Ladies and Gents,

2012 looks to be an up and down year. The United States is stoked, but the old world countries of France and Italy have seen some struggles. When I was in Burgundy and the Rhone last month, winemakers and growers lamented about yields being half of what 2011 offered them, and the quality of what survived average to slightly above average. Good wines will be made by producers who took the time, but we will see…

The United States has gotten somewhat used to the challenges of 2009 through 2011, and welcome the return of a bumper crop. What this means for the next year is nothing more than confidence and better grape pricing for wineries and winemakers, as there will be more to go around for those in the market. The good news is that we should see lower prices in 2014 and 2015 for those new domestic wines coming to our restaurants and wine shops. The offset is that we will, undoubtedly, see much higher prices from those across the pond. Hopefully, the U.S. dollar will continue to strengthen against the Euro, softening the blow.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Cheers!

William Davis