How Much Alcohol?

We have noticed, in recent years, that the amount of alcohol in the wine we’re tasting (and drinking at home) is increasing.  Now there could be a few reasons for that.  Maybe our tastes have just turned towards more alcoholic and therefore more flavorful wines.  That’s possible, but we don’t remember a shift in the wines we buy, so it’s unlikely.  Perhaps the winemakers for our favorite labels have all decided to make more alcoholic products.  It’s even unlikelier that all of them would do that at the same time.  A more reasonable answer would be that accelerating climate change has made grapes ripen faster, making more sugar in the process.  More sugar turns into more alcohol, so there’s a probable solution.

California always produced a lot of high-impact wines; 14.5% is not unusual.  But wines north of 15% are more common, and those from areas such as Paso Robles venture into the 16% to 17% range.  Even Bordeaux wines that weighed in at 12.5% for decades are now creeping up into the 14% level.

This situation does create a problem for people going wine tasting.  If each bottle contains a higher percentage of alcohol and tasters consume the same amount as they did in the past, they’re taking on more of an intoxicant.  Here are some tips for dealing with the increased alcohol when visiting wineries.

  • Ask to see the label of the bottle being served.  This is a good idea anyway, since there’s a lot of information on a label.  One such bit of data is the alcohol level.  Don’t rely on the server to tell you; they usually don’t know.  One problem is that the amount of alcohol is often printed in a teeny-weeny font, and it can be anywhere on the bottle, front or back.  It’s hard to be unobtrusive when looking forward to it.
  • Calibrate intake based on the amount of alcohol.  For a particularly big boomer (we’re looking at you, David Coffaro) maybe have two sips of each wine instead of three.  Or if you’re there for, say, the Cabernet Sauvignon it might make sense to skip the Pinot Noir that the winery is not particularly known for.
  • Choose wineries to visit with the amount of alcohol in mind.  If the plan is to visit a few places that specialize in Zinfandel, for example, it’s clear that there will be big alcohol involved.  That grape is so sweet anyway that wines made from it are usually quite potent.  So maybe another winery ought to be one that specializes in sparkling wines, which generally are lower in alcohol, in the 12% range or even lower. 
  • No, white wines are not lighter than reds.  Plenty of Chardonnays pack a punch.  There’s a Chardonnay from Lewis Cellars, for example, that weighs in at 14.7%.  So white wine lovers have to be just as careful as those who prefer a meaty Merlot.

Veuve Clicquot

In 1805, François Clicquot died.  He had inherited a Champagne house from his father, and his widow (veuve in French), Barbe-Nicole née Ponsardin was left to run the company.  And wow did she run it well.  Under her direction, the company sold the first vintage Champagne, the first rosé Champagne and generally established sparkling wine from that region as the premier luxury drink.

The entrance to the caves.  VCP stands for Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin.

If you visit the company now named for la Veuve Clicquot in Reims, you’ll learn all about the Grande Madame (yes, their top wines are named for her).  You’ll get to see the cellars where the Champagne is aged and you’ll get to try some rather interesting examples of the Champagne-maker’s art.  You won’t see vineyards or even well-tended gardens.  The entry to the winery is simple and architecturally uninteresting.  The caves are everything.

There is no tasting room as such.  All visits include a guided tour of the caves with a sample of Champagne at the end.  The caves are large openings within the tunnels, some of which date back to Roman times.  Others were dug under Mme Clicquot’s reign.  Many of them are decorated with sculptures and other artwork.  The guide explains the making of Champagne, including the process of riddling, which Mme Clicquot also invented.  (Riddling is the manual turning of the bottles to capture the dead yeasts from second fermentation in the neck of the bottle, to be expelled, leaving a clear beverage.)

The tour is interesting for a first-time visitor to a Champagne house (or even the better sparkling wine makers in the New World).  Once you’ve seen it and heard about it, there’s not a lot of new information to gather.  We will say that we appreciated the knowledge of the guide who showed us around and her ability to answer questions that weren’t on the script.

Guides serving Champagnes in the caves.

Veuve Clicquot offers four tours.  One is of their basic Yellow Label and lasts an hour.  Another similar tour focuses on rosé Champagne.  We took the one that offered more interesting wines to taste and lasted an hour and a half.  We must say that we were impressed by the depth and differences among the wines served.  There is also a two-hour tour that includes aged bottles.  The prices for the tours range from 36 to 160 euros.  These prices have increased a bit since we visited only a few months ago.

