Wine for the Weekend of 1/24/20

Wine from Western Europe is the Wine for the Weekend of 1/24/20

Wine from Western Europe is the Wine for the Weekend of 1/24/20, because it is time to discover them. Are you tired of going out to dinner and hearing the same wines over and over again? There are many wines that come from Western Europe that would fetch three times the amount if they were made in the U.S. Thousands of wine producers in Europe are struggling to make ends meet. Because, their wines are devalued. The thing is that it is almost impossible to find a bad wine made in Europe. They make beautiful wines. However, they have one huge problem. The U.S. is the best country in the world to market your products, but few people in the U.S. connect with wines from Western Europe. For example, many people think Burgundy is a wine. Actually, it is a region in France. See the Burgundy region in blue.

The Problem

The problem is a major lack of identity. Therefore, they charge less to get people to try their wines in the U.S. Also, they are competing with companies that make pretty labels with bad wine at the same price or more. Barefoot, Cupcake, Layer Cake and Skinny Girl all come to mind. The list is endless. And, now they have to compete with canned wine and boxed wine. What’s next, wine in plastic soda bottles?

The Problem (cont.)

Partly, it is their own fault. They’ve know for years that most people in the U.S. don’t know a Bordeaux wine from a Rhone wine. Yet, they did nothing for years to increase their identity. Finally, they are putting information in English on their labels. Most importantly, they are putting the name of the grape on the label. And, the challenge this weekend is to try wines from Western Europe that has the grape on the label. See the example below. The wine on the left is recommended and costs $10.99. On the right, an example of bad wine and at a cost of $13.99!. Primitivo is the same grape as zinfandel. And, if you can afford it, buy a bunch of different ones to try. Let me know what you try and what you think of them.

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Keep in mind that all of Layer Cakes wines in the U.S. and abroad are over-priced and not that good. They fool you with their successful marketing gimmick of a picture of cake on the label. See my post link at the bottom called Bad Wine #10. And, that costs you about $3 more per bottle for inferior wine. Tormaresca’s primitivo is hands down better! See below some grape varieties you can find:

• Portugal – alvarinho, vinho verde
• Spain – albarino, garnacha (grenache), tempranillo
• France – riesling, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, cabernet, merlot, grenache, syrah
• Italy – vernaccia, vermentino, verdicchio, chardonnay, barbera, nebbiolo, cabernet, sangiovese, aglianico
• Germany -riesling, gewurtztraminer, spatburgunder (pinot noir)

News Alert for European Wines

See the article below. This is terrible news for wine drinkers in the U.S. Unless you travel to Europe, you will miss out on the opportunity to try many wines. Let us hope this changes. I do not know why we have these tariffs. But, I will find out and update you.

If you want to read about Bad Wine #10 Layer Cake primitivo, click here.

And, if you want to read about Bad Wine #6 Layer Cake wines, click here.

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