Napa Valley remains steadfast in its global outlook
Connor Best of Napa Valley Vintners, speaking at the recent Premiere Napa Valley tasting in London, explained that the premium wine region's outlook will stay resolutely outward-looking despite the potential impact of global trade wars.
Amid this uncertainty, the appeal of premium Napa wines in the UK market was on show at the tasting at the Coach Makers Arms in Marylebone, with a busy event marking the incoming 2023 Napa Valley vintage.
Event host Best was keen to stress that despite the rhetoric coming from the new US administration, Napa Valley’s premium offerings will not divert from their global approach to exporting from the region.
“At the end of the day, Napa Valley wants to be a global brand and you can't be a global brand if you're not sold around the globe. We want our wines in London, we want our wines in Paris, we want our wines in Tokyo and Hong Kong. We think that there should be as few barriers to entry in those markets as there could possibly be.
“We also think wine is not interchangeable. Steel is steel, steel from anywhere is still steel. Wine is a product of place, so it doesn't make sense to involve wine in global trade wars, because wine from California, wine from Napa Valley, is not interchangeable with wines from Bordeaux or Burgundy or Champagne.”
This product of place was, in Best’s opinion, able to express itself more vividly for the 2023 vintage, thanks to what he described as an excellent growing year.
“Napa Valley, with its Mediterranean climate is known for its vintage to vintage consistency in that, unlike other regions in the world that have drastic differences, we have pretty good vintages every year, the climate's really stable. But there are definitely some years that are better than others, and 2023 rises to the top in the last 10 years or more.
“It was a late growing season, lots of great hang time, but overall, very cool temperatures. It means there was great acid-tannin balance, total phenolic ripeness and harvesting about a month later than a typical vintage.”
Discussing the appeal of premium Napa Valley wines amid rising prices for Bordeaux and Burgundy’s premium vintages, Best was keen to stress that the region is its own unique offering in the realm of premium wines.
“Napa Valley Wines should stand side by side with the top of Burgundy, the top of Champagne, the top of Bordeaux. I think Napa Valley, although we are technically a New World region, I think we are the Old World of the New World, and we should be compared with the benchmarks of the Old World."
Speaking to vintners at the event, from their perspective the UK remains a discerning market and growing interest in Napa Valley’s premium wines has been a positive development. Peter Willmert, CEO of Hudson Napa Valley, was optimistic about the region’s premium wines’ performance in UK market.
“Interest in wine from Napa in general has been really pleasantly growing over time. The UK has always been an importer of wines from around the world and it's one of the most sophisticated markets in the world," he said.
“When I come here, I always find people that know a lot about the world of wine. They have deep knowledge of continental European wines. But they have increasing knowledge of New World wines from places like California and Australia.
“As generations progress, and as collectors are looking to expand regions where they want to collect from, there's been a lot of interest in Napa Valley,” Willmert concluded.
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