A New California Grand Cru Pinot Vineyard: Sea Smoke Southing

[David_K_o_l_i_n]

Is Grand Cru Winery still around/marketed? If the mark is still good, SS may be buying themselves a suit.

Just looked it up. It appears to be Bronco

[CFu]

@Paul H Galli

SS can call their product what they want…

I call it a high alcohol fruit bomb…

TTT

I’ve had the opportunity to taste the 08/09 southin and 08/09 ten and there is nothing high alcohol or fruit bomb about it. I can certainly agree for prior vintages, but with the new winemaker it’s a shift in a much better direction.

[B_Buzzini]

@David K o l i n

Is Grand Cru Winery still around/marketed? If the mark is still good, SS may be buying themselves a suit.

Yes…i buy it for cooking wine all the time! $3!

[Ray_Walker]

@Rick Gregory

Cary - don’t agree. But I don’t think it will hurt them much. Most wine geeks know what they’re about by now and if someone likes that wine they’re not going to refuse to buy it because of this. If someone doesn’t like the wine, I don’t see them trying it because of the label. Sales-wise, it’s a wash. I just shook my head when I saw it because for all of the sentiment I read about Cali producers wanting to not be compared to Burg, but to be judged on their own merits it seems a rather lame, sad attempt to co-opt a term that has no real meaning in California.

This takes “X winery uses Burgundian winemaking practices” up a few notches.

This just yanks at something in me more than anything else I’ve seen in wine in a good while. It turns my stomach

I just wonder how things like this will look in the long term.

Before jumping in too deep…is there a hidden camera somewhere?

[TomHill]

@B. Buzzini

@David K o l i n

Is Grand Cru Winery still around/marketed? If the mark is still good, SS may be buying themselves a suit.

Yes…i buy it for cooking wine all the time! $3!

OMG…a “Premium Selection”…when will it all end?? Wonder what happened to the other 3,769,421 gallons that didn’t meet
the premium selection process. Ole Fred bulk the stuff out, you suppose??
Tom

[Paul_H_Galli]

@Charlie Fu

@Paul H Galli

SS can call their product what they want…

I call it a high alcohol fruit bomb…

TTT

I’ve had the opportunity to taste the 08/09 southin and 08/09 ten and there is nothing high alcohol or fruit bomb about it. I can certainly agree for prior vintages, but with the new winemaker it’s a shift in a much better direction.

I must admit that I haven’t tried the 2009 version of “Da Southing”.
Like you say, they have been high octane in the past.

But if you notice on the label, it DOES say 14.5% alcohol.
And if it’s typical for CA callouts, the Alc is likely higher than listed.
I’m pretty much thru with CA Pinots above the 14.5% threshold. (Much prefer <14%)

TTT

[Adam_Lee]

@Paul H Galli

And if it’s typical for CA callouts, the Alc is likely higher than listed.

Paul,

I wasn’t aware you had tested many yourself…did you use your ebulliometer or desnitometer? And since you specifically mentioned California, you found the non-CA wines to be more accurate?

http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/pages/features/0910_TaxingTrends.html

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

[John_Ammons]

But…but…the font is so pretty.

[Ken_V]

@Chad Richardson

I predict that the amount of educated consumers this alienates will far exceed the small number of half-tuned-in buyers it may attract. It’s one thing to try to create a differentiating name/logo/association for marketing purposes (Fume Blanc, for example), but another thing entirely to try to capitalize on something that already exists but to which your product has no ties or rights.

“Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
–H. L. Mencken

[Rob_MacKay]

@Charlie Fu

@Paul H Galli

SS can call their product what they want…

I call it a high alcohol fruit bomb…

TTT

I’ve had the opportunity to taste the 08/09 southin and 08/09 ten and there is nothing high alcohol or fruit bomb about it. I can certainly agree for prior vintages, but with the new winemaker it’s a shift in a much better direction.

Absolutely agree.

[Rob_MacKay]

@Tyler Rico

lame!

I think it’s lame that people think it’s lame.

[Rob_MacKay]

@Paul H Galli

And if it’s typical for CA callouts, the Alc is likely higher than listed.

That’s quite a generalization isn’t it?

[Paul_H_Galli]

@Rob MacKay

@Paul H Galli

And if it’s typical for CA callouts, the Alc is likely higher than listed.

That’s quite a generalization isn’t it?

Yes, in my experience, it’s generally" twue…

TTT

[Adam_Lee]

Again, Paul, how do you know that?

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

[Paul_H_Galli]

@Adam Lee

@Paul H Galli

And if it’s typical for CA callouts, the Alc is likely higher than listed.

Paul,

I wasn’t aware you had tested many yourself…did you use your ebulliometer or desnitometer? And since you specifically mentioned California, you found the non-CA wines to be more accurate?

http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/pages/features/0910_TaxingTrends.html

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

I’ve tested them with my highness level for a given volume of wine.

While Burgs (for instance) may (Or may not) be accurate, they start at a lower claimed Alc % on the bottle.
So, if it’s higher (or lower) it doesn’t matter as much.

TTT

[Adam_Lee]

Paul,

Brilliant…you make an unsubstantiated claim and then say that it doesn’t matter anyway. Running for office anytime soon?

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

[Paul_H_Galli]

@Adam Lee

Paul,

Brilliant…you make an unsubstantiated claim and then say that it doesn’t matter anyway. Running for office anytime soon?

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

You misunderstood me…
For instance:
CA Pinot claims to be 14.5% alc. Let’s say it’s 1% higher in reality. That’s 15.5%.
Burg claims it’s 13.5% alc. Let’s say it’s 1% higher in reality. That’s 14.5%.

I’m saying it doesn’t matter as much for a Burg because it typically starts from a lower baseline as compared to a CA Pinot.

TTT

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@Paul H Galli

@Adam Lee

@Paul H Galli

And if it’s typical for CA callouts, the Alc is likely higher than listed.

Paul,

I wasn’t aware you had tested many yourself…did you use your ebulliometer or desnitometer? And since you specifically mentioned California, you found the non-CA wines to be more accurate?

http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/pages/features/0910_TaxingTrends.html

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

I’ve tested them with my highness level for a given volume of wine.

While Burgs (for instance) may (Or may not) be accurate, they start at a lower claimed Alc % on the bottle.
So, if it’s higher (or lower) it doesn’t matter as much.

TTT

Your “highness level”?!? Are you smoking it?

Repeat after me: I will only drink - not smoke - my wine. I will only drink - not smoke - my wine. I will only …

[Adam_Lee]

@Paul H Galli

@Adam Lee

Paul,

Brilliant…you make an unsubstantiated claim and then say that it doesn’t matter anyway. Running for office anytime soon?

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

You misunderstood me…
For instance:
CA Pinot claims to be 14.5% alc. Let’s say it’s 1% higher in reality. That’s 15.5%.
Burg claims it’s 13.5% alc. Let’s say it’s 1% higher in reality. That’s 14.5%.

I’m saying it doesn’t matter as much for a Burg because it typically starts from a lower baseline as compared to a CA Pinot.

TTT

Let’s say CA Pinot claims to be 14.5% alcohol but is actually 14.1%. Let’s say Burgundy claims to be 13.5% but is actually 14.0%. Not even making anyone illegal here…what’s the difference?

Adam Lee
Siduri Wines

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

Jeezus. I certainly did not want this thread to devolve into the “bang head against wall” argument of high ETOH California Pinot Noir. Paul, I imagine that blinded you could not tell the difference in 13 to 16% ETOH ABV Pinot from either CA, Burgundy or NZ.