California sparkling wine under $30

It's almost New Years Eve as this gets posted and many of you are thinking about getting a sparkling wine for the celebration. What to get without spending a bunch of money? Oh yeah, and it should be a good bubbly.

If you're willing to spend about $20 to $30 you can get a very enjoyable wine. Here's some ones I turn to:

Chandon in Napa Valley has a line of what they call classic sparklers, but also have a reserve line of Brut, Blanc de Blancs and Rosé all retailing at $30.

Domaine Carneros Brut is a vintage-dated sparkler, 2008 is the current release, that retails for $28.

Best for the money
Image from rodererestate.com

Gloria Ferrer non-vintage Blanc de Noirs is a great deal at $22.

Korbel organic Brut is not the same as their regular Brut you see in every wine shop and grocery store in America. The organic Brut is a nice wine for $16 and is a very worthwhile step up from the $10 junk you'll find in the store.

Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut. This non-vintage wine retails for $23 and is definitely a best buy at this price. This is one I can always trust to give me bang-for-the-buck.

Schramsberg Mirabelle. A non-vintage Brut retailing for $25 from the folks in Napa Valley that make the best bubbly in California.

If you're willing to spend a bit more try Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee for $38, a Blanc de Noirs. If you want to go cheaper find the Spanish sparkler, Freixenet, that goes for under $10.

Your prices and availability will vary depending on where you reside.

So what are all these weird terms you find when shopping for a sparkling wine? I blame the French. :)

Brut Dry (less sweet). Typically a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. By the way, Extra Dry is actually sweeter than Brut. See what the French have done?

Blanc de Blancs means "White from white." It's made from white wine grapes, usually Chardonnay.

Blanc de Noir "White from dark." Made primarily from red wine grapes, usually Pinot Noir.

Champagne is sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France. American producers used to call their sparklers Champagne, but we now have an agreement with the French not to do that. Some American producers were grandfathered in and still label their bubblies as American Champagne.

Cuvee A blend of wines for Champagne, oops I mean sparkling wine.

Methode Champenoise Sparkling wine has a secondary fermentation. That is, after the grape sugars are fermented to alcohol there's a second one to create the bubbles. If this is done individually in each bottle it can be called Methode Champenoise. These are the only ones I'll drink. The "bulk method" processed sparklers give me a headache. You've been warned!

Leaving wine for Santa

It's traditional to leave cookies out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and maybe some carrots for the reindeer. You know, I bet ol' Saint Nick gets pretty tired of cookies after the first thousand or so.

Leave him a glass of wine instead.

So what kind of wine should you leave for him? When trying to decide what to open you should think about the people who will be drinking it and the situation. The situation being: Is it hot out? Cold? Is this for dinner? And what are we eating? Is for for an afternoon social?  Etc.

Santa is spending the night going up and down chimneys so he's out in the cold then into the warm homes.  Two wines come to mind on cold nights. One, a heavy red like a Cabernet. Two, a Port. After all, snow and fireplaces are made for Port! If you're going to leave out some Port I'd suggest matching it with a chocolate chip cookie.

Of course, he may get tired of wine during the night so as an alternative maybe a nice American Black IPA. These are kind of a new trend in wintertime brews.

Take care of Santa and he'll take care of you!

Santa was spotted last January at this tropical bar.
It's believed there was rum involved.

Cab -> Merlot -> Pinot Noir -> Grenache?

  There are always "in" wines such as Pinot Grigio seems to be now. This changes every few years. At one time in California it was Chardonnay or Cabernet and that was about it. Sure, there were other things planted like Chenin Blanc and French Colombard, and some Zinfandel mostly for the locals, but the big guys in the market were Chard and Cab.

  Along came The French Paradox on 60 Minutes and all of a sudden it was Merlot as everyone needed a red wine that was drinkable on the day they bought it (not like the Cabs of the time). Merlot rode that wave for about 15 years. Then it was Pinot Noir. Some say because of the movie Sideways that praised Pinot and derided Merlot.

  Pinot has been riding that popularity wave right into the $50 a bottle range. There's a lot of Pinot being produced now. Is its price sustainable? My guess is no. Not that I'm even close to being an expert on it, but I've been a CA wine drinker for a long time and seen the trends come and go. 

  I've noticed interest moving towards Rhone varietals and specifically Grenache. It can be a good food wine, Grenache is a wine you can just sip on or have with a meal, and most importantly it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The Next Big Thing in red wines was going to be Syrah, but that was a bit of a bust. Why? Well, it's usually a good food wine, but not so good for sipping (it's tannic) and not necessarily cheap--except for the Australian Shiraz style. 

