Back in late May of 1976, a British man had an idea that would cause a furor.
Steven Spurrier was a well-known wine expert and merchant in Paris, France, and he decided to pit a handful of California’s wines against the best France had to offer.
No one took this seriously. It was akin to a friendly game between amateurs and the reigning world champions.
Yet, when the blind taste test was over, the results could not be ignored.
California won in both the white and red wine categories, as judged by a panel composed entirely of French experts.
To say this was an outrage would be an understatement. The leaders of the French wine industry banned Spurrier from the nation’s prestigious wine-tasting tour for a year to punish him for the damage he had done.
While a TIME reporter immediately covered the results, the French press refused to mention it until three months later, when Le Figaro described the results as “laughable” and that they “could not be taken seriously.”
But the truth was out there. California was a world-class producer of wines. Spurrier’s 30-year anniversary tasting confirmed the decision in 2006, though the French were more gracious about the results.
Yet something is changing in California’s wine country, especially in Sonoma County. Vineyards are being sold off. Long-established vines are being ripped up, and one major change is responsible for the shift.
Proposition 64 legalized marijuana use for any personal reasons, and though it isn’t going to overtake wine production in Sonoma County any time soon, it has already taken the top spot as the premier crop to grow.
Two Orders of Magnitude
To say winemaking, both growing and vinting, is a major part of Sonoma County’s economy and culture would be an injustice.
There are around 1100 growers, 250 wineries, and 11 distinct and two shared American Viticultural Areas.
Around 80% of non-pasture agricultural land is used for grape production. About 185,000 tons are produced each year, or about 30% more than Napa County.
Owning a vineyard is a matter of prestige, and a form of conspicuous consumption in a low-key, bucolic way once unique to California, and now emulated worldwide.
But the numbers just don’t add up anymore, and a fortune can be made through change. Vineyards can make about $8,500 per acre. Meanwhile, marijuana production can easily top $8.2 million.
That is nearly two full orders of magnitude, or the value of grapes times 10, then times 10 again. The scientific term is normally either incorrectly used, or absurd hyperbole, when it comes to money.
With that kind of profit potential, it is hard to sit back and collect pennies on the dollar for an investment in hundreds of acres of some of the most expensive agricultural land in the world.
Plus, high society is quickly becoming enthralled by incorporating marijuana into what will inevitably turn into food porn in Instagram posts.
In a sign of its emergence in haute cuisine, the New York Times ran an article several weeks ago about an ex-engineer turned entrepreneur who is matching fine food and wine with marijuana.
For $100 to $150 a meal, you can head to his Sonoma Cannabis Company restaurant for a meal, that as the Times put it, “experiments with everything from marijuana-leaf pesto sauce to sniffs of cannabis flowers paired with sips of a crisp Russian River chardonnay.”
Or just skip the food, and sample one of the locally-sourced marijuana-infused wines that are now starting to be bottled.
A Sign of the Times
I personally have no inclination to have such a culinary experience. I couldn’t name the last Sonoma County wine I drank, but I guarantee it isn’t on any sommelier’s short list.
But this is a big deal to me and many others. It is a sign of the times, and one that you shouldn’t let slip by.
Those vineyards I’ll never visit on an ambling, month-long trip up the Northern California Coast — and the often phony down-to-earth culture that can only be enjoyed by multimillionaires in the San Francisco Bay Area — are just the tip of the iceberg.
There is a lot of money to be made by investors who are willing to get into the marijuana sector early, and time is running out.
In the next week, the biggest announcement in the sector since California passed Prop 64 will come. Truth be told, it may be even bigger, but we’ll only know that for sure in hindsight.
This is all a sign of the times, and the times sure are a-changin’ fast. Don’t get left behind, but don’t be careless.
A handful of companies will come to dominate the market, and picking the strongest companies now is crucial to capturing the gains to come.
That is exactly why Jimmy Mengel just launched The Marijuana Manifesto. He’s been actively researching this rapidly growing global market for years, and has singled out three top-tier companies for his new readers.
If you have any interest at all, now is the time. Within a matter of days, it could be too late to get in on the ground floor.
