Story Behind 7 Deadly Zins a Tasty Tale

The story behind one of the best tasting and most successful value wines has good winemaking, gratitude to terrible sweet wine, and a long family history of fruit production to credit for its success.

7 Deadly Zins is one of the easiest to find value wines in the $10-$15 price range. It’s 100 percent Zinfandel and consistently a favorite of critics and fans. It’s made by Michael David Winery, Lodi, Ca., an area best known for its full-flavored Zinfandel.

“I was in the winery making wine and I wanted to taste what other vineyards tasted like for Zin,” Michael Phillips recently told me. “So I bought some grapes from my seven growers and put them in barrels separately. You could taste the difference between those seven old vine vineyards. The grapes were grown by my uncle, neighbor across the street, cousin down the road, and my best friend from high school. We had a couple old vineyards next to the winery. They were all different to a certain extent.”

Michael Phillips during a recent Indianapolis visit.

Phillips recognized a distinct taste of Lodi in all seven wines but knew his winery couldn’t bottle seven different Zinfandels and expect success. 

“So I said lets combine all seven and call it 7 Zins,” Phillips said. “So I went to my brother (David), who was doing more of the marketing at the time and gave him my idea. He said let’s tie it to the seven deadly sins we learned in grammar school. We made 800 cases that first year and sold out in two months.”  

To say the wine took off is a bit of an understatement. The 2002 release of 7 Deadly Zins was gone in no time and the brothers knew they had found something special. The Michael David Winery today produces nearly 300,000 cases of wine annually with more than 200,000 cases under the 7 Deadly Zin label.

Back when it all started in the 1980s the winery was simply known as Phillips but there were other Phillips wineries in California so the brothers put their first names on the bottles to become Michael David Winery.

The family story actually goes back much further. The Lodi family farm has been producing fruit of all sorts since the 1860s.

The brothers have fun with the names and labels marketing wines under the names of Earthquake, Incognito, Rapture, and even Freakshow. But it’s that $9-$12 Deadly Zin that makes the fun possible.

Zinfandel has been called “California’s grape.” As opposed to Cabernet, the Zin vines thrive past 100 years old and produce deeply flavored grapes.

“That’s what put Zinfandel on the map,” Phillips said. “It’s that taste of spice, the fruit and it’s easier to drink than tannic Cabernet.”

Oddly, California’s old vine Zins were probably saved by what many consider the bane of the wine Zin industry – white zinfandel. “Whie Zin helped those vines survive,” Phillips said. “When Sutter Home wanted all that white Zin in the 70s it kept those old vines from being ripped out and planted to whatever Gallo wanted at the time.”

Zinfandel is one of those wines that is sometimes targeted for its over-the-top fruit and alcohol. Phillips fights right back.

“We have a style it took me time to develop,” he said. “The longer we let the grapes hang on the vine the better  quality gets. The alcohol is going to be a little higher, but if you handle it right it’s not a negative. You get better color, more body and basically that’s our Michael David style.

“Fruit is good. People want fruit. Now, it can’t just be fruit and it can’t just be high alcohol. It can’t just be big tannic wine either. That’s why Napa buys so much of our Lodi fruit because it has a fruit component they don’t have. That’s the kind of stuff they don’t want you to know or tell you about but fruit is the key. People like fruit, and so many people are switching to that style – and Lodi has it.”

Howard Pick’s:

7 Deadly Zins – This easy to find value bottle can be found at $9-$14 a bottle. It is consistent and easy to appreciate. It has a bold in-your-face dark fruit flavor on the palate that pairs well with food.

6^th Sense Syrah – This French-style 100 percent Syrah is beautiful wine that’s stunning for the $15 price point. It has a huge rich nose, dark purple color with hints of licorice, juicy dark fruit and a very pleasant and lingering finish.

