(Robert Whitley’s Creators Syndicate Wine Talk column this week.)
The readers usually write with questions of some sort, and this week I was presented with a challenging task. A Chicago couple planning a Halloween party for about 60 wanted a wine recommendation — so far so good. Their price point of about $8, however, limited the options. Or so I thought.
The $8 category is bloated with wine brands that are courting the under-$10 segment of the market, which represents the vast majority of all wine drinkers. Production levels in this price range are generally voluminous with hundreds of thousands of cases produced annually — if not millions.
The more I considered the question, the more I realized that a number of wine companies actually serve this market well. In blind tastings at the numerous wine competitions that I oversee, inexpensive wines time and again crop up with silver and gold medals.
Although hardly ever esoteric or profound, many of the less expensive wines consistently meet a high standard by delivering clean wines that are not only missing any obvious flaws, but they are also well-balanced and high in what some winemakers call the "yum" factor.
A good example would be the 2009 A Mano Pinot Grigio ($8) from the Delle Venezie region of northern Italy. At the recent Sommelier Challenge wine competition in San Diego, sommeliers Desi Eschavarrie of Las Vegas and George Skorka of Los Angeles both awarded the A Mano a silver medal. If this is your price point, bingo! When I looked even further back at the Critics Challenge in May, I found that Elin McCoy of Bloomberg News had given the A Mano ’09 Pinot Grigio a silver medal, as well. And Patrick Comiskey of the Los Angeles Times also awarded a silver medal to the A Mano 2007 Primitivo.
Here was a producer who obviously must be doing something right. Seeing this, I decided to take a closer look at those two competitions to ferret out the producers who seemed to have the best track record in this arena. The results are what follow.
Ballatore: Producers of domestic sparkling wine made in an Asti Spumante style, the Gran Spumante won a gold medal at both competitions and the Rosso Spumante had silver at each. Retail price: $8.
Barefoot Bubbly: Now owned by the giant E & J Gallo Co., this winery bills itself as the most medaled winery in the United States. Indeed, it always does well in these blind tastings. Barefoot Bubbly captured four medals from the sommeliers and three from the critics. Retail price: $10-$11.
Barefoot Cellars: The sister winery of Barefoot Bubbly, Barefoot Cellars frequently mixes vintages to balance quality, hence most of its wines are non-vintage. The sommeliers gave Barefoot Cellars five medals, the critics three, but each of those three — a Shiraz, a Zinfandel and a Pinot Grigio — was a gold.
Retail price: $7.
Barokes Wines: Anyone who hikes or camps or canoes will love the innovative packaging. Barokes comes in 4-ounce cans, and it won two medals in each of the competitions in the category for alternative packaging. The critics awarded a gold for a Cabernet-Shiraz-Merlot blend and a silver for the Bubbly Chardonnay-Semillon. The sommeliers had a platinum for the Bubbly Cabernet-Shiraz-Merlot and a silver for the Bubbly Rose. Retail price: $4.
Bella Sera: This mass-produced Italian import won three medals between the two competitions, including golds for the 2008 Chianti DOCG and the Pinot Grigio IGT from the Veneto. Retail price: $7.
Black Swan: From South Eastern Australia, Black Swan is a huge player in the under-$10 market. It won three silver medals in each competition. The sommeliers and critics agreed on the Riesling and Pinot Grigio, while the sommeliers went for a silver in Shiraz and the critics a silver in Merlot. Retail price: $8.
Concannon Vineyard: Renowned for its Petite Sirah, Concannon is one of the two big names from California’s Livermore Valley (the other is Wente). The sommeliers went all silver on six Concannon wines, while the critics gave out seven medals, three of those gold. Every year, Concannon comes up as one of my favorite "value" wineries. Though a few of these wines top $10, patient shoppers will find some that might be "suggested retail" at $14 for a bit less. Retail price: $10-$14.
Tapena: This Spanish brand from the Tierra de Castilla region of La Mancha, south of Madrid, is one of my personal "house" wines. They’re delicious and cheap. The critics gave both the 2008 Garnacha and Tempranillo gold, and the 2008 Verdejo received silver. The sommeliers gave the 2009 Rose gold and the Verdejo silver. This winery benefits from ultramodern technology in both the vineyard and the cellar, with a watchful eye on quality despite large volumes. Retail price: $10.
Turning Leaf: This E & J Gallo value brand can be found everywhere, and it’s always better than decent for the price. The critics awarded Turning Lead three medals, including a gold medal for the 2009 Pinot Grigio. The sommeliers awarded two silvers and also went for the Pinot Grigio.
The preceding mentions represent the wineries that were consistent winners in both wine competitions. Of course, there were many wineries in the value category that entered one competition but not the other. The sole point of this exercise is to demonstrate that the under-$10 range (and sometimes slightly above) can produce wines that even wine professionals and connoisseurs find enjoyable.
If your price point is $10 and below, do not be discouraged by consistent medal-winners that show a suggested retail price of $12-$14. Big-box stores and retail wine and liquor chains often negotiate favorable wholesale prices that allow for steep discounts on the retail shelf. It should surprise no one to find a $14 wine on sale for $9.99.
That’s good to know. Even better is the fact that many of them have passed the blind-taste test with flying colors.
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