Artisanal Wine vs. Grocery Store Wine

Artisanal Wine vs. Grocery Store Wine

Many folks have never had artisan made wine and I thought it might be worthwhile to talk a little about the differences.

To clear the decks for this discussion, let’s say upfront that on the surface there isn’t a difference. You can find impressively named and packaged wines at the grocery store for very little money. If the purpose is to impress, there are so many brands out there no one could possibly keep track and people without wine knowledge generally will be impressed by a nice label. I think this is a big part of the reason the wine conglomerates own so many different labels.

There is an old Texas saying- that a man can be “all hat and no cattle.” Well, some wines are “all label and no fruit.”

Also, if you are looking to take wine to an informal party where it will be popped and poured and quaffed by folks making conversation in a party atmosphere, by all means go buy the grocery store stuff at $10-20 a bottle. In fact we did that recently, my wife having picked up a bottle of Aquinas Pinot Noir- a brand I had never heard of- for about $12 and it worked fine for this purpose with nice cherry notes and smooth tannins. My only disappointment was that it was mostly gone when I went back to the kitchen counter for a second glass.

I would have been sorely disappointed if I had brought the expensive stuff to that casual party. Not that I don’t like to share- just that when I do and it is the really good stuff, I want more focus on the wine, rather than seeing it handled as a background social lubricant. I feel the same way about good food, music, and art.

If on the other hand, the occasion does call for more focus on the wine, when it comes to Pinot and Cabernet, spending more dollars to get artisanally made wine will generally be well rewarded by what is in the glass. The simple truth is that everything that touchs Pinot leaves fingerprints and there is no way to make good industrial scale Pinot. To start, you simply must have low yield in the vineyards. The industrial makers don’t like this because it cuts into profits- why grow two tons per acre when you can grow five or more tons per acre? And why ferment by hand in ½ ton small batches when it is more efficient to dump it all into huge tanks and ferment 100 tons at once?

The answer is in the glass. The grocery store stuff all tastes pretty much the same and it is uninspiring stuff, all cut from the same cloth and about as middle of the road as possible, designed not to offend, and in the process not creating anything memorable or noteworthy either. I have never had a bottle from the grocery store that stayed with me, that made me want to go track down more and stock the cellar.

Artisan made small lot wine…well…there are bottles that you just don’t ever forget. It can be their power and concentration of flavor, elegance, balance, texture, or their sheer uniqueness and individuality.

The bottom line is I never liked wine all that much until I started tasting some really good wines. Now, given the choice and a fixed wine budget, I would gladly pay double or triple the price for these wines and then drink half or a third as much. Often with so much “stuffing” in the wine, a half a glass can be immensely satisfying. Calicaro will offer some wines in half bottle sizes for this reason. A final thought is that good wine can easily be recorked and kept in the fridge for a few days- sometimes it even gets better after having had a day to decant. In my experience well made wine will hold coniderably longer than the grocery store stuff.

Cheers,

Dave