Iconic wineries closing

I often shed a tear when I hear of the closing of an iconic winery. I shed a few tears when I read of the recent closing of Clos du Bois and Sebastiani, both of which I fondly recall in their heydays.

A lot of wine flowed under the bridge since Frank Woods founded Clos du Bois in 1974. The brand was purchased by Constellation and the model went from making great pinot noir and chardonnay to generic supermarket wines at bargain prices. Constellation sold the brand to Gallo who just announced it would close its Geyserville property and make Clos do Bois elsewhere — along with a bunch of other brands.

Sebastiani’s trail is even more depressing. Founded in 1944 by August Sebastiani, it landed in the hands of grandchildren. Sam left in the mid 1980s to make fine wine in a family dispute. Don, a former California legislator, stayed to make mostly inexpensive plonk that never achieved the status the brand once held in Sonoma County. Foley Family bought the historic winery in downtown Sonoma and the brand in 2008. It embarked on a plan to improve the quality of Sebastiani’s wine. Now, it has decided to close that facility and make the wines at one of its other properties. Without a tasting room and without the employees who have been laid off, the brand loses appeal and their identities.

I’m sure these steps will reduce expenses for Gallo and Foley, but I’d be shocked if the wines will ever return to the quality they enjoyed long ago. After all, they have stockholders to answer to. Both Sebastiani and Clos du Bois are popular wines found in grocery stores or in bargain baskets for less than $12. That’s a far cry from those great Sebastiani Cherry Block cabernet sauvignons I remember so well despite their lofty prices.

Do you know what's in your wine?

There is a move afoot to force winemakers to identify the contents of their wine on bottle labels. I initially had negative thoughts about this because of the confusion surrounding sulfites, a natural ingredient of wine that unfortunately threatens severe asthmatics. Most people are unaffected by sulfites, yet they assume their headaches are caused by them.

But now I’m in favor of expanding what must be put on labels. I’d rather know what’s in the wine that be told it has “bold flavors reminiscent of a hibiscus garden.” Wouldn’t you?

We would like to think that wine is a natural product created by producers who nurture the grapes with painsaking care. While that’s true, a lot goes on after the grapes are crushed that consumers don’t know about. A winemaker can add water to reduce alcohol levels, alter harsh malo acid levels, use animal products to clarify the wine, and add powdered tannins and oak chips.

Wineries that use herbicides, pesticides, and commercial fertilizer will leave behind such things as ferrocyanide, ammonium phosphate, copper sulfate. They are not dangerous, according to USDA, but you should be the judge of that.

But the one that irks me the most is Mega Purple, a grape concentrate made from the teinurieur grape Rubired. Constellation makes and sells it. No winemaker I have met has ever admitted to using it, but most do, according to the reports I’ve read.

Mega Purple adds a rich color to the wine and some sugar to round off the edges. Used in small amounts, you probably won’t be able to identify it. But producers of cheap wines, especially those sold in bulk containers, are using massive doses. Again, no one says it’s harmful, but don’t you want to know what the winemaker is doing to manipulate the color and flavors of what you’re drinking?

Mega Purple is an inexpensive short cut to making wine better. The winemaker could blend petite sirah or malbec to get more color; he could cut fermentation short to make it sweet.

Constellation makes Robert Mondavi, Meomi and The Prisoner among other popular wines. I have always suspected that Meomi in particular has lots of Mega Purple. It’s dark and sweet, although Meomi’s popularity indicates consumers really don’t mind.

What’s good for food labels should be good for wine labels.