Featured Instagram: Malibu Rocky Oaks Vineyard

One of the most beautiful locations in California with stunning views. Follow this Instagram if you love wine and love to dream.

Acres of happy Cab🍇🌞🍇

A photo posted by Malibu Rocky Oaks Vineyard™ (@maliburockyoaks) on Mar 27, 2016 at 7:23am PDT

Featured Instagram: Malibu Family Wines

Wow! One of our favorite places hidden in the hills of the Santa Monica mountains just North of Malibu off of Kanan Road. Malibu Family Wines Producers of Semler & Saddlerock Wines SnapChat & Twitter: @Malibufmlywines Find us: @malibuwines www.malibuwines.com

What cool winter afternoons are made of. #winewednesday #brrritscoldouthere #theremustbesometorosintheatmosphere #wine #berries #californiawinter photo:@thelillieyoung

A photo posted by Malibu Family Wines (@malibufamilywines) on Jan 27, 2016 at 7:15pm PST

The US Is the 4th Largest Wine Producer In the World and 39th In Per Capita Consumption

The US Is the 4th Largest Wine Producer In the World and 39th In Per Capita Consumption
By Steven Lay

I recently read an article by Michael Austin where he said the U.S. was not drinking anywhere near the wine per capita as compared to other countries. In fact the U.S. was ranked 39th worldwide; one spot behind Bulgaria. What makes this ranking interesting is that the U.S. is the 4th largest producer of wine in the world. A producer that is gaining on America is Argentina who rounds out the top 5 of largest world wine producers. Until 25 years ago most wine produced in Argentina was for local consumption. It is this point that explains the huge production of wine in the U.S. yet small per capita consumption figures-the U.S. is a big exporter of wine.

Rankings do not put a real face on what the actual data means to the lowly oenophile, so here are some numbers we can all relate with. "Americans drink three gallons of wine per year - a little over a bottle a month. The French drink 15.3 gallons a year, but they're not even the tops. That honor belongs to Luxembourg. Folks there drink 16 gallons. It doesn't make them better or worse than us. It just means that wine is more a part of their culture, and I can't imagine that ever being a bad thing. Let's catch up," say Michael Austin of the Chicago Tribune.

To add a little further perspective, I recently did some research on the wine industry of Argentina (5th largest producer of wine behind the U.S.) that has had a history of wine as far back as 1550. The acreage in all of Argentina still does not match the acreage in grapes in California where they have over 900,000 acres in vines.

I am not saying we need to launch an all out assault on winning the "world's per capita consumption of wine" contest, but it adds perspective to how important wine is to our culture and gastronomy. Even in Europe wine consumption has seen some decrease in consumption with some increases in beer and spirits, even abstaining from any alcohol has a slight rise in recent years. Some of this can be due to changes in tastes, wanting a new beverage, and a worldwide recession over the past decade.

To see if demand for wine has impacted production we can take a look at the most recent TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) data. That data also show some decrease in wine production--2015 versus 2014. Of course there are many factors that impact production: some of that decrease is related to demand, decrease in vineyards (in California) as vineyards convert to nut production, and there was a significant impact from the drought.

For the period January-November 2015, U.S. wine production was 652 million gallons, of that, approximately 95 million gallons was for export. This compares with the same period 2014 of 686 million gallons produced-a 5% decrease in production. Looking at only November, wine production 2015 versus 2014 experienced a drop of approximately 10%.

As an aside, there has been some discussion in the past few years about the increase in alcohol levels in wine. In fact, some of the conversation is negative about the alcohol in wines being above 16.0%. Current, TTB reporting shows the production of wine at the 14% plus alcohol level has decreased in 2015, after a very slight increase 2014 versus 2013.

Wine continues to be a topic that is judged subjectively and objectively. Yes, there have been some changes in how wine is produces over the past 100 years. Nonetheless, accounting for all the changes, the subject still conjures up romance, encourages entertainment, fosters critics, imparts a desire to explore, and there is an ebb and flow to how our culture responds to the beverage.

