The Winestream Media still doesn't understand regional wine

How far has regional come in the past couple of years? So far that it’s sometimes difficult even for those of us who believe in local wine to believe. Case in point: The wine list at Dallas’ highly-regarded Pyramid Room has all of the usual Napa heavy hitters. But what’s on the same page on the list with the Peter Michael Les Pavots, about as heavy a hitter as they come? Two Texas wines – a Becker cabernet sauvignon and a red blend from Llano Estacado. Five years ago, that would have been unthinkable.

What’s even more amazing is that local wine has made such progress with almost no help from the Winestream Media. Yes, there has been an occasional story or blog post, but the prevailing attitude is still that there are many, many more things more important. More, after the jump:

Like regional spirits, believe it or not. Shanken News Daily, an e-news service from the company that owns the Wine Spectator, carried a story last week trumpeting the success of Colorado’s Breckenridge Distillery, which makes locally-sourced bourbon and vodka. Guess how many bottles Breckenridge makes a year? About 120,000 – or the same amount as any medium-sized regional winery, which Shanken rarely writes about.

This is not to knock Breckenridge’s product, which I’ve had and is well done (if pricey). Rather, it’s to note that the future success of regional wine will come without much help from the Winestream Media, which still doesn’t understand what’s going on. For every piece like Saveur’s recent spread on Texas wine, there is lots and lots of overlooking from the Shaken’s of the world.

Of course, now that we’ve gotten this far without their help, maybe we don’t need it. There’s an intriguing thought, no?

A quick note: We’re going to have a flurry of announcements from DrinkLocalWine, starting this week, and the organization’s future has never looked better.

Comments

[Alfonso]

Shanken, not stirred?

you are on a tear these days...