Lately, I have heard several California trade buyers, from SF restaurants mostly, indicate that they have been instructed by their bosses to increase their local CA wine offerings.
The perception being that their lists were out of balance and favored imports over CA wines. And the inference being that this was 'politically' unacceptable.
And a few months ago, Jon Bonne from the SF Chronicle, wrote an article about local wines in the San Francisco marketplace that created a storm in a teacup reaction.
And here is a quote from the recent K&L Wines newsletter:
"...Then there was the sort of inconvenient fact that I don’t really like California wines, and I really almost never drink them...
All that would have to be put aside. Because, you see, I am a recently emerging eco-maniac. And part of my turning green, along with the bulk organic soap of a previous article, is a commitment to buying and drinking locally whenever possible, an idea that is certainly gaining fervor."
Elisabeth Schriber, K&L Wines
Don't get me wrong, I support the local wine industry and agree in principle from a ecological perspective that drinking local makes very good sense. But part of me feels like this smacks of the freedom fries debacle of a few years back (never been fond of knee-jerk political expediency).
I want to drink more wines that are made in CA. But I also want more CA winemakers to make wines in a style that I enjoy.
What would be really interesting is if this press attention and trade buyer bailout behavior becomes a harbinger of change to come.
Restaurant buyers have admittedly becoming reliant on imports for their attractive price to quality ratio, but also for their stylistic differences. CA wines tend to be full of big fruit and high alcohol, which makes them challenging to pair with food.
I am realistic. I know CA is a warm climate but that does not necessarily mean that every wine must have an alcohol level 14.5% and upwards to 16%. Or that they have their flavors drowned in toasty new oak or designer cultivated yeasts.
So this is a call for more CA winemakers and winery owners to stop and think before they create yet another fruit and oak bomb, crafted to land high scores. If they want more of the wine world's 'tastemakers' (i.e. restaurant sommeliers) to buy their wine, then they should consider if said wine is food friendly and well-priced.
All of that being said, there are obviously some wonderful and interesting wines being made in California. As regular readers of MyDailyWine already know, I prefer wines that are made from organically grown/chemical free grapes and just as importantly, wines that have not been overly-manipulated in the cellar (via massive sulfites, micro-ox, designer yeasts,etc).
I will keep on drinking plenty of imports because I love them and crave diversity. I will also endeavor to increase my local wine love this year.
Here are a few local CA wines to check out:
Clos Saron
Coturri
Bonny Doon
La Clarine
Scholium
Ambyth
Donkey & Goat
NPA (Natural process Alliance)
Lioco
Friday, January 8, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
19 comments:
I live in Santa Cruz and we have some pretty well respected producers here yet I hadn't bought any in
at least 10 years with one exception-Rhys. As a general idea though, I've thought often about that. I am a believer in local production and distribution and for food this is pretty easy, there's all kinds of great local food, but wine is another story.
What I would really like to see would be local producers bringing natural food friendly wines to Farmers markets in bulk, so I could fill up my own container like they do in Europe. I'd definitely buy more local then. I'm sure however doing that isn't legal AND it conflicts with most winery business models, so I'm not expecting to see it happen, unfortunately.
I am with you Ned! I shop at farmers markets every week here in CA, and would love to buy a fresh, local wine in bulk as my 'house' wine. I was able to do exactly this when I lived in Australia. Sigh.
Closest thing we have is the NPA wines from Kevin Kelley, but he only sells them within a 100 mile radius (Sonoma).
Great post, the kind of post I was waiting for someone to write. What I wonder is whether that ethical urge to buy local sustainable wine as part of an eco-friendly sensibility will become more widespread outside of CA and other big wine producing states. For example, I live in Colorado, and there is some local wine here, and some locally-made wine from California grapes, but really not much choice for someone to exercise that eco-sensibility here. I suspect it therefore won't catch on in states like this. The closest to it may be preferring US wines to imports. And then the desire for a change in wine styles from California will matter.
I hope California residents don't take for granted what they have locally. It may not be the preferred wine in the world, but there is plenty of product that is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the country. (Sort of) like Colorado, Georgia is producing some vinifera in the North GA mountains, and I try to support the local product as much as I can, but it pales in comparison to the quality of California. Wish the sommeliers and writers in the Golden State would realize how good they have it (and Amy, I mean this with all due respect, as an "old world" wine style lover!). Cheers!
Point taken Joe. CA does have some wonderful wines. And believe me, I feel very fortunate to live in this state. But I want CA winemakers to meet winelovers in the middle. I will promise to explore and support more CA wines, especially if CA winemakers will endeavor to make more food friendly wines.
What we have is great, but we can do even better.
"local producers bringing natural food friendly wines to Farmers markets in bulk, so I could fill up my own container like they do in Europe" - unfortunately, this practice is illegal in this country. Check with your congressman for details. :-(
Yep, we in California and especially the Russian River area of Sonoma are most lucky. We have organic or locally grown food plus incredible local wines at even the smallest markets.
My palate is, thus, a California palate, so wines from France or Spain take getting used to. I like buying wine that comes from within 25 miles of my house. It gives me a certain pride of place. How fortunate to be here now.
Personally, I am skeptical when it comes to the argument to support any localized product outside of produce.
To me, this is the equivalent of "Buy American!" - ie., "we can't make a good product but you should buy it anyway because it's green/patriotic/blah-blah."
You should ALWAYS buy the product that YOU think is provides the best value for money (assuming that producer hasn't done anything really stupid, like hire slave child labor, etc.).
Capitalism depends on this, and anything else is really just f--king with the market.
If you like CA wines, great - buy them. If not, don't. It shouldn't matter where the wines come from.
