What Wineries Have Dropped Off Your Radar Screen??

As I was tasting the Foxen last night, I realized I hadn't tasted many Foxen wines of late. I used to really like their wines and would try every one that came along.

Which got me to thinking (always a dangerous thing late at night when you're well into the btl)...what are some other wineries that I used to follow religiously but have now sorta dropped off my radar screen?? Oftentimes it's because there has been a decline in quality. Or they have sold out to the big boys like Constellation or Diageo and the wines are not the same...more commodity in character. Or sometimes you've moved on to more interesting things.

A few that come to mind in my case:
David Bruce
Scherrer
Storybook Mtn
Wellington
Eberle
Dehlinger
Nalle
BonnyDoon
SantaCruzMtnWnry
SpringMtnWnry
Buehler
MtVeeder
Caymus
JosephPhelps
RobertKeenan
ZD
and I'm sure there are a lot more, including all RedBdx wines.

Tom (throwing out yet another esoteric/thought-provoking question for the day)

[Robin Garr]

Good troll, Tom! I'm more of a bottom-feeder but certainly Bonny Doon has dropped off my radar, along with Louis M. Martini, one that I've followed for a long time if not since the very start but just lost me within a few years after the Gallo takeover.

Good troll, Tom! I'm more of a bottom-feeder but certainly Bonny Doon has dropped off my radar, along with Louis M. Martini, one that I've followed for a long time if not since the very start but just lost me within a few years after the Gallo takeover.

What, Robin...me...troll?? Perish the thought!!

Louis Martini is anuther one. There used to be a lot of older L.Martini wines available and they were
often quite good. But I don't think I've had a post-Gallo Martini.
Tom

...what are some other wineries that I used to follow religiously but have now sorta dropped off my radar screen?? Oftentimes it's because there has been a decline in quality. Or they have sold out to the big boys like Constellation or Diageo and the wines are not the same...more commodity in character. Or sometimes you've moved on to more interesting things.

Those are all fine reasons. In my case it's more a function of changing palate preferences. I started out drinking a lot of Loire red wines, especially Baudry and Breton. But in the past 5-10 I've had very few and am no longer up to speed. (Although I recent got inspired to revisit Baudry, since the wines were always great and have supposedly gotten even better)

Nalle is still around; I drop in there once or twice a year. Doug's style hasn't changed.
Saiusal is sadly gone, speaking of OV.
I don't get over to Sonoma Valley much these days because I'd rather not fight Hwy 12.

I have cut back on purchases of Robert Biale, Merry Edwards, and Kutch wines but still have earlier purchases in my collection. Scherrer is one I still follow and purchase. I don't purchase many wines from Bordeaux these days or many from Australia.
Tom Hill: Do you purchase from Saintsbury?

[Jenise]

Honestly, almost nothing from California any more. Swan, Ridge, and a few others are wines I still love to taste/buy when I can exposure and selection is very limited where I live now in the U.S.'s uppermost fourth corner. As well, my wine interests are more global as also befits my location. I've bought into the last three vintages of Williams Selyem. I've been captivated by Wind Gap recently and Arcadian less recently--lost interest in the latter when I visited the winery and two of the four wines they were pouring were oxidized. Everything else is sporadic at best.

[David M. Bueker]

Tom’s comment regarding Red Bordeaux is exactly opposite of my situation. I have recently gone back to buying the stuff, as I can get high quality, medium bodied Cabernet for $15-$30. Wines such as Cantermerle and Lanessan are still made in a largely traditional mode, and make lovely wines for dinner.

I’m not buying right bank spoof monsters, but I generally never did that, except for a few misguided purchases when I did not know much about Bordeaux.

I used to buy Bordeaux crus clasees, but I stopped decades ago because the prices got out of my range.

I stopped buying Sauternes because one day I realized I had enough of them in my cellar to last the rest of my life.

I never got my brain around the latest German classification system, and anyway the selection of German wines around here is poor, so I haven't been buying many lately. I've been enjoying the Kabinetts and Spaetlese that I bought years ago, though.

