At Paul Marcus Wines, our staff shares a deep love for classic wines–the “B, B, B, & C’s” (Burgundy, Barolo, Barbaresco, and Champagne) among other prized wines of the world. But in reality, these are usually wines for occasions and celebrations, and only sometimes for a Wednesday night. As true wine lovers, we also appreciate “table wine” in its truest form: wine for everyday drinking, and options that overdeliver for the price.
With an increase in demand for value wines, we have been stuffing the Value Red and Value White sections to the brim. Located in the front of the store, these are our weeknight favorites–and our weekend porch-pounders. Of course, this is just a starting place, and there are many bottles in the $20 range tucked away throughout the shop.
Before PMW, I worked with small importer-distributors, so if you permit me to don my “importer” hat for a moment, I’d like to explain some challenges in sourcing affordable wines. While browsing our less expensive selections, you will notice that all but a few of these wines are imported. You might be thinking that local wines, with shorter transport times and fewer hands to grease along the way, should cost less. You’re not wrong–except for the fact that it is that much more expensive to grow wine in the States.
To start, the cost of land is exorbitant here, and many young winemakers in California and Oregon are purchasing fruit for their wine (ex. Folk Machine Parts & Labor). By contrast, many European wineries have long lineages extending more than four generations, and they have inherited the land and equipment (ex. Château La Coustarelle Cahors). Some come from places with a rich history of peasant farming such as Southern France and Italy, or Spain and Hungary.
La Coustarelle Cahors, a staple of our value section, is still only $15.
Another element is the cost of labor. I cannot speak to the labor laws outside of the U.S. (and, to be frank, I am no expert on domestic regulations either). But ultimately, years of reporting conclude that labor is a smaller percentage of overall cost in other countries than it is here. Seeing that there are relatively few domestic wines that are offered at value, we turn to imports to find the bang-for-the-buck options.
Perhaps a few years ago, we had no trouble finding great imported wines that hit the shelf under $15. These days, it is more difficult, as we are now dealing with rising fuel costs. Wait–didn’t I just say that it’s less expensive to transport wine all the way from Europe than it is to get straight from California? Yes, that’s true, but we must still consider all of the energy that brings wine (or any product) to the store: diesel for farm equipment, trucks to pick up wine from the cellar and bring it to the containers (refrigerated, of course) on ships, then back on trucks again to deliver wine to our front door. Glass is heavy, and this all adds up.
To provide context, a 40-foot refrigerated container that once cost $5,000 to go from France to Oakland is now upwards of $10,000. Adding insult to injury, the wine industry got hit with significant tariffs that affected a broad sector of imported wines. While the tariffs have passed, the effects are still filtering down to distributors who might still be sitting on some inventory that entered the country with the added tariffs.
Due to these and many other factors, wines that used to be $15 on the shelf are now creeping up to $20 or more. (A tangential note of optimism: There have been major technological improvements in alternative packaging such as cans, bag-in-box, and tetra-pak cardboard.) My point here shouldn’t come as a huge surprise–retail prices are rising across all products–and it’s worth having the conversation about what it takes to get a bottle of wine from the farm to your glass.
If you want to learn more, please don’t hesitate to talk to me or any of the staff on your next visit to the store!
— Ailis Peplau
After 25 years working in the wine business, I have found that I am drawn to wines that excite my intellectual interest, but also provide both visceral and emotional response. Wines that are natural, wines that are products of the land–farmed and raised accordingly. Though it is always true that ethics and responsibility in our daily choices are vital at all levels of societal interaction, it seems to me that they are especially important as we look back on 2020.
Patricia Perdomo’s eponymous wines are something to behold. At a scant 26 years of age, she already runs a bodega with her sister, Lucía, also a viticulturist and farmer. Their family has been growing vines in La Palma (Canary Islands) for generations, and, in my humble opinion, their knowledge of the land and its indigenous varieties certainly shows in the 2018 Perdomo ‘El Cantaro’ cuvee.
My favorite wine this year is like a breath of fresh air sailing off the Mediterranean waters, near Noto, in the southeastern corner of Sicily.
My most pleasurable wine memory from 2020 was courtesy of a syrah from Pierre Gonon, an iconic producer in France’s Rhone valley. The 2017 Gonon Saint-Joseph was delicious and compelling in aromatics, texturally lush and rich and lifted and tannic all at once. It was young and buoyant and simultaneously had that deep balance and structure that communicates it would age with great grace.
Any favorite wine of mine must meet two very important requirements: high quality and reasonable price. Yes, I might greatly enjoy a bottle of Pommard or Barolo; however, if I cannot afford to drink a bottle of great Burgundy or Barolo on a regular basis, why should it be my favorite?
Overshadowed by Montalcino and hampered by an outdated reputation, Chianti continues to fight back with a vengeance, consistently producing satisfying, versatile, relatively affordable wines. With Angela Fronti at the helm, Istine is at the forefront of Chianti’s renaissance.
My favorite wine discoveries are often the underdogs, the unsung, the undeservedly obscure, the outliers. And so it is for my favorite wine of this year: the 2015 Georges Remy Bouzy Rouge ‘Les Vaudayants.’
As the Italian buyer at PMW, I’ve made it a priority this year to recognize the brilliance of Barbaresco (in addition to its Barolo neighbor). I am pleased, therefore, to select the 2016 Barbaresco from Produttori del Barbaresco as my wine of the year. It is, pound for pound, price for quality, one of the greatest wines in the shop.
My favorite wine of the year, the 2017 Monteleone Etna Rosso, comes from vineyards at the base of Sicily’s Mount Etna, on the north side at about 500 meters. The nose is beguiling; hard to define, but charming nonetheless. The nerello mascalese grape provides all the clean, earthy, mineral notes and red fruits of this light-colored wine, while a small amount of nerello cappuccio provides some depth to the hue. What I love about this wine is its vivacious life. The flavors sing on your palate; silky yet mildly gritty, it is an extremely versatile wine that matches well with duck.
…you’re at my house for a dinner party. We’re on the deck. It’s about 7:15, and the Champagne is, sadly, though not tragically, nearly gone. And while everyone is enjoying it, some of us are sort-of-secretly hoping a brave soul will socially distance the bottle and save the remaining third until we’ve had time to try the trousseau. Surely, the Champagne will taste different after a glass of snappy fall-fruit red from the Jura.
2017 Villa Job “Sudigiri” Venezia Giulia Sauvignon Blanc
2017 Villa Job “Untitled” Venezia Giulia Friulano
2017 Villa Job “Piantagrane” Friuli Grave Pinot Grigio
2017 Villa Job “Serious” Venezia Giulia Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso