scorp1027
Newbie
Join Date: 2/24/2010
Posts: 7
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Posted: 7/11/2011 1:06:25 AM
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How many wines have we all tried and tasted, fell in love with or hated; that were happened upon or made by mistake?
I propose two extreme examples here but how many more are we tasting each day that will, in the future be proven not to be true as we know them? That is the real question! I think there are more and more wines out there that are tasting "untypical" because they are not exactly what they read on the label.
Just as politicians are known for lying and all knowledgeable persons are aware enough not to believe everything they say they will do will come true. The same might be true with 'some' wineries. I am saying this as if they are working 'outside' the label laws as they are written, just to be clear.
So, here we go...
In 1975, Sutter Home's White Zinfandel experienced a "stuck fermentation", a problem that occurs when the yeast dies out before consuming all of the sugar. This problem juice was set aside. Some weeks later the winemaker tasted it, and preferred this accidental result, which was a sweet pink wine. This is the style that became popular and today is known as White Zinfandel, but in the early days was known as Cabernet Blanc or White Cabernet. Sutter Home realized they could sell far more White Zinfandel than anything they had produced to date, and gradually became a successful producer of inexpensive wines. They remain one of the biggest producers of the wine, with annual shipments of over four million cases.
...This is VS. the other side of the spectrum...
Marchesi Pancrazi, Tenuta San Donato
Marchesi Pancrazi may be an accidental pinot nero estate, but it was indeed good luck as this Tuscan producer continues to make one of Italy's finest pinot nero (pinot noir) wines, the Villa de Bagnolo. Along with this consistently interesting pinot nero they make San Donato, a fine and easy to drink Italian take on passe-tout-grains, the Burgundian blend of pinot noir and gamay and Casaglia, which is made exclusively from colorino, a grape usually only used for adding punch to sangiovese.
The fine pinot noir vineyards of Marchesi Pancrazi are a lucky mistake. For years they produced an ordinary light red wine thought to be sangiovese; then an enologist visiting owner Vittorio Pancr)azi discovered the vineyards were in fact planted with pinot noir vines. These mis-identified vines were planted in 1975 and not correctly identified until 1989. This mistake made Pancrazi the owner of the oldest pinot noir vines in Tuscany and started him off in what was to become a passion: to make great pinot noir. A goal that he succeeds in vintage after vintage.
...Do we really know what we are drinking these days? The question remains and we must ask ourselves if we care what the grape varietal is (as I think too many people are stuck on what they are way too familiar with). My goal is always to turn peoples heads with wine and inspire them to try something new that they will love.
Without these mistakes, even in the vineyard or wine making processes and other anomalies that occur, we would not have so many wines of "The Good, The Great and the Fugly!"
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Christopher
Certified
Join Date: 2/5/2010
Posts: 20
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Posted: 8/2/2011 10:09:27 PM
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The same story applies to KJ Chard.
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/KendallJackson-Winery-Ltd-Company-History.html
Christopher P. Bates
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