “must-visit” Italian destinations.

The Sicilian wine industry has taken note of this trend and is working both to attract wine tourists to Sicilian shores and to introduce traditional tourists to the pleasures of wines. A recent article in Il Sole 24 Ore titled “Sicilian wine, the future lies in targeted exports and wine tourism” explains the strategy.

Sicilian wine is preparing for the coming years with a double objective: defending exports in a more fragile international scenario and transforming wine tourism into a stable lever of growth. This is the picture that emerges from the Nomisma Wine Monitor research for UniCredit, presented today in Palermo together with the 2026 edition of Sicilia en Primeur, scheduled in the capital from 11 to 15 May.

Sicilian wine export numbers have held up better than those for Italian wines overall, according to the study, as Sicilian producers have been better able to take advantage of shifting consumer preferences from red wines to white wines. But perhaps the bigger story is tourism in general and wine tourism in particular.

In this strategy, wine tourism becomes a decisive element. For Italian wineries, it is already worth 3.1 billion euros and generates an average expenditure of 123 euros for the purchase of wine in the cellar, 41 euros for tasting, and 145 euros for an overnight stay. In Sicily, the phenomenon has an even more international profile: the clientele is mainly made up of foreigners, particularly Americans, Germans, and British. And there is one figure that weighs in: in the Etna municipalities linked to the Etna Doc specification, tourist arrivals grew by 17.4% between 2019 and 2024, against a regional average of 12.4%.

Even more significant is the figure for Americans. Among US wine tourists who want to experience Italy in the next two or three years, 26% indicate Tuscany and 16% Sicily. The island is already the second destination evoked, and this places it in a favourable position in one of the most important markets for regional wine.

Although cellar door sales to visitors are obviously important, it is important to remember that wine tourism is an opportunity to connect wine to history, culture, and cuisine and to establish personal connections. Sue and I have seen this effect in South Africa, for example, and especially in Portugal, where the recent growth of tourism has established an identity that embraces Portuguese wine.

The game will shift here: less dependence on trade flows alone, more ability to retain value in the territories. If Sicily knows how to transform its reputational advantage into experiences consistent with the identity of the wineries and capable of speaking to an international audience, it will be able to strengthen export, brand and marginality together.

Case Study: Benanti Shows the Way

Our tour group’s scheduled visit to the Benanti Winery in the Etna zone provided an excellent example of how the wine tourism strategy can work.

The Benanti Winery is noteworthy in several respects. Giuseppe Benanti was one of the leaders in the Etna quality wine push starting in 1988. The winery is known for its commitment to native grape varieties, its focus on single-vineyard wines, and especially for its signature wine, Pietra Marina Etna Bianco Superiore. Joe Bastianich highlighted this 100 percent Carricante wine as one of Italy’s finest wines in his 2010 book Grandi Vini. New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov listed it as one of his most memorable wines of 2025.

Brothers Antonio and Salvino Benanti have taken their father’s vision to the next level, making the business side of the winery as strong and intentional as the production side, raising quality all around, and fostering the growth and reputation of both the Benanti brand and of Etna DOC wines generally.

Wine tourism is an integral part of Benanti’s plan. The visitor experience is carefully designed, taking place at a hospitality facility (not the working winery) and focusing on history, place (Etna and the vineyards), family, and culture. The wines are tasted with local cuisine (of course!) in a beautiful setting. It is a first-class experience carefully designed and executed with intent to create a favorable and lasting impression.

We asked Salvino Benanti about the strategy to embrace wine tourism.

You are right about tourism being on the rise. It is something we are witnessing all over Italy, with Tuscany leading the pack and Sicily trailing just behind. I am, personally, very glad about this surge, because it allows us to come into contact with new enthusiasts every day and build a loyal community. The way we manage this sudden rise in numbers is simple. We only offer curated, high-end experiences, therefore segmenting our audience at the source and making sure that only seriously interested visitors reach out to us. This allows us to create a strong bond with our guests, effectively converting them into eager, spontaneous ambassadors of Etna and Benanti.

