Desert Island Red

I imagined some friends stuck on an island, and asked what wine they'd want to find half-buried on the beach.  10 out of 20 answered. This entry may be modified if more wine whims trickle in.
 To juice up the situation, because I like to hear music when I taste wine, I also asked what music they'd wish to drink it by--if they also found a CD player washed up on the sand, a month's supply of batteries.

There were no duplicates, though red wines lead the field so far.  A few exceptions flowed in.  One said she'd prefer Gin & Tonic fueled by Hall & Oates.  She's a contrarian and didn't like my premise.

Several would pick beer, and one is still pondering what wine.  Mostly, they played along, and said, in no particular order:

Chateau Margaux, I think, with Rostropovitch and Britten bittersweet Schubert, Schumann and Debussy (London 1962, 1969.) This comes from a witty, literate, widow who hides out half the year in a remote cabin in Montana, so she knows what wine works best. I suspect the Britten CD is already in her player.  

Chateau Margaux got a 2nd vote...the only duplicate in my survey.  A friend who grew up attending French schools also named it.  As 2nd choice he'd take a Romaine Conti; for music:  Mozart (any/all) and/or Dylan.  I trust this man as the one most grounded in French culture, and at the same time, someone familiar with our own American tendencies.  In the few times I have had lunch at his home, we usually have ham sandwiches and a simple French table wine. 
Rombauer Chardonnay and Beethoven (ALL), which I take to mean 
anything/everything he composed.   This comes from a crusty old journalist who has had his share of good scotch, bad beer, and newsrooms permeated by the stink of ink.  He's a fine man to drink with, but surprised me with the Beehoven.  I figgered he would pick some old blues player straight out of Kansas City or Chicago.

Fonseca 1994 Vintage Port is the choice of another old friend with classical tastes, and he'd rather hear Terry Gross interview a musician..but lacking NPR connection on the island, will accept the Clash or Hendrix(rock); ACDC (heavy metal);  Brandenburg Concerto-w/Adolph Scherbaum on 2nd trumpet) (classical); Willie or Hank Williams (C/W); Etta James, Miles Davis or the Marsalis Family (jazz); or John Cage (new music).  I'm having trouble featuring Cage and Fonseca, this guy lived in Aberdeen, WA for a long time.


Barolo and Mahler? answered another--a 70-ish attorney, raised in Paris by a serious musician.   He doesn't drink much, but his taste seems unimpaired.  I like his choice..perched on a mossy rock hearing Liebsong von der Erde over a glass of big Barolo?  Not bad.  I plan to test it.

A serious (published) novelist says he can't comment on wine. He considers it "a lesser beverage." but offers a youthful recollection:  Strawberry Hill and Led Zeppelin.
On a desert island? Why not?
Then he kindly adds "The Clash," London Calling."

A different kind of non-comformist said, "No music, please.  Just peace and quiet and wine."  She picked Abeja Vineyards Cab...still a young outfit, but with wines that already are tasty and promise to improve; they are made by John Abbott, who made Cane Ridge a favorite for many Walla Walla wine drinkers.

Another non-comformist [a recovering headmaster who managed a local nonprofit] rejects the wine and says he'd pick
"Perfect Porter,"  no longer made, and for the music, Mark Knopfler, Randy Newman, and Yo Yo Ma.

A fishing buddy (Hugh Barrett from the badlands of Oregon) says I can use his name in reporting that he would pick a Gnarly Head Zin and Van Morrison's classic album, Poetic Champions Compose. 

An old pal in Texas who does not support Rick Perry said she'd prefer
a crisp chardonnay...she did not name a vineyard or year.  As for music? She'd like to hear David Byrne's Everything that Happens Will Happen Today....a collaboration with Brian Eno.  It's ethereal and breezy..the little I heard.  One critic refers to "warm, liquid guitars," in case you don't know their work.  If you need a suggestion for a chardonnay, consider Cakebread Cellars or Raymond.