So is it worth it to visit Veuve Clicquot.  Yes, it is.  For one thing, when you are there you are on the spot in which Champagne as we know it today – clear, sparkling, elegant, festive – was invented.  For another, if you take a tour other than the Yellow Label one, you’ll get to experience otherwise unavailable wines in the caves.  There is a lot to be said for authenticity.  You can buy a bottle of Veuve Clicquot at home and you will enjoy it.  You can also buy a postcard of the Mona Lisa.  Same wine, same picture, but not the same experience.

Overtourism in and Near Wine Country

There was a recent article in the New York Times about the crowds that are overwhelming certain popular tourist locations, such as Dubrovnik and Venice.  So this month’s Places to Visit article isn’t about a single destination, but rather about the crush of visitors in many of the sites that are fun for a day away from wine tasting.  The subject brings up the famous aphorism attributed to Yogi Berra: “Nobody goes there anymore.  It’s too crowded.”

Dubrovnik in the summer high season.  Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

It is clear that wine tasting, as an avocation, is increasing in popularity, which in turn means more people in the wineries.  At the same time, many wineries (especially in California, but also elsewhere) have moved to tastings by appointment, so they are able to control the amount of visitors and limit the staff required to serve them.  All the same, traffic on the main arteries (Route 29 in Napa Valley, Main Street on Long Island’s North Fork, Via Traversa del Monti leading into Montalcino) can get rather busy.  And then if you want to stop for lunch, say, around the square in Healdsburg or in the village of Chateauneuf du Pape, parking is nearly impossible.

Who are all these people?!?!

Well, they’re us…all of us.  The same people who enjoy sampling fine wines where they are made also enjoy fine dining, fine art and many of the finer things in life that make popular vacation spots so popular.  Maybe there has just been an increase in the number of cultured people in society.  Or maybe there are enough people who have the money, time and interest to go wine tasting in the more popular corners of Wine Country.

We think that the travel lust that was suppressed during the pandemic has sprung back.  People are taking the trips they didn’t take in 2020, 2021 and 2022.  We also believe that while the global economy hasn’t been kind to everyone, those who are might be interested in sipping Merlot in California or Bordeaux or Long Island are doing well and travelling more often.

A Napa Valley vineyard in March…out of season.

There are a few things that can be done to avoid the overcrowding.  One is to travel out of season.  If, for example, you would like to combine a trip to the Loire Valley with a few nights in Paris, there are going to be fewer fellow visitors between November and March than when the weather is warmer.  However, it’s not as pleasant to see naked vines nor to exclude sitting in an outdoor café in winter.  There are trade-offs for many things in life.

There is another way of looking at the problem.  There is an austere beauty to seeing vineyards under a coating of snow.  It’s pleasant share Christmas or the first inklings of springtime with the local folks.  You get to feel more alike a local and less like a tourist.  And out-of-season in the vineyards is often the height of the cultural season in cities.  Trade-offs aren’t always bad.

Editorial: Not All Wine and Roses

The February edition of Power Tasting focuses on some of the problems we see with wine tasting today.  Simply put, going wine tasting has become too expensive, at least in some areas.  The levels of alcohol in many wines is increasing and popular tourist destinations in and near Wine Country are too crowded.

Power Tasting is generally about the pleasure of tasting wines in the places they are made.  It’s something we enjoy doing and we seek to share that appreciation with other like-minded readers.  So why are we pointing out some of the issues regarding wine tasting today?

We fear that wineries, especially those that consider themselves “top end” are creating a situation in which younger, less experienced visitors to Wine Country may be deterred from going.  This may be acceptable to the wineries in the short term because more mature visitors are likelier to spend more money there.  Wine tasting has become a revenue source for the producers and they want to optimize the return on investment in facilities and staff. 

Trading today’s profits for tomorrow’s growth is usually a bad strategy.  There is a need for a new generation to take up wine tasting – and by extension wine drinking – to become reliable customers, over time.  We are highlighting some of the problems regarding wine tasting as a call for change.  Not reversion to a different era in winemaking, but an eye towards future growth.

Is Wine Tasting Only for the Rich?

An article a few years ago in Forbes magazine, entitled “Napa Valley Wine’s Average Price Now Over $100 Per Bottle” (https://www.forbes.com/sites/karlsson/2023/08/31/napa-valley-wines-average-price-now-over-100-per-bottle/) was expanded on by a tour group.  The new one is entitled “Is Napa Valley pricing itself out of the market for wine tourism and for wine?” (https://www.bkwinetours.com/travelog/napa-valley-pricing-itself-out/).

