Around the world of wines

By Staff
January 14, 2004
I must admit I'm not a great adventurer when it comes to wine. You might call me conventional. To me California is the prime winemaking area of America with Washington and Oregon right behind. But today, let's start our own around the world wine tour and see what we might or might not discover.
I know little or nothing about East Coast wines, those from Long Island in particular. They get some good reviews in various publications but none of them rave. The state warehouse lists five of them, Bully Hill Ives Red, Bully Hill Love My Goat Red, Bully Hill Sweet Walter Red, Bully Hill Spring White and Bully Hill Felicity Blush. The names alone are enough to drive me away.
Love My Goat Red. Unbelievable.
I've been to the Biltmore House in North Carolina three or four times and have given their wines a fair chance to impress me. They have failed. The Mississippi State warehouse inventories them but I have no idea why. To say they are ordinary is being kind.
I've tasted Texas made wines on several occasions and have a bottle in my cellar right now, given to me by a friend. They are about at the level of those from the Biltmore house, if you get my drift.
Mississippi wines are only for those who know nothing about wine and like to drink a watered down sugary drink that does not compare with any beverage qualified to have the word wine on its label.
On trips to Gatlinburg I've given the Tennessee wineries the opportunity to impress me and have poured out more than I've swallowed.
I've tried the Latin American countries and have been both delighted and disappointed. Chile is making some very good wine at reasonable prices but they are also making some very bad wines. Their Santa Rita reserve cabernet sauvignon, however, is one of the best bargains on the market today at its $13 price level. Fine structure, nice flavor, a bit lacking in depth but able to stand up to any steak.
I have the remains of a case from Argentina bought about two years ago. It is a red wine, made with the malbec grape and is the type of wine I serve to guests who don't know anything about wine. It's very drinkable for the $6 or $8 per bottle it cost me then, but it is not something you can't wait to get in your hand after work.
France, of course, makes great wine but I can't bring myself to pay the outlandish prices their classified wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy are demanding. On the other hand, their Rhones and Loire Valley wines are fairly priced, excellent to drink and worthy of your consideration.
Their white burgundies are also a little rich for my financial blood but their white wines from the Macon area are a steal.
Mexico makes some wine but I've never tasted one. As a matter of fact, wine was made in that country 500 years ago. Even before that the conquistadors made wines from wild grapes. It will come as no surprise to you that beer is far more popular than wine in that country and, as a result, they have no incentive to improve their wines which are inexpensive and, reviews indicate, table wines at best.
Australia, Spain and the Alsace region of France all are in the forefront of quality wines and you can buy their products without fear. Portugal makes one of the world's greatest dessert wines, port, but in recent years they have turned out some stunning red wines for every day consumption. If they make quality white wines I've never tasted them.
I'm always running into people who tell me about the great wine their grandfather used to make using everything from homegrown grapes to dandelions. I've even tasted some. Soda popand not very good soda pop at that.
At this point in my life I have not run out of something different to try nor the inclination to bring the information to our readers. But I long ago realized that wine reviews are indeed just one man's opinion.
A dear friend of mine and his wife tell me they drink a full case of the Biltmore House wine every week. When I say, "How could you?" he tells me they drink it because they like it, like it better than wines I would classify several notches above their favorites.
I guess that's what is meant by "different strokes for different folks." But I'm not going to change and neither will they.
The January wine tasting
I can only tell you I'm a little bit embarrassed and a great deal upset. Of the seven Merlots mentioned last week as wines to be served at our all merlot tasting January 29, the state warehouse was out of six of them. They were on a recent list but they aren't now available in Jackson. I've had my say before about the state's operation so nothing more needs to be said here. I'm going back over the list and, I assure you, the format of the tasting will not change.
Next week in this space I'll list the wines to be served but only after I can promise you the wines of choice are available.
Interestingly enough, the only wine they had in inventory was the Saddleback, the most expensive of all at $38.00 a bottle. But let me commit to you the price of the tasting will remain at $25. This won't be the first bullet I've ever had to bite.