In the modern era (i.e., 1965 onward), the history of California wine is a tale of single varietals. 1965 coincides with the founding of the Robert Mondavi winery, and Mondavi was obsessed with making wines from a single grape variety. His fixation was a reaction to the poor-quality jug wines of the time, which were labeled Chablis or Burgundy. Mondavi’s thinking still influences us today, as we sit down at a restaurant table and order a glass of Chardonnay or Pinot Noir.

When Murietta’s Well came along in the early 1990s, it was a curiosity. Flouting the conventional wisdom, the wines were mostly blends of four or five different grape varieties. I recently had the opportunity to taste the wines of Murietta’s Well after a lapse of several decades. While their identity was just as fuzzy as I remembered it to be, they were pleasant to drink and a true bargain in the current wine market.

In other news, the first anniversary of this site happened to coincide with Thanksgiving. I started reflecting on how lucky we are to have attracted a core of dedicated, perceptive followers who are open-minded enough to absorb an alternative view of the food, wine and spirits universe---a view untainted by groupthink and big money. Five Reasons Why You Might Be the Most Intelligent Readers on Earth is a nod and thank you to those followers.

Here are last week’s posts:

Murietta's Well

Five Reasons Why You Might Be the Most Intelligent Readers on Earth