Photo courtesy of Blue Dollar.

The latter article crystalized in our minds a serious problem. We have been making wine tasting trips for all our adult lives.  We understand that the days when wineries gave free tastings and even gave you a glass are long over.  And really, there never was a good reason why they should give away their products, but now it seems to us that the pendulum has swung way too far the other way.  Today, “the average tasting room tasting fee in Napa Valley is $128 for a “reserve tasting” and $81 for a “standard tasting”.  And if you should choose to buy a bottle, the average price is $108.

We suggested that the pendulum has swung too far, but that’s probably incorrect.  Pendulums swing both ways and we don’t see prices falling anytime soon.  If a couple visiting Napa Valley wants to try, say, three wineries in a day and choose the standard tasting that comes to a cost of $500 or more.  There are too many people for whom this is an unbearable vacation expense.

Why would the wineries in Napa Valley choose to restrict their market this way?   For one thing, the figures quoted are distorted by the many top-end producers in that region who would prefer to limit their visitors to potential buyers who can afford to buy wines that may exceed $200 per bottle.  They are not even eliminating a younger crowd, not with Silicon Valley so close by.  Software zillionaires may be young but they are well paid.  They may not appreciate “fancy” wines, but they do know how to spend their money on luxury goods.

Of course, there are many places in California to go wine tasting, so perhaps the rest of us can leave Napa Valley to the rich.  But Sonoma County wineries’ average tasting fees are $72 for a reserve tasting and a standard one at a comparatively affordable $38.  Other California areas, particularly Santa Barbara and Paso Robles are catching up.  Some European destinations, such as Bordeaux and Champagne aren’t much less expensive.

Of course, it is still possible to search for less pricy wineries to visit and to vacation in less well-known areas of Wine Country.  Wine is made in all 50 states, but not all the others can match California’s variety, quantity and especially quality.  Perhaps a recession will bring prices down, but that’s a rather steep price to pay for more affordable wine tasting trips.  Or maybe as the costs become too much for too many, the wineries may try some alternatives, such as seasonal pricing, encouraging visitors to come in the deep of winter or summer weekdays.  We won’t count on it, but we will probably visit Napa Vally much less frequently.

Avoiding Excess

We love wine.  We love tasting it, drinking it with meals, talking about it, reading about it and writing about it.  But we can’t overlook the fact that wine is a product that contains alcohol.  So when people go wine tasting, they need to be aware of the effect that the alcohol is having and will have on them.

Photo courtesy of Metro Parent.

Here are some tips that can help wine tasters to avoid excess when they are visiting wineries.

  • Know your capacity and limit the number of wineries you visit in a day accordingly..  Before the era of seated tastings, visitors could step up to a tasting room bar and sample only one or two wines that they were interested in.  Now, especially with the higher cost of wine tasting, each winery tends to serve more.  Take that into account in choosing your destinations and keeping the number within a reasonable range.
  • Sip, don’t drink.  There is probably no more important advice to wine tasters than this.  If you are wine tasting, you only need a sip or two to know what a wine is like and if it’s for you. Oh, there’s still wine in the glass?  Pour it out.  That’s what those buckets are for.  Professional wine people don’t even swallow; they put some in their mouths, taste it and spit it out.  They have to, because they taste so many in a single session.  Learn from the pros: You’re there to taste, not drink. 
  • Share a tasting.  A good way to limit your intake without cutting into your tasting pleasure is to share the wine.  The server will not mind you asking just for one glass even if you are two people, saying that you will share the tasting.  After all, you are going wine tasting not wine drinking.  Believe us, no one will care that you are being prudent and you will appreciate your time in Wine Country all the more.
  • Consider in-town tasting.  There are excellent locales for wine tasting (such as Santa Barbara, Montepulciano or Los Olivos) where you can visit a tasting room, walk to the next and all the nexts after that, finally walking back to your hotel.  You can slacken your inhibitions a bit because you won’t be driving.  Of course, a day in town followed by a drive back home doesn’t work.
  • Let someone else drive.  If, in an honest analysis, you realize that almost any amount of wine is going to impact you too adversely to drive, plan in advance not to get behind the wheel.  Maybe there’s someone in your party who won’t taste and can be the chauffeur.  Or you could take a tour.  In lots of places, you can call for an Uber or you can hire a car and a driver for the day.  Just don’t be a risk to yourself and others around you.

