Food & Wine USA - (04)April 2020

10 APRIL 2020

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LAST NOVEMBER, F&W convened an industry panel in Napa

Valley. The topic: What is the future of Napa Valley Cab-

ernet? I moderated the discussion; in attendance were 45

winemakers, winery owners, marketers, and journalists.

The quotes below give a glimpse of the far-ranging discus-

sion. For a more in-depth version, visit foodandwine.com/

napa-future.

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Whither Napa? Wine world pros

discuss the future of Napa wines.

By Ray Isle

NAPA BY THE NUMBERS

ON PRICES

“When Hess went into Pope

Valley in the late 1990s,

people thought, ‘Pope

Valley? There’s a tire shop.

You can’t even get a cup of

coffee.’ But it’s technically

part of Napa Valley, and now

Hess is producing 80,

cases of a $35 Napa Caber-

net from there.”

—NICOLE CARTER, MERRY

EDWARDS WINERY

“In 2007, Cabernet pricing

was half of what it is now.”

[In 2007, grapes were

$4,299 per ton.] —JOSH

PHELPS, GROUNDED

WINE CO.

ON TOURISM

“The thing that excites me

most about Napa Valley is

this light bulb that went on

years ago—we’re the

greatest commercial wine

tourist region in the world.

We bring people in. And they

keep coming back.” —CHRIS

HALL, LONG MEADOW

RANCH

ON WINE STYLE

“I felt for years like everybody

was chasing the same dollar

bill, the same style. I think

that’s shifting now, and I

find that really exciting.

—JILL MATTHIASSON,

MATTHIASSON WINES

ON PRODUCTION

“If you look at the numbers,

Napa Valley produces 4% of

the wine made in California.

Half the acres in Napa are

Cabernet, so that means

2% of the wine made in

California is Napa Valley

Cabernet.”

—JOHN SKUPNY, LANG &

REED NAPA VALLEY

ON CLIMATE CHANGE

“I’ve gotten a lot of s--- for

talking about the possibil-

ity of Napa Cabernet going

away due to climate change.

But don’t discredit yourself

and say, ‘Oh, we only need

to be making Cabernet

here.’ It’ll be a bump in the

road, sure, to convince

someone to pay $

for Napa Valley Touriga

Nacional, but if you’ve ever

had Barca Velha, you’ll pay

$450 for that wine—it’s one

of the greatest in the world.”

—DAN PETROSKI, LARK-

MEAD VINEYARDS

ON IDENTITY

“Regular wine drinkers in

the U.S., if you survey them,

50% recognize Napa. That

it’s only 50% should be

scary. But Sonoma is only

about 25%, and then it’s

daylight between there and

anywhere else.” —DAMIEN

WILSON, SONOMA STATE

UNIVERSITY

clockwise from top left: Jill Matthiasson, Matthiasson Wines;

John Skupny, Lang & Reed Napa Valley; Nicole Carter, Merry

Edwards Winery; Chris Hall, Long Meadow Ranch

34+

Number of grape

varieties planted in

Napa County

$8,

NAPA VALLEY

$3,

SONOMA COUNTY

$

LODI

Here’s a quick industry rule to calculate the price of a bottle of wine: Divide the

price of a ton of grapes by 100 (e.g. $7,500 per ton, $75 per bottle).

51

Percentage of grapes

planted that are

Cabernet Sauvignon

Average price for one ton of Cabernet (2019 HARVEST)

Number of wineries

in Napa Valley

1973: 30

1988: 180

2020: 475

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