I was showing our Sangiovese to Peter Granoff at the Oxbow Wine Merchant in Napa the other day, and noted in passing that we hadn't raised prices in  twelve years.  This surprised him.  His reaction surprised me (am I doing this wrong?) so I decided to do some research.  Not surprisingly, it's complicated.  

Napa Valley prices have gone up significantly since Villa Ragazzi's last release (1998 vintage), then down again with the dot.com bust, and endured more downward pressure in the late 00's thanks to oversupply and an imploding economy.  Prices are now on the upswing following two short vintages.  There isn't enough Sangiovese on the market to study pricing evolution, but the example of Silver Oak Cabernet tells a story:  their 1998 (a vintage unfairly bashed by critics) was released at $70, and some is still available online for prices ranging from $70-$217.  Silver Oak 2009 is listed at $120.   

So I guess I'm doing this wrong.  But it feels right.  

We're rooting for you in tomorrow's playoff game -- which we hope will be just a wee bit less exciting than last week's cliffhanger.  

Say it's isn't so!  My tennis hero, Sam Stosur, was just knocked out in the opening round on her home turf at the Australian Open (this after winning the U.S. Open).   Sam: a fitness regime may not be complete without some good red wine...

Media report today: "The wine making team at Penfolds…have deferred to fashion [!] for the first time in recent years and are now proudly releasing two Pinot Noirs (the coming red variety) each vintage and will also [sic] trial amounts of varieties such as Sangiovese."  To which we say, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oy, oy, oy!”

Against the advice of my Millennial son (see Our Story/Winemaking), I entered VR Sangiovese in the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle wine competition.  (Anyone who wants to know why he advised against this has to ask me privately.  My significant other would sigh and say -- again -- "the triumph of hope over experience.")  Villa Ragazzi won a silver medal, which some people would say is like kissing your sister or getting anything less than a 94 from certain wine critics.  If we'd won a gold medal, all of you would have had a chance to taste this lovely wine at the Feb 18 tasting at Fort Mason.  On the bright side, there were no higher awards for Napa Valley Sangiovese, and the "Best of" award for the pink wine category went to a Rosé of Sangiovese (not Pinot Noir, not Cabernet, not Grenache, not Merlot, not...anything else red) from Washington State.  

Guilio Gambelli has died at 86, according to Decanter magazine (1.4.12).  ... 'Gambelli's legacy is a strong belief in Sangiovese - as one of Italy's undisputed great grape varieties’ one tweet said, while others referred to him as' Sangiovese’s most important protagonist'.  Click here to read the whole article.

These bunny socks were the reward for a certain relative who won all the party games last night.  The Julia Child potluck inspired hours of hilarity, mostly fruity-sounding imitations of the great Julia that increased in quality in proportion to the bubbles, Guigal CNP, Villa Ragazzi, even Chardonnay, consumed.  
Warm fuzzies to all in 2012!