Zachary Geballe - All Comments

RE: The New Age of Cider: Tradition Meets Innovation

Josh Klatt — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 18:43:33 GMT

Zach thank you for this article! I posted in the forum a couple months ago my assertion that “cider is wine”. It’s a relief to know there are experienced pros taking this deserving beverage seriously.

https://www.guildsomm.com/4cb697f52c/discussion_forums/f/general-discussion/19824/cider-is-wine-or-is-it

As I mention in the post, one of the factors limiting the ascendancy of cider is categorical rejection among knowledgeable wine professionals that actively disparage and devalue cider as an inferior beverage. (Heck, some of us might even co-host a podcast with that guy ;) Consumers take cues from sources they perceive as authoritative, which makes your article here so important. If Guildsomm and Zach Geballe take cider seriously, other “serious” wine drinkers have permission to do so as well.

Are you sure that cider may be produced from frozen juice or concentrate? Has this ever been an acceptable practice in grape wine? I personally think this is the kind of process-creep that harms the category and should not receive consideration. It’s important to note that it happens, but does it deserve billing in your article as one of the 3 ways to make cider?

RE: Reviving Old Vine Zinfandel

Shannon Mansfield — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:43:42 GMT

Excellent article. I live in Paso where we have some wonderful Zins, but I have to say, my favorite Old Vine Zins are in Lodi.

RE: Reviving Old Vine Zinfandel

David Schlesinger — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 18:32:37 GMT

Let us not forget Southern California where Zinfandel got its start. The Lopez vineyard in, I think Redlands, still provides Zinfandel grapes for some of Carol Shelton's Zins.

RE: Reviving Old Vine Zinfandel

Gray Randolph — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 14:12:50 GMT

I enjoyed this Zachary. Thank you.

RE: Five Keys to the Grower-Winemaker Relationship

Zachary Geballe — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 17:06:28 GMT

Some additional thoughts that occurred to me as I was interviewing people for this piece and doing some general research:

- There's been a shift to grape-focused agriculture companies throughout the West Coast. Tom Gamble and his family's operation are a great example of this, where they pivoted from a range of agricultural and pastoral pursuits to focus on just grapes in the 1970s. As Tom told me, in his lifetime he's seen Napa Valley transition from a place of mixed agriculture to a valley almost entirely focused on viticulture. That means that in many cases, with many plots of land, there simply isn't a huge accumulation of lived experience with grape growing, so more experimentation and measurement is necessary to close that knowledge gap.

- It's also created a fascinating (to me, at least) conversation about how vineyard owners and managers make decisions about which varieties and clones to plant. In earlier decades, choices were often extremely limited, and much less was known about how to match clones and specific regions or sites. This is evident with Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley, Riesling in Washington, and many other examples. Figuring out these awkward matches and rectifying them is one of the great projects for West Coast viticulture over the next few decades, even if it's much less sexy than planting a new vineyard.

- There's something more to be said about the explosion of vineyard-designate wine in the broader wine world, especially in newer regions. It's a mixed bag to be sure, but I do think it's something that buyers and sommeliers need to be attuned to: when someone brings you a wine from a single vineyard you've never heard of, do some research and ask some questions.