Long Road from Louisville to Saint Jean de Minervois

It’s a long path from Louisville, Ky., to Saint-Jean-de-Minervois in Southern France. But that’s the journey Brown University graduate John Bojanowski took in transformation from literature major to Languedoc winery owner.

Bojanowski was recently in Indianapolis to promote his Clos du Gravillas wines and visit family in Kentucky. His journey is an interesting one as is the unique Languedoc wine he champions.

Bojanowski attended prestigious Brown University in Providence, RI., and wanted to travel. He landed a job in the computer industry that took him to 50 countries in five years. During that time he met Nicole who wanted to be a winemaker. They went in search of just the right property to open their winery. 

John Bojanowski at Indy's Tastings

“When my wife started she wanted white limestone gravel, which is what our soil is because you get freshness and minerality out of that to balance what the sun does to the grapes,” he explained. “But Carignan was what we started with because that’s what she was able to buy. “

Their property included Carignan planted in 1911.

Carignan is an often-maligned grape. It is a dark-colored and strong flavored wine. Some will even call the nose offensive and the taste can be strong. But the old vine Carignans can produce deeply flavored and rich wines. Small amounts of Carignan is consistently found in most Languedoc blends.

“We discovered that Carignan could be more than just okay. It can be really, really good. We’ve made it our purpose to tell everybody about it.”

Clos du Gravillas is a small production winery featuring wines made from 15 different grapes. “So it’s sort of like being an artist with 15 different colors on the palette. We try to figure out what each of those grapes are best for and how we can make it the best wine.”

The Languedoc is the largest wine-producing region of France.

“The Languedoc is on the Mediterranean. It’s between the Rhone River and Spain. Our winery is three hours form Barcelona and six hours from Paris. It’s sunny, beautiful and rain free almost all summer. You find very different terrain when you go a half hour drive in any direction from sea to flatlands to plateaus to mountains. It’s a beautiful place and wine grapes have been grown there for 2,000 years.”

The warm weather, the region averages 315 days of sunshine a year, produces ripe fruit. “We pick the grapes ripe which means a certain amount of sugar, a certain amount of alcohol, so they’re not little wines. We practice very natural and organic farming and then natural non-interventionist winemaking, and fermentations.  We try not to do too much besides getting really great grapes, putting them into the tank and letting them become wine.”

Clos du Gravillas wines are available in some Indiana restaurants and fine wine shops. John’s wines are above the value price points usually featured in Grape Sense. His wines are in $30-$50 range.

Languedoc wines are widely available in the $12-$16 range. Finding a 100 percent Carignan isn’t impossible but could be difficult; it will be worth the effort.

Howard’s Picks:

Le Rendez Vous du Soleil 2007 - This is a nice extracted blend of Cabernet, Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Counoise, Tanet, Terret Gris, and Carignan. This is big rich red wine that is beautifully balanced with big dark fruit. (SRP $42)

Lo Vielh Carignan 2007 - This is the real star in John's stable and the supply alloted Indiana has already sold out. This is the 100 percent Carignan from vines planted more than 100 years ago. Its a big incredible wine that has a smoothness unlike many Carignan wines. It's outstanding fine wine. ($53)

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, IN., writes every other week about wine for 18 newspapers. Contact him at: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Top Wines Off Your Supermarket Shelf

As much as I’d like friends to quiz me about a great $50 Pinot Noir, most of the inquiries are about supermarket wines.

I’ve written many times in the previous 90 columns about such wines and what I think is most palatable. I’m a fan of Mirrasou, Mondavi Private Selection, Smoking Loon, and a few others. All can be found for $10 or less at most markets.

One of the reasons I’m still writing this column is to share information and hopefully a little wine education. I see a lot of wine-related news every week. Most casual vino consumers aren’t going to be interested in the wine-geeky stuff I consume. But every now and then there is wine news that I think is not only interesting but helpful.

If you are a supermarket wine buyer, wouldn’t you like to know what others are buying and most consumers think are top brands?

