A declaration of excellence Sunday, July 05, 2009 By Tomás Clancy When people think of contemporary wines from the US, they tend to think of very different types - either expensive Californian cabernets, or cheap, sickly-sweet blush zinfandel.
But neither is a true reflection of the current state of the American wine market; beyond these stereotypes, there is a much richer and more diverse story to be told.
The history of the vine in America considerably predates the Declaration of Independence, which is being celebrated this weekend.
Then US president Thomas Jefferson was responsible for more than penning the declaration - he believed that the American states could become a leading producer of wine, and that it was a product so intimately linked to a vibrant culture that it was essential for the ‘proper’ development of the infant nation.
Jefferson was so determined that America market itself as a wine nation that he not only set up fine cellars in the White House, but also planted dozens of experimental vineyards with hundreds of different varieties of grapes at his country estate, Monticello.
His love of wine and the importance he placed on it in his country’s everyday culture stemmed largely from his time as ambassador to France. Almost every region of France likes to lay claim to a Jefferson story, because he was an inveterate wine tourist.
In fact, Jefferson’s letters and diaries formed the first important text on French wine in English, according to John R Hailman in his 2006 book, Thomas Jefferson on Wine. Not only did Jefferson travel and write about wine, he essentially named and discovered wines for most of the British and US markets.
It was his interest in the wines of Hermitage in the Rhone, and Léoville and Chateau d’Yquem in Bordeaux, that made them irresistibly fashionable in high society at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Jefferson wanted vineyards in every state, but he died before there were almost any successful vineyards - or wine - in America.
At the heart of American wine is a Mexican and Spanish success story. While Jefferson was part of a wave which saw people bring vines from Europe and plant them in US soil, only to experience abject failure; out on the western side of the continent, Spanish missionaries had established small vineyards between present day Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The problem for the early American states - the former British colonies - was that, along with the French in Louisiana, they were planting into soils that contained a microscopic bug called phylloxera. This pest destroyed the roots of European vines, like cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay,which had no immunity to the bug.
On the west coast, the vines were being used to make sacramental wine. Taste was not too important, so a combination of local American vines - which made vile, foxy-tasting wines - and Spanish varieties flourished.The west had the added advantage that many of its soils were desert-like, and the phylloxera louse did not flourish as readily as it did on the east coast. By the mid-19th century, scientists and horticulturalists had finally figured out the problem and began grafting European vines onto native, louse-resistant root stock.TheAmerican wine revolution began in earnest.
As Jefferson had predicted, fruitful American vineyards had become a possibility. Even more fortuitously, the US had acquired California from Mexico, with - in a move that Mexicans must still have nightmares about - the deal sealed a day before gold was discovered at the end of the Silverado Trail. The rest is history.
The rush to the Wild West became a stampede, which brought wealth and a taste for wine. With that, wineries sprang up all over northern California ,many of them founded by Italian fruit growers and large religious orders.
By the late 19th century, the Californian wine industry was booming, just in time to save the rest of the wine world. Phylloxera rampaged across every other wine country, destroying entire wine regions, and for a few years it looked as though wine would be lost to the world. Fortunately, the grafted vines in the US were like a veritable wine ark.
For more than a decade, US vines and US rootstock - the roots of native US vines - were transported to Europe and carefully replanted. By the 1920s, Europe’s wine regions and famous vineyards were restored with one consideration: they were all planted on phylloxera-resistant roots of US origin, or with US versions of European varieties.
This is why a generation of wine lovers used to complain about pre and post-phylloxera wines, and the different tastes they had. Today we cannot really know, but it is hard to believe that there was no difference.
Today, the only problem that still exists with US wines is the price. The best vineyards are found in California and Oregon, and both of these states have huge, ready markets on their doorsteps for their best wines, and do not need to export.
So any wine from the quality US wineries which does get to Ireland is a concession by the wineries to the value that having a global reputation brings. Unsurprisingly, they are priced at a profitable level, which is all too often too expensive for the casual, Irish wine-buying market.
But during the last decade, a middle ground has emerged, with a handful of medium-sized fine wineries prepared to export at realistic prices, and the larger wineries coming into the hands of new generations who are winemakers first and business people second. These winemakers have downsized and ‘humanised’ their wines.
The best example of this is Gallo, where Gina and Matt Gallo - third generation Gallo wine heirs - have created the company Gallo Family Vineyards, which makes decent, sustainable wines across all price levels, but especially in the mid-market county and single vineyard ranges.
The Gallos have been joined by the Fetzer winery, which makes fabulous organic, sustainable and very drinkable wines at reasonable prices, as well as a wide range of other high-end wineries which have determined to keep a realistic handle on prices.
So the days of choosing between average and cheap, or brilliant and expensive, US wines could be coming to an end.
Five great US wines
* Ravenswood Lodi, Old Vine Zinfandel 2006, €15 (89)
This is new US wine at its best. Even though the vineyard is now under larger control than when Joel Richardson started the company 20 years ago, he is still at the helm - and this wine is full of the ripest, most joyous fruit.
This is not wine for those who enjoy restraint and subtle flavours - it gives big, sweet strawberries on the nose; lashings of soft, red fruits; and chocolate and white pepper spice on the palate, with a smooth, carameltinged finish. It is drinking well right now, and is begging for a beefy barbecue.
* Bonterra Chardonnay Organic 2006, €17.49 (89) California has never got over its love affair with Meursault, or with toffee apples.
This wine has a luscious, baked apple-scented nose, which gives way to a toffee and vanilla-like wash. There are rising flecks of orange rind towards the finish and just enough acidity to keep it dry. It’s delicious, heady stuff; lovely well-chilled with Madeira cakes or - better still - iced fairy cakes.
* Clos du Val Chardonnay 2006, €23.50 (91)
This is a much more sophisticated take on Californian chardonnay, and is very much more like the post €100-a-bottle chardonnays which dominate most of the Napavalley’s own wine shops. It’s creamy, but not in a caramel way as with the Bonterra chardonnay - it’s more a light, fluid creme anglais than a thick custard.
There are light touches of orange rind, but underlying everything is a good minerality. Ideal with baked cod, scallops on lentils or sweet racks of lamb.
* Concannon Petite Sirah 2005, €18 (90) Irish heritage is prominently displayed here - the Concannons came from Inis Mór in the Aran Islands.
There is little of that area’s austerity in this wine, but the dense, grippy body mid-palate, with its fiery spice, dark blackcurrant and touches of liquorice, might have a bit of Aran steel in it.
Avery savoury finish and tart - even for a red wine. Perfect for game or a complex, slightly sweet dish like lamb mousakka.
* Francis Coppola Claret 2005, €18.50 (90)
This wine is all menace, from the black label to the heavy bottle and the dark, dense, inky-black wine. It’s a traditional Bordeaux blend, but cabernet sauvignon dominates and the cedar, blackcurrant and cherry is pitch perfect.
The finish is mid-bodied and has grip, not the smoothness you might expect. It’s a rather fine wine, which easily outpaces anything from Bordeaux at this price, and would be great with roast beef, game or chunks of mature cheddar cheese.
Wines available at O’Donovans off-licences in Cork; Harvest off-licences in Galway; O’Brien’s Wines; Cellars The Big Wine Warehouse; Concord Industrial Estate, Naas Road, Dublin 12; and www.booze.ie.
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