Dan Berger On Wine: Good News for Every Day Wine – Napa Valley Register

Wine consumers don’t often see the real-world consequences of corporate business deals, notably because such deals rarely have instantly recognized impacts — or at all

But one deal that was just finalized in the wine business should benefit wine consumers within the next year, perhaps even sooner. My reasoning goes back 30 years to a meeting I had with the late viticultural master Julio Gallo.

I recalled that event recently after reading that E&J Gallo had acquired several wine brands from Constellation in a business deal that may benefit those who regularly buy those and other Gallo-owned wine brands.

Cynics may say the business deal is nothing but a financial arrangement (one company moving to an altered business model), but there’s evidence that this is part of a long-term trade strategy by the other company that was set in motion 40 years ago.

Included in Constellation’s $810 million sale of more than two dozen brands to Gallo were formerly once-respected names Franciscan Vineyards (Napa Valley), Ravenswood and Clos du Bois (Sonoma County), and Wild Horse (Central Coast).

All once made exemplary wines. Early in their lives, in the 1980s, those wine brands were based on quality grapes from reliable North Coast sources. Wines were vintage-dated, had identifiable appellations, and exemplary qualities.

However, in recent years some of these brands had become rather ordinary. Most of the brands’ “value-oriented” wines had changed into California-appellation blends base on the vast sources of wine that created a virtual wine lake in the state.

For better or worse, most of the volume in these brands were now Everyday Wine. There’s no formal definition for this term, but many wine lovers use it disparagingly to refer to wines that are OK to drink (barely), but which represent ordinariness. Almost completely missing is varietal identity.

I recently had a Chardonnay that smelled and tasted like a poor Sauvignon Blanc; I’ve tasted Pinot Gris with no connection to that grape; most Cabs are homogenous reds that are often slightly sweet. Many Everyday Wines are like that.

Today you’d be hard-pressed to identify anything unique about varietal Everyday Wines, partly as a result of grapes being harvested in warm climates later than allows a varietal statement. The more grapes are pushed toward being raisins, the less varietal elements you retain.

Yet millions of cases of Everyday Wine today wash down burgers, hot wings, pizza, and potato chips.

I think the sale will especially benefit these four brands and perhaps others in the deal in that consumers may soon get a varietal bonus. I can’t say exactly what will happen to these Everyday Wine brands when the deal is fully absorbed by Gallo and its team of winemakers. But I have 30-year-old evidence that it will be a good thing.

Don’t, however, expect to see this subject addressed by glossy wine magazines or wine newsletters written by number mongers who couldn’t care less about Everyday Wines. The category of $7 to $10 wines is not within their purview.

But they never had lunch in August 1990 with the late Julio Gallo, as did I.

It was at a time when Gallo was investing millions putting in hundreds of vineyard acres in northern Sonoma County on and near its Dry Creek-area property. Julio was personally overseeing the project and he told me of the painstaking process Gallo employed to put in hundreds of acres of vines — of the complexity of the project to make certain top-soils, native vegetation, and subterranean springs would not be harmed.

As we ate a hastily assembled lunch, including a salad topped with Julio’s homemade vinegar and including home-grown tomatoes (both hand-carried to our luncheon in the company’s Bell Ranger jet helicopter!), I asked Julio why Gallo would go to the expense of acquiring the Alaskan oil pipeline earth-moving equipment to recontour 2,000 acres of its Northern Sonoma land and put in massive new vine acreage.

At the time other large wine companies were divesting themselves of vineyards.

Julio said you can’t make excellent wine unless you control all the vines in quality regions. Although Gallo already owned a lot of vineyards in the hot central valley, cooler Northern Sonoma was where the company’s future lay — in fine wine, he said.

A month later, I wrote a detailed look at the project for my weekly wine column in The Los Angeles Times, after which Gallo further expanded its reach into Sonoma by adding even more vineyard acreage.

I didn’t realize the potential impact of the recent brand purchases until months after it was first announced and gained government approval.

(The Federal Trade Commission, concerned about the potential for ani-competitiveness, permitted the sale to go through, but not until it trimmed the originally proposed $1.7 billion deal to less than half that by requiring Gallo to divest itself of some properties.)

After the deal was okayed, I recalled that luncheon interview with Julio. It seemed that Gallo’s Sonoma properties might have been part of Gallo’s long-term strategy into more upscale wines.

Those thoughts were validated three weeks ago after I spoke with Jennifer Wall, the head winemaker for Gallo’s huge Barefoot wine project, Barefoot is a non-vintage, California-appellation brand in which virtually everything under that name sells for $10 a bottle or less.

Roughly 18 million cases of wine now appear under the Barefoot banner, and the brand has done extremely well with professional judges at wine competitions where wine is evaluated blind.

Wall was effusive in her commitment to her company’s demand for varietal correctness to play a role in her wines. And she spoke of greater access to cooler sites for some of her grapes.

To see for myself what was up, I bought and tasted several Barefoot wines. What surprised me was that almost every varietal was aromatically and structurally correct and better than I expected.

It was then that Julio’s 1990 words came back to me — as well as those of his son, Bob Gallo, and Bob’s son, Matt.

I don’t recall specific quotes from the three men, but all three spoke of the main reason for this particular Gallo vineyard project — wine quality — as if it were a sacred topic.

Matt spoke of respect for the land and the soil and the health of vines. Bob spoke of his mandate for sustainable viticulture. And Julio was dedicated to varietal authenticity and balanced wines.

It isn’t likely that a year from now any of the upgraded wine brands from Franciscan, Clos du Bois, Ravenswood, or Wild Horse will be legitimate candidates to earn scores of 95 points from number mongers.

But that’s not what Everyday Wine is all about. It’s about authenticity and good taste. I’m fairly sure Julio Gallo’s vision so many years ago was at least partly a reason for Gallo’s brand acquisitions.

Wine of the Week

2017 Kalpela Vineyards Pinot Noir, Mendocino County ($10) — This wine is an excellent value from Greg Graziano, a long-time Mendocino county winemaker who respects balance and structure as well as anyone in the business. Three of the last five California vintages produced huge amounts of grapes, so many grape growers ended up with far more fruit than they could ever sell.

As a result, Graziano was able to make some astounding deals to acquire inexpensive local fruit. One result was the development of a new brand, Kalpela. It was the name of a local Pomo Indian chief, who also gave his name to the small Mendocino town of Calpella. This wine has good varietal fruit and nice balance. It was in neutral oak for almost three years (!) and displays dark berry fruit and solid daily drinkability. Decant for two hours before consuming.

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Dan Berger lives in Sonoma County, Calif., where he publishes “Vintage Experiences,” a subscription-only wine newsletter. Write to him at winenut@gmail.com. He is also co-host of California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon on KSRO Radio, 1350 AM.