Supermarket wines are poured and worlds collide was the title of a February 4 article by Eric Asimov, the highly-regarding wine writer for the New York Times. I came upon it right after I viewed an interview with Esther Mobley, the wine writer for the SF Chronicle on Natalie MacLean’s Sunday Supper Club. I read Esther’s column whenever we are in San Francisco at our timeshare, Powell Place, which always provides a free copy. Yes, I know, I’m cheap.

I’ve previously commented on Natalie’s best seller, Red, White and Drunk All Over, a great read even if you don’t have a passion for wine. You can check her out at www.nataliemaclean.com, she is a very good resource to have and the videos of her show are well worth your time. Anyway, Esther also has a separate newsletter where she writes about whatever doesn’t get into her column and the topic of The mysterious case of the cork-tainted carrots caught my eye as of course it would. That topic will follow this one on supermarket wines.

Meanwhile I followed her link to Eric’s post under Wine School, in which he recommends three wines for his readers to try to broaden their understanding of wine. However, he was going for something a little different this time by recommending three popular supermarket wines.

That selection caused 800 mostly negative comments. The main thrust seemed to be of the how-could-you variety. Others, who regularly drank these wines, thought he had validated their choices. Neither were the intention of the article, but we all know it is not possible to guarantee our readers are on the same page as everyone brings their own experience and biases. However, it did point me to what my next wine segment would be so I thank him for that as well as his insights. What his title was saying is that there are two wine worlds that have different goals. Those that love supermarket wines and those that generally don’t.

Perhaps a definition would help here. A supermarket wine is a mass-produced wine found in most supermarkets. See, you already knew what they were. Eric elaborates that these “industrial bottles were designed for those for which wine is not a priority, as opposed to wines that are an agricultural product, often done in small lots and loved by those that are eager to know more about wine.” That’s our category here at The Spirits of New Mexico. on KIVA, the Rock of Talk.

The three wines Eric chose were among the best-selling at their price point; an Apothic 2016 Winemaker’s Red Blend at $10, Meiomi Monterey County/Santa Barbara County/Sonoma County Pinot Noir 2016, $18; The Prisoner Napa Valley Red Wine 2017, $42.

The two red blends bring up another topic I wanted to talk about, which works wonderfully here. What is a red blend, a term anyone buying wine currently has probably noticed? This is not a new term, blending is common in Old World wines, but their wines typically list where the grapes are grown, not what type of grapes are used. Chablis is a location in Burgundy, the fact it’s 100% Chardonnay is seldom listed on the bottle.

Wines have been blended, most particularly reds for centuries. It has been standard practice in Bordeaux from the get-go. In California wines must be 75% to be called a varietal, although the percentage is 90 in Oregon for grapes like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. If a winemaker makes a wine under the 75% threshold it either uses the generic red/white blend moniker or has to get approval from the Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) to call it something else like Hillary’s Hooch or Bob’s Block #4.

However, the supermarket red blends are often blended to appeal to new or occasional wine buyers, often with a bit of sweetness. Cupcake wines anyone? Eric calls them processed wines or factory wines rather than agricultural products and I agree. I have dutifully tried some of these wines, if offered, but seldom can get beyond a single glass. I attend a lot of pot luck wine events, with the emphasis on pot luck, so I do have many opportunities to try supermarket wines. Sadly I encounter them far more often than a Bordeaux Grand Cru or a Cote d’Beaune white Burgundy. I guess I need to find a new wine venue.

I have no problem with other wine drinkers enjoying them; of course, they were designed to appeal to a broad number of wine drinkers. However, calling them gateway wines as many of these producers claim does not compute. That requires experimenting with different styles, regions, types of grapes, often at a higher price-point. I have some friends who will never try a wine that doesn’t say Chardonnay, others will never try one that does.

The Prisoner does feature Napa fruit and a bigger price tag, but I find it sweet and alcoholic at 15.2% and that label suggests this should only be served to prisoners given no say in what they can drink. Eric finds the Meiomi to be the most drinkable and I agree, but do note the source of grapes is, well, California so it’s still a heavily blended wine, albeit always the same varietal. It is drinkable, but nothing distinctive that would cause my palate to sit up and take notice. Eric had a similar analysis.