Steven S. Lay has been in the travel and corporate meetings business for 30 years and is now focused exclusively on small luxury corporate gatherings in Wine Country. More information about his company, Symtrek Partners, is available at: http://www.symtrekpartners.com

702-289-4167

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Steven_Lay/1185168
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-US-Is-the-4th-Largest-Wine-Producer-In-the-World-and-39th-In-Per-Capita-Consumption&id=9344763

So We Think We Know Our Wines - Let's Look At the Numbers Also

So We Think We Know Our Wines - Let's Look At the Numbers Also
By Steven Lay

Here is another theory about wine snobs: As more people begin enjoying wine they do not bring preordained perceptions of wine culture along with them. Further, it is a younger demographic who traditionally drink less expensive wines. Lastly, the current economy puts pressure on people keeping them from buying expensive wines, which limits bragging rights.

Let me start with two tangential stories to illustrate my point about the fleeting nature of wine snobbery. Then we will look at changes in wine consumption demographics; historic and evolving. The hypothesis is: the young are less oriented to snobbery.

Recently I read 2 articles that pointed out how even the best of wine journalist could not distinguish between varietal wines. This fact came to prominence when a winery owner in California poured identical wines, a fact unbeknown to the journalist, and the journalist could not tell the ruse had been played on them. None of the participants picked-up on this and did not successfully distinguish that the wines were identical. Talk about embarrassment. The author, Katie Kelly Bell was there and reported the findings in a way that did not seem to indicate any surprise.

The second article involved 600 mature participants who were professed oenophiles. The test was to determine if these wine buffs could distinguish between expensive wines and cheap wines. The results were equally profound. Jonah Lehrer noted, "The results should upset wine snobs everywhere: The 600 plus participants could only pick the more expensive wine 53 percent of the time, which is basically random chance. They actually performed below 'chance' when it came to picking red wines. Bordeaux fared the worst, with a significant majority - 61 percent - picking the cheap plonk (sic) as the more expensive selection."

From time to time we all have done these kind of blind tastings amongst friends in an attempt to distinguish varietals and cheap versus expensive wines. Even the Paris Tasting of 1976 proved that the real pro's in the wine world can 'come a cropper'. There are reasons, I believe, that this happens: Our olfactory, visual, and taste receptors are only part of the mechanisms that let us define the wines we like and enjoy. Our experiences throughout our wine consumption years dictates a great deal about how we respond to various wine tastes', and least we forget: temperatures of the wine, the setting (party, casual consumption, etc.), what we read in reviews/points, our memories and pairings.

In a study I participated in many years ago, there were over 100 external factors that were identified as impacting a wine drinker's preferences of wine. There were probably only 10-15 that were considered consequential. Others factors discussed were: education, income, demographics, exposure to ads, rural versus urban and race. Also, it was noted that likes and dislikes changed with age. Probably change is what keeps wine so interesting and fun to drink and share with others. It becomes a common bond.

Just so we don't lose sight of the importance of this discussion let's put the U.S. wine industry in perspective.

Let's start by talking about the relative populations that drives the increasing sales of wine.

We can start by country population (2010 est.) of the top countries consuming wine:

Total Populations (2010)

France 63.1 million

Italy 60.6 million

Spain 47.2 million

USA 311.0 million

Germany 82.0 million

Per Capita Wine Consumption (2010)

France 12.1 gallons

Italy 10.2 gallons

Spain 6.9 gallons

USA 2.5 gallons

Germany 6.5 gallons (not a big producer)

Note: Per capita is very misleading as relative size has a profound impact. The U.S. is the only country of the big four that has seen a rise in wine consumption-about 8% over the last 2 years.

Here is where interpreting the numbers gets interesting.

