It's a sad truth, but there is a lot of fake wine out there

The Guardian ^ | Thursday 18 February 2010 | Guy Woodward

[nickcarraway]

E&J Gallo being hoodwinked by French vignerons is funny and depressing, but not surprising

The news of E&J Gallo, the world's biggest single wine producer, being hoodwinked by a group of errant French vignerons is funny and depressing at the same time. It isn't, however, surprising.

The comedy comes from Gallo's clumsy attempt to ride the post-Sideways pinot noir craze by peddling Red Bicyclette as an authentic French pinot when it turned out to be anything but. It doesn't say much for Gallo's professionalism that its buyers couldn't tell the different between pinot, merlot and shiraz.

It is a sad truth, however, that there is a lot of fake wine out there. We're not talking here about bottles of first growth Bordeaux that may or may not have belonged to Thomas Jefferson (wines auctioned as such for over $100,000 are currently the subject of court cases in the US). While sophisticated counterfeit bottles are a growing cause for concern at the top end of the market, wine fakery is just as common lower down the chain.

Italy is the prime exponent – to such an extent that, in 2007, 25 police officers qualified as sommeliers in order to combat the problem. For years a blind eye was turned to the containers of gutsy wine from the south making its way to the more rarefied north – Tuscany, Piedmont and Verona.

SNIP

Ultimately, though, nothing will ever compare to the taste of the Bolivian "wine" discovered by customs officials in Bulgaria last year. The content of the bottles? Liquid cocaine.

[nickcarraway]

E&J Gallo unwittingly sold fake pinot noir under it's Red Bicyclette label

[Squantos]

Two Buck Chuck and three straws please......

[freedumb2003]

The USA is still one of the very few countries that doesn’t enforce the French varietal naming convention — especially “Champagne.”

They are stepping up their efforts — the last 3 or 4 flights I have been on have had small cards with the meal (I am a frequent flier and usually fly 1st Class) that whine (IMHO) about calling sparkling wines (Brut to the rest of the world outside of Champagne) “Champagne.”

There are other distinctions (”fermented in the bottle vs. fermented in this bottle”) but I am sure everyone knows of what I speak.

[AlexW]

I am not an expert at wines, but I drink a ltr. per day.
While in Slovakia, I bought fine Slovak wine from the
vintners. It goes from the tap into 1.5 ltr. plastic, both reds and whites.
Now that I am in the Philippines, I am not so lucky.
In my small town on Cebu, Carlo Rossi is the only thing available, and in 1.5 ltr. jugs. (about $6/ltr.)

In the city, however, I found a source for a Spanish wine, red or white, Don Garcia, and it comes in one ltr. cardboard boxes. (8x3.5x2 inch)
It is only $2.80 per ltr., and taste much better.

The best part, I can carry up to 20 ltrs. in 3 or 4 plastic grocery bags.

I am sure that those of you who are wine snobs are shaking your heads, hahaha

[Judith Anne]

Two buck Chuck is actually a very passable wine, price has nothing to do with it.

[irishtenor]

Agreed. Cheers :>)

[MediaMole]

It’s still better than such Gallo mainstays as Night Train and Thunderbird.

[Squantos]

I have cases of the stuff in my cellar......:o)

Awesome product Mr Shaw !

[Judith Anne]

Since my first visit to Trader Joe’s, and the first Chardonnay I got from Shaw, I’ve been pretty well hooked. Quality is good, and I’ve never been ashamed to serve any of the Shaw products. The price is outstanding.

[Rodney Dangerfield]

True story:

A friend of mine was a friend of former Oakland Raider John Matuszak.

“Tooz” used to save his expensive wine bottles and then fill them with crappy, cheap wine and serve it to his guests, mostly his teammates, who would compliment him on how good the wine is and what a great wine connoisseur he was.

I also met Tooz several times and the stories about his partying are way understated.

The guy put amounts of a certain powder up his nose that would’ve given Godzilla a heart attack.

He was actually a really nice guy when he was sober.
Soft spoken, very polite, a real gentleman.

But when he was drinking and doing drugs, he was a different person and not one you would want to be around, even if he was your best friend.

[parsifal]

“It doesn’t say much for Gallo’s professionalism that its buyers couldn’t tell the different between pinot, merlot and shiraz.”

Aren’t you supposed to have one of these with meatloaf, and another one with TunaMac & Cheese?

parsy, who pretty stays with higher class wine like Wild Vines Blackberry Merlot, which you can drink with anything

[parsifal]

“It doesn’t say much for Gallo’s professionalism that its buyers couldn’t tell the different between pinot, merlot and shiraz.”

Aren’t you supposed to have one of these with meatloaf, and another one with TunaMac & Cheese?

parsy, who pretty stays with higher class wine like Wild Vines Blackberry Merlot, which you can drink with anything

[beaversmom]

That is funny. My husband bought some of this the other night.

[aruanan]

the first Chardonnay I got from Shaw

I must try that. Not too long ago I opened a bottle of 1991 Kendall Jackson Private Reserve Chardonnay that I had been keeping for a few years. I hadn't drunk it because I thought I didn't like the taste of chardonnay, based on a previous experience at some tasting at the university. But this was one of the best tasting wines I've ever had, well, except for one my brother made from wild grapes from Georgia. They grew on vines way up in the trees. He spread blankets on the ground in the woods and did a Tarzan number on the vines to shake them loose. He must have gotten the very ripest ones. They were big, round, and purply red. That was the first batch of wine he made and he bottled it in little bottles with beer caps before it had fully fermented. The result was a sweet, sparkling, deep ruby colored wine. It sort of ruined everything else for me. I'm still saving a bottle of 1999 Chateauneuf du Pape, Domaine de la Janasse, Aime Sabon that one of my committee members gave me after my successful thesis defense. It's supposed to be pretty good. But I think it's still not going to be as delicious as my brother's wine.

[Rodebrecht]

The history of Thunderbird is as interesting as the drunken effects the one experiences from the wine. When Prohibition ended, Ernest Gallo and his brothers Julio and Joe wanted to corner the young wine market. Earnest wanted the company to become "the Campbell Soup company of the wine industry" so he started selling Thunderbird in the ghettos around the country. Their radio adds featured a song that sang, "What's the word? / Thunderbird / How's it sold? / Good and cold / What's the jive? / Bird's alive / What's the price? / Thirty twice." It is said that Ernest once drove through a tough, inner city neighborhood and pulled over when he saw a bum. When Gallo rolled down his window and called out, "What's the word?" the immediate answer from the bum was, "Thunderbird."

http://www.bumwine.com/tbird.html

[Squantos]

Agree......I lived in Italy four years an was sold on the house lambrusco or tocai (sp?)

Yet Shaw is a great find.

[Judith Anne]

I’ve made homemade wine for years, but have no mature vines at present. The results have been all over the map, from shockingly good to salad vinegar. ;-D

I loke some of the Aussie wines. Basically, since I have a glass at dinner for my heart, I go for inexpensive wines, and Shaw is always reliable.

[Tainan]

Try Cabernet from Chile.

‘nuff said. You’ll be merrily surprised.

[Judith Anne]

I will. I always like a new suggestion.

[Tainan]

A further suggestion. Try your red wine at a temp of around 66 - 68 f. A little cooler than most will serve it. Even a bit cooler down to the upper 50's is OK.
The reason being is that these wines came about when there wasn't central heating and that temp is what they were developed for.
I'm not suggesting serving them on ice or ice cold...just cooler than "room temp" which is normally in the mid-to-upper 70's for most folks.