After a couple months of trying to get on each others schedules, i was finally able to get together with Cameron and Bahenah Hobel and growerDick Engelhard at their vineyard today. The property is situated on a gentle slope just off Franz Valley School Road not more than 5 minutes from my house. In addition to Hobel, Engelhard grows for several other high profile producers that even though he didn’t ask me to mention, I choose not to. The wines are made by Thomas Brown who has been responsible for some of the most sought after wines made in California. 

The vineyard blocks used by Hobel are primarily divided among See Clone, 4 and 6. Premeiring in the 2009 vintage it was one of the wines (along with Luscher Ballard) I needed to learn about from Carl Studer in Lucerne, Switzerland. 

2009 Hobel Cabernet Sauvignon

Napa Valley, Engelhard Vineyard, 14.5%, 193 cs., $75

Typical of the 2009 vintage the nose is forward with round, ripe impressions of spice, blackberry and supple stone fruits. The palate is beautifully supple with red currant, blackberry concentration and intensity on the mid-palate finishing with impeccable balance. Drink 2013 - 2022. 96 points.

2010 Hobel Cabernet Sauvignon

Napa Valley, Engelhard Vineyard, 14.1%, 313 cs., $75

The nose has outstanding red fruit and blackberry coupled with underlying black walnut and whiffs of juniper. The palate is firm blackberry on entry showing just stunning purity in the fruit. It is very dialed in for balance with a supple, polished finish of plum, blackberry, carbon and black walnut. Drink 2013 - 2022. 94 points.

The wines are available from the winery, or within Napa Valley at 750 Wines in St. Helena

What many people don’t know is that one of the main drivers in deciding to make the switch when I did was what amounted to a vacuum of coverage in domestic wines in late Winter 2011.  I had spent years writing my thoughts and opinion on wines months ahead of other reviewers and upon examination largely the only differerence I saw is that they had subscribers, and I didn’t. I viewed becoming a professional critic as an opportunity that may not come along again anytime soon. With the mantra among the wine blogging world being ‘monetization’ of their work, I just decided to do it but in a way that made sense for me. As it turns out, with pdwr growing, completely independent and free of advertising, elsewhere wine criticism is spiraling into disarray.

I look back on the last 24 months today in appreciation of how purely domestic wine report has unfolded and steadily grown organically with zero advertising. In March 2011, all I really knew was that the time for the change had arrived. It was just one of those truths that stares you in the face. Getting to the first issue, and through the point where I published it was one of the most grueling six months of my life. After that, I found each of the subsequent issues were easier to produce but still come with regularity where downtime between issues is usually less than two weeks. I try to make the publication better incrementally. The next volume will cover the Pacific Northwest and appear in early May (on time).

Currently, my North Coast issue, Volume 2.2 is in release serving as the faint beacon of opinion for the Sonoma Coast. I have learned so much about myself as a publisher, critic and photographer in the last two years and thank you for the encouragement, engagement and belief in the alternative viewpoint of purely domestic wine report. 

I am also working on creating a new subscriber-only website with fully integrated commerce. In a couple weeks I attend a two day workshop on iPhone photography in San Francisco. Finally I am exploring partnerships to help make the Advanced membership a world-class experience. The next two years should be amazing. 

Thanks for joining me on the journey!

The list is finally ready to be viewed. All of the wines that were tasted in 2012 went through my review process to come up with two dozen that I felt were outstanding examples. It wasn’t as simple as looking at the highest scoring wines, because i recognize that at some stages of wine enjoyment you need a vibrantly fresh pink wine while others beckon for a cerebral Pinot Noir. 

No list is perfect and I certainly don’t claim this one to be. With purely domestic wine report just getting off the ground in 2012, there were a lot more wines to taste than in 2011 and i expect that trend to expand in the future. 

Subscription is not required to view this list. For those who have registered and not subscribed, this will offer you some insights into what type of content my subscribers enjoy throughout the year. 

To open the list in my standard viewing version, please click on the pdwr icon above. If you wish to subscribe. Please follow the links in the report. 

Thank you for coming to pdwr over the past year.  Without advertising, list purchasing, or PR, this publication has very quietly grown organically 400% in registered membership over the last 16 months. If you are here it is because you have sought me out or been referred by a friend. I hope you like what you see and appreciate the effort that goes into producing it.