If being green is a concern, then pressure the wine industry and shippers to get greener. Don't punish non-local products just because they aren't local.
Ok, removing soapbox now... :-)
Thanks Dude. Yep, hence my 'freedom fries' comment in the post. And my request that CA wineries up their game. If they want wine geeks to buy their wine, they have to make wines that are less manipulated in the cellar and with grapes that are not over-ripe.
Those are some of my favorite CA wineries as well..
Throw in Quivira, and if you are looking for some restraint.. Nalle, Harvest Moon. ...Cobb (expensive) Dashe Enfant Terrible.. Navarro,
I think it is important to support 'local producers' of everything you can to encourage more local businesses, and hopefully well-run small businesses become more successful and therefore stay in business.
That said, I agree with others that one should not purchase things that they do not like, simply because it is 'local', nor pay a lot more for things unless it is 'justified' . . .
I am also fortunate to live in an area (the Santa Ynez Valley) where we have great local produce, farm fresh eggs, great local meats, and,of course, great wines . . .
I think that what I take from this is that CA restaurants and retailers need to work a little harder to find some of the smaller wineries that are making wines in ways that fly 'outside the norm' for CA producers - acid driven, nuanced, balanced wines . . .
BTW, Amy, care to share any names of those you've spoken to so us smaller CA producers can knock on some more doors (-:
Cheers!
Seconded or is it thirded at this point?
What I would really like to see would be local producers bringing natural food friendly wines to Farmers markets in bulk, so I could fill up my own container like they do in Europe. I'd definitely buy more local then. I'm sure however doing that isn't legal AND it conflicts with most winery business models, so I'm not expecting to see it happen, unfortunately.
Dude: aren't grapes considered "produce" also? I agree we shouldn't buy local just because it's a fad or hip nowadays - and maybe time will tell us that it was and shall pass. And certainly, your local producers would rather you do so for economic reasons, so there's a bit of a marketing ploy here too I presume.
But, I also think the bigger part of it is the desire that each of us to become more in tune with our communities and support them and this is just one way to do so. Everyone and everything is so broad and global nowadays that we probably forget what's happening right in our own neighborhood.
I find this conversation very interesting, I have 6 acres of cabernet that I have a difficult time selling to wine makers because they are grown in a cooler portion of Sonoma Valley and do not produce the high alchol fruit bombs that winemakers like to sell. I really hope this idea of lower alchol food-friendly wine takes off.
It is posible to sell wine in bulk at farmers market although a bit tricky. Preston Winery in Dry Creek sells 1 & 3 Liter jugs on Sundays - They are also Organic Farmers.
Hey Anonymous Cab Guy,
There are some wineries out there. We harvest our Cab sauv at a ripe 22.8 brix with tons of acid and pyrizine still left in the grapes. We are not going for big fruity Cab rather one that will pair wonderfully with the nightly dinner and age gracefully for a decade. It's one of our biggest sellers. You should custom crush that vineyard until wine folks come around.
I must admit, reading the blog excites and encourages me. Making Pinot Noir and Cab in the 12% range and Zins in the high 13% range, I feel the pendulum is swinging back to rational thought. The concept of leaving the fruit on the vine to shrivel to get the big score, absolutely baffels me. It sounds like we in CA wine gig are finally starting to get it. We have got to get the fruit off the vine earlier (not less ripe) in order to preserve the natural juicy flavors.
We've also got to get away from the scores, puffs, stars and medals from publications who don't understand the need for balance in wine. It's time for fruit-bomb cocktail wine to take its place in history.
Ok, there are two main issues here. One is that sommeliers complain that most California wines are "too much"--too much oak, too much alcohol, too expensive, too whatever. Therefore, they have to go overseas to get what they want. Really, there is an incumbant laziness and rush to stereotype here. For at the same time you hear this, each writer says, "Oh, but here are some examples that meet the 'less is more' philosophy" and five names are dropped. Do you mean to tell me that amongst the almost 3000 wineries spanning over 100 AVAs in California that they all make wines that are "too much?" They found those five wines, I am sure there are plenty of wines out there that meet the stringent criteria that somms want today. Just get to work and find them!!
The real issue here, however, is hypocrisy. Preaching local and then saying that the wine portion of the dining experience is exempt is just plain elitist and hypocritical. We love to romanticize the "drink local" when we travel to Europe. How great it is to see how the food and wines of Tuscany go so well together. And we marvel at how bistros in the Loire feature sancerre while those in Alsace pour pinot blanc. And how we all would cringe if we saw a California sangiovese in Chianti or Australian shiraz in Hermitage because the local sommelier decided that the local wines were too light and he thought that wines from warmer climates would match their cuisine. It is the hypocrisy of it all that is the most telling aspect of this debate and the one that no one is addressing while everyone prattles on about how local wines are "too much."
This discussion rocks!
I'm not saying that one should never think about buying local, just that it shouldn't be done only for the sake of buying local (ie, not taking into account quality and preferences, etc.).
I wish I had the temerity to cast Chuck Hayward’s indictments. Sostevinobile, the chain of sustainable wine bars I am developing, owes its genesis to my belief that self-designated locavore establishments are wholly contradictory when they feature an import or import-dominant wine list. If you’re going to make the claim that you are committed or local, sustainable fare, that necessitates including your wines.
And I agree that all the excuses for not doing so are merely that—excuses, and feeble ones at best. Over the past year, I’ve samples over 1,600 West Coast wineries and wine labels so far for our wine program, and I can assure anyone that they can build a wine list that offers incredible breadth, pares with the menu, and is affordable from what we produce in our midst. It’s just too easy to be dismissive or make sweeping generalizations about the wines here—all it takes is a bit of EFFORT to find what you need.
Post a Comment