Second Labels

[zenda2]

Let me give you a for-instance. California's Laurel Glen makes second and third label wines that are very tasty and very good values, IMHO. I buy Patrick Campbell's Counterpoint '97 here for $16 or so, a heckuva buy on a Cal Cab that's in my price range. The third label (Quintana) isn't marketed in my state, but the forth label is. 'Terra Rosa' used to come from assorted North Coast juice years ago until the price of Cal cabs got too high. So Campbell goes to Argentina and Chile every year, contracts with locals there for good grapes and makes the wine back in CA after crush. This years Terra Rosa ($10) is particularly good, IMHO. I won't pay $10 for just any old Argentinian/Chilean red, this stuff is worth it. As in 'tastes like wine worth $25-$30'. I don't dismiss second labels, some of them get made with just as much love as the first label, but never the VERY BEST grapes. In a good year, the almost-best grapes can still be very good indeed.