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.

Josh dips into hot prosecco market

Call me a neanderthal or, better, a romantic. But I always liked that real zinfandel comes only from California and that Rias Baixas is the only wine-growing region that can make albarino. Prosecco? Veneto, Italy, right? Who else grows glera grapes anyway?

So, when I saw that Josh Cellars added prosecco to its impressive array of value-priced wines, I was taken aback. How could they? Well, first, the grapes are coming from Veneto. Winemaker and owner Joseph Carr is simply riding the coattails of a successful sparkling wine. But can’t we all just leave prosecco to the Italians and albarino to the Spaniards?

Egads, is nothing sacred any more?

In fact, nothing is. Cupcake and other producers are making prosecco. And, there are producers who are putting their labels on wines made abroad. Gallo has been distributing wines made in Europe for decades, but you won’t find Gallo on the label. That seems to be a smarter marketing tactic. I would imagine many consumers wouldn’t drink a prosecco made by an American producer because, well, it’s not a part of the romantic Italian culture.

What do I know?

Jammy red wines just won't go away

I naively thought that American wine masters were turning away from the extracted, ripe fruit bombs. Alas, I am wrong.

If there is one characteristic that separates American red wines from their Old World counterparts, it's that there is little that is refined and unoaked. While Bordeaux and Burgundy, for instance, produce delicate, sensual red wines, many large producers in California, Oregon and Australia prefer to impress you with residual sugar, lots of alcohol and robust, jammy fruit flavors. Sadly, it's what American consumers seem to want.

Just look at the success of Gallo's Apothic Wines or Meiomi pinot noir, Menage et Tois, and a host of zinfandels that leave considerable sugar in their wines to give them a roundness and disguise what is often a poor wine. Apothic has even introduced a new wine -- Brew -- that infuses cold-brew coffee into a motley collection of red grape varieties. You could spread it on toast and serve it with your morning coffee. Other wines sport names that broadcast their style: Big Smooth and Double Black are two I recently tasted. 

It has been known for decades that Americans have a Coca-Cola palate even though most consumers profess to like dry wines. Residual sugar covers tannin and other acids many find offensive, but they also disguise inferior grapes.  Rarely do these sweet concoctions come from sub-appellations. That's why they are cheap and unfortunately so sweet that they can't possibly complement any food besides cake.