Is there a better day to launch a wine blog than National Drink Wine Day?

Frasier, from the mega-popular TV show, knew how to celebrate wine. He was an expert, and he was such an absurd, out-to-lunch character that his snobbery didn’t put us off. My favorite example is a conversation between Frasier and his father in an episode titled, “Winespeak.”

         Frasier: “Dad, tell me if you think this is too subtle for my listening audience: ‘This delightful offering is infused with the brooding, almost dangerous, presence of vanilla.'”      

          Martin: “No, it’s not too subtle. Unless you want them to know what the hell you’re talking about.”                               

Hmmm…maybe a few reruns of Frasier will be on my National Drink Wine Day agenda.

Speaking of wine expertise, at the end of this post is a tiny info-nugget I’m calling Wine Lingo of the Day. It’s just a small takeaway – a bit of wine knowledge to share.

While we’re celebrating, I notice that February is International Expect Success Month. Is there a more successful global industry than wine? Sales in the US grew 3 percent ($1.3 billion) in 2015, says a new report by Wines Vines Analytics, and they’re projected at $38 billion this year.

You’re paying for that success, by the way. Volume grew more slowly than value – in other words, you paid more for the same amount of wine. Domestic bottle prices rose by 22 cents. Boutique wineries were the real winners: those producing 5,000-49,000 cases a year shipped 1.9 million cases, while those producing half a million cases or more shipped just over 234,000 cases. I buy as much wine from the big-big producers as from the little guys, but I can’t resist taking a moment to cheer – hooray for the entrepreneurs!

Apparently, wine is a good-news story across the country: Southern Oregon’s relatively new status as a wine destination, coupled with a growing list of awards, positions the region for an expected tourism boom. In Iowa, last winter’s disastrous weather cut the harvest by almost 50 percent but this year’s higher temps and early first frost will bring a winegrower’s dream – fewer but higher-quality grapes. The folks down in Lake Keowee, SC are building a wine-centric country club.

We’re loving our wine, and it loves us back. We’ve all read that drinking in moderation boosts our health: it helps protect against Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, heart disease, and it even (thank you!) slows the growth of fat cells. But that moderation thing is key; a new study (performed on rhesus monkeys) shows that a glass or two daily boosts our immune systems enough to help keep colds away, but going overboard won’t help at all.

So we raise our glasses. BigSexyReds will celebrate wine (usually) twice a week. If you don’t want to keep checking this site, please click on the little “Follow” tab in the lower right-hand corner of your screen, and the blog posts will come to you by email. (And thanks in advance for doing that – I adore subscribers, each and every one of you, and will hold subscriber-only contests and events in the coming months!)

Please leave comments – nicely, no bullies allowed! I welcome your questions, ideas, insights. I want to know what’s happening in your wine world, and I promise to respond.

And thanks for embarking on this journey with me! As David Letterman (a teetotaler) used to say, call the neighbors, wake the kids, and let’s get this party started!

Big thanks and hugs to two of my favorite BigSexyRed drinkers, the exceptionally talented Emily and Patrick Straffen, for their design and website help.

Wine Lingo of the Day: Must = unfermented grape juice.

Happy sipping!

Mary