In an article I wrote for our Wine Journal not long ago, I talked about the harvest of 2011 in California. The focus of the article was how the vintage of 2011 will be down considerably compared to the harvest of 2010, which by the way, was not very good in its own right. In most areas of California they were struck by frost in the spring, cold and rain in the fall, and not a lot of heat in between. Chardonnay especially was hit hard, and Cabernet production will also be down quite a bit, so the consumer may well see the prices on their favorite wines go up some for the 2011 vintage.

Which brings me to something near and dear to us at ABC:  our Direct to You program, a program which allows us to bring in top quality wines from producers all over California (all over the world, actually) at very low prices due to the fact that we do a lot of the buying legwork, which cuts the costs down, but keeps the quality high. One of those wineries we have found is in Lake County, California, the Shannon Ridge Winery.

The fine wines of Cross Springs, Vigilance and Shannon Ridge come to us from Clay Shannon, the man behind this top-notch operation. I mention Clay Shannon because he was just named chair of the Lake County Wine Association. An organization whose purpose is to promote the wines of Lake County and I think the best way to promote your area is to make great wines. Which again, brings us to Clay Shannon. This inspired winemaker has put together a portfolio of terrific wines, that please a wide range of consumer tastes. A bright, crisp Sauvignon Blanc from Vigilance. Bold, lively reds from Dalliance & Wrangler Red and a delicious, pleasing Chardonnay from Shannon Ridge. If you are looking for wines that drink like their $20.00, but all cost much less than $15.00, then these are the wines to try, as prices of your usual wines begin to creep up and up and…

Ken Amendola

Wine Supervisor, North Florida