By the time you lucky readers get to digest this month’s column, I’ll have started my seventh decade! Where in the world has the time gone? In looking back (and looking ahead), it’s absolutely mind-boggling. When I was a boy, a bicycle was something only kids rode. They didn’t waste money and dramatically screw up traffic so a few diehards could ride and still ignore the laws and also ride three-abreast on back roads where two cars can barely fit without the bikers in the way. One local bicycle enthusiast confided in me that it’s all of the city slicker tourists that do that on the back roads, because they aren’t used to streets without curbs and white lines. Regardless, they’re a major hazard in the middle of Wine Country. Why aren’t they on Highway 29 or the Silverado Trail in our neighbor’s county? Oh well, enough of that.
My second thought was that, when I was a boy, animals were exactly that; we didn’t spend more money on animal welfare than on starving children—and the homeless shelters were built for people. Have we gone off track? Or am I just really getting that old? With my limited knowledge of the entire agricultural commissioner fiasco, it was stated that when animal control was removed from that office, half of the $8.67 million budget and half of the 63 employees were transferred. Still, $4+ million seems a little steep for a relatively nonessential service while the rest of agriculture, which generates our lifestyle and hundreds of millions of dollars, gets far less service from the agricultural commissioner’s office, where the staff is stretched pretty thin. OK, I’m provincial and old fashioned—but definitely not apologizing for it.
Maybe my birthday gifts will include more screwtop wines, better and better Chateau-la-boxes, the end of the era where you need a different $20 glass for each variety and, doubtful but hopefully, lower and more fair restaurant wine pricing.
Well, what’s the good news? How about surplus bulk wine is now selling better than it has in the last three years? Prices are still lower than a few years ago, but movement is a positive sign. Rumors, or maybe hopes, see wine prices starting to escalate again. However, I wonder if they’ll return to the past high prices in the foreseeable future. Consumers have become spoiled since they’ve discovered they don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get a really good wine. Our big-time competition is coming from Paso Robles, the Amador area and, (watch out) Washington, where they’re doing a fantastic job with several red varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot. I’ve also had some good Sangiovese, a red wine that defies greatness every harvest—it’s tough to make a good one. If you’re traveling way up north, don’t overlook going to the Okanogan Valley in British Columbia. Its whites are particularly good and the ice wines are heaven.
On equally great news, the West Coast Wine Competition was recently held and it’s fun to report that you don’t need your wine to cost $40 to be good and get a gold medal or even best of class. Two of Gallo’s Turning Leaf wines—affordable Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot—were best of class.
My favorite wine, as many of you know, was the white sweepstakes winner: a Sauvignon Blanc from Bogle—in the $10 range and good! Another Sauvignon Blanc was a very close second, and is made by one of Sonoma’s oldest and greatest, the Pedroncelli family.
In fairness, I need to mention the red sweepstakes. It was from Scheid Winery in Monterey County—a $30+ Pinot Noir. Enough of that. If you go online and look up the results, I think you’ll be particularly surprised about the prices of many of the golds. I think it’s saying that, yes, we can make wines that are good and inexpensive.
Overall, Sonoma and Napa didn’t do really well. I look at that as they aren’t as good as they think they are—or maybe they didn’t even enter, being afraid to get beat. I guess when you think everything you make is gold medal-quality, and it turns out not to be, it’s an unpleasant experience. However, I know also they say the judges didn’t know what they were doing so it doesn’t make any difference.
When looking at judging results, I think it’s fascinating to see new areas emerge. However, I continue my dismay about how badly we can screw up a variety—enter Shiraz! Why can’t we duplicate or come close to making a wonderful red wine like the Aussies do? I’d like to think we’re as good, if not better, than our Southern Hemisphere friends, but we certainly haven’t proved it yet. Maybe Shiraz likes Christmas on the beach.
By the time you read this, the shock of the very sudden death of one of my best friends, Mike Lee, will have worn off, or at least I hope so. Mike and family bought the Old Pagani Winery and renamed it Kenwood Winery in the early 1970s. As a business major in college, he learned winemaking the hard way—through experience and a couple of courses at UC Davis. He not only learned well, but became an icon in the industry. It’s impossible to even begin counting the number of people he taught, and most are still working in the industry today. My personal favorite accomplishment is developing the style of Sauvignon Blanc that still stands today, albeit not quite as grassy as Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.
Mike loved wine and the industry loved him. Many of his former employees are still at Kenwood or Valley of the Moon or at least in the county winemaking or cellar ratting (is that a word?). It’s beyond belief that Mike left this planet so early in life. But they were a very full 66 years as most of his friends will testify. Good-bye, Mike. We’ll all miss you very much. In his honor, we can call this Sauvignon Blanc month for your bottle-a-day homework assignment.
