SN&R best blog, best blogger leaked!
SN&R Best of results leaked—sort of:
Best blog
1. Hecka scribes
2. Deja vu scenester
3. Philly Eagle in town
Best blogger
1. Whips u into shape
2. The juggler
3. Two for the road
3. OG rap
That said, I was at Safeway last night for some reason—I never shop there—and I decided to check out the wines.
This bottle of Napa Valley Quail Creek pinot was on clearance, regularly $16 but out the door for only $6. I got the last bottle.
Which was a bummer, because it's a steal at that price. But no matter: Quail Creek tastes terrible. It's a brand under the Bronco Wine Company vintner, based out of the Central Valley and with vineyards in Somona, Napa, and other counties. This is a bummer because the company's been indicted for defrauding consumers about their grapes—both type and locale. The produce Charles Shaw wine, which has been accused of bastardizing the Napa, Calif., label; evidently only a certain percentage of grapes need to derive from Napa for a wine to be labeled as from Napa (am I wrong on this?). I know the French are sticklers about this terroir shit when it comes to burgandy wines, but I guess that does not apply to stateside pinot noir grapes?
Anyway, it was an OK bottle but I think I was more stoked on the deal than the wine itself, which was pedestrian and nothing like some good burgandy. It was light, not very fruit-forward and without a strong scent. Oh well.
In conclusion, the Safeway wine-shopping experience was a failure, but at least not a costly one.
2 comments:
You're right. Only 85% of the grapes need to come from the appellation on the label. In other words, if they label says "Stag's Leap", 85% of the grapes must come from Stag's Leap, and the other 15% come from somewhere else in Napa. Or, if the label says Napa Valley, only 85% of the grapes have to come from Napa Valley, and the rest can come from Lodi.
Similarly, if a bottle is labeled Pinot Noir, only 75% of the grapes have to be Pinot Noir...the rest can be, and often are Syrah, or some other dark-colored full-bodied red wine grape that cab beef up the innately delicate Pinot.
And again you are right. In France, they don't do this. If it says Burgundy (or Bourgogne as the case may be), 100% of the grapes must be from Burgundy. And 100% of those grapes must be Pinot Noir.
Thanks!!!
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