In today's "Supermarket follies" episode, we spot these (cough cough) fine examples of the American winemaking art: Gallo and that staple of 7-11's everywhere: Sutter Home. What? No wine coolers? The tragic/ painful/ funny thing is thaat I took these photos in a pretty highfalutin' supermarket too-- these are pretty much the only American wines we see here on a regular basis. In a strange twist of fate, we ended up talking to one of Gallo's European sales managers the other week at a restaurant-- he seemed a lot more interested in our conversation than the one at his own table, likely because he was an Irishman, everyone at his table was speaking German, and we were talking English. After some pleasantries, we asked what he was doing in Germany. He reared himself up, and proudly stated the following:
Guy: "I work for the largest wine distributor in America. You know who that is?"
Me: "Coca Cola?" [note: Coke owns-- used to own anyways-- a few larger New York State wineries]
B: "Costco?"
When he said Gallo, we oohed and ahhed, and got REALLY interested in the Phad Thai in front of us. Turns out the dude is responsible for military base sales (each base has a Safeway-type store) of Gallo wines, so I figure he's doing OK. I am told that per capita wine consumption in Germany is amongst the highest in Europe (trailing only France), so this stings-- because this stuff is likely all the exposure the locals have to US wines. On a brighter note, I spotted for the first time some non-corporate California Zins and Cabs at the local fancypants grocery this weekend, but there were priced a bit too dear for Johann citizen here-- 18 Euros and up-- That's $25.35 at today's exchange rate.
3 comments:
We're not the smartest about wine, but we have developed a certain confidence about things we like since moving to Europe. And usually, we're able to find something we like for under 10 Euro, often under 5. So that $25 price tag would really sting.
And yeah, I've noticed the Gallo in the supermarket, too. I usually just hang my head and walk on by.
Yeah, it's a shame to have the "Ami" wine section in German grocery stores be filled with the swill that my dad used to drink over ice in a tumbler back in the 70s.
At least tasty wines from DE, F, and I can be had for a decent price over there!
Thanks for your post,
Bea
Sarah & Bea: True dat, we can get French and Italian wines at at least a third less than their North American prices-- not to mention some smaller vineyards' products that never make it across the pond. One of our favorite summer rosés is a nice dry Italian number for EU 2.99-- that's Boone's Farm/ Charles Shaw-level pricing-- that flat out smokes most $12-15 bottles we had stateside. But yes, just as Riunite on ice (anybody remember this soda pop swill?) killed Lambrusco in North America, I fear that this mass produced stuff is not doing the USA's otherwise excellent wine pedigree any favors in Europe. I have to keep saying this: we're NOT snobs-- we lack the time, patience, palates and bank accounts to do that-- but we know what we like when it comes to vino.
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