Bronco

George McConnon is an importer of fine estate bottled wines from Slovenia.  George is also a veteran of thirty years in the California wine industry, spending about six years with the Bronco Wine Company.  Bronco is one of the largest in the world so we asked him to share a little bit of what that experience was like.  But before we get into that, lets learn a little about Bronco since it's not exactly a household name.  

Bronco was established in 1973 by brothers Fred and Joseph Franzia along with their cousin John Franzia.  The Franzias were nephews of Ernest and Julio Gallo and probably got their start in the industry through them.  Like Gallo, Bronco has its headquarters near Modesto.  

The money to start Bronco came from an unlikely source, Coca-Cola, which purchased the existing Franzia winery of that time.  So the Franzias join the long list of wine industry families that have sold their name which means the Franzia boxed wines in the grocery stores have no relationship to the Franzia family.  They are now owned by The Wine Group which purchased them from Coke.

The selling of a winery name is actually all the buyer wants.  Usually these larger players don't need the vineyards or the actual winery.  They just want an existing profitable brand name.  It's just the way it is in the industry now.

George McConnon says Bronco now markets wines under 319 labels including notables like Rosenblum and Charles Shaw (Two Buck Chuck.)  They are the largest vineyard owner in the world with seventy thousand acres in vines.  Many of their wine labels weren't active at the time of their purchase or never were an entity before being created by the company.  

Bronco is vertically integrated owning five huge wineries with bottling and storage facilities across the state.  They turn sixty-one million gallons of grape juice into 125 cases of wine a day or sixty-five million cases a year.  George says if a grocery store wine label shows no wine appellation other than just California, it's probably from Bronco.  He said that with a smile so it's an overstatement but it also reflects his over all appreciation for the company.  He said the Franzias were nice folks and treated him well.

Allegro Moscato is a sweet white from California currently promoted by Bronco.  That one is in stock currently as are several other California appellation wines that may also be from Bronco AND George's fine Slovenians are also here.

Reggiano Parmesan

It's almost conspiratorial the way Covid, the supply chain doldrums and whatever else is behind food inflation have all together waylaid the cheese business for guys like me.  Maybe we just need to get out of that business entirely, but then I guess we'd have to change our store name and what a pain that would be.  Or else we can hit the reset button and start all over with it.

So after listening to several customers gripe about the quality of grocery store parmesan, we went ahead and brought back the "King of Cheeses" and you know what the good news is for you?   Price.  What?  Why?  Don't know.  But the price is reasonable again.

Parmigiano Reggiano has a uniquely sharp, complex, fruity/nutty savory flavor accompanied by a uniquely gritty granular (tyrosine crystals) texture.  No other cheese in the world puts all of those characteristics together in such a completely satisfying way.  And it's manufacturing is regulated by the Italian government...but more on that later.  American chain store parmesan can be anything from anywhere.  It may be a fine substitute for Parm-Reg or maybe not.  It is not regulated.  Not by a long shot.  So good luck with quality.

Parm-Reg is sourced from a confederation of cheese makers across five provinces in northern Italy.  The earliest written references to the cheese go back to the thirteenth century but historians believe that tradition goes back further.  If you want to know specifics about the making of the cheese we would refer you to the Wikipedia page which goes into great detail.  Suffice it to say here, the only additive to the cheese is salt. 

While the regulations referred to above are voluminous (bureaucrats, ya know), here are some of the biggies.  Five cattle breeds with specific diets are allowed for milking for Parm-Reg with the milking done at varying times resulting in a partially skimmed product.  The cheese is then aged a minimum of two years for basic Parm-Reg but further aging increases the value of the cheese which is then regulated again.

Reggiano Parmesan is meant for grating over pasta, soups, salads or whatever.  The natural rind may be used in soups, broths, sauces or once again, anything you might like.  A couple nights ago Parm-Reg  became my homemade pizza cheese.  And it was m-m-m m-m-m good!

So stop in and pick up some of the "King of Cheeses!"

