Dunne on Wine: Governor steers clear of uncorking a controversy

As I follow Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reasoning, the golden poppy wouldn't be the state flower because roses also grow in California, the desert tortoise wouldn't be the state reptile because the rattlesnake also thrives here, and the West Coast swing wouldn't be the state dance because someone, maybe the governor himself, has been seen doing the macarena in Santa Monica.

Thus, California doesn't have a state wine or even a state "historic wine," which is what the governor rejected last week on the grounds that singling out one wine for the designation -- zinfandel was the nominee -- would be "inappropriate."

And it would be inappropriate, said the governor's veto message, because such a designation would ignore California's other fine grape varieties and varietal wines.

"It would be a shame to recognize only one as 'California's historic wine,' " said the governor.

In his message, Schwarzenegger basically ignores the point of the exercise, which was to acknowledge the role that zinfandel has played and continues to play in developing California's reputation for fine wine.

No other grape variety or wine is so distinctive to California. None is as adaptable and versatile. None says "California" as brightly and profoundly to the rest of the world.

The governor isn't insensitive to history. He recently joined his wife, Maria Shriver, to reveal the first inductees into the California Hall of Fame. He had to make some difficult decisions on whom to include and exclude. He chose Ronald Reagan (but not Richard Nixon, who actually was a native son), Clint Eastwood (but not Gary Cooper), Alice Walker (but not John Steinbeck) and Frank O. Gehry (but not Julia Morgan).

So, he can be decisive except, apparently, when it comes to choosing the state's historic wine. Then he seems to fret about offending those he can't include. The Terminator has frozen up and can't pull the trigger.

Video vintner

Winemakers hang out at grocery stores only if they're shopping or personally involved in a promotion of their wines. A couple of veteran members of the Sacramento dining scene, however, have come up with a way for shoppers to tap the expertise of vintners even if they aren't on the premises.

David Hirshon and Harry Fisher, who have been servers at various Sacramento-area restaurants, call their invention Digital Wine Source.

Basically, it's a computer kiosk small enough to be wedged on a shelf between bottles of wine. A shopper grabs a bottle that intrigues him, uses the scanner of the kiosk to read the bar code, and then watches and listens to a video of the person who made the wine as he or she talks of its pedigree, its characteristics, its role at the dinner table and its aging potential.

For example, if a shopper were thinking of having a chardonnay with dinner, he or she might pick up a bottle of the Jordan Winery 2001 Russian River Valley Chardonnay, scan the bar code and then watch winemaker Rob Davis describe the nature of the wine, how it was made and the kind of food that would be appropriate.

Davis, in fact, is one of the first winemakers to take advantage of the technology. Hirshon and Fisher, however, have yet to place any of the units in a grocery store.

They've been developing the concept for the past two years, inspired in part by the general lack of knowledgeable wine personnel in supermarkets and in part by the vast and potentially confusing array of wines.

"Wine can be very intimidating. This (kiosk) empowers consumers while letting them keep their anonymity," Fisher says.

"And it gives information direct from the source," Hirshon says.

Supermarkets pay to install hardware, wineries pay to be filmed and added to the network.

"If we get the top 100 wineries to participate, we will cover about 80 percent of a store's inventory," Hirshon says.

Their plans call to update the videos at least twice a year to keep information current with changes in style, vintage and the like.

The two aren't sure when kiosks will start to arrive in stores, but they're hoping it's soon.

"Wineries are hounding us to hurry up," Hirshon says.

Their consultant on the system has been Bob Jennings, a former wine buyer for the Raley's family of supermarkets. Jennings, incidentally, is preparing his own wine shop, Jennings Wine Cellar, which he expects to open around mid-October in Elk Grove. He won't have one of the kiosks, however, since he plans to be in the shop to provide consumers will personal guidance.

Winning wines

The competitive wine season isn't quite over, but the wine newsletter California Grapevine has tracked results from 14 major judgings this year and issued its annual report on top medal-winning wines.

The roundup is telling on several fronts. For one, Hahn Estates in Monterey County racked up the most impressive record on the competition circuit. By California Grapevine's calculations, the Hahn Estates 2004 Monterey Merlot ($14) won more high awards than any other example of the varietal entered in the judgings.

What's more, the Hahn Estates 2004 Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon ($14) tied with the Smith & Hook Winery 2003 Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Cabernet Sauvignon ($25) for most honored examples of the varietal. And get this: Smith & Hook Winery is another brand owned by the Nicolaus Hahn family.

Furthermore, a third wine produced by the family, the Cycles Gladiator 2004 Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon ($10), finished 13th in the tabulation.

The Hahn Estates 2004 Central Coast Syrah ($14) tied with the Wattle Creek 2002 Alexander Valley Syrah ($25) for most honored syrahs in the 14 competitions, while the Hahn Estates 2004 Central Coast Meritage ($20) was the top Bordeaux-style blend.

The roundup verifies that a disproportionate number of the state's more impressive petite sirahs are coming from vineyards and wineries just south of Sacramento. Three of the four top medal-winning takes on the varietal were from the area -- the Mettler Family Vineyards 2003 Lodi Petite Sirah ($25), the Bogle Vineyards 2004 California Petite Sirah ($10) and the Earthquake 2004 Lodi Petite Sirah ($28).

The Mettler Family Vineyards 2002 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon ($25) was the 10th most honored example of the varietal, while the Bogle Vineyards 2004 California Merlot ($9) placed third among merlots, and the Bogle Vineyards 2005 California Sauvignon Blanc ($8) finished sixth among sauvignon blancs.

The Jessie's Grove Winery 2004 Lodi Carignane ($15) was one of the higher ranked wines in the "other red" category.

The highest-scoring wine overall was the Gloria Ferrer 1996 Carneros Cuvée Sparkling Wine ($50), which won gold medals in nine of the 14 competitions.

In tracking the wines, California Grapevine awards 6 points to each entry that gets a gold medal with special recognition (such as best of class), 5 points for each gold medal, 3 for silver and so forth.

The newsletter notes that many "prestigious" wines don't get entered in competitions, and that several judgings separate wines into price categories, "giving lower-priced wines a better opportunity to win a medal."

The competitions included the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, the Los Angeles County Fair and the California State Fair.

For more information on California Grapevine: www.calgrapevine.com.

About the writer:

• Reach The Bee's Mike Dunne at (916) 321-1143 or mdunne@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/dunne.