Of the major wine consuming countries, the U.S. is by far the largest population. But to get a real perspective one must understand the impact of the total population relative to viewing just the population of legal drinking age. This is further complicated when it is understood that European countries look upon drinking age differently. For example, in France there is no age limit to drink wine; however you must be 16 years old to buy wine. For discussion purposes let's assume the playing field is level for all.

What do the numbers look like relative to consumed wine in the U.S. versus the top four countries? First, the U.S. has replaced Spain as the 3rd largest consumer of wine in 2010. Now, the impact of a large population is realized. Conversely, it is apparent that Italy and France, 1/5th the gross population size of the U.S., does consume a great deal of wine. France consumed 938 million gallons; Italy consumed 824 million gallons; and the U.S. came in at 553 million gallons.

Total production (measured in metric tonnage), which includes exports for the top four producers, was: France-4.5 million tons; Italy-4.5 million tons; Spain-3.6 million tons; U.S.-2.2 million tons: and, the World at 26.3million tons. Depending on a specific year, Italy and France tend to trade places in the ranking; nonetheless the U.S. is a solid 4th place producing approximately 8% of the worlds wine.

The wine produced in the U.S. is valued at $560 million in 2000 and $1.146 billion in 2010; a whopping 105% increase. Of the top producers, the U.S. was the only country with an increase in consumption, which is attributed to more in the population trying wine.

Based on the U.S. Census Bureau's data for 2010 and thus estimated for 2011, of the 311 million population there are 215 million people between the age of 21 and 79 in the U.S. With consumption being 2.5 gallons of wine per capita and 30% of the population is below the drinking age, then one can assume wine consumption for the 21-80 age group is 3.25 gallons per drinking age adult in 2011. At this rate the U.S. will surpass France and Italy in wine consumption and maybe even production by 2013 or 2014.

Today approximately 20% of the population are wine drinkers (drinking wine at least once a week). In another slice of the age demographic, the 35-46 age group (64 million people, 61% of the 64 million

So, if we assume wine snobs come from experience and wealth then the new wine drinkers, living through this recession, will have spent a lot of time experiencing less expensive wines on less wealth. Also, more people are consuming wine at home which means more is consumed. A $10.99 bottle of wine is now the norm. It was recently reported, the average price of a bottle of wine, at a large wine chain, has gone down 18% over the last few years. It is hard to be a wine snob when a person pays $10 or less for wine. It is possible to find wine at $1.99, it's called "2 B!uck Chuck".

Cheers!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Steven_Lay/1185168
http://EzineArticles.com/?So-We-Think-We-Know-Our-Wines---Lets-Look-At-the-Numbers-Also&id=7172762

Featured Instagram: Blumenhof Winery

Blumenhof Winery is located on Highway 94 in the historic village of Dutzow, Missouri’s oldest German settlement, founded in 1834. Blumenhof, which in German means “Court of Flowers,” takes its name from the Blumenberg family’s ancestral farm in northwestern Germany. German heritage is also expressed in the Missouri winery’s architecture and in the warm friendly ambiance that invites visitors to “stop… and smell the Blumen.”

Spent the day cleaning up the #katytrail entrance to #blumenhof located 1/4 of a mile east of the #dutzow trailhead. #biking #mowine #drinklocal

A photo posted by Blumenhof Winery (@blumenhofwinery) on Sep 21, 2015 at 6:59pm PDT

Featured Instagram: Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio

Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio
Wine Tasting Room, Wine Bar and Outdoor Patio for Rosenthal Malibu Estate & Surfrider Wines
18741 Pacific Coast Hwy. Malibu, CA 90265
www.RosenthalEstateWines.com

It's Saturday! Why aren't you here? #rosenthalwines #winetasting #livemusic #saturdayvibes #wine #vino #malibu #malibubeach #santamonica #santamonicabeach #venicebeach #brentwood #westwood #bevhills #ucla #pepperdine #usc #shermanoaks #encino #woodlandhills #calilife #beachlife #rosenthalwinery

A photo posted by Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio (@rosenthalwines) on Mar 5, 2016 at 4:31pm PST