Vienna

As noted in a previous issue, Vienna was built as the capital of a vast empire across central Europe.  Although Austria today is a small country that has far less impact on world affairs, the architectural glory of that empire is still on display.  Moreover, Vienna was a major cultural capital and it remains so today.  There are actually vineyards within the city limits and others in the nearby suburbs, so wine tasting and touring can be accomplished in one visit.

A visitor to Vienna is struck by the architecture before anything else.  It seems that in the center of the city every building is decorated like a wedding cake, with statues, pillars and Baroque curlicues.  Many of the buildings are as they were in the 19th century or earlier, but a significant number of them were damaged in World War II.  They have been repaired so seamlessly that it’s nearly impossible to tell that there was ever any harm done.

St. Stephen’s cathedral.

Two churches exemplify Vienna’s architectural glory.  St. Stephen’s cathedral is a gothic wonder of spires, turrets and arched windows.  It was mostly constructed in the 14th century and has survived many wars since then.  As the German army withdrew from Vienna in 1945, it was spared destruction but was quite damaged as the Soviet army entered the city.  Not far from the cathedral is the less ancient St. Peter’s church, built in the 17th century.  It’s not a cathedral, but it is a marvel of Baroque and Rococo architecture, especially the interior.

The interior of St, Peter’s Church in Vienna.

Vienna is justly renowned for its cuisine, but surprisingly most of the city’s most famous dishes were imported from other countries in the Austrian empire.  Wiener schnitzel is probably the best known dish, but it’s a take on veal cutlet Milanese.  Goulash is from Hungary and the sausages eaten everywhere are very much like frankfurters.  The original Viennese dish is called tafelspitz, which was popularized by the long-lived emperor Franz Josef.  It’s a slice of rump roast that’s been boiled and simmered in broth until it’s very tender.  It’s served in a copper pot and in its broth, along with potatoes, stewed apples and sour cream mixed with chives.

Typical Viennese desserts.

And of course, there are the desserts that Vienna is famous for.  The best known are apple strudel and Sacher torte, a chocolate cake with apricot filling.  There are some famous coffee shops that we wrote about in a previous issue, but you can get a cup of coffee (or even better, hot chocolate) almost anywhere.  There are bakeries, chocolate stores, ice creameries and cafés all around the town.  The Viennese sure love their sweets.

Vienna was for several centuries the center of classical music.  Haydn, Mozart, Mahler and the Strausses (father and son) called Vienna home.  The city boasts two great classical orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Symphony Orchestra.  If they aren’t performing when you’re there, there are numerous groups performing in concert halls and churches every night.

The entry hall of the Vienna Kunsthistorische (Historical Art) Museum.

The Vienna Historical Art Museum displays great Austrian art as well as works from other places in Europe where Austria ruled.  Visitors are as overwhelmed by the interior architecture as by the art works.

Finally,  there are establishments called heurigers.  Most of them are in the more rural sections in and around Vienna.  Frequently associated with wineries, the heurigers serve lots of wine (beer too) and huge buffets of roasts, sausages and salads.  This isn’t elegant Viennese cuisine but rather hearty buffets.

Editorial: Ten Years of Power Tasting…and Counting

This issue marks the tenth anniversary of Power Tasting.  What has happened to wine tasting in that period of time mirrors what has gone on in the wider world.  The pandemic changed everything.  Prices have gone up…a lot.  Tasting room workers have been harder to find.  On a more positive note, there are more places to taste more quality wines.  The need for reservations has limited crowds at the wineries.  And the high cost of tasting in the more famous wine making sectors of Wine Country have pushed the attractiveness of lesser known areas.

Every month for the past ten years, we at Power Tasting have shared experiences, spotlighted wineries, explored interesting places in and near to Wine Country and gave tips on how to make wine tasting trips more rewarding.  And we intend to keep doing the same things.  For the rest of the year, Power Tasting will repeat what we did in the year of our fifth anniversary.  We’ll reprise one article a month that we feel still holds the most interest for our readers.

We’d like our readers to celebrate with us.  Power Tasting invites you to submit comments about our articles or about your experiences in wine tasting.  We’ll quote you on an irregular basis.  If you have stories about interesting wineries, events, adventures, sights, advice or just your love of wine tasting experiences, please share them with us and your fellow readers.  We’re looking forward to hearing from you at lgsjr@powertasting.com.

And Happy New Year to all!

