Next weekend, many of the world’s top winemakers and connoisseurs will converge at the Bacara Resort to sniff and sip through the World of Pinot Noir. But you probably already know that, as do countless numbers of your friends and neighbors, because we live today in the most wine-savvy time in American history.
That’s thanks to increasing global production, sure. And to enhanced quality — both near and far. And to Sideways, of course. But our relatively newfound passion for the grape may be mostly tied to the rise of the Internet, which broke down historically snobby wine walls like never before and democratized, through the free flow of information, the enjoyment of the fermented grape juice that elites have coveted for ages.
No one wears that theory more proudly than Alder Yarrow. The San Francisco–based Internet professional became one of the world’s first wine bloggers in 2004 when he started vinography.com strictly to satisfy increasingly wine-curious friends. Six months later, he realized thousands were reading his wine notes, and today the widely respected website is considered a serious source by trade and consumers alike.