A consumer research group, Symphony IRI, annually reports its Top 30 momentum wine brands. The report bases its chart on sales data, volume and dollar sales, volume share in the price range, and other measures.  More than 100 brands met the minimum sales of 100,000 cases to be considered.

In a report on winesandvines.com , the survey showed Cupcake wines repeating as the top such wine in the country. Next came Barefoot, Apothic, Liberty Creek – those previous three all owned by Gallo – then St. Michelle’s 14 Hands and Menage A Trois.

Gallo wines held down the number-eight spot with a familiar name, Fish Eye.  Bogle came in at 11^th, Columbia Crest was 14^th, J Lohr was 17^th, Almos 18^th, Mark West 19^th, chateau St. Jean 20^th, Woodbridge 22^nd, Sutter Home 23^rd, Yellow Tail 26^th, Gnarly Head 27^th, and Sterling 30^th.

Overall, the survey reported, most of the brands had strong growth by improving quality and marketing. Prices were also down per bottle over 2010. 

If you looked at the entire list of 30 labels, what most folks might find surprising is one company owns seven of those brands. What shouldn’t be surprising is that company is the giant Gallo label.

What does all this mean? Not much if you’ve tried the wines and didn’t like them. But if most of your buying is from the supermarket, these labels are easy to find. Obviously, the brands sell well and many supermarket wine shoppers find them to be good wines.

Higher Priced Wines Re-gaining Market Share

At the other end of the spectrum premium wines are coming back. After the economic downturn of 2008, several Central Indiana retailers said they couldn’t move a bottle of wine that cost more than $20-$25. 

During the first quarter of 2012, wines at $20 or more grew in sales 24 percent over last year.

People still love their Cabernet and the bigger prices are also making a comeback. Cab sold more than any other varietal in the top price categories. When you look at those $20-plus wines, most are Cabs. Pinot Noir continues to rock wine drinkers’ worlds with a 32 percent gain over a year ago for wines above $20.

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, In., writes every other week about value wine for 18 Midwestern Newspapers. Read his wine blog at: www.redforme.blogspot.clom

Difference Between 2-Buck Chuck & $50 Pinot

Among wine novices the differences between $6 wine and a $100 bottle remains a mystery.

One of my favorite anecdotes on that comes from a speech at a Central Indiana Kiwanis Club. I talked for about 10-15 on wine basics and then one member asked about $50 wine and why that’s better than a cheap bottle. I knew the guy was a golfer. Somehow and someway I came up with one of my best adlibs.

“I know you play golf, right,” I asked. “Well tell me, why do you use a $250 driver when Wal-Mart has drivers for $40?”

It got a laugh but also made the point. More expensive products of any type are usually more expensive based on brand, marketing, craftmanship, and better quality raw materials. The same can be said of wine. There are many factors contributing to price.

While standing in a Paso Robles vineyard in 2010 the grower explained part of his vineyard was for his higher-end Merlot. Another part of the vineyard’s grapes were sold to a bulk wine producer. The grape grower annually ‘drops fruit” or simply cuts clusters from the vines. Just like a flower or fruit in a garden, when you give the vine less produce the result is richer and better product.

But the price has to go up. Dropping fruit reduced the growers harvest to about 2-3 tons per acre. The vineyard for the bulk wineries produces up to 7 tons of grapes per acre. Prices vary by region and prestige, but it’s fair to say for a region like California’s Sonoma County the average price for one ton of wine grapes is around $2,000. Wine prices start to make some sense when you do the math.

But let’s not stop there. Chardonnay is California’s most-planted grape so it can be purchased around the $1,200 a ton mark. Cabernet or Pinot Noir grapes from the best areas can command more than $3,000 a ton. (Statistics from Sonoma Ranches.com)

Though there are many variables, here are some fun statistics: 1 ton of grapes can produce two barrels of wine. Each barrel holds 60 gallons or 25 cases equaling 300 bottles.