Another attorney (still undecided) asked "Is it a mixed case?"  I answered aren't they all? He finally told me he'd pick a Zinfandel from Napa...Probably a Hedges/Rutherford.  Music?---

One desiccated brother who used to drink red jug wine until his head rolled off his shoulders now says he'd pick a Malbec from Patagonia side of Argentina, and a CD of Gershwin tunes.  

My baby brother (who considers himself a connoisseur of Italian wines) picked a Del Dotto (California) Cabernet or maybe a Quilceda Cab...
---I think he meant the Del Dotto Bin 887, which won big praise from Parker.  But he threw my music theory off the track, adding that he'd pick a corny novelty tune from the 50s..."I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts." His wife confirms the Del Dotto, but her musical taste is more refined. She picked ...

My (youngest) son, still finding his way in the wine world, names
CMS (Hedges) 2009...A blend of Cab/Merlot/Syrah; the CD he'd pick is Built to Spill, a rock band from Boise, ID.
I don't know about the music, but the wine is tasty.  
Here's a sample of their music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6RoJ4GIM9k&feature=related

MY OWN PICKs:

ROBERT KARL Claret (Spokane)
Their cab and syrah (2008) both rated higher by Parker, but claret's just fine.
Music:
Vivaldi The Four Seasons (Summer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BsBbtp4gW4&feature=related
or
Miles Davis:  I Fall in Love too Easily
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK8JlTlhnjw&feature=related

For context only, I recall the wonderful scene in Jules et Jim (1962/Truffaut) when Jean Moreau babbles to Jim and Jules about the remarkable features of French wines.

Look at the clarets!   she says.  Chateau Lafite, Chateau Margaux…St. Emilien, Chateau Y’ Quem....the best in Europe…

The burgundies, she goes on:  Martane , Chambertin,  Beaume, Pommard, Chablis, Volnais, Beaumarchai, Pouilly Fuisse,  Moulin A Vent,  Fleurie, Mourgon, St. Amour...

and the men ignore her, until she leaps up, flirtatious, and says, "Catch me!" and runs off.   They, inevitably drawn to her, chase.

Checking a hunch about wine prices, I started at the top with a 100-pt Parker rated
cabernet from Abreu Vineyard in California.  I don't doubt the quality.   But the price?
$473 was the average for one bottle.   Yes, I know there are people whocollect and put wine aside, or buy in lots, never touch the bottles, and re-sell it at a profit.   They affect the price for the rest of us, and we're not offended because we can't afford Abreu.

A brief aside:  whether you revere Parker's system or not, it's useful to see what he considers the most desirable wines.  His current list includes a lot of French selections from the past 40 years, beginning with a 2003 Chapoutier Ermitage L'Ermite and ending with a 1921 Chateau L'Eglise Clinet, peppered in between with Lafites and Margauxs and Gigondas and Cuvees.   All great wines, I am sure.  I'd love to find out, without spending a nickel.  

Since that is unlikely, I dial down my price barrier to $50.  It's a number I can swallow, even if I am not likely to spend it.   Searching a different index for those, I see the
following:
                  The top ten include
---an 09 Fin du Journee Cab from Napa for $49.
---an 09 Novy Vander Camp Pinot Meunier from Sonoma for $49
---an 09 Vavasour Pinot Noir Marlborough from New Zealand for $49
---an 09 Seguinot Chablis Vielles Vignes from France for $49
---an 09 Foradori Myrto Bianco from Trentino, Italy for $49
---an 09 Stuhlmuller Chardonnay from Alexander Valley for $45
---an 09 Venta La Ossa from Spain for $45
---an 08 Matanzas Creek Sauvignon Blanc from Sonoma for $45
---a Caymus Vineyards Conundrum from Napa  for $44

I poked around and found a Marin Wines Textbook Vineyard Fin du Journee  for $25.
I'd try that one instead.  It gets multiple rave reviews.  A blend of cab & merlot.
But shop for even lower prices.  I saw the same wine for under $20.
The NOVY Family website says they built a reputation for their Meunier grapes, but are happy to tout several other wines like their Vineyard Syrah and their Russian River Barbieri.   I found the Pinot Meunier for under $22.   I found the Caymus Conundrum at three locations for under $20.

