TN: Two Apothic Reds...(short/boring)

WINE TALK
1

Tried these two last week:

  1. Apothic Crush Smooth Red Blend Calif (www.Apothic.com; 14.5%) Modesto 2015: Very dark mega-purple color; strong vanilla/Am.oak very grapey/spicy Zin/blackberry/boysenberry ripe bit jammy nose; soft off-dry (0.4%??) rich/lush/fat very strong Am.oak/vanilla bit earthymushroomy/Lodi/CentralVlly blackberry/boysenberry/ripe flavor w/ light smooth/ripe tannins; long soft/fat very strong blackberry/grapey/boysenberry/very ripe strong vanilla/Am.oak bit earthy/mushroomy off-dry finish w/ light soft/ripe tannins; lots of ripeness and blackberry/jammy character and a bit tiring on the palate; one glass will do you. $10.00 (SM)
  1. Apothic Inferno Red Blend (SmallBatch/LmtdRelease; Aged in whiskey brls for 60 days; 15.9%) Modesto 2015: Very dark color; very intense Am.oak/vanilla slight whiskey/Bourbon light blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/Syrah bit smokey some complex nose; soft very ripe rather alcoholic/hot very intense Am.oak/vanilla bit whiskey/Bourbon intense boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah/Zin ripe/jammy flavor w/ light soft tannins; long soft/fat/rich/lush very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah strong vanilla/Am.oak some whiskey/charred/Bourbon slight alcoholic/hot slight earthy/Lodi perhaps off-dry (0.2%?) finish w/ light overripe/soft tannins; loads of overripe Syrah character and a ton of Am.oak w/ only a low-key Bourbon/charred character; actually rather interesting/unique but one hlf-glass will do you. $13.00 (SM)

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. Apothic: This is a Gallo product. The first Apothic Red was introduced in 2010. A blend that varies from Zin/Cab/Syrah/Merlot. It is a wine that is widely dissed by all of us knowledgeable folks in the wine community who’s…sniff/sniff…tastes are far above a Gallo product. Probably, in the majority of the cases, w/o bothering to try the wine.
    I was attracted to trying this wine because the Inferno had just been released. I’m a big fan of the Nebbiolos of the Inferno region of the Valtellina and wanted to see how a Calif version would compare to the old-world versions I know & love. Because it’s a limited release (probably only 500,000 cases worth), I figured it wouldn’t show up here in NM. Didn’t find it at TraderJoe’s (yet), but…low & behold…here it was in the local Smith’s grocery.
    I served this blind to my group as a mystery wine. They mostly guessed it to be a cheap/overblown Oz Shiraz. Since we had tried a quotidian NinoNegri Inferno a month ago, they were stunned when I told them it was an Inferno & just couldn’t get the Nebbiolo character in it. Then, with a $hit-eating grin, I unveiled it as a Calif Inferno. Noone had heard of it before. When I revealed it was aged in used whiskey barrels, there was some grudging admissions that they could see the whiskey character.
    Was this wine actually aged in whiskey barrels? I would tend to doubt it. I would guess Gallo might have immersed whiskey staves or whiskey barrel chips in their tanks of this wine. Maybe they aged a small fraction in used whiskey barrels and then blended it into the rest? But this is pure speculation on my part.
    So this is a mighty fine example of a confected/spoofalated red wine. Undoubetedly made w/ all the tricks in the Gallo arsenal…mega-purple, finished off-dry, probably put thru RO, tightly filtered…made to appeal to the mass market and to Aunt Tillie…bless her sole.
    Is it a bad wine, whatever definition you use for “bad”?? Absolutely not. It is loaded w/ varietal fruit, Zin & Syrah. It even displays a bit of the SanJoaquin terroir and, after all, isn’t the ultimate goal of any wine to display its terroir? That’s what the wine experts tell us.
    Would I buy this wine again or order it by the glass in a restaurant?? Absolutely not. Because it is off-dry, it is very tiring on the palate. I would pour myself a glass, take a small swallow, and then dump the rest down the drain. Did that over three days…same result.
    But the wine is not at all boring in the sense of an equivalent Charles Shaw Zin or Syrah. It’s actually loaded w/ flavor.
    But if your neighbor Fred brings you over a glass of Apothic Red, his newest great discovery, tell him it’s far better than the CharlesShaw he’s been drinking.
    So this is probably my last visit to an Apothic red. Until they come out w/ the next one that’s aged in a tequila or a sake barrel.
    You can thank me for taking one for the team by sending me a real btl of Inferno.
    Tom
2

Tom, wonderful notes, even without spaces.

