Vine Wise

Bulking Up

Columnist: Richard L. Thomas
Sep, 2008 Issue

With the current status of the economy, has the wine industry felt anything negative or positive? It’s very difficult to tell at this stage, but the looming short crop (due to very abnormal weather patterns and major spring frosts in many areas) means grape prices could rise significantly. Spot market fruit—that is, grapes that are grown without a contract—will be in big demand, or so the story goes. Interestingly enough, just after the frost last spring, there was suddenly not a drop of wine available on the bulk market. Those wineries that had surplus wine to sell must have realized that the value would increase dramatically. And right they were.

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Penny Pinching

Columnist: Richard L. Thomas
Aug, 2008 Issue

The price of everything continues to go up (and up), but will the price of wine continue to rise also? And if so, will the growers be able to share the increase? I ask because wine price really has virtually no relationship to cost of production; it’s far more related to “what the traffic will bear” and “where will my ego be satisfied?” I mentioned in a previous column that, when price is known, tasters prefer the high-priced wines, and, when price is unknown or falsified, the less expensive ones are favored. This shouldn’t be a big surprise, since we’re all guilty of thinking something expensive must be good (and if it’s foreign, it must be even better—excluding the Far East).

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Picking on Pinot

Columnist: Richard L. Thomas
Jul, 2008 Issue

It’s a political year, and while I won’t get into politics, I do want to talk about spin. Politicians are famous for putting their “spin” on things, and I think it’s appropriate that “spin” can be put into our wines as well. Most of you know my spin for Pinot Noir: I’m not crazy about either its power or finesse style—but I’m also not crazy about different styles within any grape variety in general.

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Winners and Losers

Columnist: Richard L. Thomas
Jun, 2008 Issue

    Wine judging season is here, and I always find it interesting to see competition results and then try to interpret what they mean. Most of the time, there are no big surprises. As judges, I know we sometimes think we’re sending a message to the winemakers about liking this style or that, but in reality, the winemakers think we’re crazy. Very few winemakers agree with any results—except the ones that won big: “If I won, the judges were great, and if I lost, the judges were a bunch of idiots.”

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