Who are the next big wineries to pop over the next few years? Hot trending in terms of quality, popularity?

Who's fading? Rode out high scores from long ago but average or weak showings the past several years?

Interesting read...

http://eater.com/archives/2012...t-and-whats-over.php

Just to lob one out there-

"And what's not? Well, I wouldn't want to be the guy left holding the 15-percent [alcohol] cabernet when the music stops. "

Want to respond Harvey?

Interesting article....I found it difficult to read at times because of the poor punctuation...kind of like Parker's fondness of replacing periods with run on sentences separated by....I digress.

I liked reading the comments about affordable wine continuing to gain popularity. One could probably dissect that statement many different ways, but I tire of seeing such high prices for many "popular" wines these days. I do not think this is a new phenomenon, it's just hitting the next generation of American wine drinkers. Our house wine is ~$8 (I shall not name it for fear of losing my cool card). It is just nice to see a reminder and possibly a growing trend among regular wine drinkers that it doesn't have to say "X" on a label to be good.
I hope the trend of small, thoughtful wine lists continues.
Also, I did find it funny the repeated mention of Sherry taking off in 2013. This struck me as a bit too regionalized (NYC) and possibly too geeky to be picked up by the public at large.

Have you ever heard of Lake County Ca? This may be something you all might want to look into. The wines coming out of Lake County are beautiful, most are Estate grown. The price points on the National market are of great value. The air quality in Lake County is the top 3 cleanest air in the US. We have hot days, cool night, High Elevations and Volcanic soils. We grow our grapes up to 3,200 ft Elevation. This was one of the largest grape growing regions in the US before Prohibition hit. For years Lake County has been selling our grapes to Napa and Sonoma Counties. In 2000 a trend picked up and now we are making our own wines.Which means we are not contracting our grapes out like we used to.Which also means, Napa and Sonoma Counties are coming in and buying here. Gallo just purchased 700 acres of Snow's Lake Vineyards, and Foley Brothers just bought out " Langtry" about 180,000 cases per year with there other labels, you might recognize "Guenoc","Vigilance", "Shannon Ridge" We now have 32 Wineries in the county, 70% of the Vineyards from Lake County are " Sustainably" farmed.I think you will start seeing more Brands labeled " Lake County" so keep your eyes out!

Audrey, thanks for the update. Yes, I've read about these wines but have yet to try any. Are there any specific wineries or varietals you'd recommend?

The article was too long, but once again the Hosemaster hit a few home runs.

Audrey - seems like Lake County has been around for a little while. I still have some Guenoc Langtry from the mid 90s, and I remember buying Steele back then too and Cougar's Leap came into existence before that word took on a different meaning. Later on there was something like Shannons? and a few others I can't remember at the moment. The wines were moderately priced and some were only moderate wines, but I remember thinking that it was a place to watch as Napa was getting crazy expensive.

Well the largest and most produced in the County is going to be Shannon Ridge Winery, we are in every state, it just depends on where you shop, and will make a little over 180,000 cases this year. Vigilance is really breaking out, easy find at Bevmo, they started at 1,500 cases 4 years ago and will make 50,000 cases this year. Guenoc is everywhere right now. Not the biggest fan of the wine, but it's great for our county and advertising. So with that, where are you located? Shannon Ridge makes something called " The Wrangler Red" it might be up your alley, and the Sauvignon Blanc's produced here are great! I would be happy to send you some wines as well

You are very correct. Back in the 90's there was about 12 Wineries here. As time goes on we have really pin pointed what sells, what doesn't, how to make our wines better the following vintages. It's a learning circle.But what I hear the most when in our Tasting Room is," People are tired of the chaos of Napa, it's over priced and not friendly, and the wines are not that great for the price, it's more about the castle and not the wine " Small Boutique Wineries are what is "Hott" right now. They call " Clay Shannon" the pioneer of Lake County. Here is a great you tube video to watch with some humor!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spfc41q3B6I

quote:

Originally posted by GregT:
The article was too long, but once again the Hosemaster hit a few home runs.

