Agree, although I think “If he was mistaken” doesn’t mean the next stop is rock bottom.
Interesting analogy to Burgundy pricing, Lew.
As we know, there are folks out there capable of producing shit wine from their Montrachet grapes, so maybe it will not be necessary for Andy to ensure quality across the board.
And I agree with you - the best part of Burgundy for the “wine hunter” is premier cru vineyards.
“Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered” I’ve used this saying for many years when helping folks understand how to ensure they treat their customers fairly or their customers will move on when they realize you were taking advantage of them.
I’m all for capitalism and letting the market determine if this model is sustainable. What’s interesting is the attitude that is at least portrayed in the article. When your customers and their customers either believe or perceive you take them for granted or think that you believe they have no other option the market (and competition) will move and demonstrate there are always other options.
I don’t have many BTK wines(Tor, Mondavi) but Napa wines still make up 47% of my cellar but I’m buying less now each year as I get more exposure to areas that provide better value. In 2007 my average bottle cost for Napa wine(mostly cab or bdx blend) was $49. It peaked in 2013 purchase year at $96. For me this is not a sustainable model and the reason I will buy less cab this year than any other( and stopped buying most 1st cru burgs). I’m with Mike and will focus on the great and distinctive wines in the $60-90 range and these will make up the bulk of my purchases.
Lew - I’m a fan of Terroir and wines that show distinction but one thing that makes Napa and Sonoma different than Burgundy imo is the appellation wines can be as good or sometimes better than the single vineyard designate. This was especially true more in the past as there was less focus on the SVD wines so I do believe this is unfortunately changing.
A weekend in NY letting the somms pick and match wines off their by the glass menu further validates for me what great and interesting wines are being made in France, Greece, Italy,etc and why I’ll continue to expand beyond California wines in general.
Cheers
Fred
Great point. The cost of land (therefore grapes) and infrastructure makes it so that the new napa bottlings often befuddle many in their pricing. If more differentiation occurs, the dispersion of pricng over (likely alot of) time could widen out creating more opportunites across the spectrum.
There is always Coombsville.
Isn’t the Mondavi To Kalon Mondavi owned fruit? They do still own the majority of To Kalon acreage.
Yes, Mondavi and their partnership in Opus One.
Mondavi and Opus One are now completely separate.
In the boards opinion, what are the best Napa vineyards?
Depends. For concentrated powerful fruit-forward Cabernet Sauvignon? For refined Cabernet Sauvignon with finesse and less overt fruit? For a red blend that contains more than just CS? For history? For Sauvignon blanc? For qpr? For mondeuse?
I have to disagree, for this reason: no matter what the terroir quality, this just puts pressure on, and gives justification to other growers, to raise prices across the board. So expect other parts of Napa to follow suit. And, frankly, while To Kalon is a nice location, it’s not like it is La Tache to all the other Santenay vineyards of Napa Valley. There is strong marketing behind the differentiation of To Kalon from all the other excellent parts of the valley (and mountains).
First of all, it seems that new wineries are being established in the Napa Valley and elsewhere all the time, but who is creating great new vineyards?? Andy B understands this.
Second, this will make Mondavi look like a bargain and maybe it will make many people look elsewhere more seriously. BV and Provenance have access to the vineyards that produced the legendary Georges de Latour wines,for example.
The California Dept of Agriculture maintains weather stations in every county where crops are grown. When you look at the RECORDS FOR THE OAkville - Rutherford area, one sees that this area is much cooler than other parts of Napa. This area is a bit like Carneros without the wind. So many great cabs come from this area, stretching from Yountville (Dominus) to the southern edge of St Helena.
A big reason for that is the relative immaturity of the Cali industry (and the customers as well) in terms of figuring out which are the sites worthy of single vineyard designation. I’m in favor of California advancing along that learning curve. It will happen, it is inevitable, and I hope it doesn’t take hundreds of years to make real progress on that journey of discovery.
Also, there is always the noise that is introduced by shoddy farming or winemaking, whether in Burgundy or California. But over sufficient time, the truth of the land will shine through IMO.
Alan, I’m not qualified to comment on the relative merits of Napa vineyards in terms of terroir quality and distinctiveness. But logic tells me there is a range of quality, a pyramid of quality, because that is what we have in every mature winegrowing region. The pricing pressure you predict may happen in the short run, but ultimately the producers and consumers of California wine will figure out the pyramid of quality.
Lew- is your comparison to just Burgundy or other regions ?
Not sure I would agree with you as California in general has made tremendous progress over the last 20 years. It doesn’t have the history of Burgundy but Burgundy as well has made great progress in making better wines regardless of site specificity. Plenty of progress still too be made though and producers like Bedrock are doing a great job of making and marketing wines from some historic vineyards that have not gotten their due.
Interested in what are your favorite vineyards for cab.
Thanks for the correction. I didn’t realize that. Is CMR the sole owner now?
Not just Burgundy. I am comparing/contrasting California to all mature winegrowing regions. And by “mature” I mean regions that have been around long enough for producers to figure out which are the best, most distinctive sites.
I’m not trying to imply that California producers are uninterested in the land, or anything like that. But I do believe there has been great focus on winemaking techniques in Cali, including from the producers, the wine media, and the customers. This has distracted attention away from the essential journey of discovery of the finest, most distinctive sites.
What Andy Beckstoffer is doing with To Kalon is one step down that road of discovery. He has proven over time that To Kalon is an elite property. Now it’s time for producers and wine consumers to embrace that concept or move on to another property that costs less. I’m glad to hear Bedrock is taking steps as well. Rhys is another good example. Kevin Harvey, imbued with a terroir-first philosophy, and free of the tyranny of installed infrastructure on his balance sheet, has also taken important steps on the road to discovering California’s finest sites.
+1
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This story makes me think of the law of unintended consequences.
Where will this lead??