Welcome to our newest series, The Somm Set. Each month we’ll be sitting down with a guest sommelier and uncovering their guilty pleasures, cellar staples, and everything in between! Follow as they hand-select their favorites from our warehouse, giving you the inside scoop on cellar must-haves!

This month on The Somm Set, we’re excited to feature Advanced Sommelier Jodi Bronchtein of Press Napa Valley. Join us as we explore everything from her aha-moment sip of wine to her current adventures in the Napa Valley.

Read Our Full Interview With Jodi Bronchtein
Jodi Bronchtein on Under The Radar Napa Bangers
Antinori Family Raid Y(our) Cellar Virtual Tasting
Syrah & Musical Pairings
The Somm Set Home

 

This week from Jodi Bronchtein:

Friends, I am writing to you from Phoenix, but I am thinking about Napa and Sonoma. With all that is going on fire and smoke-wise in Northern California, many wineries are not going to be able to put any 2020 reds in bottle. This means there will be fewer of them to acquire and drink moving forward. What does this mean for you, specifically? That if you love these easy-to-love wines, you should consider buying them now. 

Supply and demand dictate that whatever is available will likely increase in price. Wine lovers want wine, and there will be fewer North Coast reds available due to smoke taint, and all the fruit that had to be dropped because of it. Pinot Noir is especially susceptible to smoke taint because their thin skins absorb more of it than a thicker-skinned grape. Cabernet Sauvignon has a much thicker skin, but also requires more time on the vine to develop ripeness and flavor before it can be vinified. More hang-time on the vine means more smoke contact. Smoke travels, and grapes can't move out of the way, so the problem will be widespread and will affect more than just California. But, back to us here today, looking for wine.

Buying Napa and Sonoma to help wineries is really helpful right now, but this offer is really about making sure you have something actually to drink while you are helping. Win/win for everyone.

Thank you for loving wine. We are lucky to have a way to travel to other places and enhance our time together through such a generous and pleasurable medium. 

Check out all the wines mentioned below!