  Grenache seems to grow well in a lot of different locations in California from coastal to the interior Sierra foothills. Yeah, you can find a $40 one if you look hard, but most are around $20. The best ones are often blends of Grenache with Syrah and a lesser known grape Mourvedre--and maybe even Petite Sirah and Carignane. The blends are interesting and very drinkable and if the prices stay low they may even become popular!

Ingredient labeling on wine bottles

A topic that comes up now and again is, should wineries have full disclosure of what goes into the bottle? It's just grapes, right? Well, no.

I suppose it starts will the bins of grapes coming into the wine making facility with the bees, earwigs, and spiders plus additional Material Other than Grapes. But no, that's not what we're talking about here. The folks kicking around the idea of full disclosure on wine labels are in favor of things like added acid, water, sulfur, tannins, whether egg whites are used to fine the wine, other chemicals added, maybe even yeasts and oak chips, etc.

There's a bit more to winemaking than this
Image from nelsoncountylife.com

This doesn't get much support. Why? For one, the winemakers (or any other business person) would just as soon keep the government out of their business as much as possible. For another, I believe certain wineries could be a bit embarrassed and maybe think they'll lose business if they actually list everything that went into their wine.

In fact per American law for a wine to be called by a certain varietal name, like Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon, it must contain 75% of that particular grape. It doesn't matter what grapes make up the other 25%. Your Pinot Noir might be 80% Pinot, 15% Petite Sirah, and 5% Chenin Blanc. Not that anyone has ever done that, but it's not illegal.

Then you get into processes, rather than ingredients, like removing alcohol. Do you add that to the label? The wineries definitely don't want to see this. How about any chemicals used to spray the grapes? Nobody else does this so grape growers won't, but then there's things like organically grown, organic wine, and sustainably farmed. What exactly is the difference?

The biggest embarrassment is probably the addition of water to the wine. This is a fairly new process. It started with the ripe fruit style of wines that's become so popular in the last decade or so. The grapes are picked later (riper) to get that bold fruit. After fermentation there is more alcohol from the higher sugar levels so the popular method of reducing this is to just add water to dilute the wine. This process doesn't get talked about much by wineries because they believe it to be a negative with the consumer.

There can be a lot of chemistry especially when the fruit isn't particularly good. But do we need to know all this? We probably don't need to know it as there's no public danger, but more and more Americans want to know what goes into their body.

What sells wine on a store shelf?

The marketing experts can, of course, give you mountains of data about this or that marketing strategy and branding efforts until you want to scream. This is just an amateur guess at what sells. But then marketing is as much of a guessing game as weather prediction.

Shelf Talkers

That's those little tags under the wine saying "93 points!" or "Great with steak!" When you're looking over a selection of 20 Cabernets in your price range you are going to take the one getting 94 points over the one that only got 89, right?

Look at all the awards! This stuff must be good!

Label

Wineries anguish over going with the simple, and cheaper, two color label vs. bright colors with nice pictures. People will admit to buying by the label all the time. Some folks have a reputation and don't require a fancy label. There are lots of European labels that are dull, colorless, and crowded with script.

Someone that doesn't need to stand out on the shelf

Image from delingerwinery.com

Zarb Champagne. Someone that, um, wants to stand out

Image from polkadot.it

Winery Name

Give it a made up fancy hard to pronounce name that sounds Italian, German, or better yet, French and you can sell it for more dollars than you can something called Sassy Bitch or Happy Bitch (both real labels). With names like that they had better be cheap. No one is going to spend $30 for a bottle of Fat Bastard Shiraz.

Just not really an appealing name, you know?

Image from winehouse.com.au

Bill Foley -- Collector

Some of us buy wine and maybe even a few extra bottles to build up a collection. Some billionaires collect wineries.

from foleyfamilywines.com

Bill Foley, owner of the Foley Wine Group, made his money in the financial sector and got into wine late. I suppose it's sort of a hobby. He owns numerous wineries, but has really been on a tear this year as he's bought three wineries and a vineyard. His Sonoma County holdings include Sebastiani and Chalk Hill Wineries. According to his own website he now has about a dozen wineries in California plus one each in Washington and New Zealand. His most recent is in nearby Lake County--the 23,000 acre Langtry Winery that also has the Guenoc label.