How Power Tasting Goes Wine Tasting

As we celebrate ten years of Power Tasting, we can’t help but look back at all the wineries we’ve been to all around Wine Country.  Most of our experiences have been very positive, but there have been a few clunkers along the way.  We’ve been across the United States and up into Canada.  We’ve tasted wine in half a dozen European countries and have reported on our prior experiences around the globe.  We thought it might be a good idea for this anniversary to share with our readers the way we go about reporting on wine tasting.

Photo courtesy of Mintel Store.

First of all, we are very deliberate about choosing where to go wine tasting.  We realize that most Americans who enjoy wine tasting are more likely to visit California than anywhere else, and we travel there at least once a year.  Yes, we visit Napa Valley and Sonoma County, more than a few times over ten years.  But we’ve also been everywhere in the state from Temecula in the south to Lake County in the north and many places in-between.  We have been as interested in tasting wine at some of the most famous vineyards, but have equally enjoyed discovering great wine in places we never expected to find it.  And we’ve loved sharing these places with our readers.  And we try to taste wherever we go in Europe as well.

We perform structured interviews at each winery.  If possible, we talk with the tasting room manager, but if that person is not available, we talk with the people who serve us.  It’s a plus if we get to meet the winery owner or the winemaker.  We document everything we can that might possibly be of interest to our readers, although we know that a lot will never be in print. 

Subjects range from rather important matters about the tasting experience to trivia.  Of course, we record the wines served and the ones we particularly would recommend.  We also try to capture impressions of the architecture, the view and the interiors.  We evaluate the knowledge and educational ability of the servers and their general attitude towards their customers.  We even take a look at the merchandise they sell, the artwork, the parking facilities and whether they allow picnicking.

We rarely tell the wineries in advance of our visits that we are from Power Tasting and will be reporting on our tasting experience there.  On the other hand, we always introduce ourselves to tasting room personnel as being from the e-magazine when we arrive.  As much as possible, we want to be treated like all other wine tasters, while at the same time we don’t like to spring a surprise on the servers.

As much as possible, we try to gather information that we think other wine tasters might be interested in.  For example, we always ask about wine clubs in American wineries and if they are accommodating to their members requests for changes and special orders.  If so it shows how they care about their customers.  

Longoria on State

It was around 4:00 pm.  We’d been walking around the streets of Santa Barbara pretty much all day, tasting wine as we went.  We weren’t driving and we could walk back to our hotel, so we could try one more tasting room if we wanted to.  Still, at that time, did we really want to?  Well, we did and we’re certainly glad about that.

The tasting room at Longoria on State in Santa Barbara.

We stepped into Longoria on State, which is the only tasting room actually on Santa Barbara’s main drag.  We were quite surprised at what we saw.  It didn’t look like a typical tasting room but more like an upscale cocktail lounge.  There were long banquettes with plush pillows, comfortable chairs and trendy tables.  It was a relatively dark room, with track lighting and a huge skylight to brighten it up.  The bar was long, tiled and served only wine.

The wines all come from the Longoria winery.  Frankly we hadn’t heard about Longoria before tasting there, but we learned that it was founded by Rick and Donna Longoria in Santa Barbara County in 1982.  Being among the pioneers of Central Coast winemaking, the Longorias influenced many other winemakers in the area.  They sold their winery in 2022 and the new owners, the Christian family, are responsible for the snazzy digs on State Street.  (There is another tasting room in Lompoc that we have not visited.)

As is often the case in California, Longoria makes a wide variety of wines.  There are several whites, a rosé, some Spanish-style reds and a few blends.  But the core of Longoria’s list is Pinot Noir, which is what we enjoyed the most.  All of them are from the Santa Rita Hills, which by itself is good indicator of the quality of the terroir.  For the most part, all the Pinot Noirs seemed rather elegant to us, with a range of fruitiness and depth among them.

To be fair, the wines we tasted were bottled prior to the sale of the winery, so there may be some changes coming.  We hope not, because we really liked what we tried.

The tasting room on State Street is relatively new, not there on our previous visits to Santa Barbara.  As mentioned, we arrived at the end of the afternoon; we walked right in and were served.  (The Longoria web site does ask for reservations, but as in much of California they’re not always needed.)  We have a hunch that later in the day the room may be more crowded.  Longoria on State is open until 8:00 most nights and until 9:00 on Saturdays, so that night club vibe might draw more patrons at later hours.

One of our greatest pleasures in wine tasting is discovering fine wines in unexpected places.  In that regard, Longoria on State meets both criteria.  We would certainly urge anyone who would like to explore Central Coast wines while in Santa Barbara to include Longoria on their itinerary.