Over the next few months, I am convinced that I will have to taste some pretty nasty red wines with far too much alcohol, grapey sweetness, little acidity that could easily have been grown in a greenhouse in the Himilayas. This year I have decided that these wines truly deserve recognition, so I have begun taking nominations for the worst of their type, which I will call the Golden Arches Pomegranate Blueberry Smoothie award. Last year, the winner was SQN, but it’s an empty title, since it was the only nominee.
This year, I am beginning early. A week ago, I tasted blind two new possibilities Kosta Brown and Sea Smoke. Sadly Sea Smoke had too much complexity, acidity and personality to be nominated, but the four wines from Kosta Brown hit the jackpot. Not only did they taste the same,they were almost completely characterless. They displayed plenty of sugary fruit, a blobby texture, lots of alcohol, no precision and what little finish there was, was also sweet and bubble gummy. It’s hard to imagine I will encounter worse, but I am open to new nominations.
That is a ridiculous conclusion, in my opinion. But I suspect the point of this point is not to be descriptive, accurate or informative, and rather it is to endear yourself to a certain clique in the wine world and on the board. If so, then this will probably work splendidly, and I will not interfere any further.
2009 Chalk Hill Estate Red- USA, California, Sonoma County, Chalk Hill (11/22/2013)
This wine is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, and several other reds. It’s high alcohol, over 15%, and very “new world” in terms of style. I don’t like the style of this wine. It’s very sweet and fruity - almost blueberry in flavor. I’ve heard wines described as “blueberry milkshakes” - I think this is an example. To be fair, in its style, it’s a well made wine, and possible after many years of cellaring, the fruit would tone down. If you have any of this and like the style, I’d recommend holding it for several more years. GOOD. (85 pts.)
Except there’d be no “E” - sometimes appreciating wines that have ripe fruit flavors in them eliminates one from being elite. Maybe insert a “C” for commoners? Or a “P” for plebeians?
It’s akin to admitting that sometimes you just enjoy watching a movie with explosions and chase scenes and robots and heroes who prevail in the end, rather than exclusively watching black and white foreign and indie films about people smoking cigarettes, having weird sex and not speaking much to each other. You are immediately forsaken from your former circle of hipster Soho film snobs.
Chris, the description is descriptive, accurate and informative. But I will add to it. Identifying these wines blind was difficult. Most of us guessed Parkerized Chateauneufs; that they were Pinots was shocking. The wines are boring, fat, thick, sweet with a very nasty gloopy finish. The alcohol on the labels stated 14.6, but seemed much much higher, and yet there was still enough syrupy sweetness that had not turned into alcohol, to make them truly unpleasant.
I rather liked the flight of Sea Smoke wines that followed. There was complexity and differentiation there which was totally missing from the flight of KBs. They were also recognizably Pinot Noir.
We’ve had much discussion over here about KB’s style and their success, impact, etc. I’d be curious to know, Mark, what was the vintage of the wines and which cuvees. While I know you said the wines all tasted similarly, I would still appreciate knowing which bottlings you sampled, along with the vintage.
I have to say that I agree with others that the title is a bit silly with the interaction probably going the way Chris described. To me anyone that says a wine tatses like a blueberry smoothie or kool-aide with vodka for that matter, is being extremely hyperbolic. But what the heck, I get Mark’s drift. Even one who enjoys KB now and then, and decidedly not an AFWE or whatever we choose to identify that pole of wines as. what’s interesting is that while peole seemingly would ascribe this sort of wine to Parker, to my knowledge he has not heaped glowing praise on K-B. Perhaps I am wrong as far as recent wines, as both Parker and K-B have diminished a bit from my realm.
But I still do buy K-B now and then. I don’t have the typicity issue that some people have. I’ll go one more and say that while I do understand that the offending flavors tend to homogenize wine, I don’t see how one would identify this as syrah and not pinot. I would also think that there are other varietal wines that would beat the K-B or this description absent consideration of typicity. In fact the Chalk Hill example is a decent example. Though again I can drink either wine in a cocktail setting or with food flavors that I might not typically pair other wines that share their varietal makeup. I do know that I brought a K-B Kanzler to a Berseker ofline last summer. My wife actually go a little miffed at me as she knows the Kanzlers and wanted to try it, but that shit was a dead soldier before she could try it and faster than Jim Jones’s magic kool-aide pticher.
To answer the question, even as somewhat of a fan, I can see how one might see a “sameness” to these wines. But by the same token I think the SVD wines don’t tastes the same if one gets past the common sense of ripeness with some heat. I for instance seem to be able to know and appreciate the Kanzler wines. But I certainly think that given the common quality and style, I prefer the less expensive appellation wines FOR THE MONEY.
It was long ago dubbed the PFB - Pro Flavor Bourgeoisie.
A few years ago, Mark came up to me at a Berserkerfest and said he was going to give me a glass of a Burg that was going to change my mind about this entire issue. He gave me a glass, I tasted it, and commented that it was an OK wine but not a religious experience. I don;t recall what it was except that it was a Grand Cru Burg. Eh! But that’s fine. More of the good stuff for me.
See, e.g., recent tasting note I posted on 2005 Aubert pinot. The problem, of course, is that no one touches a GC Burg until it’s 15-20 years old, but they expect a California wine to be great right out of the barrel. A little patience is rewarding.
Chalk Hill sounds good to me. Had the 2007. Assume the 2009 is similar. Award the trophy. That’s the measure. If you like that, fine for you, drink what you like, that’s all that really matters, but still know that there’s something terribly wrong with you. And if you’re making wines like that on purpose, again fine for you, laugh all the way to the bank, and but know that you’re part of the problem and there’s a special place in Hell, etc.
Shafer Relentless. Lots of other possible candidates from Martinelli, Rosenblum, Saxum, etc. Not to pick on the Cali-heads, I keep hearing about monstrous alcohol levels in recent vintage CndPs and Bordeaux. No shortage of heat in some Languedoc wines…i.e.: Chateau de la Negly. No free pass in Spain or Portugal although no specific nominees. The Sparky Philips offerings are perennial favorites.
That’s true for a lot of wineries. They have a winery style that comes thru on many of the wines. I’ve only had 3-4 K-B Pinots. I thought they had a distinct K-B style
that I sorta recognize…it comes thru loud & clear…and a style I rather like. But that’s true of a lot of wineries. Dehlinger Pinots taste like…Dehlinger Pinots. AdamLee’s Siduri winemaking comes
thru loud & clear…from the basic Appellation Pinots to the SV-Pinots. Ridge Zins have a distinct Ridge character to them (the “DraperPerfume”). But that’s no reason
for those who worship at the altar of terroir to go apoplectic. Because those wines do (usually) express their terroir. You taste a Siduri KeeferRanch beside a Rosella’s
beside a Pisoni beside a ClosPepe beside a Hawk’sButte and you’ll find that the wines are all distinctly different. For other wineries, that winemaking style is not
so evident. Sometimes the winemaking style transcends varietal character. Dehlinger Pinots taste to me a lot like Dehlinger Syrahs. Ridge CoastRange Pinot tastes like
Ridge CoastRange Zin.
But sometimes not. Siduri Pinots do not at all taste like Novy Syrahs.
And then there’s a whole spectrum in between.
Tom
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}