The Rise and Fall of Cabernet

[Tastevin]

Wineglut, a lot of what you say makes sense, but goodness me what a sweeping statement about Bordeaux wines consistently resembling Californian wines. Which Claret resembles which Californian? My sweeping response to that is no, no, no, a thousand times no. In some instances it is true that the Bordeaux %ABV has crept up slightly, but that is the only resemblance I can see. And that's stretching a point. Surely you don't think the French will deliberately alter the character of their Classifides to resemble Californian, or anywhere else for that matter. Why should they? I'd better say here before I'm misunderstood, that I am not denigrating Californian wines. I have enjoyed, and do enjoy, many of them. I’d better clarify that too – I enjoy those that reflect the natural character of whichever variety of grape it’s made from. Nowadays with many wines, particularly Australian, the natural character of the grape’s variety takes a back seat. R.O. at its worst I think. T

[Thomas]

wineglut, you must be a real hit in Napa! Do you run around with bodyguards???

Keep up the fight.

[Tastevin]

Foodie. LOL. T

[Thomas]

Tastevin, re, Bordeaux and California: I'll bet wineglut is talking about the garage wine movement that began in Italy and spread to Bordeaux. It refers to small operations that produce outside the DOC parameters, mainly to emulate the big, bold, fruit forward, high everything wines that wineglut (and I) do not particularly enjoy.

There is a great deal of animosity between the old and the new in France right now, as there is in Italy.

I recounted somewhere else on this board a story about me and an Itlaian winemaker in the Veneto; he gave me a series of wines to taste that were nothing like Italian wines and everything like Ca or Aussie. When I asked why he would produce that stuff he said it was intended for America, because, "that's what Americans want."

[Tastevin]

Foodie, explain to this Englishman what you mean by 'garage wine movement' please. T

[dananne]

Tastevin -- Not to answer for Foodie (to whom the question was asked, and who will likely correct or modify my answer if needed), but "garage wine" is a term used for a (supposedly) high-quality, extremely expensive wine produced in very small quantities. Generally, they are made in very small facilities (sometimes rented ones) from sourced grapes or from a very small plot of land, where the yields are typically extremely low. Often, they pare down the yields to virtually nothing but a few healthy grapes and then vinify them in spanking new oak barrels. Then they charge an obscene amount for a few oversubscribed bottles. A Bordeaux example, possibly the original, is Le Pin in Pomerol. After their success, others followed suit. Since most of these operations were housed in tiny accomodations (the Le Pin wine cellar is in the basement of a derelict farmhouse), Nicholas Baby, a French writer, came up with the name "vins de garage" and called the vintners "garagistes." There are several examples from California that drove the Cab costs way up for supposedly elite bottles, most notably Screaming Eagle. They garner high scores, but my budget (and wife) would never let me close enough to give a personal opinion of their merits from experience. Hope this helps [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[Tastevin]

Hello Dananne and thanks. It's called 'cottage industry' here. T

[Thomas]

dannanne, couldn't have said it better.

I have it on good authority (a winemaker who helped out in the process) that Ravenswood was among the earliest garage operations, literally producing their first Zinfandels in a large tub. Now they are legit.

It was all about marketing and still is.