Bargains From American Vines

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/dining/12-values-in-american-wines-the-pour.html

Version 0 of 1.

A FEW weeks ago, I wrote about wines at the coveted intersection of high value and low price. I suggested that the greatest concentration of value, where you could find wines that were not merely palatable, but exciting, was in the $15 to $25 range. And I recommended 20 bottles at $20 that were the kinds of wines I would look forward to drinking any day of the week.

Mostly, the reaction was favorable. But several readers were indignant. “Only 3 out of 20 from North America?” one wrote in an e-mail. “Come on, Eric, we can do better than that.”

Finding good values in American wines is not easy. Unlike in the Old World, the wine industry in America  did not evolve to make intriguing, inexpensive wines.

The United States does not have a centuries-old history of locally produced wines, so it cannot approach the sheer variety produced in Europe, where seemingly every valley has a local tradition of distinctive wines. When the American wine industry began in earnest in the 1960s, the imperative was national and even international. Grapes were selected on a desire to compete with the world’s best and to sell to distant markets.

That meant, as the midcentury thinking went, Bordeaux and white Burgundy, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay. These grapes quickly became the dominant American models for red and white wines, the most popular and most expensive. Success dictated widespread imitation.

Other grapes have joined the cabernet and chardonnay group: pinot noir, sauvignon blanc and a few more. Still, it’s a small group of wine types that encompasses the entire price range. Lower-end wines tended to mimic the more expensive models, and so were seldom distinctive and often pretentious. This extended even to zinfandel, once the epitome of good American value. As top versions became expensive, cheap zinfandels often became falsely plush and oaky in imitation, losing their fresh vibrancy.

Obviously, I’m overgeneralizing to make a point. Exceptions certainly exist, and things are changing for the better. A new generation of producers now sees beyond the verities of 40 years ago; consumers, exposed in the last 15 years to the wonderful diversity of the world’s wines, are demanding more at home.

Here are 12 great American values, in no particular order, all $20 or less, all a pleasure to drink. Two are cabernet sauvignon, yes, and one chardonnay, one pinot noir and one merlot. But I also have a pinot grigio, a marsanne, a pinot blanc, two rieslings, a field blend and, perhaps surprisingly, a grignolino, one of those locally grown Italian grapes, which was planted in Napa long before cabernet became the dominant grape there. The Heitz family bought an eight-acre vineyard of grignolino in 1961 and has maintained it against all odds. It’s that sort of stubborn adherence to tradition that makes for great wine values.

12 Great American Values, in No Particular Order<br />

Palmina Santa Barbara County Pinot Grigio 2011, $17

Palmina is devoted to making wines from Italian grapes grown in Santa Barbara County. This pinot grigio is fuller-bodied than what might come from northeast Italy, but it’s lively, vivacious, balanced and properly refreshing.

Qupé Santa Barbara County Marsanne 2011, $20

Bob Lindquist is one of the unsung heroes of California wine, and his Qupé label is consistently overlooked, possibly because he makes wines of little-known Rhône grapes like marsanne. This is actually a blend of two Rhône grapes, 79 percent marsanne and 21 percent roussanne. Pleasantly weighty and harmonious with persistent floral, nutlike flavors.

Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2010, $20

While much of California has veered from making bombastic chardonnays to lean “no oak” versions, Jim Clendenen has stayed the course, making wines that are direct, restrained and balanced. The 2010 chardonnay is lively and inviting, smoky and spicy.

Lieb Family Cellars North Fork of Long Island Pinot Blanc 2009, $19

What is it about pinot blanc? It would be easy to dismiss this wine as nondescript, as it doesn’t offer a cornucopia of fruity adjectives in a glass. Yet it is simply delicious: dry and creamy with lightly herbal, mineral flavors. The texture draws you in.

Hermann J. Wiemer Finger Lakes Dry Riesling 2011, $17

The label says “Dry Riesling,” but in fact it’s slightly sweet, like an old-school German kabinett riesling from the days before global warming. Nonetheless, it’s superb, with deep three-dimensional flavors, tangy and lightly fruity.

Ravines Finger Lakes Dry Riesling 2011, $15

A perfect contrast to the off-dry Hermann J. Wiemer style. The Ravines Dry Riesling is truly dry and intensely mineral, succulent and lip-smacking. A great house white.

Heitz Napa Valley Grignolino 2009, $20

Grignolino? From Napa Valley? While other producers have converted their Napa vineyards of esoteric grapes into more lucrative cabernet sauvignon, Heitz has held out and continues to make this ruby-colored red, bone dry with dark, spicy flavors and a refreshing bitterness.

Bonny Doon Vineyard Central Coast Contra Old Vine Field Blend 2009, $16

Contra is an old-style blend, reminiscent of the days when Italian immigrants planted multiple grapes side by side, harvesting and vinifying them together. This wine is 55 percent old-vine carignan, a scorned grape worthy of scorn when overcropped but winsome and perfumed when tended with care. This wine, which also has grenache, mourvèdre, zinfandel, petite sirah and syrah in the blend, is dry, fruity and harmonious with a streak of licorice.

Lenz North Fork of Long Island Merlot 2007, $15

I keep hearing that merlot is making a comeback. If more merlots tasted like Lenz’s, perhaps it never would have left. The ’07 is plummy, earthy and balanced, dry, lively and pleasing.

Montinore Estate Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2010, $18

Once upon a time, American pinot noirs were known as bridge wines, perfect for restaurant dinners because they were versatile to bridge diverse dishes. Then a powerfully fruity style became popular, which won high ratings but obliterated the dinnertime harmony. The 2010 Montinore reverts to a time when pinot noir could be counted on as fresh, energetic and subtle.

Oberon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, $18

How could good Napa Valley cabernet be this cheap? Prices for grapes in 2009, in the wake of the economic crisis, were down, and the Michael Mondavi family, which produces Oberon, is clever about finding good grapes at low prices. It also makes wines for drinking, not tasting. The ’09 offers real Napa flavors and structure without the veneer of artifice that mars many low-cost cabernets. Subsequent vintages will cost more.

Broadside Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon Margarita Vineyard 2010, $20

Broadside teams up Chris Brockway of Broc Cellars, which produces excellent, restrained wines, and Brian Terrizzi of Giornata, which focuses on Italian grapes grown in California. This cabernet, from a single vineyard in a cooler southern part of Paso Robles, is animated by lively acidity and is made in a restrained style that nonetheless is insistently spicy and stony.