I grew up on Bartles&Jaymes wine coolers and could probably chug a few still if they were offered. Had a Meiomi at a restaurant a few years ago and felt similarly to you - this is overripe, spoofulated, mass-market dreck that’s posing as slightly-more-than-box-Wine quality, but it’s not -bad- per se, it’s just something meant for people whose tastes haven’t been exposed to anything more. It still tastes like wine, and I wouldn’t fault anyone for drinking it, but I’d just rather not.

3

Well, Noah…thanks. This was sort of a fun effort. I’ve talked to number of wine “connoisseurs” who have railed against Apothic. And I’ve asked them if they’ve tried it? “Well…no… but it’s a Gallo product “!! So I just approached it with an open mind cause I wanted to see just how bad I “knew “ it would be. Not my cup of tea, but it was not “bad”.

4

I love it that you share these notes - and wish more would.

Regardless of what many on this board think, these wines continue to ‘kill it’ in the marketplace - and will probably continue to do so as well.

Here’s a question for you - how ‘different’ do you think the techniques are that The Prisoner uses to ‘achieve’ their wines - and how much more do they charge for them?

Cheers.

5

I don’t know. We drink every once in a while at work, and a bunch of people really dislike the Apothics. In fact we have a “no Apothic” rule. Drinking this wine actually hurts my stomach. I wish I understood the attraction.

6

Tom: Thanks for taking one for the team…Wasn’t aware that it was a Gallo product…2 sips was enough for me to say ENUFF!!! And lose a fair amount of respect for the resto that that was offering it by the glass

7

Here is an honest question, though - why lose respect for the restaurant that was pouring it? My guess is that it’s not your cup of tea - but that tons of other folks purchase this and dig it.

Just wondering . . .

8

Just like any other, well, thing, there’s something for every taste. Compare, say, The Sopranos and any of the Kardashians’ shows. Just because one is high-ish art and the other ain’t doesn’t invalidate the latter. Millions of people watch it.

9

The Sopranos is high art? [scratch.gif] [pwn.gif]

10

I’m surprised you posted real tasting notes here, because the subject heading says it all: Short (finish) - Boring (nothing to see here, move on). [rofl.gif]

11

I would love to try Apothic - once - for the curiosity factor. The problem is that I would never inflict it on my friends and I can’t see drinking a whole bottle,at home. How do you think 23 ounces or so would work as a base for stew?

12

Yup, Jay…it would be a great wine for cooking with…it’s loaded with (spoofalated) flavor.
Tom

13

I have only ever tried one Gallo product in my entire life, the EJ XO brandy. I expected to fully hate it and was surprised that it was passable. Exactly as was said above, though, once you get a feel and taste for better products there is no need to ever go back.

14

Clueless, Larry, as to how similar the winemaking is. I suspect that they use better grapes in their blends.
They’re about 4-5 X the price of Apothic, though.
I’ve only tried one Prisoner and didn’t think it was particularly spoofalated. But just not my style, either.
Tom

15

I’ve had Meiomi, Apothic and the Prisoner only because I belong to a neighborhood wine club and some very educated and successful people continue to bring them to our gatherings because they think they are good wines. [wow.gif]
So what does that say? Folks like syrupy, dark, glop. And there is exhibit A for mass market tastes.

16

Man, you remember when prisoner first came out and was actually a pretty solid/interesting wine? 2004 and 2005 vintages come to mind.

I actually still have a couple of those in the cellar. Will have to pop one soon as I’m sure it’s not getting any better.

And on the apothic front, I had the ‘apothic Dark’ (or something like that) at a buddy’s house one. Not something id look for but it wasn’t horrible…after we had already drank quite a bit of scotch.

17

My nephew served Apothic Red and White as the only alcohol choices at his wedding last year. My wife and I had to try each and I have to say Tom is being much more generous than I would be. We couldn’t come close to finishing half a glass of either.

Gallo actually a number of very good wines. They are just dwarfed by the millions of bottles of dreck that keep the money rolling in.

18

Most of our friends don’t care about wine as a hobby, but are happy enough to sip at a party so it’s usually stuff like Apothic, etc so we’ve tried them before. They’re sweet but they taste like every other jammy grocery store wine pretty much (stuff like CSM and Columbia not withstanding), not what I’d pick but certainly not Night Train.