Slow Learner

I love the country wines of Italy, France and Spain. Unassuming, un-oaked, personality soaked bargains that make the most of simple meals. There are so many of these wines available for under $20 it is astounding – especially considering how weak the Dollar has been for the last few years.

It has been a national embarrassment for many, many years that American wine producers have been unable to produce anything of interest in the bargain basement. What could be our excuse on the climate blessed West Coast? There should be an ocean of great bargains. Instead all we can muster is a sea of cookie cutter, industrial wines with, at best, no personality or, at worst, an undrinkable gloppy-ness. Clean they are, but that’s it.

Being the slow learner that I am, I picked up a bottle of 2006 Petite Sirah from Vinum Cellars in Clarksburg.  I thought what the heck: Petite sirah? From Clarksburg? That could be good, a no-name variety from a no-name region. After all, why spoofulate up a Clarksburg petite sirah? Put me in the corner with a dunce cap. You’d think I’d learn. What did I get? A purple glop of something that barely resembled wine. Undrinkable and inexcusable – even at $12 a bottle.

As much as I hate to write about wines I don’t like and that it’s perhaps unfair to single out this wine when there are so many like it, it’s just such a waste to make purple glop from grapes that could give us good wine for everyday drinking.

The fact is that you rarely get decent American wine until you cross the $20 threshold. The choices under $20 seem to be purple grape marmalade glop and/or neutral corporate wine. By the by, often these types overlap.

So I have put myself in the corner with a dunce cap writing over and over again, “I will be good” and not buy American wines for everyday drinking. For some bizarre reason to get a decent inexpensive wine I have to find it from producers over 4,000 miles away.

Update on Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 10:11AM by Craig Camp

It is perhaps worth noting that this wine was selected by Whole Foods as a best buy and they’re featuring it. I just don’t get how they could pick this wine. I am always a bit confused that Whole Foods is willing to sell such manipulated wines. It seems somewhat against their business model.

Comments

[AJ]

Being as much of a USA honk as the next guy, I'm always pulling for the home team also. I agree that under $20 wines from France, Italy and Spain have more personality and speak more clearly of their place of origin. Just like gas guzzling SUV's, as long as the consumer continues to purchase purple glop, the corporate cookie cutter wineries will continue to produce them.

[Anthony Nicalo]

I, admittedly, fall in the same Camp of generally preferring Old-World wines or at least that style. But the question of how is it possible at Whole Foods is an interesting one. The problem is that in North America farming and winemaking are considered two different jobs. One person may grow the grapes organically (and let's be generous and assume not just for marketing purposes, but for quality) and then another person manipulates the grapes into wine in the cellar. Sustainability and wine are often evaluated in two separate and shortsighted ways. One- was the vineyard work organic? and two- is the packaging green? That is why you get industrial swill in eco-friendly containers and "organic" spoofulated wine.

[Craig Camp]

Anthony - you're right about the dichotomy. It's interesting that organic winegrowing is in fashion while organic winemaking is not. Certainly this is because you're hard pressed to find a decent organically made wine. In fact, organically made wine has a deserved bad reputation.

[tom hyland]

Craig:

I'm in the same ballpark as you when it comes to not writing about wines you don't like, but in this instance, I think you were justified. Whole Foods does carry some very good wines and as they're a major source for a lot of people who are looking for values, it's worthwhile to knock them when they feature a wine such as this. It gets you thinking that their selection process may be as much political as it is subjective.

But if the winery didn't make such garbage, they wouldn't have to carry it!


Happy New Year!