WTN: Zinfandel and Fume Blancs

[Jenise]

Last night's neighborhood wine group:

The fumes:

2011 Bernard Griffin Fume Blanc, $8.50: From a pretty cool vintage, this wine I've not liked in warmer vintages was fresh and less fleshy, but still just a tad candied and simplistic when compared to the other two.

2009 Chateau St. Jean Fume Blanc, $13: More character and complexity than the Bernard Griffin. Rounder with fuller body consistent with the Chateau St. Jean's house style. Classy, but the oak's not subtle. Probably the group's overall favorite. But not mine:

2009 Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc, $20: It's been years since I've had this, so I was pleased to see that in spite of the fact that there's no Mondavi at Mondavi anymore, this wine remains the class act ole Bob put together so long ago. Stunning lime and green apple fruit with a delicious grassiness and vibrant adidity, it scared off the non-geeks but I loved it.


The zinfandels:

I am the wine buyer for this group, and have to say that as the months roll along since Costco essentially bought the election for Initiative 1183 and the right to sell hard liquor that's going to change the landscape of all alcohol sales in my state, it's becoming increasingly hard to buy wine. The grocery store wine sections wherein each was managed and stocked individually by its own Wine Steward--making each a small and excellent wine store with it's own personality--are being severely compromised toward only the more corporate brands and fast-selling products to make room for the cheap vodka and tequila that can now and will be sold on their premeses. One chain, and it's the best of them, has put the kabosh on new SKU's, required the elimination of 200 SKU's per store, and limited restocking to three bottles max. What that meant to me in trying to round up four bottles of six good zinfandels was that there were plenty of choices at the plonky $10 level, only a few choices at the $30 level where few around here venture in, and very little selection in the moderately priced good-value level of teen's and low 20's where zinfandel typically shines. It was a real struggle to put this together--the Nalle and Neyers, I had to special order. Prices shown are MSRP. These wines were opened about nine hours earlier for evaluation and all but the Immortal and Murphy Goode needed airing time.

2009 Nalle Zinfandel, Sonoma, $35: Visibly light, very green nose, and a bit strident on the palate--unbalanced, underripe and dilute. Now I get that Nalle is a more claret-style zin than most and I chose it for that reason, but this wine so lacked zin typicity that it felt unfinished. Sixth place with the group, and deservingly so (even though it got two first place votes. Odd, that.)

2009 Kenwood Jack London, Sonoma, $25 ($18 locally): Zinberry nose with an interesting cardboard scent, excellent acidity and attitude with softer tannins. I detected a bit of bacon in the fruit, along with a swish of tobacco and pepper. Very well done. First place with the group and fourth with me, but the latter only because I liked four of the wines pretty equally and had such trouble deciding how to order my favorites.

2009 Ridge Lytton Springs, $35: Earthy and bold from the 23% petite sirah, this that was so impressive earlier in the day pulled back just a bit by evening and didn't show or score as well as it had a right to. Black fruit with tar and licorice, it's a great edition of Lytton Springs. My first place, group 4th.

2010 The Immortal Zin from Peraino Vineyards, Lodi, $16 ($11 locally): Big and simple with jammy strawberry red fruit, cocoa, coconut milk, and a little spice--fairly typical of Lodi, though not as gobby or sweet as so many of the Lodi zins are. Hugely popular with the group, their 2nd place. For me, 5th, and along with the Nalle one of the two that I flat-out didn't like.

2009 Neyers Del Barba, Contra Costa, $29: Full bodied and juicy, with ripe blackberry fruit, garrique and mineral notes. Saturated and yet sophisticated, with the supple mouthfeel of mellow tannins and the seriousness of concentrated fruit. Tasted expensive; this is the kind of hedonistic zinfandelity I can't resist. Second place for me, and inexplicably (I would have predicted it to do much better with such huge fruit) only 5th with the group.

2008 Murphy Good 'Liars Dice', Sonoma, $21 ($16 locally): The lightest in color of all the wines with the warm redness of age on a wine built for early drinking. And therein lies its charm: resolved tannins and softer (but not lacking) acidity gave the wine an ethereally silky mouthfeel, with a spicy floral nose and peppery, curry-esque flavors on the mid-palate and a lingering finish. I was so pleased: here was the wine I was the least sure of, but there was no denying its attractiveness. Group 3rd, my 3rd.

I am the wine buyer for this group, and have to say that as the months roll along since Costco essentially bought the election for Initiative 1183 and the right to sell hard liquor that's going to change the landscape of all alcohol sales in my state, it's becoming increasingly hard to buy wine. The grocery store wine sections wherein each was managed and stocked individually by its own Wine Steward--making each a small and excellent wine store with it's own personality--are being severely compromised toward only the more corporate brands and fast-selling products to make room for the cheap vodka and tequila that can now and will be sold on their premeses. One chain, and it's the best of them, has put the kabosh on new SKU's, required the elimination of 200 SKU's per store, and limited restocking to three bottles max. What that meant to me in trying to round up four bottles of six good zinfandels was that there were plenty of choices at the plonky $10 level, only a few choices at the $30 level where few around here venture in, and very little selection in the moderately priced good-value level of teen's and low 20's where zinfandel typically shines. It was a real struggle to put this together--the Nalle and Neyers, I had to special order.

Ah, those unforeseen and not very carefully thought out consequences.

In a way, neither wine nor spirits will benefit greatly from this scenario. And certainly not the overall discerning consumer of either. Less space for wines, therefore the streamlining effect to the volume movers and elimination of selection and choice and variation (is there really that much variation between all the bulk producers of zinfandel? of course not), and the inclusion of...guess what?....only the top volume standard spirits that everybody else has. Because you have to have what everybody else has, don't you? And that eliminates the special, the unique, the different, the elite, or the unusual. But general convenience of indiscriminate alcohol beverage will be better, and CostCo's bottom line will be better, and that's what this was all about anyway. Wasn't it?

[Jenise]

Ah, those unforeseen and not very carefully thought out consequences.

In a way, neither wine nor spirits will benefit greatly from this scenario.

Let the record show: this is exactly what I anticipated, and I voted against 1183. It's going to be the worst thing that ever happened to small, boutique wine producers and the people who buy their wines. I had no problem with people who buy hard liquor having to do so at state-controlled liquor stores. The selection wasn't super-great, but it will look like paradise compared to what hard liquor consumers will now be able to buy at Costco or their local grocer who stocks same to compete. So enter: the homogenization of the big box stores. Bevmo and Total Wine are surely coming, but it will get worse before it gets better and probably never be as good as it was.