ADVERTISING: Advertorial — A great conversation

We just completed our December events and we were thrilled to host Justin Baldwin founder of Justin Winery in Paso Robles for both a winemaker dinner and a tasting here at the shop. The dinner was truly unique as we persuaded Laurent and Patricia Zirotti formerly of Fleur de Sel to host the dinner, and Naomi Boutz owner of both Vicino and Vine and Olive was kind enough to allow us to have the dinner at her Vicino location.

If you have not yet been to both Vicino and Vine and Olive you should go. Naomi is among the best restaurant operators we have known along with her team she delivers world class service and delicious food, so go and try both restaurants soon.

It was an amazing treat to work with Laurent and Patricia again. The food was phenomenal and having the “band back together” was a treat for the four of us hosting the dinner and took on a reunion like atmosphere for all who attended.

Justin Baldwin is an icon of the wine industry and in many ways can be regarded as a founder of the wine scene in Paso Robles. Like so many professionals who have reached the pinnacle of their careers with great success Justin is incredibly articulate, rarely is a word out of place. He exudes a passion for the wine business and a command of the industry and its trends that is truly remarkable.

We learned during the dinner and the tasting that the Paso Robles appellation is 170,000 acres a giant compared to the more well-known Napa and Sonoma. What is fascinating about that one statistic though is that all three appellations have a near similar amount of acreage under cultivation about 42,000 acres with Justin’s estate vineyards accounting for more than 1,700 acres. This presents “Paso” with ample opportunity for growth.

One of the most striking industry trends that Justin discussed was on pricing and consumption trends. We have talked about and Justin reiterated that the U.S. is the largest wine consuming country in the world now. He touched briefly on the growth of the average retail price of a bottle sold here in the US, which only two years ago eclipsed the $10 per bottle mark and a little over two and a half years later crossed the $12 mark. This is an impressive trend. Even with this flight to quality for wine consumption here at home it was astonishing to think about this next statistic that Justin shared with us. The percentage of bottles sold in the States at retail for more than $10 is only 4%! Not only is it tough for me to get my mind around as a wine professional and retailer but also speaks to the commitment Justin Winery has made to producing wines in the super premium category, a commitment that has paid off, but one that has also been challenging to pioneer.

Justin started in the wine business around the same time as other icons of the California wine industry, giants of our business-like Joseph Phelps, Bo Barrett, Robert Mondavi and others and this breadth of history gives him a perspective and intelligence of the business of wine that was educational beyond words for relative new comers like Mary and I. During the forward-looking part of our time with him his predictions are for a continued march forward in the quality of wine Americans consume. He spoke of how most wine consumers regardless of where they are located start with lower priced less distinctive offerings and make their way to better wines that cost more to produce and sell at higher prices. He discussed at length how terms like oak ageing are co-opted by the lower end of the production spectrum. Oak ageing can include wine that is aged in giant tanks, but have sacks of oak chips dumped into the tank after fermentation to impart oak flavors that are unbalanced and hard edged.

The difference in designation for a super-premium producer like Justin is the wine is labeled with “barrel aged” a subtle but key differentiator that every wine consumer should be aware of. Justin is very passionate about the wine industry but also about the growth of the Paso Robles area, with so many acres still to be planted he predicts the appellation will continue to grow especially making higher quality wines.

It is a rare treat to have someone with the experience and historical perspective that Justin has, it is a great way for all wine consumers to learn more about the beverage that elicits so much passion from all of us. We hope to have more guests of this stature at our events as we head into 2022.

• • •

George Balling is co-owner with his wife, Mary Lancaster, of the dinner party, a wine and gift shop in Coeur d’Alene by Costco. The dinner party has won the award for best wine shop in North Idaho twice, including for 2018.

George is also published in several other publications around the country. After working in wineries in California and judging many wine competitions, he moved to Coeur d’Alene with Mary more than 10 years ago to open the shop.

You can also follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.