Random thoughts on a busy Monday morning . . .
You can read my take on the controversy surrounding Petroni Vineyard’s use of the term “Brunello di Sonoma” for its spendy ($65) Poggio alla Pietra, a Sangiovese produced at Lorenzo Petroni’s Sonoma Estate, over at “The Dish” at WhitleyOnWine.com.
The Consorzio di Brunello di Montalcino isn’t very happy about having its good name applied to a California wine. Can’t say as I blame the folks of Montalcino . . .
Maybe it’s my imagination, but it seems to me Champagne prices are coming down a bit. They had zoomed out of sight as the dollar continued to sink against the euro, but I’ve been seeing some very decent non-vintage brut Champagne recently for less than $30 a bottle, which had become something of a rarity.
Could be the very savvy large Champagne houses are willing to take smaller margins to protect their share of the U.S. market.
Come to think of it, shouldn’t the top U.S. bubbly producers — such as Schramsberg, Mumm Napa, Domaine Carneros, Roederer Estate, Argyle, J, etc. — be moving in on the U.S. Champagne consumer with strong marketing campaigns designed to finally wrest away a big chunk of the market for domestic sparkling wine?
The quality has been there for some time, but not the buzz. Just a thought.
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