Lighter California wines go mainstream

California wine is undergoing a shift from heavy hitters to lighter, lower alcohol wines. You know this because you are by definition the kind of person who reads about wine. The question has always been, how much does the rest of America know, care or support the new quest for balance?

Here's your answer: there's a story in this month's Hemispheres magazine titled "A Little Bit Softer Now: Northern California winemakers tone down their approach."

Here's the first paragraph, which is fully 20% of the story, so hopefully this is still fair use:

DRIVE DOWN THE BYWAYS of the Napa and Sonoma valleys at the right time of year, and you’ll pass vines heavy with glistening grapes just waiting to be turned into the big, tannic, high-alcohol wines—generally cabernets and zinfandels—that have made the region famous. These days, though, you’re also liable to spot a few vines that have been stripped of fruit early. These point up a new movement afoot in Northern California— a burgeoning faction of vintners interested in making more balanced vintages (read: less jammy, sun-ripened and strong).

Hemispheres, the inflight magazine for United Airlines, is about the most mainstream media that an inteligent wine story can be published in.


You'd be surprised how many people read it; I think they claim 2 million circulation, and I wouldn't doubt it. I have written for Hemispheres, and people I hadn't heard from in years would tell me, "I saw your story on the plane."

Some airline magazines barely write about food and wine at all, concentrating on stories about business, because those are the fliers that matter to them. Hemispheres is more general-audience focused, but it's not a food-and-wine specialty magazine. It doesn't run stupid stories, but it's not exactly cutting-edge either.

The writer, a Brooklyn-based general feature writer named Michael Kaplan, interviews Jamie Kutch, Kathleen Inman and Chris Howell of Cain Vineyards.

Here's a half-paragraph about Kutch:

Asked to describe what he likes about his new, lighter, less oaky vintages, Kutch says they’re cleaner and more precise. They’re probably also easier to sell. Well-structured wines like these have been experiencing a renaissance among restaurateurs and wine buyers, who find that they pair well with a vast array of foods rather than just the traditional charbroiled slab of rib-eye.

Granted, this is not news to us. But the fact that this kind of story is in Hemispheres, well, that's bigger news than you think.

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