WTn: Adrift in a sea of mediocrity, and a surprise

I've been opening and ho-humming for at least a week now. Here are my notes from the spreadsheet - the only order is that the last one is the one I opened tonight and restored my faith in myself.

Calif. Napa Valley Harding Estates Sauv. Blanc 2006 $8.99 Nothing _bad_ about it, but nothing worthy of
buying it again. Simple, like alcoholic lemonade. Not sweet, but makes you think it is. 14.1% alcohol, BevMo

Calif. Sonoma County Ferrari-Carano Sienna Mixed Varieties 2002 $21.00 Corked. Not horribly, but corked. Rather flat and lifeless, with just enough of the soggy taste to make the problem clear. Sangiovese, Malbec, Cab Sauv. Bought at the winery

Calif. Dry Creek Valley Quivira Dry Creek Cuvee Mixed Varieties 2001 $18.00 Not bad, not great. Club. 59% Grenache, 19% Mourvedre, 16% Syrah, 6% Zinfandel
Quivira's Rhone blend is often a tasty, vibrant addition to a grill or roast. This one was a disappointment, following the corked Sienna. (They spelled the label with 2 n's on this vintage.)

Calif. Ridge Pagani Ranch, Late Picked Zinfandel 2002 $19.99 Certainly not sweet! A bit hot and a bit acidic. Decent but nothing to write home about. 89% Zin, 7% Alicante Bouschet, 4% Petite Syrah; 15.8% alcohol, 0.2% sugar. Cosentino's
I'm usually a Ridge fan and I had hopes that the Pagani late-picked would be tasty. The heat surprised me and didn't go away the second night.

And tonight, with a meat loaf of mixed beef and lamb -

Calif. Dry Creek Valley David Coffaro Estate Cuvee, Estate Bottled Mixed Varieties 2000 $12.50 I was afraid when I opened and tasted – there was some harshness and funk. It blew off and an hour later had a very pleasant smooth older Zin/mature CalCab with resolved tannins and considerably better than average length. 33% Zin, 30% Cab Sauv, 25% Carignan, 12% Petite Sirah. 680 cases. Bought at the winery, futures.

This was corked with the foam corks, and I've had a few problems with them, and I'm trying to drink them up. This example definitely did NOT have a stopper problem! It could well have been better in a couple more years. However, it's so good right now that I sort of regret that it's the last of my stash of this vintage.

I couldn't help but notice that each of the wines you reported on began with "Calif." Maybe it's not a sea of mediocrity, but a rut. Just a thought.

John,
Thanks for the notes. Incidentally last weekend, we opened a David Coffaro 2004 Estate Cuvee. This one was stopped by screwcap. 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Zinfandel, 22% Carignan and 13% Peloursin. Lipsmacking right now but it might benefit from a couple of years.
I have never had Quivira's Dry Creek Cuvee but I have had some good Syrahs and Petit Sirahs from them.
Did you have a Cosentino's amongst your tatsings?
Shaji

Howie,
Where do I live? The prices are about what I'm willing to pay, and scraping through BevMo doesn't show a lot of good stuff for under $20 that I read about here. Of course, I keep buying a bottle of $10-$15 wine. Most often it's mediocre. Such is life. <shrug>

I occasionally buy a bottle of wine at Cosentino's Market in San Jose, which is not Cosentino winery in the Napa Valley. I've had a few Cosentino wines, though they tend to be on the upper end of my price range. I liked what I had, though.

Knowing that you live in CA, one would expect you to drink mostly CA wines, but there may be a sameness type thing going on. In general, I like CA wines, but I think a steady diet of them could get old. I drink mostly my home made wines, but I need some good "store-bought" to broaden my horizons and keep things in focus. I'm sure you should be able to find some affordable Vouvray, Beuajolais, Riesling, Chianti, OZ or NZ.

Or basic Rioja from Spain.

I compare $10 Vouvray to $10 Calif Viognier. Lots more choices in the CA stuff, and I've had a couple of bottles of REALLY BAD Vouvray. And a couple of bottles that give me a feeling for what the standard might be. Which a couple of bottles of CA have met.
I do buy NZ SB, and now that it's available, the occasional bottle of NZ PN. And I do like Alsatian wines, though they too have become rather pricey. I fear I just can't get into Riesling.
I'd love to get more Burgundy that's the equal of some of the stuff I had there in 2001, but again, that's really hard to find. I looked down my spreadsheet and found exactly two bottles of sub-$20 Burgundy. One I liked - Edmond Cornu Ladoix "Les Carrieres" 2000 that I brought home from my trip (cost me $11.78) and one ho-hum - Robert Groffier Bourgogne 2000 at $18.99, and my note was, "A very pleasant wine of no particular distinction."

When I pay (gasp, shudder) $40 for a bottle of wine, I hope to be rewarded with something memorable. Yes, I know there are wines that cost a ton or more. I'm just not in that market. I've never paid as much as $100 for a bottle of wine, but inflation keeps inflating and one of these days I'm sure I will, but my expectations then will be about the same as my expectations now for a $30 - $40 bottle - something worth remembering and remarking about.

You may consign me to the "cheap old fuddy-duddy" bin. I don't mind.