Potpourri: Wine History, New Wineries and N.A. Wineries Hit the 7,000 Mark

Some topics that piqued my interest this week.  I hope you enjoy them.

Where did it all begin?  Well, there’s about 6,000 years of wine history dating back to Neolithic Eurasia.  The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology has an exhibit on the origins and ancient history of wine and you can check it out here: http://www.penn.museum/sites/wine/wineintro.html

Are you thinking of starting a winery?  There’s a well-known joke that goes: “If you want to make a small fortune in making wine, you need to start with a large fortune.”  Check out this Dan Berger article briefly discussing what Rick Moshin has been going through to fulfill his passion: http://bit.ly/bWwq3s

The number of wineries in North America increased by almost 2,000 since 2005 to a currently tally of 7,011.  While California hosted the most new wineries, Washington’s growth rate (61%) was faster in that same time period.  It’s cool to note that North Carolina’s count more than doubled in that timeframe from 53 to 109.  Not surprising is the fact that about 41% of all wineries are producing less than 1,000 cases each year.  For more details check out this Wines & Vines article: http://bit.ly/bWwq3s

Finally, if you are a wine blogger, be sure to nominate and/or vote on Session Topics for this years conference: http://winebloggers.uservoice.com/forums/47917-session-topic-ideas

Cheers!