Apothic dominates smooth wine category
Allow me to introduce Apothic, a Godzilla of a wine. It has taken over the world to such an extent that the competition is not just aiming at the same flavour profile, it is repackaging its wines to resemble it. I imagine you will see a number of black and red labels popping up in the next few years.
I call Apothic and wannabes the “smooth wine category.” I don’t particularly like these wines, but the sales of Apothic so exceed the sales of wines I drink that they deserve comment. I used a panel of friends who are more attracted to these wines than I to judge them.
First up is the champion. None of my tasting panel was much enthused by Apothic, noting the presence of vanilla and caramel and the yeasty nose. On the other hand, on Day 2 you really start to find out about the wine, Apothic was way, way ahead of most of the competition. The zinfandel base, plus some French varietals, gives the wine staying power and structure many of the others lack. The nose after some oxidation is pleasantly herbaceous, with some licorice; the palate is pretty good, and the finish — like all these wines — is very, very light.
The most popular wine for the panel was 14 Hands, a Washington red blend. Again it has a backbone of Merlot and cabernet sauvignon and it was as good as Apothic on Day 2. On the other hand, I suspect this wine was at or near the top of the residual sugar contents.
Sairey’s next favourite was Stark Raving Red. This is an unconventional blend of tannat, zinfandel, Merlot with a bit of cab sauv. The tannat gave the wine staying power due to their eponymous tannins. I would guess this wine is aimed at the glass-a-day customer, providing pleasure over a week due to the firmish structure.
Primal Roots was another wine in contention for the new champion title by at least a couple of tasters on the panel. But by Day 2 it tasted of nothing but vanilla, This is a wine for the folks who loved Californian Merlot c. 2004. It is a Merlot dominant blend exposed to oak in the same manner Pam Anderson is exposed to cosmetic surgery.
Fetzer Crimson was completely ignored by the panel, and was similar to Primal Roots. The label is evocative of 1960s album art and unless you smoke like Keith Richards, it really can’t stand an overnight stay on the counter. Of course, if Keith is your role model the bottle will be empty before dinner is over.
Dreaming Tree Crush is a bona fide Rock and Roll red (Dave Matthews) but I have some respect for it. And it did indeed stand up to a night on the counter. However, none of the panel was at all attracted to it.
Beringer Smooth Red blend was completely ignored by the panel, which I thought something of a shame. It is like Apothic, a tremendously well made wine, and moreover made without cynicism (or at least not too much). It held up well on the counter overnight, and I enjoyed it more the next day than when freshly opened. I’m not sure it is worth this price, but it is a decent wine.
Saint and Sinner Shiraz Cabernet is a very attractive label but the palate struck me as a bit stuck in the ’90s. For whatever reason none of the panellists took note of the wine. (I should add that when tasting nine wines in a sitting, after the first half dozen you become more of an enthusiast and less of a connoisseur.)
Finally there is Diabolica a wine that Sairey came around to, and was my favourite of the tasting. It is an Okanagan wine, a VQA, and tremendously lighter and fresher in flavour than the other wines listed above. As such it is much closer to my preferred taste profile and I actually recommend it.
If this is where you like to drink, I suggest you explore the category, and try not to get stuck in a rut. Stark Raving and Saint and Sinner are the two cheapest by a significant margin.