AFWE radar

WINE TALK
1

I wanted to check my AFWE radar. I enjoy the spectrum of winemaking styles but find myself starting to lean AFWE. Where do most people feel Patz and Hall and Merry Edwards pinots fall in the AFWE scale? To my palate (Oregon Pinot influenced), they wouldn’t qualify as AFWE, but I wanted to get a sense of others, as a point of comparison for California pinots.
Thanks

2

I consider myself a moderate on the AFWE scale, but both of those are too goopy for me.

P Hickner

3

Both wineries would be deemed Enemies Of The People.

4

[rofl.gif]

5

pure genius at work.

6

I think it’s safe to say those wines are strongly in the anti-AFWE camp

7

Absolutely agreed, though if you had to pick once, I’d say the Merry Edwards pinots are closer than the Patz & Hall, if only because she has a broader range of offerings, and I find that the oak is (relatively) less promnent in her pinots. I think she only has one chardonnay, which I haven’t tried, but the P&H chards are fairly heavy/smoky/oaky (though certainly well made).

8

No, Enemies FOR the People…The Wine Elite are not considered common “people” [shock.gif]

9

If AFWErs are the wine equivalent of SoHo hipster indie film snobs, then wines like Patz & Hall are the equivalent of something like Captain America or Pirates of the Carribean sequels. Reasonably well made movies that have broad appeal but zero film snob cachet.

10

Interesting analogy Chris but not particularly apt for me. I got to where I am in terms of wine style preferences thru a Multi decade process of evolving and changing palate preferences. My current preferences definitely fall into the camp referred to by the AFWE short hand. I do not look for wines that are hip or have snob appeal, I look for wines I like.

Take care not to conflate personal preference acquired over an extended period with snobbyness or elitism. I did get a smile out of the analogy nonetheless!

Cheers Brodie

11

Both at one point to me were among the most Burgundian of Calif pinots. But Sonoma Coast pinots and real Burgundies made them eventually seem very California in comparison. Two great stories, the winery that almost died until Parker made an offhand comment, and the winemaker who makes the truest wine she can without tarting it up. Changing the subject the Merry E SB is mind blowing when you are in the meal - in - a - glass mood. Its’ surprisingly a blend and makes me wonder if her talent exceeds her sources.

12

Thanks for all the replies. Curious as to the Parker comment, did a comment by him save Patz and Hall?

13

A.J. - Here is a good thread on AFWE( I hate the label) if your interested.

Not all the wines mentioned would fall into the style I now prefer but some good discussion for sure.

14

I’m not as familiar with Patz & Hall, but I can’t imagine that ever being the case for Merry Edwards unless the style has changed dramatically. Even relatively speaking, there are long-standing wineries like Calera and Arcadian making wines that lean FAR more in that direction. Merry Edwards is not even close in my mind, not even part of that discussion. That’s nothing against the wines, only a stylistic observation.

15

Funny I was going to say exactly the converse - I’m not familiar with Merry Edwards, but Patz & Hall are about as far from AFWE as you can get.

16

Hard to imagine with P&H, but according to Ms. Edwards herself (based on my recollection), this is simply not true. She included an insert in a recent mailer (I think this past spring) that directly addressing the issue of Burgundy vs. California, and she said that she moved to the Russian River Valley precisely because it produced wines that were “juicy” and “fruit-forward.”

17

To the OP, if you’re looking for more restrained CA Pinot to use as a benchmark, Rhys, Ceritas, Copain, Littorai, Arnot-Roberts, Wind Gap… all choices I’d recommend.

18

Familiar only with the ballyhooed Merry SB. Me and my hipster sensibilities were not impressed. If that’s what they do with SB, I expect I don’t want their PN.

19

No problem, it wasn’t meant seriously, just a bit of colorful levity, and no doubt somewhat of a stretch.

As with indie film snobs, there are a mix of different people with different underlying motives for being part of any group out there (though of course none of them admit to having elitism or snob appeal as their motive). And I personally drink a lot of AFWE movies and watch a pretty high percentage of indie snob movies . . . er, films.

20

We are headed to Sonoma/Napa in January (3 days) for my 50th, and are trying to decide where to taste. We will definitely set up tastings at Littoria, Copain, and Lynmar ( lunch pairing ) . Based on all the responses we will use Copain and Littoria as a benchmark for AFWE. My wife’s palate doesn’t lean as much AFWE so I can’t set up 100% AFWE . Hopefully the lunch pairing at Lynmar will balance out (pun intended ) all the AFWE wineries. Based on all the threads I have read here we are considering some combination of ; Calluna, Limerick Lane, William Seylem, Nalle, Hallack and Bedrock if we can get a tasting apt .

We are spending one day tasting in Napa and a friend is going to set up a tasting with Massican. We love the Massican wines we have tried and are really looking forward to that appointment.

We were considering Merry Edwards but will now probably replace that with another winery.

We plan on eating at Willies raw bar, Farm House inn and The Girl and the Fig.

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies to the post. I don’t post often, but read the board every night and love the board and all the discussions.