Global Dynamics of the Wine Industry 2019

BOOMER'S BLOG: On Wine and the Beauty of Being a Boomer!

Alyssa, Sarah, Jeannine and fellow students - We want to thank you all for welcoming us to the class and sharing your perspective, energy, and all that wine (which you know we love) with us!  We finally figured out how to do this "blog thing" and thought we might share a few parting thoughts and "words of wisdom" with you all - better now than at the end of the evening on Thursday. 

First, we know that you are smarter, faster, healthier, and more tech savvy than we are.  We also know that you have figured out the "buzz ROI" and prefer a stiff cocktail (believe us, our drinking days did not start with wine either), but now - here we are, part of the Boomer generation - and thought we'd share a few thoughts on the benefits of aging.

Why it's good to be a Boomer

• We taste wines in class but don’t do presos or tests (Jim)
• We don’t have to worry about our teenagers getting into our wine stash anymore (Wanda)
• We don’t drink and drive because we hardly ever go out anymore (Wanda)
• Can remember the legendary 1961 Bordeaux vintage on the vine (Jim)
• Still #1 demographic in wine industry! (Jim)
• We’re too tired at night to do anything BUT drink wine (Katie)
• Now that we’re done paying college tuitions, we can afford good wine (Katie)
• It's more fun to be a “wine native” than a “digital native”! (Katie)

OK, Now that we've gotten that out of the way - we thought we'd share some of our hard-earned wine knowledge with you, based on years (for some of us MORE than others) of experience and training.
In the category of "Everyday Wines" the winners are:

• Lioco Chardonnay (unoaked), $22.99/bottle (Katie)
• Argentine Malbecs - bold, fruity, and cheap (i.e., slutty!) for what you get - of course, this would be Jim's pick! 

In the category of "Special Occasion" Wines we propose:

• Harlan Estates Cabernet (Katie)
• Richebourg – 2011 Mongeard-Mugneret great & not crazy expensive (~$300) (Jim)
• Donum Russian River Reserve Pinot Noir (Wanda)

In the "Unique/Interesting" category, we suggest:

• Chilean Carmenere - varietal "lost" for 100 years & rediscovered (Jim)
• Las Jaras 2017 Sparkling Wine, Old Vines Carignan, Mendocino County, YUM!! (Katie)
  

We also discussed wine experiences that we have loved and this was (oddly enough) one category where we were all in agreement: 

1. Taking GSBGEN 356 Dynamics of Global Wine Industry! (Note:  since we are not getting credit or a grade this is not gratuitous brown-nosing!)
2. A distant second... Spending 2 weeks in Sarteano Tuscany eating amazing food and drinking fantastic wines.  If you get a chance to visit and try the following, DO IT!  Nostra Vita or Le Chiuse vineyards Brunellos are fabulous and the locations idyllic!

If you have any time over Spring Break and want to continue your wine education with a good read or two, we'd recommend:

• Cork Dork, Bianca Bosker - Wide-ranging and informative, well-written, gives you the sense of the commitment it takes to be really good at tasting wine!
• The Wine Lover's Daughter, Anne Fadiman - Memoir about her father, Clifton Fadiman, who was a critic and bon vivant.  Beautifully written and delves into differences in taste.
• In Vino Duplicitas, Peter Hellman - A fascinating true story about a famous wine forgery that ensnared the Koch Brothers and many in Hollywood.  Also in movie form as "Sour Grapes."

Enjoy your spring break and let us know if we can help with your wine "research" in the future!
Cheers,

Katie, Jim and Wanda