Here is to a great year in wine!

Thank you,

doug wilder

founder, publisher + critic

purely domestic wine reort

Just this week, I learned of a new website called GrapeLegends.com through a post on the eRobertparker.com bulletin board. It is the result of the vision of a serious oenophile named Robert Kenney, better known amongst the denizens of the site as merely ‘Kenney’. His ambitious plan is to offer a weekly video interview with personalities from the wine industry. His first guest was none other than the articulate Antonio Galloni, wine critic of The Wine Advocate, presumably filmed in the NYC area. The interview, presented in short clips, offered some insightful questions allowing Galloni plenty of time to answer fully and candidly.

As with any new undertaking, I imagine the somewhat sparse site will evolve, much in the same way pdwr has. Currently, Kenney posts his interview questions in a flash of text on-screen that could benefit from lasting longer and contrasting more with the background. For the time being, Kenney tells me he is not interested in injecting himself into the frame. It remains to be seen if that continues. With more solid interviews in the future, viewers may press to see the man behind the curtain, providing more interaction with the guest.

For more information and to view the Galloni interview, please go to www.grapelegends.com

I have added the link to Grape Legends to the sidebar in this online journal.

Opening the page to digital wine communicators

Some have suggested the established core of online writers is as good as we can expect it to get. To accept that is to believe there is no reason, or hope for others to even try. I don’t agree. As an independent critic and publisher, I think it is still important for those who are in position to do so, to offer encouragement to, if not nurture those who wish to pursue having their writing published. Therefore, beginning with the next issue of purely domestic wine report, I will initiate a trial period where digital writers may submit original, unpublished work to be considered for inclusion as a guest article in the online and print editions. More details may be found here. 

Doug Wilder

That means creating a spreadsheet with every piece of information on the wine that you see in my reviews (cross referenced to my tasting book), shooting and organizing images and then composing the layout of the actual pages. All of that is about 95% of the issue. The last 5%, the minutiae, is making sure I have all the production and pricing information (a lot of times it doesn’t come with the wine, which baffles me). After every review, image and link is committed to the file and reviewed for completeness, the index is built, producer profiles are written as is the letter from the publisher. That 5% consumes many tedious hours and I am working at streamlining the process.

All of that work for volume 2.1 should wrap tonight and subscribers will have the anniversary issue by tomorrow. My editor said it is the best issue yet, hopefully you will enjoy it too. I am shocked when I look back at issue one to see how the report has evolved in just a year. Part of my commitment to subscribers is to keep adding value to the publication. You will notice a few changes in this issue. Remember when it was going to be quarterly?

Lastly, I want to thank all of you who are purchasing pdwr for holiday gifts.

Doug Wilder | publisher

PDWR SURVEY | LULU PARKER ROBERTS

As we embark upon our second year of the purely domestic wine report, it seemed a good time to ask subscribers to take a short survey helping us better understand what works and get the pulse on features and services we are considering developing. In the first year, pdwr established itself as a respected viewpoint focused on regions never before covered together, by one critic. 

It is through Doug’s two decades as one of the most respected domestic retail wine buyers in the country, having the unique experience discovering hundreds of new wines as they entered the market months before receiving exposure elsewhere, that brought him to the logical evolution to create something totally new, independent, and immediately relevant.

 Thank you to all who responded. As I went through the responses I was pleased so many of you had taken the time to thoughtfully answer our questions and assist us in our research. It is greatly appreciated and we hope that over the coming months we can implement our findings to create an enhanced subscriber experience.  Rather than bore you with pages of charts, I did my best to offer a simple summary of observations from the data sets. | lpr

DRILLING DOWN

So, let us take a look at the results.  First of all, subscribers completed 82% of the surveys with only 18% from registered accounts. This suggests that those individuals who are most interested, as subscribers, in reading pdwr also want to weigh in on what they think about the magazine. Registered users have provided us their contact information yet have only public level access.

DEMOGRAPHICS

 72% of respondents were already familiar with Doug Wilder’s reviews. 57% were consumers with the remainder classified as vintner, winemaker, broker or retailer. It could be suggested that Doug has continued to influence the buying public as well as maintain strong relevance within the trade. His unique perspective in the wine industry makes the report what it is. Retailers or distributors were 18% of responses, which although not large, we take to be positive as it means that we are being read by industry members throughout the supply framework.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU READ?

