As has been our tradition over the years, we like to kick off January by telling our loyal customers exactly how we see things moving forward. As we have consistently said, we work for you. But we consider that job being to find the best wines and the best deals out there. The point of this piece is to let you know what to expect over the coming months which, in theory, might help you planning purchases over that time by going over important categories both here and upcoming. As you all know, wine is like few other things in that, for the most part (with the few exceptions of things like solera sherries and ports and non-vintage Champagne) when something is gone, you just can’t make more.
In the long view, for some categories your best choices aren’t necessarily ‘yet to come’. They are already here and are beginning to disappear. Take advantage of the 2016 Southern Rhones, 2016 Tuscans, 2015 and 2016 Bordeaux, and whatever scraps of 2015 red Burgundies and 2015 red Northern Rhones are still around. They represent not only the best available player for the here and now, but for at least the next twelve months. Those vintages all represent exceptionally successful harvests from a more historical perspective as well.
Things coming along that are of sweeping categorical importance are the 2015 Brunellos and 2016 Barolos. These, again, represent distinctive harvests from a broader perspective, as in being among the best of their genre over the last decade or two. There will be several exciting things coming out of both Argentina and Chile thanks to particularly successful vintages there in 2018 and 2019. We also look forward to the continued arrival of more Rioja Gran Reservas from the great 2010 vintage plus early releases (Crianza and Reserva level stuff) from 2015 and 2016, excellent harvests in much of Spain.
California has had a string of good vintages and there promises to be a number of noteworthy wines. For the most part, the only issue will be paying for them as vintners here still do not seem to believe their current price levels are unsustainable. On the bright side, we expect to find a few more instances of surprising ‘domestic’ value bottlings as lots of higher quality juice will quietly ‘leak’ out the back door because fewer consumers are enamored with paying $50-60 and up for median quality bottlings.
It is going to be a year of exceptional individual efforts. What we mean by that is that the coming year doesn’t boast the same number of compelling categories. As an example, the 2017 southern Rhones are very good, and they would have been much more heralded in many other decades. But the vintage ranks third behind 2010 and 2016 in recent times, and we would (and still will if given the opportunity) buy 2016s first. In 2017, however, some regions enjoyed very successful harvests and the best examples will provide some ‘must have’ individual efforts that could hold their own in any company, even if the year itself couldn’t legitimately be called a ‘vintage of the century’. The potential to excel is there but only for those who put forth an exceptional effort.
Also, as internet marketing changes the way wines are sold, selection will be one of the things that will suffer over the long run. Buying has become much more targeted and the dynamic doesn’t encourage a lot of browsing. Internet buyers, by and large, are much more specific in their searches, typically looking for an item of specific interest or responding to an item-targeted email. People wander ‘off course’ considerably less.
It changes the game completely from the early days of the internet (the 90s) when most sales were still face-to-face. It has swung greatly in the other direction. The Orange store ran roughly 50-50 online versus in-store, the Santa Ana location is closer to 80% ‘etail’, though that may change as the new tasting program gets into full swing. The bottom line, there are more great wines available than ever, and this year will be no different in that regard. But, for the most part, they won’t come in ‘waves’ but rather one at a time. As always, we will be on top of it. More next time. Happy New Year.