WELCOME TO WINESPEED
I live in, and love living in, the Napa Valley. The spirit of this rural community—its drive for excellence—is profound. But out in the world, Napa is also often criticized, sometimes, it seems to me, unfairly so. My Blog this week deals with this idea. I call it “Love to Hate.” Why does Napa Valley engender such a reaction? Check out the Blog and as always, I’d love your thoughts. Our Wine to Know this week is a red beauty from South Africa, where the climate is very much like California’s. Right now South Africa is one of the world’s leading sources of exceptional wines at bargain prices. On the opposite end of the wallet spectrum, if you’re in the mood for an exquisite Italian red, my Indulgence this week is a stunning Brunello di Montalcino, always heralded as one Italy’s greats.
Hoping your summer is cool, Karen
A. A soil-reading sensor placed at the start of vineyard rows to analyze soil health
B. An array of solar panels that resemble a flower installed in wineries to generate power
C. A new app that allows users to photograph and identify grape varieties early in the season
D. A handheld device used in winemaking to identify specific floral aroma compounds
South African wines are some of the world’s greatest red wine deals right now and this Cabernet from David Finlayson is a superb example.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.
94 points Karen MacNeil / WineSpeed
IMPERIAL
The name in Bordeaux for a large bottle holding the equivalent of eight standard bottles (6 liters)The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.
Wine, Food & Friends with Jean-Charles Boisset
Bastille Day (formally called La Fête Nationale), taking place on July 14, is a celebration of freedom and community. It commemorates the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison, the symbolic start of the French Revolution. Bastille Day is best celebrated with a gathering of friends and wine around the table—the same principle behind Come Together: A Community for Wine that I founded with my good friends in 2024. Napa’s incredible French vintner and wine ambassador Jean-Charles Boisset joined me in conversation as part of last year’s Come Over October campaign bringing people together through wine. I want to share it with you again today.
Renowned Author & Dynamic Speaker
With a reputation for captivating audiences and inspiring wine lovers around the world, Karen is available for keynote speeches, seminars, and custom events. Reach out to book Karen for your next event.
Why So Much Italian Wine?
In the United States, most of the wine that’s imported is Italian. In 2025 some 93.2 million gallons of Italian wine were imported into this country. In fact, Italian wine has led US imports for decades, hitting a peak in 2021 with 43% of all US table wine imports. Is it because Italian wine is just so good? I love lots of Italian wine, but I’m sure “goodness” has nothing to do with it. What does? The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.
Dear Carly: Wine, in general, is amazing in the number of aromas and flavors it can possess, and two of the more fascinating ones in the kaleidoscope are chocolate and cocoa. Both of these characters generally come from oak barrels, the toasting of which produces a range of flavors that fall into the camp of chocolate/coffee/vanilla/spice. Tannin, too, can play a role since the flavor of tannin is “good bitterness”—like dark chocolate. For these reasons, chocolate and cocoa flavors show up in red wines far more than in whites.
By the Numbers
13
Approximate valuation (in billions of US$) of the global organic wine market in 2025, according to Fortune Business Insights. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.
34
Percentage of US wineries that produce private labels or retailer-exclusive brands (like Costco’s Kirkland brand), as reported in the 2026 BMO Wine Market report.The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.
6
Number of months that hundreds of Texas grape seeds will spend at the International Space Station, where they’ll be exposed to cosmic radiation before being returned to Earth for planting and study. The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.
Each week, my team and I will bring you a fascinating and fun dose of wine intel. You’ll find my top wine recommendations (for every one wine we recommend to you, we taste 50 to 100 wines), plus great wine and food quizzes, my takes on happenings in the wine world, and my (hopefully thought-provoking and helpful) blogs. Plus, as always, lots more!
~ Karen MacNeil