New video: Lise Asimont, vineyard consultant

For my latest Intoxicating Conversation, I wanted to know about the state of vineyard labor in Sonoma and Napa Counties. So I asked someone who knows that topic very well: independent vineyard consultant Lise Asimont. And she didn't disappoint: she called around to vineyard managers around the state to prepare herself for the conversation.

Asimont, as you will see, is very impressive. She gives a frank rundown of many of the current issues with farm labor, including the closing of the US Embassy in Mexico for interviews for new workers, and how it would be for out-of-work restaurant staffers to transition to working in vineyards. But vineyard owners have to do the work now because the vines won't wait.

"Just because we have a pandemic doesn't mean that nature has stopped," she says.

Lise talks fast because she has a lot to say. She talks about how vineyards will have to consider more mechanization, but not necessarily for harvesting, and how her neighbors in Healdsburg give her dirty looks sometimes when they see her getting in her car to go out every morning. Presumably they just cannot imagine this woman running around vineyards getting her hands dirty.

Perhaps my favorite part of the conversation is when she tells me a story I hadn't heard before, about how the daughter of two physician parents -- her mother is a groundbreaking physician from the Philippines, and she is a first-generation American -- became a vineyard savant. You might be surprised (I was) when you find out how her parents reacted when she informed them she wasn't going to medical school.

It wouldn't be a conversation with Lise Asimont if she didn't pack 45 minutes of information into 30 minutes. Check it out!

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New video: Jason Haas, general manager of Tablas Creek, on the art and commerce of blending

For producers of Rhone-style wines, blending is one of the most important things they do. Tablas Creek, one of the foremost producers of Rhone wines in the US (it's co-owned by the owners of France's Château de Beaucastel), has 15 different Rhone grapes planted. How do they decide which grapes go into which wines?

Jason Haas, Tablas Creek general manager, explains that it's not just a decision about what makes the most delicious wine. When you only have 3 barrels of Clairette, what's the best way to use it -- in the high-end blend, or as a single-variety wine to sell to the wine club?

Jason is extremely frank in this discussion, as befits a man who not only runs one of the best wineries in Paso Robles, but is also one of the best wine-industry bloggers. (Here's the Tablas Creek blog if you want to check it out.) I learned some things, and no matter what your level of wine knowledge, you might learn something too. For example, did you know that Syrah is a bully?

I have one big regret about this conversation, and that's that Jason was holding out on me.

Life under quarantine... a timely Zoom chat about blending at @TablasCreek with @wblakegray this afternoon. Sadie was there to provide moral support. pic.twitter.com/0iGjW5I5Kv

— Jason Haas (@jasonchaas) April 3, 2020

Sadie was apparently there the whole time, but you'll have to look really sharp if you want to see her brief foray into the background. We're not using Zoom backgrounds: That's really my living room, and that's really Jason's back yard. But we don't have enough Sadie. Everybody needs more Sadie.

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New video: Winegrower Chad Melville

I could say, "in the latest Intoxicating Conversation with W. Blake Gray," but in fact this is the first one I recorded, last month.

Chad Melville, head winegrower at Melville Winery in the well-regarded Pinot Noir appellation Sta. Rita Hills, joins me to talk about why it's essential for wineries and vineyards to stay open, even during a pandemic.

Chad gives us an extremely practical lesson in planting grapevines, whether on their own roots (which he does, even though the dreaded vine killer phylloxera is present in Santa Barbara County) or on American rootstock.

We also learn about what happens if you leave a wine on the lees while the lees get stinky.

Because it's the first video recorded, I haven't learned to smile yet (arguably I still haven't.) But we did have the advantage of recording a prior take on which the video cut out because Chad tried to take the computer outside to show the rootstock. This is the only one of these videos where I have done a second take. It worked out for the best; we were both less nervous on this one. On the first one, we were talking too fast, talking over each other ... but on this one, we look like Zoom professionals. Right? (Don't answer that.)

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New video: Wine PR professional Katherine Jarvis

These are tricky times for people in the marketing and publicity business. Wineries gotta sell wine, and publicists are part of the ecosystem of selling wine. But, how can they strike the right tone in reaching out to media and the general public during a pandemic?

Today Katherine Jarvis, owner of Jarvis Communications in Los Angeles, joins me for an Intoxicating Conversation with W. Blake Gray.

Katherine and I talk not just about publicity during the pandemic, but how the world of wine PR works, both from her side and from mine.

One thing I have learned while writing about wine is that, while for some people wine PR is a step on a ladder, the dedicated professionals are wine lovers first; it's why they do it.

I gotta confess I'm releasing this video into the world with a little trepidation, because there are a number of really excellent wine PR people I could have asked to do it. Now I understand a little about how Katherine must feel when she has a story to pitch: how can I play favorites?

