Big Chain Reaction, and 3 Sauvignon Blancs From New Zealand

While poking around other blogs I noticed that a few of them are devoted to reviewing and alerting others to wines and discounts at big national discount chain stores. (Costco, Sam's, Walmart, etc.. Trader Joe's is another subject I hope to tackle in the near future.) I am sure that this is a very useful service to some, maybe even many. I don't fall into that category of wine consumer. At home and for pleasure I generally drink wines from smaller producers and from stores that are a bit boutique-y in nature. I am NOT a big fan of over-produced factory wines and I am NOT a big fan of large chain stores. I generally don't shop at large discount chains unless there is a gun to my head. An experience I don't wish to have. The reasons I feel this way about the big discount chains are as follows:

• they dumb down the shopping experience; ever ask an employee about a certain product's qualities or even where that certain product might be located?
  
• they can wipe out small independent retailers by pricing so low; the smaller, independent stores cannot compete effectively
• they have ugly facades that mar the landscape, and contribute to urban sprawl
  
• they have ugly cavernous insides, and without a GPS, you could be lost for days
• the quality of the merchandise can sometimes be inferior, mediocre or bad
• the selection is very limited, at least as far as wine goes; I honestly don't know how they fare with other products (I don't shop there)

This is my opinion. I realize on the other side of the coin they offer great deals and value (although value is subjective). They help keep the country employed. And some of them get many accolades from business peeps about how effectively they are run. All good stuff.

(photo by:VirtualErn)

One of these big chains is located not too far from the wine shop at which I work.To me this is generally just a nuisance. They sell wine and at prices well below what we could sell them at. The fear here is that the customer will see the same wine at both the chain store and our store and assume that our prices are out of whack. Compared to other wine shops in the state, however, we are slightly lower or higher depending on the wine. Our answer to this is to not sell any wines that the big chain store sells. This works out well enough, but it has prevented us from selling various labels that we would have liked to carry. Argyle, Grgich, Kim Crawford, Two Hands are some examples. Honestly though, there are a lot of labels they carry that we have no interest in carrying. As I said, a nuisance mostly, but when I started seeing bloggers directing their readers to these stores and certain wines they carried, it made me interested about the QPR (Quality/Price Ratio) of some of these wines. Time to hold the gun of curiosity to my head and stroll down the aisles of lost toys, er, I mean wines.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs have been hot for quite awhile and this was also a category of wine I saw blogged about regularly. I decided to purchase three N.Z. S.B.'s that we don't carry and give them the old taste test.

2008 Oyster Bay, Sauvignon Blanc, N.Z. ($9.99 at the discount chain)
Very pale yellow color, almost clear as water. Aromas of peas and boiled asparagus come steaming out of the glass. Citrus notes of lemon and lime poke their way through the herbaceous fog. Texture, very bright, slight spritz. Flavors of sprite and alcohol, lemon-limey followed by what seems to be a good dose of residual sugar. Cloying. I would rate this Fair-. Buy again: Definitely Not.

(photo:Oyster Bay Wines)


2008 Brancott, Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, N.Z. ($12.99 at the discount chain)
Again very pale color, nearly colorless. Herbaceous and tropical aromas are blended with coconut cream nuances. Very good balance, almost a tightrope of acidity and mouth-filling richness. The nose carries seamlessly to the palette, for an overall nice mouth-feel that lingers. I was surprised by this one as I had not liked it in previous vintages. I would rate this Good+. Buy again: Maybe.



2008 Kim Crawford, Sauvignon Blanc, N.Z. ($12.99 at the discount chain)
Color light yellow tinged with green. Aromas of boiled asparagus, citrus, and tropical fruits. Palette felt strange, like the acid was somehow contrived, spritz-y. Ripe fruit, citrus, simple overall. Moderate finish. I have liked this in the past, but was disappointed by this effort. I would rate this Good-. Buy again: No.



All three of these wines are very popular brands. They sell very well. As a matter of fact the Oyster Bay S.B. is the top selling SKU in Massachusetts of all New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. And the reason I didn't have my own picture of that wine was because a female co-worker loved it and took it home with her! Different palettes, that's what makes this so interesting!

On closing, I have a question for those who might stumble on this blog: Do you shop for wine at Costo, Sam's, etc., and what is the main attraction? Actually, any comments would be great. Cheers!