Before Sideways made fun of Merlot, Merlot in CA had already embarked on stupidity. I fear the same thing is happening with a lot of people pushing the limits of Pinot Noir now, again, in certain CA AVAs, and with Malbec and Syrah. Now when I started into wine in the early '80s I adored CA Merlots because they were allowed to be a fractional blending grape that could stand as a varietal/dominant blend; Sonoma was not Pomerol or Saint-Emilion but some producers could just let the grape be. When it got popular, as always happens, marginal producers and envelope-pushers blew up the volume and the formula. Commendable Merlots seem far more prevalent now, or maybe they're just not lost in a flood of insipid or over-the-top variants.
It’s like “Chablis.” Most Americans equate it with cheap, sweet jug wine. Wrong. It’s a French appellation that just happens to excel at Chardonnay as Chardonnay (and not Chardonnay as a bastard cross between a dairy and an oak woodland). As noted earlier, I prefer Burgundian Chardonnay. I prefer Sauv Blanc to Chard, generally, be it Bordeaux or here or the antipodes; man, we had a great time chasing Sauv Blanc on our first New Zealand trip.
Riesling? Flowery yet it need not be candy. Vibrant tones are not necessarily sugary.
Have we survived the Carnerosification of Pinot Noir, btw? I adore Pinot when we let it be Pinot, and it has that Champagne/sparkling wine ability to be a wine of many foods, if not to the near totality of extent as sparklers are. Big fan of Oregon, NZ--Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay--and the Santa Rita Hills appellation in Santa Barbara County.
And being a native Californian, how about a big shout out to what is essentially our and America’s grape: Zin. Again, let’s let it be Zin. (Came back from the Sierra foothills two weeks back with a number of magnums of Zin from Hatcher in Murphy's. Outstanding. We'll pop one as we watch Oregon hammer Stanford on Saturday!)
Blush? Need not be “White Zin” crap. The color from a good rosé typically comes from contact with the skins of a red grape, and the color can run from a light pink blush to orange, though in Champagne blending is common; a Blanc de Noirs is not a sparkler made with the addition of the wine equivalent of Kool-Aid. Again, the point is, don’t let American crass marketing toss something noble under the bus.
Bubbles? As with all wine, to us, you need to be able to consistently afford it for it to be talked about; Hollywood and the high rollers can wet themselves over Screaming Eagle (that's not a bubbler, btw). Domaine Chandon does fine as an everyday and inexpensive sparkler, Schramsberg is our house fave. We also play at Champagne. Clicquot is bueno. (Also see my last graf below.)
Anyway, I digress. My point is, there are a lot of learner wines on every grocery store shelf, the big-name, wide-penetration producers. While saying Grape X from Brand Y has its merits, I tend to suggest a regional approach.
If anyone is interested in Champagne, please contact me via e-mail or PM. I have a nephew who is importing small-house wines and he is a great resource.
It’s like “Chablis.” Most Americans equate it with cheap, sweet jug wine. Wrong. It’s a French appellation that just happens to excel at Chardonnay as Chardonnay (and not Chardonnay as a bastard cross between a dairy and an oak woodland). As noted earlier, I prefer Burgundian Chardonnay. I prefer Sauv Blanc to Chard, generally, be it Bordeaux or here or the antipodes; man, we had a great time chasing Sauv Blanc on our first New Zealand trip.
Riesling? Flowery yet it need not be candy. Vibrant tones are not necessarily sugary.
Have we survived the Carnerosification of Pinot Noir, btw? I adore Pinot when we let it be Pinot, and it has that Champagne/sparkling wine ability to be a wine of many foods, if not to the near totality of extent as sparklers are. Big fan of Oregon, NZ--Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay--and the Santa Rita Hills appellation in Santa Barbara County.
And being a native Californian, how about a big shout out to what is essentially our and America’s grape: Zin. Again, let’s let it be Zin. (Came back from the Sierra foothills two weeks back with a number of magnums of Zin from Hatcher in Murphy's. Outstanding. We'll pop one as we watch Oregon hammer Stanford on Saturday!)
Blush? Need not be “White Zin” crap. The color from a good rosé typically comes from contact with the skins of a red grape, and the color can run from a light pink blush to orange, though in Champagne blending is common; a Blanc de Noirs is not a sparkler made with the addition of the wine equivalent of Kool-Aid. Again, the point is, don’t let American crass marketing toss something noble under the bus.
Bubbles? As with all wine, to us, you need to be able to consistently afford it for it to be talked about; Hollywood and the high rollers can wet themselves over Screaming Eagle (that's not a bubbler, btw). Domaine Chandon does fine as an everyday and inexpensive sparkler, Schramsberg is our house fave. We also play at Champagne. Clicquot is bueno. (Also see my last graf below.)
Anyway, I digress. My point is, there are a lot of learner wines on every grocery store shelf, the big-name, wide-penetration producers. While saying Grape X from Brand Y has its merits, I tend to suggest a regional approach.
If anyone is interested in Champagne, please contact me via e-mail or PM. I have a nephew who is importing small-house wines and he is a great resource.