Bertani, Part 2

Angelini is a Tuscan-based wine company established in 1994.  We currently have several of their decent moderately priced wines in the store at this time.  Angelini is also the name of the Rome-based drug company (est. 1919) that bought into the wine business with their purchase in 1994.  They have grown comfortably since that beginning thirty years ago.

Bertani is a family-owned Veneto-based wine company that has been one of the best in the business for a couple hundred years.  In 2011 the family made the decision to sell 70% of their company to Angelini.  They retained the best seventy-three acres of Valpolicella Classico vineyards along with their fifty-four acres of Tenuta Santa Maria vineyards purchased in the 1850s.  Those blocks are still in family hands and constitute some of the best vineyard land in the region.

The backstory here is that the family feared global warming was going to wreck the quality of much of what they had.  They retained Classico vineyards at higher altitudes where they believed both the atmospheric heat and microbial life in the soils would remain consistent with historic norms.  The goal was to maintain the wine quality going back a hundred years.

So the Bertani labeled wines on store shelves now are made by Angelini although some Bertani family is involved considering they still hold a thirty percent interest in the Veneto operation.  The 123 acres retained by the Bertani family and the wines marketed under the Tenuta Santa Maria label continue as some of the best of the region.

Bertani, Part 1

When we got into this business back in 1981 one of our suppliers was a wine distributor called MacKesson; yes, the pharmaceuticals company.  They had gotten into the wine business in a big way, owning the rights to sell exclusively in Georgia the wines of several premium California estate wineries.  And they failed miserably in the process.  America at large was not yet culturally ready for fine California wines.  So, for those of us savvy enough to pick up on what inevitably became regular dumps of fine wines at ridiculously discounted prices, it was manna from heaven.  

Earlier this year our Tenuta Santa Maria Italian wine vendor shared that his wine was actually the production of the historic brand, Bertani (est.1857), and that the actual Bertani brand on store shelves was now owned by an Italian drug company.  Weird.  

MacKesson quickly got out of the wine business, by the way, and those great labels of yore found new suppliers who knew how to market them effectively.  Here's the obvious backstory: Wine industry insiders know how to work with narrow profit margins.  Drug companies don't have the patience.  They're used to the H-U-G-E margins in their industry.

The Italian drug company has now owned Bertani for a dozen years and they've added parcels in Montepulciano, Montalcino, Chianti Classico and more recently, Marche and Friuli.  They appear to be quite successful.  How do they do it?

Three things:      

1. The wine culture in Italy is very mature so selling this product that is known to everyone should be relatively easy.

2. Georgia is a three tier state.  Maybe Italy doesn't have that extra expensive level of bureaucracy eating up profits.  AND the government over there is probably more supportive of the industry than over here.

3. The Bertani wines aren't what they used to be.  The drug company bought the Bertani name but not the best vineyards.  So there you go, they lowered their costs by sourcing from lesser vineyards to increase their margins.  

Rueda

Time to eat crow.  

We always thought the Rueda (roo-AY-dah) wine appellation solely produced wine made from the Verdejo grape, kind of like Picpoul in France, an entire wine appellation dedicated to a single varietal.  But we were wrong.  While Verdejo has been the signature grape of Rueda since the 11th century and currently 90% of the production there, some time back Sauvignon Blanc made its appearance there and more recently, Chardonnay and Viognier have been added.  As of 2008 red grapes have even been added, making up 4% of vineyard land currently.

Rueda is Spain's most famous white wine region.  All of the changes mentioned above actually began in the 1970s when the great Rioja house, Marques de Riscal, took an interest in the area.  At that time the sherry grape, Palomino Fino, was still widely planted there, a legacy of the Phylloxera debacle a hundred years earlier.  With all of the continental climate benefits we recounted in the previous post, Riscal was eager to invest in Rueda's fine wine potential. 

In the store currently we have two from Bodegas Grupo Yllera, a varietal Sauvignon Blanc and a white blended of 91% Verdejo, 3% Sauvignon Blanc, 2% Chardonnay, 2% Viognier and 2% of the indigenous Viura varietal.  Since Spanish wine law says a varietal wine must be 85% of that type, we don't know why this one wasn't just called Verdejo, except that the blend name may sell better, I guess.

