…the tipping point is, or will even recognize it when it comes: Napa is very, well, Napa-centric, as perhaps it should be; but it does tend to see the world from within its own rarified bubble.
No, the tipping point will be installed upon Napa by that outside force, the free market. We'll know it has happened only when we begin to see prices start to plummet on the most expensive wines. I myself believe I'm already seeing that, but to accurately track it, one would need the services …
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…clones are rapidly producing Cabernets of high quality. It is simply wrong, in our Napa-centric society, to ignore Alexander Valley. This is not a slight to Napa Valley; it's an inclusive statement that says Alexander Valley has equal rights.
If anything, Alexander Valley Cabernet is more food-friendly (to coin a phrase). You don't usually get the sheer flash and power that, say, an Ovid, Screaming Eagle or Colgin offers. Instead, Alexander Valley Cabs are (dare …
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…Virginia's Swirl, Sip, Snark . Given the Napa-centric, industry-dominated focus of most of the finalists, the last two are huge surprises. Either is a deserving winner. And Grahm? They should just give him the best writing honor and then retire the award.
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…it's hard for me to do it, and all I do is taste California. So will you be more Napa-centric, or can you really spread the wealth around the whole state?
AG: Well, in 2011, I spent around 5 weeks in California. Spent ten days in the Central Coast. When I went to the Santa Lucia Highlands a couple of growers told me that I was the first person they knew to actually go and look at the vineyards with them. I thought they were probably just being very polite. It's hard for me …
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…open mind cannot fail to appreciate the sheer world-class-ness of wines like these. If someone does, they're just being ideological about it, like I think my friend was, for all those years. Fortunately, some people are wise, or blessed, enough to eventually see through their own ideologies and discard them, after which the scales fall from their eyes, enabling them to appreciate a whole new dimension of wines. My friend now is a certified Napa-centric. Welcome to the club!
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