Vinography, a sweet and informative wine blog did a post the other day regarding some data that the magazine Restaurant Wine puts together every year. One piece of data is the list of top wines consumed in America in 2007.
This data isn’t relatively new, but I just read the Vinography post and that it warranted some commenting. Below is the top 10 most consumed wines in America in 2007:
1 Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay USA
2 Beringer Vineyards White Zinfandel USA
3 Cavit Pinot Grigio Italy
4 Sutter Home White Zinfandel USA
5 Inglenook Chablis USA
6 Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio Italy
7 Yellow Tail Chardonnay Australia
8 Copperidge Chardonnay USA
9 Yellow Tail Shiraz Australia
10 Franzia Winetaps Vintner Select White Zinfandel USA
This list consists of four Chardonnay’s (including the Chablis), three White Zinfandel’s, Two Pinot Grigio’S, and one Shiraz. Ugh.
I did some quick research on the price and rating of the top 3 (most recent vintage) using CellarTracker:
1) Kendall-Jackson: Cost averages $11.37 and average rating is 83 points
2) Beringer: $6.84, rated 74 points. Notable tasting comment: “strawberry flavored jolly ranchers”
3) Cavit: $8.81, rated 83.3 points
That’s a collective average of $9 with an average rating of 80. Seriously? This is what we like to drink? $9 wine that tastes like your chewing on an oaky barrel or gnawing on a peice of candy? Not only that, but we limit ourselves to 4 grapes, one of which is a liquid joke.
What’s stopping everyone from drinking a little better?
Are the other grapes too offensive or enjoyable for the Chardonnay and Pinot Gris crowd?
I’d be really surpised if someone who is a big fan of Italian Pinot Gris didn’t enjoy a well made Viognier. Or if you like Yellow Tail Shiraz, how about trying something from the Rhône region of France? I promise you can find something in the $9-$12 range from theGigondas appellation in the CDR and you will be surprised in the difference - the subtle, layers of flavor that make wine more than a one trick fruit pony. If White Zin is your game, ask your local wine retailer to lead you to some sweeter rieslings. Work your taste buds. You won’t ever develop a refined palate trying the same thing over and over again.
Is it the $ or the perception of money?
While it’s true that most really good wine is going to cost a little more, you cannot use dollar amounts to determine the quality of a wine. Too often the wine makers are leveraging their history, appellation, or using marketing to justify a higher cost of the wine. I have 17 bottles in stock that are under $10, ranging from Bordeaux blend to Grenache and Tannat. There is no reason cost should get in the way of trying almost any varietal.
I hear a lot of people say they know nothing about wine, and they wish they did, but they stick to the same wines. You could try a different wine every night of the week for under $10-12 (note: that’s a lot of wine to be drinking), and trying new wines is the only way to figure out what you like and to be able to discern different grapes, styles, and flavor nuances.
Anyways, sorry for the diatribe, it just disgusts me to look at this list. Try something new! Just last night I tried two bottles I’ve never had before.
I’ve had the Terrazas Malbec Reserva a few times, and I always enjoy it. It has some of the classic Malbec fruit, chewy/meaty texture, good body (borderline flabby - not enough acid or tannins), with straight forward powerful fruit. $13.99 at Costco.
The Woop Woop Chardonnay ($10) I thought was decent. There was a 2nd layer of fruit in the flavor profile and the finish was clean but I can’t really think of much else to say about it. No complaints at this price, though Gary Vaynerchuk absolutely ripped this wine on his site. He gave it a 54 out of 100, pretty much the lowest score I think he’s ever given. He said it tasted like rotten lemon and it disgusted him. Last night if you had asked me to rate it by number (which I have no right doing by the way) I would have said somewhere around 84-85. Hrmmm, see, I guess I don’t know anything either!
The Tin Roof was a good buy at $7.99, for sure. All the reviews on CellarTracker are positive, and everyone at our house agreed. Good structure, not too much complexity, definite merlot qualities. Great QPR.
Some of this wine was consumed with dinner - fried chicken cutlets in a cilantro garlic sauce served with an asian spicy peanut butter cole slaw. Fried tofu for Katie. :-p
Update Nov 14: I forgot to mention that this meal was graciously crafted by my rooommate Aaron. Thanks dude. It was very good and appreciated.
—————
A couple of unrelated items:
There are some videos up for the Dirty South Wine “Riding Dirty” Challenge. Check out the Toulouse video or the Dogwood video. Once all the entries are in I’d like to pick one or two to check out so I can weigh in with my amateur opinion. :-)
Also, more pizza pictures, because I wanna. This time, Greek chicken pesto pizzete.
November 13th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I really enjoyed this post! I must admit that I’m guilty of drinking the same wines time after time. I get intimidated in wine stores because I have no clue what I’m buying. I like your suggestions though — I’m going to look for that Malbac next time I go to Costco.
November 14th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
That list of the most popular wines made me throw in my mouth a little. I’m glad we done raised u right.