A lot of this has been just in the last month. Maybe he needs a tax write-off for 2012. Or maybe the prices are right as some wineries are probably getting a bit stressed financially by the recession and a few years of small grape harvests. With three years of short harvests the word is when the economy, and wine buying, picks up there will be a grape shortage in California. So those with the cash are buying up vineyard property.

I will guess ol' Bill's not done yet.

Winter 2012-13 wine events in Sonoma County

Major Wine-Related Events for 

December 2012 and January / February 2013

This is the off-season in the wine country and it's a great time to visit. What to expect:

• There won't be any crowds (except on major event weekends). If you go on a weekday you could be the only people some wineries see all day!
• At smaller wineries you have a chance to chat with the owner or winemaker.
• Small crowds also means not much traffic, it's easy to find hotel rooms and get dinner reservations.
• The weather can be 70 and sunny or 48 and raining so check the forecast.

There are various holiday events, crab feeds, etc. besides these few major events listed below. Yes, winter is crab season in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's also the time to see the gray whale migration at the coast.

From Lytton Springs Winery in January

December 2012

Many wineries have their own holiday open house events on the weekends leading up to Christmas. Check with your favorites and see if they have anything going on.

Almost all wineries are closed on Christmas Day; some will close early, or all day, on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. If you plan on visiting at the holidays call in advance to be sure they will be open.


January 2013

Most wineries are closed on New Years Day.

19-20 Winter Wineland. It's the 21st year for this open house of wine, food, and art at over a hundred wineries in northern Sonoma County. This is the big wine event for the winter. Info


February

For Valentine's Day several wineries put on chocolate and wine pairings or even host a lunch or dinner. Check with your favorites to see if they have anything going on.

1-14 Russian River Brewery. No, nothing to do with wine, but this has become a big event. The annual release of Pliny the Younger, a 100 point double-IPA that beer nerds come in from all over to sample. The lines form at the pub every morning during these two weeks. Hint: Don't show up on Superbowl Sunday.

15  VinOlivo. Wine is the #1 ag crop in Sonoma County, but olives are #2. This event celebrates both. Info

15-18 Cloverdale Citrus Fair includes a wine competition. Info

23  Eighth Street Wineries Open House. Several small producers in a warehouse area of Sonoma open up for visitors. Info

23 Mr. Healdsburg Pagent. No, I don't get it, but the women really enjoy this. And, of course, they serve wine. Info

Local fireman hoping to be crowned Mr. Healdsburg
Image from healdsburg.patch.com

March

1-3 and 8-10 The first two weekends of March are the Barrel Tasting weekends. Open house at over 100 wineries. The greatest concentration of wineries and over-imbibers is in Healdsburg and on Dry Creek Road. If you want to party then that's the place to be; if you don't then stay in Russian River Valley or Alexander Valley.  Info

January in the Russian River Valley

Cocktail Wines

Lots of folks go on about the complexities in wine, the proper food matches, their age-worthiness, etc. Others just want an enjoyable glass of wine after work or at a party while talking with friends. You know, a cocktail. These wines go down easy and don't require a lot of thought. "Go down easy" usually means low acid, low tannins, with "inoffensive" often being the best descriptor. "Don't require thought" means not very complex.

A popular cocktail wine
Image from lacrema.com

The original cocktail wine were the oaky, buttery Chardonnays popularized by Kendall-Jackson. When red wine became fashionable after the "French Paradox" on 60 Minutes then nondescript Merlots were in. Over the last decade many of the cool kids went for the big Zinfandels.

Big Zins are the ultimate cocktail wine. They're fruity, soft, and have enough alcohol so one glass can give you a buzz just like that Rum and Coke you used to (or maybe still do) drink. These Zins are enjoyable when they hit the palate and are certainly inoffensive if the heat of the high alcohol doesn't show. And it goes down easy.

The best cocktail Zinfandels come from places like Wilson Winery or Hartford Court whereas the food Zins can be from Lytton Springs, Storybook Mountain, and the like. Actually, the two wineries mentioned here for the cocktail Zins are fairly expensive (and high quality), but often the less expensive Zins will fall into the cocktail wine category also, especially those from the Lodi area.

Wine as a food beverage is in a different style and may not be as enjoyable in the cocktail setting. These are the wines that have higher acid, maybe some tannin, some spices and other complexities. The cocktail wines don't usually match well with food and don't belong in a wine cellar as they probably won't improve with age.

So when you buy decide on the likely setting for the wine.

