s/o Whats your favorite everyday white wine?

[Anonymous]

I had no idea the Kim Crawford sauv blanc had become so affordable. I didn't mention it (and haven't had it in a long time) because it used to be like $20.

I'll try it again. I hope the quality hasn't gone downhill with the price as it's become popular? From the comments here, I'm guessing not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea the Kim Crawford sauv blanc had become so affordable. I didn't mention it (and haven't had it in a long time) because it used to be like $20.

I'll try it again. I hope the quality hasn't gone downhill with the price as it's become popular? From the comments here, I'm guessing not.

I was just about to post that I think KC has gone WAY downhill. Used to be one of my favorites, but it is way overproduced and lost its loveliness (in my opinion).

[Anonymous]

KC is around $20-$21 at Giant but at Wegmans it's $12.99!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea the Kim Crawford sauv blanc had become so affordable. I didn't mention it (and haven't had it in a long time) because it used to be like $20.

I'll try it again. I hope the quality hasn't gone downhill with the price as it's become popular? From the comments here, I'm guessing not.


I was just about to post that I think KC has gone WAY downhill. Used to be one of my favorites, but it is way overproduced and lost its loveliness (in my opinion).

Bummer. That so often happens. Happened with Conundrum and The Prisoner too.

[Anonymous]

I have never fully understand how Kim Crawford became the rage. There are probably a dozen sauvignon blancs in the 10-15 range and they are all comparable with some variations. Kim Crawford received good reviews many years ago and has been coasting on that for awhile. It is fine at $12 but you are getting a $12 wine not a $20 wine discounted to 12. One way you can tell that is virtually all of their other wines (Chardonnay included) fall in the 10-12 range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never fully understand how Kim Crawford became the rage. There are probably a dozen sauvignon blancs in the 10-15 range and they are all comparable with some variations. Kim Crawford received good reviews many years ago and has been coasting on that for awhile. It is fine at $12 but you are getting a $12 wine not a $20 wine discounted to 12. One way you can tell that is virtually all of their other wines (Chardonnay included) fall in the 10-12 range.

I honest never even heard reviews for it. I often pick up bottles that look good to me just to give them a shot and came upon it that way and really loved it. It's a good wine still even if it "used to be better" though honestly that reeks of "I loved that band years ago but now they're sell outs because they're on the radio."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never fully understand how Kim Crawford became the rage. There are probably a dozen sauvignon blancs in the 10-15 range and they are all comparable with some variations. Kim Crawford received good reviews many years ago and has been coasting on that for awhile. It is fine at $12 but you are getting a $12 wine not a $20 wine discounted to 12. One way you can tell that is virtually all of their other wines (Chardonnay included) fall in the 10-12 range.



I honest never even heard reviews for it. I often pick up bottles that look good to me just to give them a shot and came upon it that way and really loved it. It's a good wine still even if it "used to be better" though honestly that reeks of "I loved that band years ago but now they're sell outs because they're on the radio."

LOL. I know that sounds snobby and the indie band parallel is tempting.

But it actually often happens that a wine will get popular, and then ramp up production by a couple of orders of magnitude to meet the demand. When it does, the quality can suffer. An album sounds the same whether they press 10,000 copies or 5 million, but a wine for which 1,000 cases are made gets much more attention in the vineyard and the winery than one for which 50,000 or 100,000 cases are made.

It's especially a problem if the original winemaker cashes in by selling that brand to one of the big conglomerates, and moves on to his next adventure. (The better analogy here might be the great new tech company that wows when it's still in the innovation phase, but stagnates after the founders have cashed in and moved on.) The big conglomerate doesn't have the same passion for the wine that the original winemaker did, it's just focused on making its profits on the now-popular brand. Newcomers to the brand may like it well enough, but it may not be the same wine that it was when it was getting popular. Conundrum was a really great wine when Caymus made it, and The Prisoner was an outstanding blend by Dave Finney at Orin Swift, but when they sold off those wines as individual brands, their numbers soared, but the wines became flabby and much less interesting.

I don't know if that's the case with Kim Crawford; I haven't tried it lately. But the fact that it's now widely available at a little more than half of what it cost when you had to search it out suggests the possibility that something's changed, not necessarily for the better.

[Anonymous]

BTW that doesn't mean it's not good--just possibly not what it used to be. The fact that everyone seems to like it and it's now $12 suggests it may well fall into "favorite everyday" territory.

[Anonymous]

Most Orvietos that I've had are lovely. I grab them at Arrowine or for great values at The Italian Store in Arlington. Safeway usually has one for about $10.

My go-to grocery store white is the Barboursville Chardonnay for about $12. I don't like very oaky California chardonnays and this is much more French-style. I keep a bottle or two around for weeknight drinking when I know it's going to sit in the fridge as I drink it over the course of the week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have never fully understand how Kim Crawford became the rage. There are probably a dozen sauvignon blancs in the 10-15 range and they are all comparable with some variations. Kim Crawford received good reviews many years ago and has been coasting on that for awhile. It is fine at $12 but you are getting a $12 wine not a $20 wine discounted to 12. One way you can tell that is virtually all of their other wines (Chardonnay included) fall in the 10-12 range.



I honest never even heard reviews for it. I often pick up bottles that look good to me just to give them a shot and came upon it that way and really loved it. It's a good wine still even if it "used to be better" though honestly that reeks of "I loved that band years ago but now they're sell outs because they're on the radio."

LOL. I know that sounds snobby and the indie band parallel is tempting.

But it actually often happens that a wine will get popular, and then ramp up production by a couple of orders of magnitude to meet the demand. When it does, the quality can suffer. An album sounds the same whether they press 10,000 copies or 5 million, but a wine for which 1,000 cases are made gets much more attention in the vineyard and the winery than one for which 50,000 or 100,000 cases are made.

It's especially a problem if the original winemaker cashes in by selling that brand to one of the big conglomerates, and moves on to his next adventure. (The better analogy here might be the great new tech company that wows when it's still in the innovation phase, but stagnates after the founders have cashed in and moved on.) The big conglomerate doesn't have the same passion for the wine that the original winemaker did, it's just focused on making its profits on the now-popular brand. Newcomers to the brand may like it well enough, but it may not be the same wine that it was when it was getting popular. Conundrum was a really great wine when Caymus made it, and The Prisoner was an outstanding blend by Dave Finney at Orin Swift, but when they sold off those wines as individual brands, their numbers soared, but the wines became flabby and much less interesting.

I don't know if that's the case with Kim Crawford; I haven't tried it lately. But the fact that it's now widely available at a little more than half of what it cost when you had to search it out suggests the possibility that something's changed, not necessarily for the better.

A Conundrum lover here. Agree it isn't what it used to be.

[Anonymous]

http://www.menageatroiswines.com/wines/chardonnay?ag=1

[Anonymous]

Anyone tried the newer generation of box wines? Is there a good white?

[Anonymous]

Vino Verde, it's from Portugal, it's crisp and almost a little carbonated. And really cheap $7-10 a bottle. I discovered it this past summer. Soooo good

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone tried the newer generation of box wines? Is there a good white?

A friend of mine sent me the link to San Francisco Gate's annual wine rankings and I believe Black Box Sauvignon Blanc was rated their best Sauvignon blanc under $15. I was surprised!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vino Verde, it's from Portugal, it's crisp and almost a little carbonated. And really cheap $7-10 a bottle. I discovered it this past summer. Soooo good

I like Vinho verde as well but it's really best on a brutally hot summer day.