ClarksburgDelta Wines & Other Underperformers???

I was thinking the other day (always a dangerous undertaking)
about underperforming wine regions in Calif. Mendocino almost always comes to mind (excluding the AndersonVlly/MendocinoRidge) as there are a lot of truly great old-vine vnyds and a lot of pleasant, but just that, wines from the UkiahVlly. But it is not that difficult to find a few truly great wines from there.

Lodi is another one that comes to mind because a lot of pretty ordinary wines come from there. But if you consider KirschmannVnyd/Bedrock/Carlisle/Sandlands and a few of the other wines investigating Rhone/Spanish varietals and JonBjork's Syrah; Lodi is truly capable of producing great wines.

CalaverasCnty 'tis anuther underperformer. But w/ MattRorick/ForlornHope now owning a vnyd there, I think we'll see some truly great wines from CalaverasCnty.

SolanoCnty/SuisunVlly is another one that pops to mind. There is a fair amount of rather dull wines that come from producers there I've tried. But from Scholium & ForlornHope (who make their wines there), we know that Solano can make some truly great wines w/o question.
ContraCostaCnty?? Nope...there are a number of truly great wine from there.

LivermoreVlly?? Nope..they're capable of greatness I think.

Temecula??? Probably shoudn't even go there or we'll get BobFoster riled.

So how about the ClarksburgDelta??? Don't think I've ever had a Bogle that much impressed me. The DryCreekVnyd CheninBlanc is a pretty enough white, at a very good price, but hardly what I'd call great. There are a fair number of producers there that I've never heard of, nor tried.

So....is the ClarksburgDelta capable of greatness in wines or is it destined to produce dull/soupy wines for TraderJoe's bottom-feeders (such as myself) for the rest of its life??

Tom

Tom:

I think one answer to your question re:Clarksburg is YES. Clarksburg Wine Company makes a STELLAR Chenin Blanc they call "VS". (Vouvrais Style). I am not very familiar or experienced with "great" Chenin Blanc, including the French benchmark versions, so all that I know is that the 2010 VS Chenin Blanc was delicious. Tangy, medium weight, minerally, lovely "citrus"? fruit, but all about that tangyness. A mouth watering wine, imo.

Clarksburg Wine Company also makes a solid Petit Sirah from local grapes. Not sure I would classify it as "great", but very enjoyable with some earthyness and herbal notes that make it more than just a goop bomb. I think that Petit Sirah could be the other trademark varietal for Clarksburg. Years ago, I remember quite enjoying the Clayton Clarksburg Petit Sirah.

It is not fair to judge Clarksburg by Bogle. Bogle is supermarket wine. Basic, fruity, soft easy drinkers at a cheap price. To me, their zinfandel always tasted strongly of Welch's Grape Juice. And that Welch's came through in their one "high end" wine (the Phaeton red blend) pretty strongly as well. It's beena few years, though.

The reality is that most of the wineries located in the Old Clarksburg Sugar Mill source their grapes from all over the place. I really like Due Vigne, which moved their winemaking to the Delta a few years back, but they source from Napa and the Foothills for their diverse program. Three Wine Company (Matt Cline) uses Contra Costa for most of its better wines.

The Dry Creek CB/Viognier is a long term favorite value wine, but as you say not great. I can't say I've ever had a great Delta wine, but I'd be happy if there were more well-balanced value wines. I've never had a great Entre-deux-Mers or Cotes de Castillon either, but happy when I find one I think is a good value. Not every place needs greatness.