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#387669 - 09-14-2017 10:06:16 Punch: Bonne on the Future of Calif Wine
TomHill Online   content
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Elvis Has Entered the Building!

Registered: 02-15-2004 17:42:19
Posts: 12126
Loc: LosAlamos
Interesting article by JonBonne in Punch today:
Bonne/Future of Calif Wine
crying alligator tears over the sale of Calera to Duckhorn and all gloom & doom over the future of the Calif wine biz as consolidation continues apace. It was well-known that Calera was one of his faves & I can see why Jon is crying in his beer over that.
But his gloom & doom since a bit premature to me. In the article, he then goes on to cite some of the newcomers (MarthaStoumen/Matthiassian/Massican/Forlorn-Hope/Cruse/Bedrock/etc) that are doing innovative things and make, for me, one of the most exciting periods in the history of Calif wine. He decries the failure of Calif to be the font of innovation that he sees now in France. Really?? France?? Probably the stodgiest wine scene in the World.

He cites the cost of land for new folks entering the business as one of the big hurdles for newcomers wanting to do exciting/innovative things. Hmmm...hasn't seemed to hold back MarthaStoumen/Faith Armstrong-Foster/BryanHarrington and quite a few others.

So...I ain't buying Jon's scenario of gloom&doom. There's a lot of exciting things going on in Calif. When I look at the things BryanHarrington is doing...I can hardly wait for his next release. NerelloMascalese? I'm already promised the first btl of that (now don't let me down, Bryan!!). We had last night my first Sansigot. I can hardly wait until some hare-brained vintner brings that one in.
Tom


Edited by TomHill (09-14-2017 10:08:49)

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#387670 - 09-15-2017 16:52:33 Re: Punch: Bonne on the Future of Calif Wine [Re: TomHill]
Marc Hanes Offline
Crazed Wino

Registered: 12-13-2000 08:00:00
Posts: 5639
Loc: Maplewood, NJ
As someone who used to have some things published professionally and has written (semi-intelligible) articles for a self-published website, I can say it is damn hard to keep coming up with new ideas, angles, or general things to say about wine. It's a finite set and if you are in the sandbox long enough you run out of things to say. Bonné and Asimov both suffer from the same thing since neither falls back on the "lifestyle" type of writing that major magazines can, for example Wine Spectator, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast and so on.

I mean Asimov writing about Alsace is an act of desperation for new material. Didn't you link something about him going on about Oregon being the best, as if he was not content to drink French and Italian wine for the rest of his life?

Same thing with Bonné and California. The state is not growing any bigger. Some things change, more stay the same. Hard to make a living writing about new micro-production wineries that 96.4375% of your readership will never find, never mind sample. How can the poor sap continue to keep himself relevant when he's already shot his wad?

I can't take any of this seriously anymore and kinda surprised you do (stirring the pot taken for granted). Writing about wine is a living, you pay the rent and buy food by it. At the end of the day there's a deadline and you have to write something.

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#387700 - 09-22-2017 22:51:40 Re: Punch: Bonne on the Future of Calif Wine [Re: Marc Hanes]
Brad Harrington Offline

Owner
Elvis Has Entered the Building!

Registered: 12-12-2000 08:00:00
Posts: 13965
Loc: La Jolla, San Diego, CA
Good points Marc.

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