Katherine told me after the video that she had never heard her own voice recorded before. She has always been behind the scenes. I hadn't even considered that. Me, I'm a Z-list at best celebrity, but I have been on radio dozens of times and I've been on TV in four countries.

Funny story that we don't talk about in the video: NHK, Japan's national broadcaster, sent a limo for me once to come to the studio in Harajuku, Tokyo, to talk about Christmas in America, in Japanese of course. Well, I can do that, I thought. I was all ready to talk about Christmas lights and baking cookies and presents under the tree, etc. Then the red light went on -- we were live -- and the host said, "We have here Blake Gray who is an expert on Christmas in New York, and he's going to talk about the preparations going on in New York right now." I have never been to New York for Christmas! And Japanese is not my first language. I don't remember what I said -- Macy's window, Times Square, homeless people with a coating of gray snow, I really don't remember -- but somehow I got through it. Hopefully I didn't do that to Katherine. But you be the judge.

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And stay healthy.

New video: Schramsberg's Hugh Davies

Schramsberg Vineyards President Hugh Davies joins me for an Intoxicating Conversation with W. Blake Gray, and this time it's literally true because we have two bottles open.

Schramsberg has a track record as the best U.S. producer of top-quality sparkling wine; I have been a fan for years.

The story of Hugh's parents Jack and Jamie Davies is very much the story of modern Napa Valley: they bought an abandoned winery on Diamond Mountain in the 1960s to make premium sparkling wine, and eventually discovered that while their land is special terroir, it's not great for sparkling wine grapes.

Among other things, Hugh and I talk about drinking, and selling, sparkling wine during a pandemic. We compare glassware and talk about how California has a flavor profile for sparkling wine that might be more approachable for many American drinkers than that of Champagne. I am not knocking Champagne; my wife and I just opened a bottle of that earlier this week. But U.S. sparkling wine has its own unique charms.

There's no blooper reel for these Intoxicating Conversations so here's a blooper confession. These conversations are unedited: we just power through whatever happens. In part this is because I am not a power user of the technology. When Hugh and I started the meeting, I couldn't hear him. He could hear me, but I couldn't hear him at all. He found a younger person at the winery (always a good idea when you have a technology problem) and she fiddled with many things on the computer, but still I couldn't hear.

Then I realized I had the volume on my own computer off. Ooops! The woman gave me a look like Billie Eilish at the Oscars. Well, no harm done, and Hugh and I had our conversation.

If you're interested in the wines we enjoy during the conversation, it's Schramsberg J Schram Brut 2010 (buy it here) and J. Davies Diamond Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (buy it here).

I hope you are enjoying these conversations. More are on the way!

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New video: Rob McMillan talks about the future of the wine industry

In the latest edition of Intoxicating Conversation with W. Blake Gray, I welcome Rob McMillan, one of the leading experts on the business of wine, to talk about how the wine industry is and will be affected by the pandemic.

Rob is Executive Vice President of Silicon Valley Bank's Wine Division, and he is well known for his annual State of the Wine Industry presentations.

So much has changed since he gave his last presentation in January that I thought it was time for an update.

Rob and I talk about the trends we see already, such as wine shipments and certain types of retail sales being up, as well as the impact of the disastrous situation for restaurants. We also talk about the availability of labor, and whether many wineries will be sale when this pandemic finally eases.

I was hoping for these completely unedited conversations to be roughly 25 minutes; that's the email I'm sending to potential guests. I wasn't watching the clock so I have to give Rob the credit: precisely 25 minutes. That's the kind of precision one expects from Rob McMillan. And good conversation too.

I have more of these conversations recorded so you might want to subscribe to my Youtube channel.

Take it away, Rob! Your background is nicer than mine. (That probably is true on multiple levels.)

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Thank You Heitz, you are so generous! Please don't call me anymore

Many companies are stepping up to help their community during this pandemic. Some are doing it quietly.

Not Heitz Cellar. Its PR firm called me at 6:30 am on Wednesday after I said I wasn't interested in giving it publicity for its charity.

Well, you win, Heitz. How can I resist the entreaties of a company generous enough to not fire anyone in the FIRST TWO DAYS of Napa County's lockdown. Heitz is still open for business on the Internet, selling wines at $250 a bottle. But the company wants praise for not canning its tasting room staff at the first opportunity. 

Thank you, Heitz! Thank you for not firing anybody this week! You're so great!

Let me back up a bit and tell you how this started.

Like everyone on the planet, I have been deluged by emails lately from businesses telling me about the steps they're taking about the pandemic. Nearly all are worthless corporate speak and I'm not responding to them.

Heitz's email of Mar. 20 was arrogant, but I ignored it like all the others. Let me post it here in its entirety, since that's what they want.