I find it very hard to believe there’s nothing wrong with it. If there’s nothing wrong with BWZ, then really all bets are off.
Got six bucks burning a hole in my pocket now.
I’ve only tried two different zinfandel roses that I would consider serious wines from legit producers. The 2009 Dehlinger (Sonoma) was a saignee, and as a result, it was rather darker and a bit heavy. It got better after a year or two – I actually still have one left I should probably drink this summer.
The 2010 Turley (Napa) was excellent. A “true” rose (I know some people don’t like that term, use whatever other term you prefer though I don’t know what the other labels there are), harvested at 18 or 19 Brix, with very pale color and bracing acids. One of the best domestic roses I’ve ever had. And I think it was under $20, so if not the deal of the century, very fairly priced.
I’m guessing very few upper-tier producers want to make zinfandel rose, though, just because of the immense stigma associated with “white Zinfandel.” But it appears that it is possible to make a good one.
Maybe this isn’t a “serious wine”, but it is, of course, from a “legit producer”. That’s the crux of it - these Beringer folks aren’t hacks, and the Beringer WZ is probably the best of the WZ bunch (defining that to exclude “true” roses such as the Turley). Its not Great Wine, or even Very Good Wine, but its produced by competent people who generate a consistent, reasonably tasty, cheap semi-sweet wine that is intended to be chilled and chugged on a warm summer day. I’ve had way worse “Serious” wine from incompetent artisanal producers.
(Along the same wines, there are plenty of California zins from small producers that don’t rank above what I call “The Peterson Line” - i.e., is your wine better than the Ravenswood Zinfandel Vintner’s Blend.)
I paused and thought about that, but I wasn’t sure if this was something equivalent to BV Coastal or Mondavi Woodbridge as far as grade – even though I guess Mondavi and BV are the producers, I put those labels down into the unserious / not-legit lowlands in my mind. That’s purely just about how it works in my head, and not necessarily that defensible of a position.
I paused and thought about that, but I wasn’t sure if this was something equivalent to BV Coastal or Mondavi Woodbridge as far as grade – even though I guess Mondavi and BV are the producers, I put those labels down into the unserious / not-legit lowlands in my mind. That’s purely just about how it works in my head, and not necessarily that defensible of a position.
Um, yes sir, there is something equivalent as far as grade if not worse. Behold. Note the enthusiastic shelf talker sticker review from the Wine Enthusiast on the bottle:
The Dehlinger and Turley (simply labeled “Zinfandel”) are excellent. Scherrer also makes a great Zin rose. I tasted a Zin sparkler from Bedrock a few weeks back (yet to be released) that was outstanding.
Once did a blind Zinfandel tasting years ago with examples from almost white (and dry), pink, all the way through late picked Ridge efforts, a dessert Zin and a Zin Port. The versatility of the grape was pretty astounding. Despite falling out of love with the average ripeness of the reds, like Buzz, I smilingly remember the sweet pink days of long ago.
I think you can answer your question by the fact that Beringer sells its white zin under the same brand as it sells its Private Reserve et al., while Mondavi and BV hide under their crappy-wine branding. Beringer white zin is clearly the class of the mass market white zins (is there any other kind?) and - as CT notes consistently support - is really not terrible wine. Save your approbrium for Barefoot and such.
Tasting that Under the Wire sparkler, and hearing Morgan talk about the vin clair, got me thinking about how good a “true” zin rosé from a top site might be, but I concluded that other than saignée (Dehlinger) or doing it just for the love of the grape (Turley) it would be difficult to make a business case for pressing really good Zinfandel into a rosé. Bedrock would sell out in the mid-$30s/bottle by turning those grapes into a red wine, and probably will get $50+ for making it sparkle, but as a still pink wine, difficult to crack low-$20s.
I don’t understand wine economics, but Turley was selling a Zinfandel Rose from Napa Valley for under $20 and it was excellent. I don’t know what the quality of those zin grapes would have been for a still red.
There are good non-saignee roses of pinot noir, grenache, mourvedre and other grapes made in California for under $20. Again, I don’t know what the quality of those grapes would have been for red wine, but in any event, it seems possible for good producers to do it. I assume they’re not all loss leaders.
I really don’t know the answer Chris, but in this case I was discussing - Under the Wire sparkler - was single-vineyard designated Bedrock Vineyard, so we know the source of the grapes and what would have been the price of the still wine.
In the case of Turley, maybe not a loss-leader but this is certainly something Larry Turley would do for the simple reason that he wanted to do it.
Would I pay $35 for an SVD Zin Rosé? Maybe a bottle to try, but then would probably blind it against Tempier, something I’ve found to be a very high bar to clear.
