Tom Wark's Fermentation

No one knows for sure which direction the American wine market will move in the coming few years. They may tell you they know or that they are seeing indications of this or that trajectory, but the fact is they do not know. However, we can observe objective data. This graph depicts per-resident wine consumption in gallons from 1960 to the present based on data provided by the California Wine Institute.

Are you now or have you ever been a whale? Someone wants to know. I’ve never been a whale. Yes, I’ll admit to being a fellow traveller of the whales. I’ve swum in the same pools where the whales frolic, and I’ve even led some whales to feeding grounds. But if the truth be told, I’ve always been much more of a cod or even a bottom-feeder.

If you write or publish anything and you aren’t using AI to analyze what works, what’s being read, and what’s not being read, you are leaving significant insights on the table. That said, I’ve been diving into the past 10 months of clicks at The Spill, my other newsletter that curates daily links of top wine content and sends this curated list of links to subscribers who get it for free.

A sheer cliff with a 1,000-foot drop-off can cause harm from a fall. A banana peel can also cause harm from a fall. However, the risk of suffering severe harm from the two is dramatically different. This is the difference between potential harm and potential risk. I’m wondering if the Director of the Oregon Health Authority got fired because she or her staff didn’t know the difference.

Just the other day, I came across a writer whose article was asking, “Are wine reviews biased or objective?” This is a question that dorks and geeks have long pondered, if only to have something to argue and talk about among other wine geeks and dorks. But today especially, this kind of question reveals an important truth. The presence of bias in wine reviews, wine scoring, and wine content in general is really the only sure sign that human authenticity is at play.

Today on The Spill, one article link received more clicks than any other article highlighted in this curated newsletter this entire year. It was entitled “The Absolute Best Winery in Every U.S. State”. It is indicative of two things. 1) Why wine lovers should support writers at Substack and wine publications, and 2) a confirmation that clickbait headlines and stories rule the day. Let me first start by saying this story wasn’t just about the best winery in every state.

Look at the following lists of the top ten catalysts and top 10 impediments to wine success/sales in the United States. They are my lists. But I’d argue they are very good, fairly accurate lists.

It is, quite frankly, exhausting. Just when you think the mainstream media has reached the absolute nadir in its pearl-clutching crusade against moderate drinking, they manage to find editorial stairs and descend even lower.

In a land of falling skies, the alarmist is king.

I can count on my two hands the things and people I love more than baseball. This may not seem like the kind of ringing endorsement I mean it to be, but there are several things and people to love in this life. Ranking just outside the top ten, as Baseball does for me. It is, in fact, a rousing endorsement. But when I think about what Summer means to me, baseball moves up to the first or second set of digits. Baseball is summer. Summer is baseball.