Audrey - seems like Lake County has been around for a little while. I still have some Guenoc Langtry from the mid 90s, and I remember buying Steele back then too and Cougar's Leap came into existence before that word took on a different meaning. Later on there was something like Shannons? and a few others I can't remember at the moment. The wines were moderately priced and some were only moderate wines, but I remember thinking that it was a place to watch as Napa was getting crazy expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
I would be happy to send you some wines as well

Yes please

Send me your shipping info to audrey@shannonridge.com

quote:

Originally posted by Shane T.:

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
I would be happy to send you some wines as well

Yes please

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
Send me your shipping info to audrey@shannonridge.com

quote:

Originally posted by Shane T.:

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
I would be happy to send you some wines as well

Yes please

Done & done. Thanks! Great videos too. What is the relationship between Vigilance & Shannon Ridge?

Shannon Ridge and Vigilance are sister wineries, same owners, same wine maker, basically they are right across the lake from each other, but two different growing appellations. We market them very differently.

quote:

Originally posted by Shane T.:

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
Send me your shipping info to audrey@shannonridge.com

quote:

Originally posted by Shane T.:

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
I would be happy to send you some wines as well

Yes please

Done & done. Thanks! Great videos too. What is the relationship between Vigilance & Shannon Ridge?

Audrey,

You certainly seem passionate about your wine and region - I would love to try them - please send me some more info.

jonbegos at hotmail dot com

Thanks!

Lake County known for Sauvignon Blanc. We sell Guenoc, not a mover.
Used to sell Shannon Ridge, moved less. Good luck Audrey...
Quality wines, uphill battle. Wrangler Red is special.

Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wines, February 2013. Best Market Buy. Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red. http://www.cgcw.com/

http://centralpt.com/upload/46...2_February_Issue.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wines, February 2013. Best Market Buy. Shannon Ridge Wrangler Red. http://www.cgcw.com/

http://centralpt.com/upload/46...2_February_Issue.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by Shane T.:

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
I would be happy to send you some wines as well

Yes please

Shane, you are shameless.

So, Audrey, is this offer still good? Would love to try your barbera.

quote:

Originally posted by spo:

quote:

Originally posted by Shane T.:

quote:

Originally posted by Audrey Shannon:
I would be happy to send you some wines as well

Yes please

Shane, you are shameless.

True story...

Seriously though, Shannon Ridge's portfolio looks very nice & interesting. I'm looking forward to these, for sure! I watched several of their "in the vineyard/ winery" videos on YouTube, and they seem like great, hardworking, & down to Earth people.

Audrey is gone.

I actually think Dunn is a wine 'on the upswing.'

I used to see more posts complaining about it than praising it and now it seems to have shifted back to where it belongs.

I also think there are many on the downswing among the cult wines, but they are not lowering prices. I would wager there are several/many that make enough money not selling out that they can sit on extensive 'libraries,' or do something else with the leftovers while trying to maintain brand name exclusivity.

quote:

Originally posted by spo:
Audrey is gone.

Never knew it was.

I'm here, I was just out of town on business. Long day!

quote:

Originally posted by The Cabernet of Doctor Caligari:I also think there are many on the downswing among the cult wines, but they are not lowering prices. I would wager there are several/many that make enough money not selling out that they can sit on extensive 'libraries,' or do something else with the leftovers while trying to maintain brand name exclusivity.

Yes. They actively control supply to maximize demand. A lot went unreleased due to the recession. They've long sold off excess production.

quote:

Originally posted by The Cabernet of Doctor Caligari:
I actually think Dunn is a wine 'on the upswing.'

For now it is, but hard to say for the near future. Dunn is always making decent wine, but then the Howell Mt. Cab used to be $60-70s, not $90s(Especially the 2006-2009 have super ratings from Antonio Galloni). But since Galloni's leaving, who's to say the next taster won't swing Dunn back to the 90-93 points tier? causing the score-whores to jump ship again.