THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408110054
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F6 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: HUMBLE STEWARD
SOURCE: JIM RAPER
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
HOW HAPPY I would be if I could drive to Pungo or Smithfield and find picturesque vineyards planted alongside the fields of corn and soybeans. Family-owned wineries would be scattered about, each anxious to sell me freshly bottled table wine for $50 a case.
But Virginia wineries, so few and far between, are not the sort to provide charming little wines to friends and neighbors or other steady customers. They probably would go broke trying to do that.
To be successful, they must concentrate on premium products, which usually means chardonnays and cabernets that cost $10 a bottle or more. And many depend on tourists or novelty buyers to bolster their customer bases.
Those of us who drink a glass or two of wine with dinner each night, and a glass occasionally at lunch, could save lots of money if we could get good, cheap wines from local producers. But Hampton Roads, like almost all of the country, lacks the vine-growing, winemaking and wine-drinking tradition needed to make such a dream come true. Virginia is a long way from Spain or France or Italy.
Nevertheless, I am not planning to change my dining habits, and will keep searching for the best possible everyday wines - in other words, the best possible $5 bottles.
I think we will see an interesting struggle through the end of the decade for supremacy in the $5-to-$7-a-bottle wine market. I can only guess which countries will produce the best of the inexpensive wines.
The United States is, at best, a longshot. Inexpensive wines from California and New York are too often meager. Many of the larger producers in the U.S. seem determined to sell me wines that cost at least $10 a bottle, while pushing jug wines and low-end varietals (such as the least expensive chardonnays) toward non-traditional wine drinkers who insist on juicy-fruity flavors and at least a trace of sugar.
Chile may step up and claim the prize for cheap, serious wine. Indeed, just a few years ago, it seemed Chile could not miss becoming the major player in this market. But the prices of Chilean wines have edged up, and the better ones usually cost $8, if not $10. Australian wines went through the same price progression a few years earlier. Chile's Walnut Crest Merlot, which can be found for $5, remains a dependable, serious wine, and I buy it often.
Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary may increase their share of the $5-a-bottle market, provided they can send us wines of more consistent quality. The wines of Premiat, Trakia and Duna often cost less than $5, and I believe they generally are better than they were a few years ago.
Spain sends us a lot of costly, premium wines, but the Marques de Caceres Rioja continues to be available in our market for $6, and I haven't found a better red for the money. The wines of Rene Barbier from the Penedes have shown promise in the $5 category, and may be an indication that Spain will not allow Chile or another upstart to push them out of the low-end market.
The big winner in the cheap-but-serious-wine sweepstakes, however, may turn out to be France. Yes, France, where the prices of the better wines have seemed in recent years to have no cap.
My excitement about good, cheap French wines comes from recent tastings of vintage-dated vin de pays, which is a category of modest country wines that have never stirred much interest in this country.
About 15 years ago, changes in French government regulations allowed growers and winemakers more freedom in regions such as Languedoc-Rousillon. (This huge area along the Mediterranean coast west of the Rhone River is also known as the Midi.) The relaxed rules encouraged many Languedoc-Rousillon growers to plant Bordeaux varietals such as cabernet sauvignon and merlot and the Burgundy varietal chardonnay. Wine could be made from these grapes as long as it carried the humble vin de pays designation.
(Higher designation wines from the Languedoc-Rousillon still must be made with grape varieties traditionally grown there, such as the little-known carignan.)
Barton & Guestier, the large Bordeaux-based wine company, got into the vin de pays goldrush early on, developing relationships with growers and producers in Languedoc-Rousillon. Now B&G has released a new line of vin de pays that are exceptional values at $5.99. Each is from the 1993 vintage.
The Cabernet Sauvignon Vin de Pays d'Oc surprises with its pleasant but not too forward berry fruit flavors and touch of tobacco on the finish.
The Merlot Vin de Pays d'Oc has a characteristic cherry flavor, and is more complex than most inexpensive merlots. It is a sturdy food wine.
The Chardonnay Vin de Pays d'Oc is light enough to drink in warm weather. It tastes of citrus and hazelnuts.
The Sauvignon Blanc Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France (from a deregulated section of the Loire Valley) is light in alcohol without scrimping on grassy and grapefruity flavors.
Also look for the Vin de Pays d'Oc of Fortant de France, another large company that is taking full advantage of the Midi's promise. Fortant ships a chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Plus it has a syrah in its lineup. The price of Fortant wines is about $7. MEMO: Readers are invited to mail questions and comments about wine to: The
Humble Steward, Flavor section, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star,
150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510. Comments about interesting
wines tasted recently will be appreciated. If possible, give complete
label information when naming wines, and list the vintage year. Please
include your phone number on each card or letter. by CNB