2012: Epic Year for California Wine!

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I was in Napa last week and posted an image of grapes still on the vine – phenomenal news for the California wine industry; the weather was just about perfect for grape growing. As illustrated in the images above, wineries were still harvesting grapes by the truckloads! Everywhere I went people were talking about this upcoming 2012 vintage. No joke that I heard the word ‘EPIC’ in reference to this vintage multiple times.

2012 is going to be the vintage to buy for California wine. Although the wine from this year won’t be available for a year or two, I want to spread the news early so that everyone can plan accordingly. My guess is that it will be similar to the infamous 2001 vintage, an historic vintage that I had a bottle of two weeks ago (a Cabernet from the Stag’s Leap district) which was probably one of my top 5 wines tasted – 12 full year’s later!

One last little tidbit – I heard that Europe had less-than-favorable weather for wine this year and that many crops were ruined as a result. If the rumors of an expected wine shortage are true for European wines, California wines will have potential to reach more palates and gain greater market share – another reason to keep your eyes peeled for the ’12 wines!

It’s going to be….epic!