NY Times Uses Hill Wine Company Debacle To Take A Shot At Napa Valley

Napa Valley’s reputation took a hit from the New York Times on Sunday in an article about the Hill Wine Company implosion and Jeff Hill’s antics.

The article: in “Vino Veritas. In Napa, Deceit” offered a general interest summary that hit a few of the high points of this highly complicated case. In the process, it left an overall impression that varietal fraud and some level of adulteration were relatively common practices.

The article made a point in at least three different places that Napa Valley wine prices were more about hype rather than inherent quality.

According to the New York Times article, Napa Valley wine prices are, “based more on consumers believe in the superiority of the region’s grapes than in the inherent quality of the liquid in the bottle.”

Much of the article is devoted to interviews with industry people Who insist that wines from Napa County, Lake County, and the Central Coast are equally as good as Napa Valley wines: “Much of Napa’s price premium stems from savvy marketing, not any objective superiority of the wine,” wrote New York Times reporter Vindu Goel.

The full text of the article can be found here: In Vino Veritas. In Napa, Deceit.

In-depth original coverage of Hill Wine Company can be found in Wine Industry Insight’s coverage, below:

PREVIOUS WINE INDUSTRY INSIGHT COVERAGE OF THE HILL WINE COMPANY BANKRUPTCY

• Jeff Hill Pleads Not Guilty To Grape Theft
• HillWineCo: More Bulk Wine Discovered & Up For Grabs
• Hill Wine Co: The Pink Bunny Of Wine Financial Disasters
• Hill Wine Debacle: Napa Valley Cab: $2.93/Bottle, $5/Gal
• Hill Wine Co Bankruptcy Now In Chapt 7 Liquidation
• Hill Wine Co – Fireworks Likely In Today’s Liquidation Hearing
• Hill Wine Co Rushing Toward Liquidation
• Security Of Grower Liens Uncertain In Hill Winery Bankruptcy
• TTB Carpet Bombs Hill Wine Co With Felony Allegations
• Confused Hill Wine Co Chapter 11 Stumbles Forward
• Hill Wine Co Bankruptcy Snares Big Names, Big Time