Reflections and thoughts about the coming year in wine

Reflections and thoughts on the wine world. . .
It has been an exciting and truly memorable year for me here at the restaurant. Standing behind my bar, I have seen a lot of familiar faces and have noticed quite a few new ones as well. Your continued support for what we are passionate about here at niche is appreciated I want to thank you personally.
The past year has been quite exciting for wine and continues to change and evolve with the restaurant. One good thing to come from our economy is that several wines we love but could never imagine being able to pour by the glass, have lowered their market prices. This allows us to pass along unique opportunities to try some really special pours on our “Wines by the Glass” list. Whether the winemakers realize it or not this is a good thing for the industry. In my personal opinion there were too many wineries (mmmhm Napa Valley) out there taking advantage of people. I think we are getting to a point where there are so many great wines at an affordable price that many of the big houses are going to have to lower there prices to stay competitive.
It’s exciting for me to see the growth of wine knowledge among the general public is getting more sophisticated every day. As I search out and pour our wines, I see that our guests are learning constantly and have begun to order more highly allocated boutique wines instead of the namesakes that have been taking advantage of people for the past decade (mmmhm Silver Oak). Here are my favorite wines for the year:

1. 2006 Charles Smith “Royal City” Syrah, Washington State
2. 2004 Palmaz Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
3. 2004 Turley Charbono, Tofanelli Vineyard
4. Williams Selyem Late Harvest Gewurtztraminer, Vista Verde Vineyard
5. 2006 Charles Smith “Motor City Kitty” Syrah, Walla Walla Washington

Based on recent events in the wine world I feel confident in saying that Washington state wine is here to stay. As the Washington wineries continue to get better at what they do for more reasonable prices, California will be forced to compete with their neighbors to the north.
The industry has seen so many great Washington wine houses popularity emerge this year like Charles Smith, Cayuse, and Betz. Charles Smith, my personal favorite, was named winemaker of the year and his Royal City Syrah received 100pts by the Wine Enthusiast Magazine and was ranked the number two for Wine of the Year. Compare that to the once omnipotent Silver Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon as their wines have taken a beating with numbers in the 80 pts. It is clear that the old guard won’t be able to rely on high prices and name recognition any longer. Great wines are crafted to be drunk not just talked about. The American wine drinking public are finally beginning to understand that you don’t have to rely on name recognition to find great wines.
As we close out the year I sat down and jotted a few predictions for the coming year:

1. Washington wines will continue to develop and put pressure on the other wine producing states.
2. More people will venture away from drinking big fat cab’s all the time and start drinking more Syrah.
3. Wine prices in both market and retail will continue to decline.
4. Brad Pitt and Angelina will break up.
5. The economy will slowly crawl out of the gutter.

Thank you again for an exciting year and I look forward to see you in my bar soon. . .Vince

Tags: charles smith winery, k vintners, motor city kitty, palmaz, turley charbono, walla walla, washington state wines, williams winery