History and Future of Buena Vista Winery

Buena Vista Winery hasn't gotten much press related to their wines in many years. The focus always seemed to be on corporate profits rather than the wine. For the last couple decades of the 20th century Buena Vista was owned by a German wine distributor. In this century it's been owned by Allied Domecq of Britain, Constellation Brands out of NY and others. Maybe some stability is there now with the purchase and renovation by Jean-Charles Boisset who has been making a name for himself in Sonoma County.

Signs telling the history along the walk to the winery

The town of Sonoma recently celebrated the 200th birthday of the founder of Buena Vista Winery, Hungarian Agoston Haraszthy, considered the originator of California viticulture. He founded Buena Vista Winery in 1857. In 1861 he brought back cuttings from European vineyards. He started a viticultural society, wrote a book on the subject, dug out the first wine caves, and was the first to use redwood barrels for wine (a practice that was popular until the 1970s). Buena Vista Winery is a California state historical landmark.

The winery closed in the late 19th century then was bought by the Bartholemews in the 1940s. They consulted with California's most famous mid-20th century winemaker, Andre Tchelistcheff. The winery was quite successful for a number of years. The Bartholemews sold in 1968 and that began the succession of mostly remote ownership.

The new entrance--still under construction

In 2011 Boisset purchased Buena Vista and has been renovating the place. Boisset is a bit of a flamboyant type just as the original owner, Haraszthy, was. Haraszthy called himself a Count because it was a cool title back then. Boisset married into California royalty when he married the granddaughter of Julio Gallo.

The very dapper Boisset
Image from pressdemocrat.com

Under Boisset there is a lot of work done recently and still proceeding on the winery site. Next will be the wines, hopefully. A sampling of the current offerings (made before Boisset's influence) shows well-made wines without any real flaws, but too much vanilla oak for my liking. The prices are fairly reasonable for premium wines.

Very old casks in the cellar

New casks--French oak--very expensive

 We'll see what the future brings for Buena Vista Winery. It looks like, at least, it will be a more interesting place to visit.

The Ultimate Tchotchke
It's a Count Haraszthy bobblehead available in the gift shop!

Amazon's wine shop opens

Amazon has wanted to get back in the wine sales business since a previous failed attempt several years ago.

Previous post on Amazon. 

The store is up and running with mostly from California and Washington state wines. There are quite a few small producers. When I first looked there were about 500 wines. Within a short time the list grew substantially so more is being added as I write this. There are many thousands of more wines available from around the world on external sites meaning Amazon just directs you to another online store.

The prices are standard winery retail so if the wines are available elsewhere you can probably find them cheaper. I put together a test order of three bottles each from two different California wineries with a CA shipping address and the shipping cost was only $20 and that's pretty cheap. I expect if I ordered the wines directly from the two wineries I'd probably pay about $50 total for the shipping.

I did another order for one bottle each from three different CA wineries and the total shipping was $30. I would pay more than that if I'd bought each bottle separately from each of the three wineries--at least $45.

Currently Amazon can ship to a dozen states. More will be added as they get licensing.

There are annoyances with Amazon as you get hit up to buy lots of other stuff and after you visit your cart you can't get directly back to shopping for wine again. The main wine shop page says the store is still in beta test phase. They also promise their standard 3-5 business days shipping, but I don't know how these small wineries can process the orders and ship them out that quickly.

So is it worth using the Amazon store to buy wines? I'd say if you're buying a few bottles from multiple small producers then yes. If you want to buy in larger quantities from a single winery then search for a better price online plus check the winery's web site to find the best deal.

It's good to have another choice for buying and trying new wines.

Russian River Valley Photos

Nov 6, 2012. A vineyard along Olivet Road.
You can click on the photos to enlarge

2012: Vintage of the Year!

Perhaps you've already heard about 2012 being one of the best wine grape harvests in California in a long time. Especially after a string of three so-so years it's great to have a lot of high quality grapes this season.

Various wine mags like to proclaim certain vintages as being the best since ____ (fill in the blank). This is a long standing tradition started in France (along with starting wars they can't finish). California has more consistent weather than Europe so wine vintages don't have quite the same highs and lows, but that doesn't stop wine experts from declaring great vintages. This is different from wine marketers that declare every vintage a great one.

The tradition of proclaiming top vintages in CA got its kick start with the turn of the new century. 2001 was the first California wine vintage to be declared The Vintage of the Century, along with 2005 and especially 2007.

Let me be the first to tell you that 2012 will be the Vintage of the Year for California wine.

Buy these wines now! Okay, you can't quite buy them yet as they're still in tanks and barrels, but buy up all the 2010s and 2011s now so we can get to the 2012s before they're all gone! 
(Huh?)