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Off the Beaten Path
By David LeClaire
Today, with thousands of options for wines to purchase, the
average consumer is often overwhelmed and baffled by all of their
choices. The wineries who have invested significant time and money
into marketing end up being the choice many buyers make simply
because of reputation and familiarity. However, in the world of
wines, usually the wines you have not heard of are often better
values and in many cases better wines.
It’s hard to suggest one resource such as a web site or magazine
for reviews that tell you what you should buy, partially because
many of these sources sell advertising (skewing the results) and
also many wineries simply don’t submit their wines to writers and
reviewers, so you would never read about them. The other major
reason it’s hard to have a fool proof resource is that everyone’s
palate is extremely individual, as we all have very unique sense of
touch, smell, and taste. Thus while one expert touts a wine highly,
another will completely disagree. Very rarely do a group of
sommeliers all agree that a wine is not only good but remarkable.
This means the enthusiast needs to trust their friends who have
similar tastes or their local wine store proprietor, once they have
found their suggestions match what they had asked for. And if you
want to strike out on your own for some new discoveries, I suggest
you look to the “other wine regions” beyond Napa and Sonoma in the
U.S. and beyond Rioja in Spain, beyond Burgundy and Bordeaux in
France, and Barolo, Barbaresco, and Chianti in Italy.
Where many values can be found are in the less known regions of
the wine world, where they have learned from the past and moved into
the future with information, technique and technology. The global
economic and cultural world we now live in has expanded the
development of quality wineries in small wine regions all over the
planet, and with this base of knowledge it is only a matter of time
that places like Texas and New York, and Michigan will consistently
produce some world class wines. However, it’s a little early to be
waving the flag from those wine regions and saying they are on par
with world class wines across the board. Many of the wineries have a
long way to go, and will do better when they commit to only planting
what will grown on their soils, with their weather, suitably
matching the plant to the environment.
However, there are many areas I suggest looking into more
closely. In California I would suggest trying wines from Paso
Robles, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Amador Counties. Each of these
areas is already up to speed on making incredible wines, but without
the marketing machine and past history of Napa, they are often
overlooked and considerably less expensive options.
In the Northwest, I suggest looking to areas such as the Rogue
and Umpqua Valleys in Oregon, and for the little wineries you may
not be familiar with in Yakima and Walla Walla Valleys here in
Washington. Canada is moving at full-steam ahead and in many areas
of the Okanagan Valley, they are producing wines on par with
everyone else.
While New Zealand is to be credited for the rebirth of Sauvignon
Blanc, with Marlborough stealing most of the attention. However, in
many areas they are also producing world class Pinot’s from
Martinborough and big reds in the North Island around Hawkes Bay.
And while the Hunter & Barossa Valleys are the most famous of
Australia, areas such as the Coonawara, McLaren Vale, and Clare
Valley have been making great wines for years without America
seeming to know about them.
In the old world it seems there are not as many undeveloped areas
that are new to wine making, but rather new wineries popping up as
they are in here in America as a result of winemakers striking it
out on their own and buying fruit from their friends who own
vineyards. However, two “new” regions to watch for Big Red lovers
are the Priorato and Ribero Del Duero areas of Spain, where new
world wine making styles and techniques are being combined with the
fruit of very old vines, giving these wines are rustic yet fruit
forward lusciousness that resembles something from California.
Here are just a few suggestions of consistent, quality wineries
from each area. (Some are for value, others for super -premium
wines)
Clare Valley, Aust. - Jim Barry, Taylors, Grosset, Petaluma
Coonawara, Aust. – Highbank, Majella, Katnook
McLaren Vale, Aust. – Tatachilla, dArenburg, Henry’s Drive, Penny’s
Hill, Fox creek
Martinborough, NZ. - Ata Rangi, Martinborough Winery, Nga Waka,
Hawkes Bay, NZ - Esk Valley, Vidal Estate, Cj Pask, Craggy Range,
Alpha Domus
Ribero Del Duero, SP - Condado Haza, Vega Sicilia, Matallana,
Valderiz, Valderramiro
Priorato, SP - Rene Barbier, Alvaro Palacios, Clos Mogador, Morlando
and Clos Martinet
Umpqua and Rogue Valleys – OR – Foris, Abacella
Okanagan Valley, Canada – Grey Monk, Mission Hill, Tinhorn Creek
Yakima Valley, WA – Yakima Cellars, J. Bookwalter, Sheridan
Walla Walla Valley, WA – Spring Valley, K Vintners, Buty, Basel
Cellars, Rulo, Whitman, Cayuse
Paso Robles, CA – Justin, Dark Star, Dover Canyon, Treana, AJB
Santa Barbara County, CA -Andrew Murray, Beckmen, Foley, qupe,
Rusack, IO, Zacha Mesa
Monterey – Bernardus, Mer Soleil, Paraiso, Robert Talbott
Amador County, CA – Shenandoah, Renwood, Terrer Rouge, Easton, Karly
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