When it came to other publications read by pdwr subscribers, it was no surprise that the majority listed Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator and International Wine Cellar, followed by Wine Enthusiast in that order. This was good in clarifying our position amongst the best but also in telling us how we are comparatively read. The focus of pdwr is domestic, and that will always be, however by ranking with some of the most globally well-respected publications we feel we are on the right footing.  Further, results show those with a more specific focus such as Rhone Report, Burghound (both 21%) and Pinot Report receive solid readership, although by definition, they are limited in their breadth. At the far end of the spectrum, we were surprised to find virtually no readership of two of the oldest independent publications, Connoisseurs’ Guide and California Grapevine.

THE 100 POINT SYSTEM, REGION AND NUMBER OF CRITICS

We are well aware of the debate that rages on over the 100-point system and how its detractors believe it is the wrong way to talk about wine. At pdwr, we find that our subscribers are comfortable that Doug uses the 100-point scale, which is not administered blind. When asked results came back as a resounding yes on a review and numerical score (85%), which leads us to believe his method is well respected, understood and appreciated. So we will be keeping with what works.

Nearly two thirds wanted a single critic tasting the wines and having total editorial control. 67% were interested in winemaker interviews so that is an area we will be looking at building out with either Doug or I taking the lead on selecting subjects and people and hopefully have one for issue seven next month. When it came down to what readers liked over 2/3, 71% said that the regions covered were those that they were interested in. Varietal breakdown was appreciated by 52%.

One thing that does set the publication aside from others is Doug’s interest to capture images in the field. In total, 50% liked the fact that we were an image rich magazine and the only independent one at that. Case production was seen as important by 57% and linking to wine websites, something other sites don’t do, was appreciated by 60%. There was limited interest in video yet we feel that will improve when we begin the interviews. It is very much intrinsic to our culture to keep pdwr up with the newest technology and the virtual reader issuu.com, which no other wine review publication is using, was liked by 46%. By a wide margin subscribers are pleased that the magazine is free of advertising. We would continue that even if it weren’t popular.

The combination of interest in special reports, at 67%, small production wines; 97% and new producers; 85% highlighted how our specific focus area puts us in a unique position to respond to wines as they are released, something larger publications are unable to do in as timely a fashion. People liked the fact our proximity to tasting and visiting wineries is closer than publications on the east coast. 82% Respondents are interested in more in-depth winemaker interviews being added with 42% wanting an increase in vertical tastings.  

THE ADVANCED MEMBERSHIP

The idea of an advanced membership is a hot issue for us, with 60% of readers interested to learn more about it. It has been on the topic board for some time so Doug has asked me to begin development of a program abstract This will be an experiential membership limited in size involving travel to the wine regions covered by pdwr with lots of personal time in the vineyards, with the winemakers along with culinary experiences and top level lodging to match along with other program elements throughout the year. A follow up survey will be sent before the end of 2012.

June 19, 2012 | Napa Valley, CA

When I was developing purely domestic wine report in Summer 2011, I realized that what I would be writing eventually (way down the road) may be of interest to outside wine retailers, services firms or other publications as integrated professional content. 

Surprisingly, the phone rang before even popping a cork on the first wine for issue one and a company expressed interest in my (non-existing) content. Following several months of negotiation, testing, and the requisite creation and accumulation of a body of work as a deliverable, I am very happy to announce that purely domestic wine report has its first content licensing agreement with Vinfolio, where you may recall I served as founding Director of Domestic Acquisitions for nearly four years beginning in 2005.

It is sort of like going home for me to once again have a highly visible global outlet for my unique niche of writing hosted on Vinfolio’s state-of-the-art platform as professional content, while retaining journalistic independence, and editorial control over my work.

Currently there are over 40 wines I reviewed available through the Vinfolio Marketplace, including Scarecrow, Kapcsandy, Bedrock and Kosta Browne. 

In the future, there will likely be additional content from pdwr appearing at Vinfolio, as well as some surprises. I will be sending an email to my readers over the next few days making a more formal announcement.

Thank you for your continued interest in pdwr.

Doug Wilder | publisher | pdwr