Since our visit was part of a Rick Steves tour, Sue wondered how that relationship got started. Salvino Benanti explains that …

The relationship with RS [Rick Steves] dates back to 2013. Rick’s local guide, Alfio Di Mauro, visited us “incognito” on a gloomy, cold winter day and casually asked if we would be available to host a group of cheerful Americans in the coming weeks. We said yes and…. the rest is history. Rick himself has visited us on two occasions and we really appreciate his drive, energy and commitment to his customers and his suppliers. He is a great man.

Over the years, we have hosted thousands of RS travelers — some more than once — and we have also met many back in the US. What Rick has created is really a great community, which we are proud to belong to!

Significantly, the Rick Steves guests are generally tourists first and wine tourists second (if at all), but the Benanti experience seems to draw these two threads together. The results include cellar door sales in Sicily, retail sales back home, brand ambassadors throughout North America (Benanti’s largest market), and growing awareness of Etna DOC wines.

Of course organized visits like ours is only one element of a wine tourism strategy. While we were in Catania Sue and I participated in a cooking class organized by Cotumè. It was a fun experience and we enjoyed the food and wine when we were finished. Sue later discovered that the cooking experiences take place at several nearby wineries, including (of course) Benanti.

The future of Sicilian wine tourism is promising, but to be really successful it must go beyond cellar door sales to build markets and reputation abroad as the Benanti Winery is doing. The opportunities are great, but there are challenges, too, which we will address in next week’s Wine Economist column.

Roll Over Beethoven Syndrome? Classical Music & Wine’s Identity Crisis

May 5, 2026 By in popular culture, wine 3 Comments

Jeff Siegel recently interviewed me for a Drinks Insider article called “What Happens if Wine Becomes Just Another Luxury? The Road to Irrelevance.” The article was inspired by a conversation we had about a decade ago (Jeff has a very good memory!) about parallels between classical music and fine wine. Both were once defining cultural elements. Now not so much. Are the two phenomena related?  Can we learn anything from comparative analysis?

Here is a Flashback column from 2016 that tries to understand what was happening to wine by looking at what was already going on in classical music. I invite you to read this flashback column and then jump ahead to Jeff’s analysis.

Bach, Beethoven, Bordeaux?

Classical Music & the Terroirists’ Revenge

The Wine Economist / January 5, 2016

The Future Symphony Institute has published an essay that I wrote for them titled “The Revenge of the Terroirists.” It talks about the complicated relationship between fine wine and classical music in the modern world. Because it is very brief the arguments are not fully developed, but I think you will see where I am going with it.

I invite you to click on the links above to read the essay and to learn about the Future Symphony Institute and its ambitious mission.

What Can Wine Teach Classical Music?

The idea for this essay springs from a series of conversations I have been having with Andrew Balio, the principal trumpet of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the executive director of the Institute. Balio’s mission is to try to help the musical world think through the economic and intellectual crises that confront classical music and to begin the process of rethinking and renewing it for the 21st century.

The website puts it this way: “Our mission is to formulate a strategy for the renaissance of live classical music and to translate that strategy into programs made freely available to everyone they may benefit.”

Balio was interested in wine because it seemed to him that the wine world had resisted some of the forces that are plaguing classical music. Not all wine is great, but there is substantial and expanding support of and interest in the practices, values and traditions associated with authentic wine and wine culture.

And the interest in fine wine is not limited to the rich or the elderly. It is a very broad movement and an expanding one. If wine can do this, he wondered, maybe classical music can do it, too.

The Terroirist Cause

I am interested in this project for three reasons. First, I see Balio and his colleagues as “terroirists” who push back against commodification and unnecessary simplification. I wrote about and championed the terroirist cause in my 2011 book Wine Wars. Second, I am a fan of classical music, especially chamber music, and I hope they will achieve their ambitious goals.

Finally, as a member of the board of trustees of a liberal arts college, I recognize that many of the issues that confront classical music organizations are similar to the challenges facing the liberal arts.

Once upon a time there was broader understanding and appreciation of the value and purpose of both classical music and liberal arts education. But for somewhat similar reasons both have become very expensive to produce and their critical role in civilization seems to have been forgotten by many.

