Low priced US wines

[DaleW]

Mr Grahm,

First of all, I'd like to say I thought your spring newsletter was funniest wine-related thing I'd read in a while. And I get a lot of nice comments on my Cardinal Zin Tshirt.

Oh yeah, wine. I've enjoyed your Big House Red quite a bit. Why is it most US winemakers seem to have so much trouble making an under-$10 wine that shows some structure and character? I could list plenty of under $10 German, Loire, Italian, Languedoc, Spanish etc. wines I generally like. The US list is very short - the Big House, Cline Zin, Pepperwood Grove syrah, um...someone help me here, I'm faltering.

One would think not having to ship across an ocean would give US vintners some advantage. Your thoughts?

[Randall Grahm]

Dale,

Thanks for your comments on the Vinquirer. You have penetrated right to the heart of a great mystery - why are there so many good cheap European wines and so few comparable New World counterparts? I think that a lot has to do with the structure of the businesses in Europe. I think that in fact that are some governmental price supports for the many co-op wineries that dot the southern countryside. The small farmers are generally debt-free and do the work themselves; their equipment is often state of the art 1953. I don't wish to give you a Schwarzeneggerian litany of why doing business is so expensive in CA, but it is - labor is high, as is land costs, utilities, insurance, workman's comp, yadda, yadda. I truly believe that the Central Valley will be the savior of the California wine industry, when someone figures out how to grow killer Nero d'Avola, Negro Amaro and Malvasia Nera down there. Cheers, RG.

[vserna]

I think that in fact that are some governmental price supports for the many co-op wineries that dot the southern countryside.

No, Randall. Price supports for wine are banned in the European Union. What there is is EU subsidies for capital investment in vineyard modernization and winery equipment, which ain't hay.

There are lots of good cheap wines in places like Australia and Chile, which have legal, fiscal and political systems that are entirely different from Europe's...

[Randall Grahm]

Vserna,

You are absolutely correct, but as you point out there is definitely governmental help in modernization and rationaliztion of vineyards. Cheers, RG.