Tag Archives: Dry Creek

Winebits 483: Chenin blanc, Two-buck Chuck, three-tier

chenin blancThis week’s wine news: Dry Creek releases its 45th consecutive vintage of chenin blanc, plus the history of Two-buck Chuck and a loss for three-tier

• Keep it coming: Dry Creek Vineyard has released its 45th consecutive vintage of dry chenin blanc, which the winery says is a record for California. Given how little respect chenin blanc gets, and especially in California, that’s probably true. In fact, the Dry Creek chenin is a marvelous wine, a regular part of the $10 Hall of Fame, and an example to the rest of the wine world that you don’t have to make chardonnay, chardonnay, and more chardonnay. But what else would you expect from a winery that ends the news release about the chenin with this quote? “Instead of getting sucked into the increasing corporatization of the industry, we are bucking the trends and are an increasingly rare breed.” No wonder I like the wine so much.

• Cheap wine: The Thrillist website recounts the history of Trader Joe’s Two-buck Chuck, the first ultra-cheap “premium” wine. The piece is mostly well done, and includes quotes from Chuck Shaw, who started the winery whose name – sold for $27,000 to Bronco Wine – was eventually used on the first $1.99 offering from Trader Joe’s. And, for the most part, the story confirms my most recent assessment of Two-buck Chuck: Where’s the antidote?

• Three-tier takes a hit: The state’s supreme court has struck down a South Carolina law that said no one could own more than three liquor stores. The court ruled that the three-license law “limits are arbitrary and do not promote the health, safety or morals of the state, but merely provide economic protection for existing retail liquor store owners.” This matters not just for South Carolina, but in every state that limits the number of stores one person can own, which includes Texas. It’s not legally binding outside of South Carolina, but it does offer a precedent for judges to to use elsewhere. Also worth noting is that the suit was brought by the Total Wine chain, which has sued other states to overturn three-tier laws. Finally, if I may pat myself on the back, this appears to be part of a trend I wrote about last month, noting that a new generation of judges and regulators sees liquor law differently than their parents and grandparents did.

Wine of the week: Dry Creek Fume Blanc 2012

California wine takes a lot of abuse on the blog, and with good reason. Too much of it is cynically made and with little concern for value. Slap a marketing campaign on it, make sure there is a lot of sweet fruit in the mix, and flog it to unsuspecting consumers.

In fact, one blog visitor, then doing public relations for a wine producer, said her bosses were quite angry with the Wine Curmudgeon for writing just that several years ago, since it applied to one of their products. Which, of course, made me smile ? isn ?t that why I ?m here?

But there are California labels that remind me that the state produces some of the best wine in the world, cheap or not. Dry Creek is one of them and its fume blanc ($10, purchased, 13.5%) is a classic that never disappoints. It ?s made with sauvignon blanc (20 years ago, calling sauvignon blanc fume blanc was a popular marketing technique) and displays all of the flavor and character a California sauvignon blanc should. It ?s not thin or watery or overdone, but has grassiness, lemon and lime fruit (maybe even a little more this vintage), and a clean, fresh finish.

Highly recommended, and almost certain to return to the $10 Hall of Fame in 2014. This is the fourth or fifth $10 California sauvignon blanc from the 2012 vintage that has been exceptional, including Joel Gott and Maxwell Creek. They have restored my faith in California sauvignon blanc.

Wine of the week: Dry Creek Dry Chenin Blanc 2011

Dry Creek dry chenin blancI ?m doing research for an upcoming blog post about U.S. wine sales ? what varietals we ?re drinking, the brands we ?re buying, and so forth. Chardonnay, not surprisingly, is still the white wine of choice for most of us.

This wine and grape are not high on those lists. Which, frankly, is a shame. The Wine Curmudgeon has long been an advocate of chenin blanc, a white wine grape that is fairly well known in France but is known in the U.S., if at all, for indifferently made sweet wine. Chenin blanc is much better than that.

The Dry Creek ($10, purchased) is not indifferently made and is not sweet. In fact, It’s one of the few wines in the world that isn ?t reisling that lists the residual sugar on the label — 0.6 percent, which makes it as dry as many red wines. (Though, given that hardly any consumers know what residual sugar is, it ?s more a good idea in effort than execution).

Look for lots of white fruit aromas, a little lemon peel fruit, and a sort of slate-like, fruit pit finish. This is a wonderful alternative to chardonnay, especially for salads, grilled vegetables, and cheese courses.

Wine of the week: Dry Creek Fume Blanc 2010

The Wine Curmudgeon tries to practice what he preaches. I needed a couple of bottles of wine for dinner, but didn't want to make a special trip to a wine store. So I looked for wine at the grocery store, using my advice about buying wine for dinner.

The result was the Dry Creek ($10, purchased), which comes from a standout California producer whose dry chenin blanc has long been one of my favorites. I wanted sauvignon blanc for dinner (oven fried chicken), saw this on the shelf, knew that I liked the chenin, and so bought it.

The fume, which is sauvignon blanc under another name, is made in the classic California sauvignon blanc style, with grassy aromas and front, and a tropical middle. Don't expect any big, New Zealand-style grapefruit; the wine has some citrus, but is more restrained than its Kiwi cousins. The finish is a little disjointed, as if it doesn't know how to end; all in all, though, it's a heck of a bargain for $10.

Serve this with most white meat dishes, as well as salads. It would also, as befits any sauvignon blanc, pair with shrimp and other boiled seafood.