Both sets of institutions need to rethink their business models to address the new reality, but that will not be enough. Both need to engage society in new ways that will renew understanding and appreciation without diluting or distorting the values that made them important in the first place. Both need a strong dose of terroirism combined with thoughtful and effective strategy.

The Future Symphony Institute seems like one place where this might happen. I hope my brief essay will help the Future Symphony Institute as it launches a series of articles examining ways that wine can inform classical music and help move it back to center stage.

Maculan & Tenuta Biserno: Italian Wine Beyond the Stereotypes

April 28, 2026 By in Family Wineries, Italian wine, wine, wine history 4 Comments

Breganze and Bibbona. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. These are not necessarily the first things that come to mind when you think about wines from Italy. But, to paraphrase Walt Whitman,  Italian wine is large; it contains multitudes. Embrace stereotypes at your peril.

Sue and I were fortunate to be invited to taste the wines of Maculan and Tenuta Biserno, stereotype-busting wineries that show both the depth of Italian wine and the diversity of family wineries in Italy.

All in the Family

Maculan and Tenura Bisero are both family-owned wineries and the family aspect has been important to their development. Tenuta Biserno is a project of the famous Antinori family. Piero and Lodovico Antinori worked together to develop this property just outside of the Bolgheri zone, and their nephew Niccolo Marzichi Lenza, is the managing director. The Antionri family trace their roots in the wine business back more than 600 years, although their rise as quality producers has taken place in the last 50 years.

The Maculan family’s roots in the Veneto wine sector go back to 1911, not as deep as the Antinori’s,  but impressive when you consider the nature of the wine business and the history of Italy during that period.  Great-grandfather Gaetona made rustic wines to sell to passing cart drivers. Grandfather Giovanni established the winery, making bulk wine sold in the local market. Fausto, the current winemaker, was sent to the famous wine school in Conegliano and so, about 50 years ago, the trajectory toward higher and higher quality was estblished and the Maculan brand and reputation solidified. This path continues today with Fausto’s daughters, Angela and Maria Vittoria, guiding the enterprise into its second century.

Thinking Outside the Bottle

What types of wine do you think of when you think of Tuscany and the Veneto? Sangiovese-based wines are the Tuscan stereotype and you might imagine Amarone, for example, if you think of Veneto red wines. It would seem that, if you want to honor local terroir, you would necessarily reach for those well-known grape varieties.

It is interesting, therefore that both Maculan and Tenuta Biserno are known for their international varieties, especially Cabernet and Merlot.  These are not native grape varieties for Italy, but they have been cultivated in some regions for so long that they are considered traditional varieties. In the hands of talented winemakers like these, traditional grapes can develop wines with distinct personalities that reflect each particular terroir. I like the idea that wines should have personalities like people.

And Now for Something Completely Different

We have met people who enjoy and know something about it, but are happiest when they find familiar tastes and styles. They sometimes seemed confused by the unfamiliar. Sue and I seem to seek out the unfamiliar, which means we are sometimes disappointed, but more often delighted. The wines from both Maculan and Tenuta Biserno delighted us in different ways.

Il Pino di Biserno, for example, was exciting both because ot its complicated aromatic profile and also because it presented an unexpected Italian take on Cabernet Franc. Sue enjoyed charting the path as the wine evolved in her glass over dinner. Interesting and delicious.

Brentino from Maculan surprised as well because its classed Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend was so very Italian in its style. French grapes, Italian sensibility. We really enjoyed it. But perhaps the biggest surprises from Maculan were the sweet passito wines, made from air-dried grapes (hung to dry on long ropes that remind us of farm-raised mussels). Dindarello is 100 percent Moscato dried for one month to produce a wine with 110 g/l residual sugar.

Torcolato is 100% Vespaiola, an ancient variety associated with the Vicenza area. The name probably comes from the fact that the super-ripe grapes attract wasps. The grapes are dried in a special room for four months nd the wine is aged in French oak for a year. Well-balanced and with 150 g/l residual sugar, Torcolato is a unique experience. What a treat!

Sue and I are still working our way through the wines of Maculan and Tenuta Biserno and we find something new to appreciate at every turn.