One year of The Fizz—five things we learned from interviewing the American wine industry.
From climate change and ciders to diversity in the industry and non-grape based wines, here are 5 things I've learned from the last year in interviews.
Hello, subscribers! I can’t believe it’s already been one year of The Fizz. I started The Fizz in late December and published the first issue on January 1st of 2020 as a way to help me continue my wine education in the United States. So much of what we learn as wine industry folks centers on European wine—French and Italian seem to lead wine conversations. I was yearning for more information around American wine, from California to Texas to Virginia, and I wanted that information from the source—folks on the ground making wine in our local states.
What started as a way to to get more technical information around winemaking, climate change, etc, turned into an incredibly intimate way to connect with folks in our industry and hear their stories, understand how they came to where they are today, and find out more intricate details about how they make their winemaking decisions. It turned into something more human than information gathering, and I’m so happy to have worked with you all to build something so special to me.
Five things I’ve learned from a year of weekly wine industry interviews:
Climate change is impacting the way winemakers think about their future.
You really can’t talk about wine without talking about climate change today. Winemakers depend on a stable climate in order to plan how to treat their vines, what to plant and grow, when to harvest, whether or not to irrigate, how to deal with pests, you name it. With warming temperatures and changing wildfire and flood patterns, winemakers are having trouble planning ahead, and more and more often, are seeing climate consequences. Fires and smoke are hurting vines and grapes, rising temperatures are adding stress to vines, and water shortages are making raising new vines more difficult.
Winemakers are having to adapt to changing conditions by planting new varieties, experimenting with new styles of winemaking or expanding into amaros, shifting to using different fruits, etc.
“I did end up with a lot of juice that couldn’t be usable as wine. I went ahead and got my distillation license and sent it out to get distilled into brandy. My assistant winemaker has a diverse background, including working in distillation. We’ve been putting our heads together around some ideas, and I think there will be several things we can make out of that distillate.” - Brianne Day, winemaker at Day Wines
The landscape of non-grape wines is expanding.
From flower based wines to blueberry wines and mixed fruit ciders, there’s a huge world out there of non-grape based wine. Climate change is pushing some winemakers to look to other fruits, while other makers have an eye on past traditions. The culture around winemaking is starting to loosen up and let makers experimenting with different types of product in—I’m grateful for that, and excited to see the creativity and experimentation here.
“Flower wine history dates back to Egypt and Greece and Rome, where like grape winemakers actually added herbs, like lavender to their wines to enhance the vitality. The oldest flower wines that have been recorded have been found in China and Korea with chrysanthemum wine. There’s wine from China made with honeysuckle and peach and azalea blossoms that I'd love to get my hands on. They've been around, but you have to dig through history and find them.” - Aaliyah Nitoto, winemaker at Free Range Flower Winery
Cider makers are focusing on local cider varieties, with many turning to foraging.
Cider is having a moment. Specifically, cidermakers are starting to focus more on local varieties and wild apple foraging for their product. Most of America’s cider is made is from cultivated apples grown at scale, then shipped to the cidery for production. Today, many local cidermakers are turning away from that model, instead trying to find a way to express their local terroir through apples. Makers are finding abandoned cider trees, wild apple trees, and working with local growers who focus on cider apple varieties—not just your common Macintosh. This is a beautiful way for folks to introduce diversity of fruit into their products, develop relationships with local growers, and give themselves more ability to work sustainably.
“Cornell University is actually doing a lot of research on this, but using wild fruit, by the process of the trees even still being alive, they have longevity to them. There might be ways to think about fruit that is more disease intolerant or doesn’t succumb to pest pressure in the same way, or might even do better in hotter temperatures, vs working with these really old classic varieties of apples coming from the U.K. and France, bringing them to the U.S. and saying “this is what made good ciders over there, so this is what we’ll plant here”. People are planting Kingston Black in Sonoma County and saying “this isn’t working in the same way as a Wickson does”, which is a tree that was bred here in California. Those trees might not grow well if the planet continues to warm.” - Olivia Maki, owner of Redfield Cider
Diversity in the wine industry is a crucial element of its survival and growth.
Nearly every person of color I’ve spoken to for The Fizz has spoken about the difficulties they have faced in the wine industry. Having an industry that celebrates our uniqueness, acknowledges and lifts up the historical and modern contributions of POC our industry, and gives back both financially and structurally to create an equal footing for all people is critical for our growth, survival, and joy. There are many ways for everyone in the alcohol space to open doors and give back, and there are some incredible leaders in wine working tirelessly to pave the way.
“Not everybody has 3 grand for a ton of grapes, and a place where to process. If some of these bigger wineries and houses really believe in diversity and inclusion, they should be setting aside money and time, bringing people in, teaching them, making sure those people are actually doing well in those spaces, making sure they’re safe spaces, that there’s an external person there who can check in on them. I think it’s going to happen soon, but I wish it would have happened sooner.” - Christopher Renfro, founder of The Two Eighty Project
East Coast vineyards are where we’ll find the next wave of American wine.
When folks think of American wine, they often think California and Oregon, and that’s where it stops. It’s exciting to see the incredible depth of wine coming out of the East Coast, in places like Vermont, New Hampshire, Maryland, Virginia, New York, etc. These areas are making thorough contributions to the wine industry through their use of hybrid grape varieties like Marquette, Frontenac, Cayuga, La Crescent, and others. By using these grape varieties and studying their responses to the changing climate, winemakers are essentially building the future of our American wine industry. In the next several years, we’re sure to see winemakers across the country planting these hardy grapes and experimenting with different styles.
“These varieties are special because they’re different. Now that hybrid wines are getting attention, it’s like they’re new, and there’s so much we can do with these varieties—the sky’s the limit. Oxidative style wines, rancio, sherry-style wines, sparkling wines. There’s so much opportunity. Growing grapes in Vermont is special within itself. The varieties, the land, the climate, when you put it together, it’s special. Each year you discover something new and it’s really exciting.” - Camila Carillo, winemaker at La Montañuela
We’ve raised $2000 for The St. Francis House.
Tallying up the numbers, with paid subscriptions and my subscription matches, we’ve raised $2000 for The St. Francis House in 2021. Thank you so much to everyone who is a paid subscriber, I really appreciate your support. Your money goes to this important non-profit, and helps me pay folks who I interview, who aren’t making money from wine sales.
It’s incredibly important for me to donate back to an organization like St. Francis House, which helps folks struggling with alcohol addiction. As folks who benefit from alcohol sales and conversation about alcohol, it’s important for us to give back to organizations who help those struggling with addiction. Thank you so much for your support.
Finally, in the hopes of giving back even more next year, I’ll be taking advertising requests for The Fizz. If you’re a company interested in having a blurb at the end of each newsletter, please reach out to me at thefizzwine@gmail.com. Thank you so much for an incredible year, and I’ll see you next time!