I stopped buying vintage Port because I won't be alive to enjoy them recent vintages when they mature.

-Paul W.

Tom, Robin, I think you're making a mistake about Bonny Doon. They sold off many of their low end brands like Pacific Rim Riesling years ago but the winery is still there and making excellent wine.

I had the opportunity to meet Randall Grahm a few weeks ago. He is as nuts and as brilliant as ever. Le Cigare Volant and Syrah Le Pousseur are still damn good wines and they are still produced by the original Bonny Doon Winery. He did tell me that he's going in a completely different direction and that the Cigare brand will disappear shortly. (Maybe try one while they still exist.) He's going to produce some very easy going wines aimed at younger people who tend not to buy wines to age them. These wines will come from a new vineyard that he's obtained. I think Bonny Doon will remain an interesting one to watch as long as Randall remains involved.

[Robin Garr]

I had the opportunity to meet Randall Grahm a few weeks ago. He is as nuts and as brilliant as ever. Le Cigare Volant and Syrah Le Pousseur are still damn good wines and they are still produced by the original Bonny Doon Winery. He did tell me that he's going in a completely different direction and that the Cigare brand will disappear shortly. (Maybe try one while they still exist.) He's going to produce some very easy going wines aimed at younger people who tend not to buy wines to age them. These wines will come from a new vineyard that he's obtained. I think Bonny Doon will remain an interesting one to watch as long as Randall remains involved.

Thanks, Ken! I would definitely follow Randall. I guess I got confused in the mists of time and thought that Randall was out of Bonny Doon entirely. D'oh.

Bonny Doon's still going strong, and still has the entertaining labels. I still buy Le Cigare Volant Red, Clos de Gilroy, and Syrah Le Pousseur when I can find them. And Vin Gris de Cigare is one of my favorite roses. Randall Grahm also recently did a Bordeaux-style blend called A Proper Claret. The labels are as entertaining as ever.

-Paul W.

Stopped buying vintage Port some time ago.

Stopped Bordeaux to any great extent with the 1996 vintage as the wines for the most part lacked the sense of terroir of the individual communes that they used to have, although I do have a smattering (maybe 10 cases or so in total), mostly of Sauternes and petit chateaux for early drinking.

Nothing significant from Australia since the 2003 vintage, not so much because there weren't wines that I liked, but because the local agents only seemed to bring in the ones I didn't.

Similar situation with US wines, as the prices shot up and the only reasonable wines were the lower end crappy wines. lest you think I am being elitist about this, here is a current sampling of our prices here:

Phelps Insignia - $410
Beringer PR - $190
Mondavi reserve - $160
Caymus SS (a wine I wouldn't buy anyway) - $200
Dominus - $440
Opus One - $500

Have switched allegiance to Italy, South of france, Iberia etc.

[David M. Bueker]

Doggone it those prices are ridiculous. While Phelps Insignia has gotten crazy expensive, I can get it for well less than half your cost.

They are absolutely silly (though remember that they are in Canadian funds, which are currently at about 72 cents US). still......enough to absolutely smother any inclination to own any of those wines (all of which I routinely bought in the past).

[Jenise]

Nothing significant from Australia since the 2003 vintage, not so much because there weren't wines that I liked, but because the local agents only seemed to bring in the ones I didn't.

Ditto; same happened here. Mollydooker is the new 'it' model for Australian wine in the U.S.

Similar situation with US wines, as the prices shot up and the only reasonable wines were the lower end crappy wines. lest you think I am being elitist about this, here is a current sampling of our prices here:

Phelps Insignia - $410
Beringer PR - $190
Mondavi reserve - $160
Caymus SS (a wine I wouldn't buy anyway) - $200
Dominus - $440
Opus One - $500

Have switched allegiance to Italy, South of france, Iberia etc.

Of course, some on your list would suffer the same issue as Australia, like the Caymus SS. You wouldn't like it anyway. And Mondavi is off everyone's radar since Bob died.