Grapes for better wines are handpicked, sorted, and treated like new born babies. Bulk or mass-market wine can be machine picked, machine sorted, and blended or aged in huge vats and barrels. The big-price wines are aged in small lots. I like to think of it as getting more love and attention.

Next comes marketing and reputation. You can search the cost of a bottle of wine and find a lot of different explanations. But it’s fair to assume that a single bottle of wine can cost from a few dollars to $40 or $50 to produce. France’s Revue de Vin De France reported just a couple of years ago that Dom Perignon Champagne costs about $30 a bottle to produce. But the world’s best-known bubbly retails for  nearly $200.

J. Lohr and Louis Martini make really good $15 Cabernet  and its available at Kroger. Robert Mondavi Reserve wines sell for $135-$165 a bottle. Mondavi is a wine made with better products, more craftsmanship, and a big name with a big marketing budget.

Is there a huge difference in the taste? Frankly, the differences are for more discerning palates. If poured an expensive wine, I believe even a novice will note it’s pretty good and clearly better. But how much is that worth for most wine drinkers?

Helping the average drinker find $12-$15 wines that taste like $20-$30 wines is why I write Grape Sense.

Napa/Sonoma Still Reign Supreme

Oregon’s Willamette Valley is one of the great wine vacation destinations in the U.S. Washington’s Walla Walla region is emerging behind its rich and soft red wine blends. If wine travelers insist on California travel check out the Zins, Pinot Noir and interesting blends of Mendocino County. If you like your wines big and bold at an affordable price, try Paso Robles on the Central Coast.

But if you’re really into wine and want this country’s most unique – and expensive – wine vacation, sooner or later you have to go to Napa and Sonoma counties north of San Francisco.

Wine and wine tourism finds its roots in this country’s most famous wine valleys. I recently spent a couple days there, the first time in five years, and still find it the Mecca for wine lovers.

The area comes with a word of caution for the average wine tourist. Sonoma County lodging and restaurants are not inexpensive. And Napa Valley makes Sonoma look cheap!

Anything above a national chain motel, and there aren’t many of those, can run into the hundreds of dollars nightly. Those national chains can be found at competitive rates ranging from $100-$150 a night. The nicer inns and lodges go for $250 and up. Things won’t be quite as expensive in Sonoma but close.

There are pizzerias, bistros, and burger places in the two counties which are affordable. The real experience is to shop the local groceries, most of which have deli counters where you can pick up great sandwiches. The finer dining establishments compete with any in the world. The French Laundry, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, and many others offer world-class dining.

But people go for the wine and there is no place quite like Napa. Robert Mondavi winery is the heart of this Mecca of American wine. The late icon gets and deserves so much credit for bringing American wine to the world and bringing the world to Napa Valley. His mission-designed winery is a must stop. There are two tasting rooms. The first is for most tourists and wine consumers where you can taste his entry level wines for a modest fee. The reserve tasting is $30 per person. But in this region the pours are generous and a tasting can easily be shared between two persons. Don’t be shy; the tasting room folk are comfortable with sharing.

I recently tasted through five of Mondavi’s high-end Cabernet bottles in the reserve tasting room and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the wine. The price points ranged from $135-$165. Another highlight is Joseph Phelps winery on the other side of the valley. Phelps makes the iconic Insignia blend which is the closest thing to Bordeaux this side of France. It’s a Cabernet driven wine with other traditional blending grapes. It has consistently been one of the valleys most highly-rated wines for 20 years. It also sells at $200 a bottle.

Okay, those prices may create sticker shock for many and they should. But you can go to tastings and enjoy these wines then you start to understand price differences.

The average tasting room fees range $10-$20 for a normal tasting. If you want to taste the really good stuff at the premier label wineries, be prepared to shell out $25-$50 per person for the experience. A few of the wineries even require reservations just to taste. All wineries in the region have very nice websites which spell out fees, hours and locations.

