Sunday, Sep. 01, 2002

Second labels can be first class

By Ken Robertson

Q. One recent trend I’ve noticed is that more wineries are producing “second label” wines under a different name. Why?

A. From what I’ve observed, there are two chief reasons for “second label” wines. First, a winemaker sometimes ends up with a wine that doesn’t meet the standards he or she has set for the primary label wines. When that happens, the winery has three options: Sell an inferior product and risk its carefully built reputation; sell the wine off to someone else to market or to blend; or sell it as a second label at a bargain price that more closely matches the wine’s quality.

The other reason for a second label is also economic. Sometimes a small producer or a newer winery needs the cash flow of ready-to-drink reds and whites that can be sold the spring after harvest. The best wines may linger in oak barrels in the winery’s cellar for another year or more while the quick-to-market wines pay the bills.

In Portugal, for example, where the famous port wines take five to 20 years to mature, producers have started diversifying into table wines to create the cash flow to underwrite their operations.

Don’t take this to mean second labels won’t be fine, perhaps even flawless wines. Rick Small of Woodward Canyon in Lowden, Wash., one of the Northwest’s best at crafting fine Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (and some wonderful whites as well), has a second-label Merlot named Nelms Road that can stand up to any $20 Merlot in the Northwest. It may not equal all of the higher-priced $50 or $60 reds, but not all of us want — or can afford — wines priced at that level.

Sometimes a winery’s decision to have more than one label is a marketing choice. For example, the same Yakima Valley winery produces Washington Hills, W.B. Bridgman and Apex in Sunnyside, Wash. Each label aims at a specific market niche. The Washington Hills wines are excellent values for their inexpensive prices, which are usually in the $6 to $10 range. Bridgman wines are more complex and priced accordingly in the $12 to $16 range. And Apex is right up where its name implies, both in price and quality, at $22 to $26.

And occasionally, an odd thing can happen with a second label. Stimson Lane, for example, launched Columbia Crest 18 years ago with a strategy that seemed chiefly aimed at offering a second label that would have broad appeal by offering solid quality at reasonable prices.

In the years since, Columbia Crest has outstripped its “first label,” Chateau Ste. Michelle, in visibility and national reach. And now the Columbia Crest reserve wines challenge the best wines from its older sibling.

Q. I recently pulled a quality red wine from my cellar for a special dinner, and when I opened it, I was disappointed to discover it was faded from the brilliant wine it seemed to be when I bought it several years ago. A friend reports a similar experience with the same wine. How about some tips for picking wines that will last?

A. Since two of you had the same experience, let’s assume the problem wasn’t with the wine cork or the method of storage. Oxygen and heat are the chief enemies of wine. Here are some general guidelines, but realize that wines can fool the most experienced of buyers.

Among the several factors that tend to preserve a wine are higher alcohol, more tannins, more sugar, fermentation in oak and higher acids. Though alcohol content remains constant, tannins and the perceived acids — perceived because the acid level tends to stay the same but is disguised as the acids and alcohols combine into esters — tend to drop as a wine ages. The fruit flavors also tend to decline as a wine ages, partly because of the natural sedimentation, so it’s no surprise that over the years a wine will change.

All that chemistry aside, when you taste a young red wine and are considering whether it will age, you should expect it to show off, sometimes unpleasantly, its aging potential. That means puckery tannins, heavy fruit, maybe even a little bit of murk to its color, plenty of woody aromas such as cedar and oak, more than a little acidity and a solid alcohol level probably above 11 or 12 percent.

The Oxford Companion to Wine warns that the vast majority of wines aren’t intended to age more than a few years. And the aging potential it lists for most wines, it notes, are “very approximate.”

The good news is that Northwest wines tend to last better than most, partly because the farther north in latitude a wine is grown, the higher its acids will tend to be.

For aging potential beyond a decade, look for Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Nebbiolo in the reds. Pinot Noir, Merlot and Sangiovese are likely to last less than a decade. And Zinfandel might be pressed to beat five to six years.

Among the whites, don’t count on more than three or four years unless you’re buying botrytised or ice wines or a young high-acid white, such as a very dry Semillon, Chenin Blanc or Riesling.

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