Wine Culture

Planning a trip to wine country takes some doing. There are decisions to make about what day to go, which valley to visit, which wineries to see and where to make your appointments, not to mention the wrangling required to figure out who’s going to drive and whose car gets donated for the occasion. On top of all this, one can easily overlook perhaps the day’s second most important decision: where to eat.

Charles Gill is the CEO of Winemetrics LLC , a company providing on-premise market intelligence to the wine and restaurant industries. Winemetrics recently released The 2007 On-Premise Wine Distribution Report , which summarizes varietal, brand and product distribution from of over 10,000 U.S. restaurant wine lists. This report is the source for the content referenced in the article below. Before revealing our brand ranking, it is important to realize how different the wine market is from other alcoholic beverages or consumer goods.

Living in Napa Valley these past six months has brought with it an ever-changing array of challenges and rewards. This month, amidst a monumental heat wave -- temperatures soaring emphatically and relentlessly into the 90s and 100s -- the air conditioning in my car went out. In this land of high-cost-of-living-induced microbudgets I found myself faced with the choice of either cocooning myself in clean, cool air or being able to afford the next couple thousand dollars' worth of certification courses.

Never was there a more screwed up, contorted, topsy-turvy mess in the wine world―at least in my opinion. It was called a white wine, but it really wasn’t. It came in a box (you could get it in bottles, too, but no one did) and that was just plain weird. The whole thing was a huge marketing success.

This article is Part Three in a series on Sicilian foods, wines, and culture. Part One of this series was a focus on Sicily as “The new darling of wine culture.” Part Two of this series was a focus on the young, dominating wine industry of the Etna DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) on east coast of Sicily, on and around Mount Etna. To fully experience the foods and wines of Sicily one might spend some time reflecting on the Mediterranean island’s history, its place on the World Map – at the point of three seas and various trade routes – or its harsh geography, and the fact it has been colonized by various civilizations for millennia who introduced and cultivated unfamiliar foods and traditions.

There is truly no better gig than working in a tasting room. It if were possible for me to afford the bloated Bay Area cost of living on those few ducats per hour – I’d make pouring wine a full-time profession. For the most part, everyone person you see or talk to is happy – either on vacation or taking a day of hedonistic pleasure. Your job? To enhance that pleasure and make sure every guest has a great experience at your winery.