Recommendations based on personal visits:

Napa: Mondavi, Sawyer Cellars, V. Satui, Andretti, Miner, Joseph Phelps.

Sonoma: Chateau St. Jean, B.R. Cohn, Kokomo Vineyards (and visit Hoosier native Erik Miller), Gloria Ferrer (sparkling wines).

If you’re a Pinot fan, journey into Sonoma’s Russian River Valley: Merry Edwards, Inman Family Vineyards, Gary Ferrell, Davis Bynum, Arista, and Rochioli.

Why Organic Wine is a Smart Buy/Pick

Telling a kid to eat something because it’s good for them is usually a good way to make sure it never passes their lips.

At the same time, if you suggest trying something that is good for an adult and/or the environment many will assume it must be tasteless or an inferior product. 

A January trip to Southern France to the Millesime Bio organic wine trade show proved nothing could be further from the truth. Organic wine is a growing movement stifled by regulation, misunderstanding, and greed.

The story begins in the 1980s when wine labeling laws were enacted in 1987 requiring “sulfites added” be printed on wine labels. The organic wine movement started largely in the early 1980s. The two have been linked ever since. Simply put, there is no relationship.

Sulfites are used in wine to fight bacteria or fungi which can occur in the winery or winemaking process. There are all sorts of old housewife tales and stories about the ills of sulfites in food. But the facts are there are hundreds of packaged foods in your kitchen right now which probably contain sulfites. Wineries have to put a label on the bottle that proclaims sulfites, most products do not.

The profiteering and greed started  in the U.S. when some wineries, which had previously worked toward organic standards in the late 1980s and early 90s, realized there was a profit to be made if they insisted organic wine contain no added sulfites. The argument goes that would keep big wineries out of the business.

Wines without added sulfties have a very short shelf life and are often very thin wines. European standards allow mimimum sulfites which makes for better wine that can be aged. By comparison, the U.S. law allows no more than 10 parts per million in sulfites. EU regulations permit 100 ppm. Wines that aren’t organically produce may have up to 350 ppm. So European Union wines must be labeled “made from organic grapes” to be sold in the U.S.

French winemakers claim opponents of changing the U.S. standards are merely protecting market. Most aren’t afraid to name specific wineries and individuals. But they have become frustrated and even dismissive in recent years while suggesting consumers should focus on the benefits of wines made organically. Essentially, the definition of organic wines should be wines that have no chemicals added – no pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, or other chemicals in the winemaking process.

Such practices are better for the farmer, consumers, and for Mother Earth. The concept enjoys more widespread acceptance in Europe than the U.S.

Theirry Julien, president of Southern France’s organic wine growing association, outlines a progression that happens with organic products.

“You start with baby food then you do bread and pasta,” Julien suggested. “The wine comes toward the end. I’m not at all waging war against other wine growers who produce wine traditionally. The truth is organic wine growers have had trouble supplying organic wine to meet demand.”

He also makes an interesting comparison. European consumers think about what is good for their health while U.S. consumers seem more motivated by what’s good for the environment.

The Millesime Bio featured 587 wineries from 13 different countries. I probably tasted close to 300 wines in a five-day period. I don’t think any average consumer would know they were tasting “organic wines.” While there were a few sub-par bottles, I’d say more than 90 percent of the wines were good to outstanding.

Southern France’s Languedoc-Roussillon region is France’s biggest organic region. The red wines are most often blends of Syrah, Grenache, and Carignan. They are tremendous table wines and great values at prices usually at $10-$20 a bottle.

I wrote a more detailed story for Palate Press – The National Online Wine Magazine on organic wines and the fight over the details. Go to palatepress.com and search organic wine or my name to find that story.

Howard’s Picks: Labels to look for include Italy’s Perlage, Domaine Joly (which will soon be available) or check out The Organic Wine Company online for a wide selection of organic wines.