Confused?  Me, too.  The current economy may explain the wide variation in part, but the industry is full of erratic practices and pricing, which is the main reason so many American drinkers shrug and buy beer.  The  idea of standard pricing of their products wine is apparently unthinkable among wine insiders.  

They would rather bamboozle us with claims that certain terroir, particular vintners, or certain prestige vintage years justify this chaos.   I agree with Seattle wine merchan Richard Kinssies, who has worked in the field for 30 years, and makes his living by purchasing what the vineyards trhemselves can't market. He sells them at a reasonable price, which irks the winemakers but puts more good wine in our mouths.

I am building this blog as slow as a Norwegian decision.   If you've read the first one, you know I'm a novice, not claiming lofty wisdom, but hoping to speak for people who tread lightly on the grape.

1)  My local newspaper Thursday--in a regular column contributed by a dentist, said certain wines were fine.  Never mind his logic or his comments on their noses, their finishes, or their drinkability.

When  I scanned his list I went immediately to price: $50 $30 $28. One around $14.

 I said to myself, "Does he know this is ridiculous for most wine drinkers? Could he be a victim of self-service in the journalistic sense? i.e. writing about high end wines just so he will be pampered at the winery or call the wine a work-related expense."

 

I have a couple of dental friends...they side with me...and the most I will pay for wine is $32, and it'd better be memorable. For my daughter's wedding in 2009--a big moment--the most we paid was $18 for a bottle of champagne (ONE). All the rest came in around $11...and went down like Sonny Liston. Most of those punks drank Full Sail or IPA, anyhow (20-somethings).  Their parents and I drank the wine...and we only finished half of it.   So I still have 2 bottles left.

And so goes most of America, slugging down Coors and Bud Light-- maybe $2 a bottle (2 pours of wine), so it's a plebeian preference, not only in total consumption but custom. That's why they call them keggers. Who'd attend a winer?

2) For people over 60, the issue is similar. We're living with no kids in the basement. When we buy wine, it's usually for two...and we're wary of buying anything that might go to vinegar on the kitchen counter, so we keep a lid on the price...why waste a $36 bottle of Cab?

3) Why pretend that occasional flashes of honesty (a feature called "WINES UNDER $20) are some sort of favor to us. Where's the intelligence that would tell us the writer knows most of us consider wine a luxury in at any price? We were raised on $1 for TWO movies, and gripe at spending $10 to see one now, so we subscribe to Netflix.

We ate 49 cent loaves of Wonder Bread, and balk at a bag that runs $5 a loaf (shopping for a special on whole wheat at $2.99). We order $4 oatmeal and toast for breakfast, soup and a half sandwich for lunch, and sometimes at dinner we settle for salad.

Do they think our brains flick off when we shop for wine?

 

At the supermarket where I shop, I scan the aisle to find a shelf where the price is palatable...then I pick my wine. Those alleged lovelies that begin above $30?  I don't even look. Now and then--through the kindness of friends--I have tasted spectacular

wines that run $80-90 or more than $100. When I do that I always feel I have stolen a peach, but I am not going to invest in an orchard.

A little homework won't hurt ya

And it might even help.   I wondered where Washington State stands in per capita wine consumption.   Fairly high, though New Hampshire is higher, and Washington DC the highest (all those embassies pouring our best vintages).   California drinks more total wine, but we hold our own in per capita consumption.  About 2.5 gallons a year...or 40 glasses.  

