Written by Jennifer Gregoire
Thursday, 22 April 2010 20:05
California is home to the production of 90% of the wine is the US. So is it any wonder that the latest round of movers and shakers in the wine industry are California’s own?
Allow us to introduce you to the folks that are taking the wine industry to the next level.
INSTANT VINTNER 
No vineyard? No problem!
These days you don’t need to invest in land or the time and energy it takes to grow grapes to produce your own wine. If you’re a Negociant you’ll go right ahead and buy grapes someone else has taken the time to grow or even buy already fermented wines, allowing you to focus on creating your own blend and brand of wine to be sold.
Sling Shot Wines is a prime example of a negociant, as discussed in “Grapes of Wrath”, Sling Shot is buying premium grapes at a discount to produce their wine, no Vineyard required. And they are not the only ones. Many wine makers are finding this is a great way for them to get into the wine making business without the traditional overhead of owning a vineyard.
Want to start your own cult wine? Now you can!
There are even places where you can mix your own wines to create your custom blend. Perfect for a party or even your own wine brand, companies like Southern California’s OC Custom Wine let you create your own custom blend, and Northern California’s Crush Pad Wines let you choose your level of involvement from crushing the grapes to bottling, branding, and selling your own cult wine.
Check out Cult Wine Central if you can't make it up to Napa.
ON THE RISE
As the year progresses with all the twists and turns the recession has shown us, the wine industry will indeed be shaken up. But beyond the recession, we are coming upon a new age in technology that is shifting the traditional models of doing business and winemakers are on board to make some changes.
Of those shifting to the new social media driven business models is Pacific Rim, their award winning wine is interesting not only because it tastes great, but also because the company is taking a fresh approach to how they brand, package and advertise their wine. Their commitment to great wine is focused on their love of Riesling. They have even created a fun and informative (and free!) book that is available on their website that explores all things Riesling from the perfect food pairs to fun facts.
Judd’s Hill Wine keeps things interesting by using their web site to share comic videos and ukulele concerts. Not exactly what you would expect from a wine website, but it sets them apart from the crowd and creates a niche for their wine to fill.
ONLINE WINE
Wine, one of the oldest drinks known to man is wrapped up in the new world of technology and finding itself right at home. Entire blogs are dedicated to discussing the finer points of wine, from Cali’s own Vinography.com wine blog to DrVino.com and the many others that have been uncorked on the web. Information that used to only be available from a trip to the wine store to speak to the sommelier or perhaps from the pages of Food & Wine magazine can now be received at a moment’s notice.
Thank heavens for Google and the World Wide Web. Now we have wine information at our fingertips. Only a few years ago this wasn’t the case. Perhaps the biggest voice in the online wine community is Gary Vaynerchuck, unfortunately he’s not a California Native but we still had to put him on the list. After all he is quickly becoming the new poster boy for the American wine drinker with his Wine Library TV show even found streaming at the gas station TV monitors, has become hard to miss.
The movers and shakers of the wine world are taking risks and are running their companies in a way that is different from previous generations, taking wine out of the elite classes and bringing it to the everyday drinker in a language and way that is accessible to us all. But while some things may be changing, others stay the same, like the wine industries commitment to producing great wine. Now that’s something we can all get behind!
Gary Vaynerchuk sits down with Mike Cochran, the owner of Cult Vines, to taste his wines.