Verdejo wine is aromatic and fruit-forward with flavors of citrus, grass, stone fruit, white flowers and fennel.  It is full bodied, structured, acidic and finishes with a little bitter almond amongst everything else.  Most of the white wines of Rueda are 100% Verdejo.  In a blend Verdejo adds fruit and a floral quality, which, if you think about it, meshes quite well with the tropical fruit and minerality of Sauvignon Blanc.  Whether as a varietal or in a blend,  Rueda Verdejo has always been a fave here. 

Nuevemeses

This is an inexpensive estate-bottled red blend from Bodegas Grupo Yllera of Spain.  Yllera is a formidable operation that markets wines from several appellations in Spain, all within the largest wine region of the European Union, Castilla y Leon.  This tract overlays the northern half of the Meseta Central plateau, one-fifth of the land mass of Spain, extending from Rioja to the east to Portugal to the west.  Nuevemeses is the entry level offering in what they call their classic line of red wines from Castilla y Leon.  

The key wine grape of the region is Tempranillo.  Nuevemeses is 91% Tempranillo with the remainder being some combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.  The wine has a cherry red color with purple highlights with a complex nose featuring red fruits, plum and chocolate.  On the palate darker berry flavors emerge with pepper, vanilla and toast.  In the mouth the wine is soft, round and elegant.

Castilla y Leon has a two thousand year history of winemaking.  Its continental climate features hot dry summers and sharp cold winters.  The region is sheltered by mountains from the temperature-moderating Atlantic Ocean so the diurnal effect of day/night temperature swings is in full effect.  This temperature swing maximizes the inherent grape aromas and minimizes oxidation in the rich red wines of the region.  Night harvesting of grapes captures those grapes at their best.

What makes Nuevemeses a red wine worth trying?  Aside from what we've already said above, the winemaking includes an extended fourteen day maceration with daily pumping before undergoing malolactic fermentation in stainless steel.  Then the wine sees time in American oak barrels before further aging in the bottle.  Folks, when considered with what we know of the region, this bespeaks quality winemaking.  Enjoy this one with your steak, hamburgers or really anything you would like.

The Finger Lakes

It's been ten years since the release of Jancis Robinson's acclaimed American Wine book.  That much anticipated tome justifiably covered the established west coast industry, as you would expect, but also surveyed the rest of the country.  In the book she acknowledged what wasn't exactly a secret - The Finger Lakes appellation in upper New York State deserves its due as one of our finest wine venues.

The very first vinifera wine grapes to be planted in America arrived in New York in 1647 courtesy of some well meaning Dutch colonists who, of course, knew nothing of the appetite of the American phylloxera aphid.  That short lived experiment set New York winemaking back almost two hundred years, essentially conceding the industry to America's native labrusca grapes.  French-American hybrids followed in the 1950's before America's tastes finally shifted to finer wines.

What makes the Finger Lakes AVA (American Viticultural Area) so desirable?  It has the cooler continental climate wine grapes love and gravelly (fast-draining), nutrient-poor slate soils that force a taproot deeper for sustenance.  Trace elements of this and that then find their way into the fruit yielding a clean, fresh, minerally wine with high acidity.  These are white wines in particular we are talking about and by this description you know they would be delightful if enjoyed by themselves.  But that acidity is also perfect at mealtime for cutting through fatty meats and fishes and standing up to spicy cuisine.    

The Finger Lakes fine white wine claim to fame is the versatile Riesling grape which may be made into wine styles from very dry to strictly-for-dessert.  The typical flavor profile may include some combination of green apple, citrus and stone fruit flavors accompanying a floral component along with the acidity and minerality mentioned above.  

Riesling is one of a handful of noble wine grapes and the coolness of the Finger Lakes growing conditions are ideal for it.  Forty years ago in what may have been my first blind tasting, we tasted five Rieslings from distinct locales across the country.  Surprisingly I correctly identified each with the Finger Lakes wine being memorable for its soft round mouthfeel.