What happened to the good inexpensive CA wines?

[vengroff]

"Forget Arnold and Arianna," writes Mike Steinberger of Slate, "the real farce is what's become of California wines.... If Californians want to recall something, they might start with all those insipid chardonnays."

[hollywood]

The writer has a point though it's unfortunate he didn't spend some time trying to find good values in California. For daily drinking, I think most Californians look to Sutter Home or Kendall Jackson. Not particularly good, but cheap and plentiful. Otherwise, we go to Trader Joe's and check what's on sale. Hence, the notorious Two Buck Chuck. Or, go to discounters and get French, Italian, Spanish, German, Australian, Chilean, etc.

[tommy]

this bit seems very valid to me:

Americans are also expanding their wine horizons: Wine drinkers are often weaned on Napa merlots and Sonoma chardonnays but then become more adventurous, dabbling in Loire whites, Rhone reds, and other imports. Many find they prefer the foreign stuff, which usually has a lot more character and goes down better with meals. (California wines tend to be abusively oaked, high in alcohol, and low in acidity, making them distinctly food-unfriendly.)

i wrote off most CA wines a while ago. and that's not to say i know anything about wine in general, but i know that most wine stores carry a vast array of mediocre 10-15 dollar CA whites and reds. i'd rather take my chances on a wine from france or germany, as i look at it as a learning experience, rather than simply buying a product, as i did for many years while drinking CA wines.

[Craig Camp]

i know that most wine stores carry a vast array of mediocre 10-15 dollar CA whites and reds.  i'd rather take my chances on a wine from france or germany, as i look at it as a learning experience, rather than simply buying a product, as i did for many years while drinking CA wines.

The problem with all those California wines you see in those wine stores is that they are all basically the same wine with different labels. It does not matter which brand you buy they will all taste about the same (so just buy the one on sale). California is suffering from technical political correctness in its wine making.

There is no doubt that you can find wines of greater diversity - and thus interest - in this price category from Italy, France, Germany and Spain. You also take more risk in getting a wine you don't like. No pain - no gain.

[tommy]

that's exactly it, for me, craig. they're all pretty much the same at a given price point. by design, i suppose. that's why i refer to it as a "product". it wasn't too long ago that i asked wine store guys for the "biggest, roundest, buttery-est chardonnay". those turned out to be just a bit more round and buttery, at 20 dollars, than the 12 dollar version. it's more of the same.

thank goodness CA wine makers are getting away from this, and fast. i'm seeing a lot of different grapes coming from CA, and a lot more "loire style" and "burgundy style" wines these days. perhaps it's just my perception though. and while i'm very excited about that prospect, i wonder if i'm in the minority of CA wine buyers. but more importantly, my brief 10 year wine-drinking history with CA (and all new world wine producing countries for that matter) has left a bad taste in my mouth.

i will say that spending time in wineries in CA over the past few years has helped change my mind about what they're trying to do and what they're producing. i'm waiting for those interesting wines to hit the shelves of my local wine shop, hopefully nudging out the 27 flavors of chardonnay that currently dominate.

[hollywood]

If you want relatively inexpensive CA wines with some degree of uniqueness, look to Bonny Doone.

[badthings]

i'm waiting for those interesting wines to hit the shelves of my local wine shop, hopefully nudging out the 27 flavors of chardonnay that currently dominate.

Several of my local merchants have large and prominent ABC sections. A couple months ago, I was talking to one of them about a Quincy featured therein when a woman ran in looking for Kendall-Jackson chard. That is still the bulk of their business even in a very well educated market. (I'm not saying you have to be stupid to like wine that tastes like butterscotch pudding, just that many people drink such puddings because they don't have the time to learn more about wine).

I was shocked when I first moved to California to discover that we simply had a better selection of overpriced California wine than on the east coast. It is easier here to find good wines, but they are still overpriced, for the most part [i swim in the shallow end of the pricing pool -- normally under $15]. Probably 90% of what I buy comes from somewhere in Europe.

I didn't think the article had much new to say. Really, it is one of the 2 main wine journalism templates. The other is just the opposite: Bourdeax (or all of France, or even Europe) is losing market share because it's not reacting to to "market pressure" to make butterscotch pudding instead of well-balanced wines that taste good and go with food.

[Bill Klapp]

They have been replaced by better-quality, cheaper (mostly) Italian, Australian and Spanish wines. Now it is true that the absence of that overwhelming oak flavor in some of them foreign wines can be disturbing to the American palate, but it's like your first Diet Coke after a lifetime of drinking the sugared stuff-it takes some getting used to, but eventually, you can learn to appreciate the unadulterated taste of the fruit, and then, it is really hard to go back again!

[tanabutler]

If you want relatively inexpensive CA wines with some degree of uniqueness, look to Bonny Doone.

"Lorna Doone" is the cookie, Bonny Doon is the wine.

I think the BD whites are not to my taste at all, but the reds are Divooooooooon. And he makes the only pink wine I can stomach: Vin Gris de Cigare.

The article mentions Paul Draper. He was at the farm dinner yesterday—his second one, and he never ever attends wine dinners or things like that. But he loves farms (or, in this case, an apple orchard).

He brought two Chardonnays (one a Monte Bello), the 2000 Monte Bello red ($1000/case), and the 2001 Ridge Petite Sirah Essence, which our table of six-eight adored. It was so unexpected, and it was paired with two homemade goat cheeses (one topped with lavendar honey), walnuts, and two kinds of figs. I'd like to them but Paul told me they're getting ready to relaunch the site. It's been down or spotty for a couple of days.

And I agree about the ridiculous prices. It's as stupid as the gas spikes.