April 2010
My god how fast tax season came this year. Seems the tax man beat the buds popping on the vines this year. We have much going on here at Bialla Vineyards. Our assistant Winemaker Nicholas Hammond is really adding much value to our team. He is one of those multi-talented Chippendale types who can do it all. You'll see him pouring at multiple events this year. Better to hear about the wine from someone who actually makes it.
The events that are coming shortly are:
April 10 and 11, San Francisco Vintners Market, a tasting of over 200 boutique wineries, including Bialla Vineyards. Please email Dick@biallavineyards.com for a few extra tickets, supply limited first come - first serve. It's at the Fort Mason Center from noon to 5 pm both days. You can check it out online at www.sfvintnersmarket.com.
May 1, Save Angel Island Wine Festival, noon to 3:30 pm; this charity wine tasting will help save our island; please visit online at vinomoda.com/event/calendar/angel-island-wine-festival/. They expect over 2000 people and it should be a blast.
May 15, Tiburon Wine Festival, 1 to 4 pm at the Pt. Tiburon Plaza on the waterfront in downtown Tiburon, right across the street from the ferry dock, so it's easy to get there from the City. This is my personal favorite and is really really fun. Make sure you get tickets for the Tiburon wine festival now because it sells out FAST.
Napa Valley Vintners Wine Auction, June 3-6, 2010. Bialla Vineyards is participating for the first time, offering a very elegant dinner. If you're attending the Auction, please look for Bialla! Visit online at www.napavintners.com. The theme is Focusing on Her. For high rollers who have spent too much on wine lately and need to get out of the dog house, this is the dinner you want to bid on. Napa Valley Wine Auction raises many millions all for charity. You'll be a double hero.
How is our wine coming along?
Our '08 is stunning and the hand destemmed '09 is exceeding all expectations. Barrel tasting is a real privilege and the wine tastes differrent every week, what a miracle. Imagine the world without wine - not a pleasant thought.
Tired of bad news and economic depression? Well, guess what?
According to our indicators the economy is rebounding and the worst is over. Switzerland is out of recession, Brazil is booming and the demand for wine like ours is extreme.
Our biggest customer in Sweden can't keep our wine in stock and we have achieved cult status. The recent article in Livets Goda ( The Good Life ) wrote us up and they sell out of our wine as fast as we can ship it; here's what Sweden's top wine judge, Michel Jamais, has to say about us: "In August, 2009, when I conducted a vertical tasting of every vintage of Bialla Cabernet Sauvignon -- the 2003, '04, '05, and '06; as well as the '07 from the barrel -- it was obvious that the wine's quality has increased with every vintage. And that the wine has aging potential and will benefit from cellaring. Before Christmas 2009 I received an email from Vito Bialla, who was sorry that he had to increase the price. It felt like, for me, raising the price was a modest and obvious thing to do, because this wine is far better than many wines that cost more." -- Michel Jamais
Asia is also red hot and again demand is huge.
Here at home let me give you a mini overview of the Napa Cabernet, Market. There are two types of wines now the $ 60 to $ 90 dollars brands all famous names we know, and the above $100 wines those we also know.
The former is in a price war and what maybe sold for $90 can be found for $40 in some cases depending on where you look. The slightest bit of inventory back-up with some of those wineries and all hell breaks loose. We think this is the new medium to lower price wine category. Not our game, not our interest.
The latter is the $100 and more Cab and these wines are consumed by customers who drink what they want when they want and it makes little difference to them if they pay $100 or $200, its about what they like.
The wineries in this market are also financially stable. We built our business model in such a way that we only need to sell a very little amount to do well. The rest of our (and your) inventory gets better each day and increases in value. There are no short term decisions we need to make, we have no debt or financial pressure. This allows us to focus on one thing: make great wine.
Dick, our GM, and I are having arguments again. I want to hold back inventory and he wants to take care of demand. Ok, on that note we have some '07 left and you can buy it here at www.biallavineyards.com/store
One argument I did win is we decided to spare you from social media such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Linked In, Craig's List, Yelp, Google gmail, YouTube, Vimeo, Ning, Orkut, Vamoo, Amazon, eBay,and Digg... you are most welcome.
Thanks for listening, thanks for sharing our passion.
Vito, Linda and Dick