The following quote from Eric I’ll leave intact. “These represent the two alternate universes of the wine business. One, in which consumers essentially pick brands that they like and stay loyal, is vastly larger. These drinkers value consistency and familiarity. They don’t want to be challenged; they are not interested in vintage variations, soil expressions or any of the other nerdy topics that wine geeks might pass a pleasant hour discussing.”

If these are wines that you love, we are not saying your choices are wrong. There is always a place for pot roast as well as Boeuf Bourguignon a La Julia Child. But if you are getting bored with same old, do consider some of the wines we sample here at Spirits of New Mexico for our on-air tastings.

Wine faults and fouls

As a follow-up to the previous topic, consider, if someone does not pay attention to wine chatter, particularly about wine faults, will they be able to notice when something is wrong with the wine? More importantly, will they request the wine to be sent back at a restaurant, or take it back to the store where it was bought? Listed below are some common wine faults and how to detect them. Remember a wine fault is not your fault because you bought it. It’s up to the winemaker or retailer to replace a flawed wine.

Oxygenated wines (Acetaldehyde)

The most common wine fault I have found comes from a wine that has been opened too long and become oxygenated, exhibiting a Sherry-like nose, robbing the wine of vitality and flavor. This I typically found at restaurants that serve wine by the glass. While this is a great feature for a restaurant, slow-moving wines will suffer as they might have been opened for days. This is less common in a wine bar that moves wines more quickly and may be more solicitous in the care of their wines.

Cork Taint (TCA- contamination)

As the name suggests, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) is a contamination of natural cork that was bleached with chlorine, but in which not all traces were removed. The typical aroma smells like wet cardboard or old moldy newspapers, although it can be more subtle. However, it will not dissipate over time, often getting worse and the aromas carry through on the palate.

And this brings up Esther Mobley’s discovery in her article, The mysterious case of the cork-tainted carrots, February 7, 2019. She had a discussion with U.C. Davis professor emeritus Linda Bisson, who has taught wine faults there for 30 years. She would include some TCA-contaminated corks and asks the students to identify and separate the bad ones. She found only one of a hundred or two hundred could easily distinguish them. What was going on?

She traced it to bags of baby carrots, which are shaped, bleached and placed in plastic bags and were at risk to produce TCA-contamination in the carrots. Her students had been eating them since childhood, often added to a box lunch to take to school. Not only did they not react negatively to TCA, they actually liked it! In part that was because of the association with comfort food.

Brettanomyces or Brett

Brett is spoilage yeast that most winemakers in the US spend their careers trying to avoid. This is also one of the reasons a winery maintains rigid hygienic standards. Since Brett contamination can leave the wines smelling of manure, Band-Aid or horse sweat, one can understand the reasons.

ResearchGate.net

I was aware that some Old World wines were subject to Brett-contamination, but many found the flavors desirable. I was not convinced, but after reading the linked article on TCA, I had to check out this one, which ultimately led me to the Brettanomyces Aroma Impact Wheel.

For those not familiar with this concept it began with the Wine Aroma Wheel by professor Ann Noble of U.C. Davis. It provided a standardized language for defining wine aromas in various categories. Since then many other wine aroma wheels have come out and even a Mouthfeel wheel that all use concentric circles to group like items from the general to the specific.

You can follow this link to the Brett Aroma Wheel developed by C. M. Lucy Joseph, Elizabeth Albino and Linda F. Bisson of U.C. Davis on ResearchGate.net. If you checked out the wheel you noticed that not all Brett aromas are off-putting. The classic aromas are horse sweat and barnyard, but barnyard aromas if mild can enhance an Old World wine.

I’m assuming those not familiar with Brett that smell wet dog or barnyard would have to stifle their gag-reflex to get the wine down, but what about soy sauce, maple syrup, or cloves? Or maybe you own a dog so wet dog is a familiar scent and you’re wondering when he stuck his paw in your wine? The point to keep in mind is that Brett infusions are seldom done on purpose, but can be a desirable feature of some wines, based on the Brett wheel. And your nose! Salut!