WORLDWIDE, you may be stunned to hear that Vatican City is a major player when it comes to putting away wine.   France & Italy and Spain, as you probably guessed, are 4-5 times higher than the US in their wine drinking.   We're still figuring out that manly man can drink whatever they want, including wine..but beer still rules.   And about one third of all the wine we drink is purchased at supermarkets, the rest directly from vineyards, either online or in person.   When we buy in person, we tend to pay more. The last report I found indicated $52 was average price per bottle, while the average is under $15 when we buy at Safeway.   The higher vineyard price reflects the difference in customers:   serious wine drinkers & collectors tend to spend more.

What the wine guy says

Out shopping today, I spotted the wine guy at our local market. He has a good grin.   Loves to chat about wine.  So I said...what's the pattern of wine purchases here?  Red? White? Cab? Merlot? Cab, he said emphatically. His store has a full row of it, six shelves high,  a good mix of California and Washington vineyards.    He keeps high end bottles in back, and showed me a few (Hartwell, Groth, both from Napa.)  He says Washington (his humble opinion) has a few terrific red wines, but California is still the one that stupefies his mouth.   "We're not there yet," he says.  "I love Washington wines, but (he shakes his head again.)  I agree, though a Quilceda Creek I tasted with a friend would make my top 10 list. 
How about whites? I asked.  Riesling, hands down, he told me.  I said "Little old ladies?"  He nodded.   "And their grandaughters, those 20 and 30-somethings we always see looking cool and wary at local vineyards when they sample the casks?  Are they more willing to try a big ol' Tuscan?"  He nodded again.   
Again, it fit my hunch, but we were interrupted by paying customer, so I didn't get to ask "What about price point?  Are most of your regular customers hanging out around $20, like me, and spending more only when the wine is for someone special?"  This
slows us down, of course, because we stay with what we know, so I've poked around the wine rack lately so see if there's anything else out there I like.   Yes.   I'll name a few next time I write.

First words about wine

First words about wine

I read about wine before I drank. Falstaff, raving about "good sack, dry sack" in Henry IV, Part I told me most of what was later confirmed when I took my first taste. When Dad bought into a wine shop in the 60s, he was green as a golf course. He brought home German wines most, Bernkasteler Doktor, Kabinetts, Spatleses. I remember the way they sat on my tongue like cool silver. For a few months they served as a guiding light in what I drank.

Gradually, through a friend from England, I learned about sherries...though I never grew to like them. In the 70s I swigged primitive homemade wines (Henry's Rhubarb from Oregon was first). As my paycheck grew, so did my interest in California wines...North Coast Pinot Noir was an early favorite...then Raymond and Cakebread and Duckhorn came along. Those hefty reds weaned me of my preference for German
wines. I never drink them now. Along the way I dabbled with the idea that French wines were superior, got over that when I tasted half a dozen domestic wines that knocked me out. More later on that.

If you read this blog more than once, you'll find me swerving from wine talk to words.
Since I mentioned Falstaff, here he is, roaring drunk and reminding us that the first
purpose of good drink is to loosen the tongue:

A good sherris sack hath a two-fold operation in it. It ascends me into the brain;
dries me there all the foolish and dull and curdy
vapours which environ it; makes it apprehensive,
quick, forgetive, full of nimble fiery and
delectable shapes, which, delivered o'er to the
voice, the tongue, which is the birth, becomes
excellent wit. The second property of your
excellent sherris is, the warming of the blood;
which, before cold and settled, left the liver
white and pale, which is the badge of pusillanimity
and cowardice; but the sherris warms it and makes
it course from the inwards to the parts extreme:
it illumineth the face, which as a beacon gives
warning to all the rest of this little kingdom,
man, to arm; and then the vital commoners and
inland petty spirits muster me all to their captain,
the heart, who, great and puffed up with this
retinue, doth any deed of courage; and this valour
comes of sherris. So that skill in the weapon is
nothing without sack, for that sets it a-work; and
learning a mere hoard of gold kept by a devil, till
sack commences it and sets it in act and use....
If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I
would teach them should be, to forswear thin
potations and to addict themselves to sack.