We don\u2019t do any of those year-end lists. From our perspective, us telling our customers what already happened doesn\u2019t seem like very valuable information. But, since we study vintages and have tentative game plans on virtually every relevant wine region, we believe giving consumers an opportunity to get a feel for what is ahead is a valuable service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are plenty of things to look forward to over the next few months as certain vintages come to market.\u00a0 There are still a good number of releases from the 2019 vintage in the southern Rhone coming. \u00a0As we saw with the early arrivals of the Cotes du Rhones and some Chateauneufs, Gigondas, et. al., 2019 is a pretty fabulous and seductive vintage.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are we saying it\u2019s another \u2018vintage of the century\u2019?\u00a0 We try not to overdramatize but saying something like that wouldn\u2019t be a stretch.\u00a0 The 2019s are generally plush, fruit-driven, and uncommonly hedonistic, and rate among the top vintages since 2000, no small thing considering the great run of harvests they have had in that part of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As an added bonus, though we realize appealing to a much smaller audience, the 2019s from the northern Rhone are rumored to be on a par with epic harvests like 2009, 2010, and 2015, which is serious business. Again fruit is the watchword, and the 2019s have it in spades. As it usually plays out, hard-core collectors will be chasing a handful of big-name, limited production stars that will command hefty prices. But for the rest of us, there will be some sensational efforts from less famous (and much less expensive) names and we will be looking for hidden gems from places like St. Joseph and Crozes Hermitage that will benefit from the fortunate weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Snap up all of the 2019 Burgundies that you can.\u00a0 This is an exceptionally delicious vintage, one of the most flattering we have ever tasted out of the gate.\u00a0 We have reasonable supplies now and expect a few more things over the early part of 2022. But, beyond that, the watershed will start drying up. There are good words about the 2020s. But there is a caveat in that severe frost in 2021 destroyed a lot of the crop and will likely create upward pressure on prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s an exceptional time for Bordeaux as well.\u00a0 The 2018s are mostly here and exceptional.\u00a0 The 2019s will be arriving over the coming months and they are spectacular as well.\u00a0\u00a0 After that, the 2020s are no slouch either as we found when we tasted barrels samples earlier this year. So if you are new to the game, you can put together a pretty impressive matrix from those three vintages and have a solid core of a cellar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for domestic wines, this will be a rather challenging year. If you recall, there were widespread wildfires up and down the state and in parts of Oregon. The timing was terrible for the later ripening reds and there were large quantities of premium grapes affected by smoke taint. In many cases, conscientious vintners made little or no wine at all from certain varietals, Cabernet perhaps the most notable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what does that mean for consumers? Simply less wine available and higher prices on what is.\u00a0 Vintners, after losing a big chunk of an entire vintage to the effects of the wildfires, will all have creative ways to deal with it.\u00a0 Many will release less into the market so they can sell it themselves, or try to stretch two vintages over three years.\u00a0 Some of the staples will sell out quickly and be off the market for a while. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What that scenrio does do is make everything we do find more important.\u00a0 You may have noticed that we have been advising folks to buy a little extra on some of the Cabernet offers we have sent out over the past year, specifically with an eye on this approaching situation.\u00a0 Well, it is pretty much upon us over the next 18 months or so.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately, 2018 and 2019 are very attractive vintages in California and will fill the bill nicely as long as they are around.\u00a0 Stock up. As for 2021, all we have heard is that crop size was down some, the harvest was early, and, thankfully, there weren\u2019t widespread wildfires though perhaps there will be some effects from the drought in some places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those are the significant \u2018bullet points\u2019 for this year.\u00a0 Other areas will provide some excitement, and we will continue to ‘dig’ as we always do. Spain and Italy will no doubt make contributions, and there seems to be new things to find in South America and new places to explore (Greece, Georgia). But we don\u2019t have any other ‘sweeping’ statements about any other regions in terms of historic harvests.\u00a0 It will be more about discovering individual successes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As to the bigger picture, global warming will continue to improve \u2018marginal\u2019 areas by giving them a bit more ripeness to work with. Global warming has also changed some weather patterns and brought about freak hail and frost events that make viticulture much more difficult from a financial perspective in some regions. Simply put, those kinds of occurrences can make it difficult for growers to make a living (see Loire, Chablis among others). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, there will still be pandemic-related issues that will continue to put unpredictable spins on all kinds of things from shipping to harvests to lord knows what.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t appear any of those things are going to change any time soon.\u00a0 Though we’d advise the ‘bird in the hand’ mentality for the next few months, there\u2019s still plenty of great wine in the world. Happy New Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We don\u2019t do any of those year-end lists. From our perspective, us telling our customers what already happened doesn\u2019t seem like very valuable information. But, since we study vintages and have tentative game plans on virtually every relevant wine region, we believe giving consumers an opportunity to get a feel for what is ahead is … Continue reading “A LOOK AHEAD”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4209"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4214,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209\/revisions\/4214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}