Comments on: A vintner’s plea: Buy local, please

By: Randy

Randy — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:05:46 +0000

“You say you knew all the CA producers make wines with notoriously high alcs yet you do not name the brands. Yet, it does not really matter which producer it is, from Siduri or Williams Selyem to Kosta Browne, etc, etc, they make wines with varying alcohols, many of which are under 14.0.”

Charlie,

With the possible exception of WS, name one wine any of those guys make under 14%? Seriously. Give me a break. Most of these guys are picking raisins. I swear I am not “Ronnie” either. She must be just another fluke in the wine world asking for wines with balance and not such ripe flavors.

By: ysabet

ysabet — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:15:38 +0000

I tend to buy local wines – which in my case means the Queensland Granite Belt, in Australia. I occasionally buy wines made elsewhere in the country. I very, very rarely buy wines made in other countries – I do so mostly to learn new styles and types of wine that aren’t otherwise available easily.

It is challenging to buy locally. Very few of the local winemakers have bottles available in restaurants, bottle shops, or in locations not the cellar door (around 4hrs drive away for most). I tend to buy once or twice a year, in large quantities, and when I run out, that’s it until next year. This presents some rather obvious limitations, which is why I also buy other Australian wines as necessary.

Imports are a very rare thing. Perhaps one or two bottles a year will be from overseas (I even tend not to buy NZ Sauvignon Blancs).

That said – not everyone is even aware that truly local wine exists, not that I blame them. My local makes up a very small percentage of the country’s output of wine, and when it’s hard to get to or find, then it doesn’t often get found. It’s a pity.

By: steve

steve — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 01:55:13 +0000

Gretchen, the pleasure was all mine!

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:06:21 +0000

I certainly appreciate the problem that Longboard Vineyards is experiencing. It is considerably worse for wineries in non-traditional regions. For every restaurant that I have been to in Chicago that focuses on sourcing local ingredients, I can count on one hand the number that extend that belief to their wine list.

I find it disappointing that local in reference to wine carries the stigma of “bad” automatically. There are 37 wineries within a 100 miles of Chicago. Some are bad, some are good and some are great. A situation that I think occurs all over the world. One thing is for certain, they will never improve without experience and feedback from the public who needs to get over its belief that wine is a product that comes from somewhere else. It is all around us and it is time for us to start exploring it.

By the way, I enjoyed meeting you and chatting over dinner last week.

By: Sherman

Sherman — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:37:48 +0000

Just like “All politics is local,” all wine is local — I’m a wine enthusiast (no implied ass kissing to Steve’s employer!;) and enjoy learning about all the wines that the world has to offer by tasting them when I can.

I might emphasize an area if it’s local to me, but I’m a citizen of the wine world and want to experience all that I can. I want more choices and more options, not less — let the consumer vote with their dollars and the best wines will flourish.