Industry glut spells bargains

<p>In more than three decades of reporting on the wine industry, I have seen the cycle so often I can now nearly predict it.</p><p>It is the boom/bust roller coaster ride that hits the wine business with regularity, and at the moment we're in one of those periods in which the savvy American consumer can take advantage of an oversupply of wine.</p><p>Shop around. The values are everywhere.</p><p>The way the boom/bust thing works more or less parallels the supply-demand equation in which the scarcity of a commodity in demand drives the price up, and the oversupply of that same item drives the price down. With agricultural products, a shortage kicks prices up and encourages more planting until the supply becomes too great, when prices collapse.</p><p>There is so much wine in the U.S. pipeline today that all prices are depressed, from $6 wines in 5-liter boxes to $100 Napa cabernets. Wherever you look, sales are slow, whether it's in high-end restaurants, fine wine shops or discount retailers.</p><p>However, what makes this particular wine glut so much more challenging to American wineries is that the consumer has a new choice: imports.</p><p>The last time we had a major oversupply of wine, about 17 years ago, only about 20 percent of the wine sold in the United States was imported. Today that figure is at 31 percent and experts are saying it will grow, to about one bottle of every three, by next year.</p><p>It was just a decade ago that California faced a wine shortage so severe that a number of lower-priced brands began to look across the oceans, to the south of France, Chile and Argentina, to fill bottles that had familiar U.S. brands on their labels.</p><p>The worst part of this, for the California wine industry, was the fact that few consumers complained about the imported wines. Indeed, few even noticed that their favorite chardonnay was coming from 7,000 miles away.</p><p>Meanwhile, the shipping of wine was becoming more sophisticated. Today it is estimated that some 11.5 million cases of wine will be imported to the United States today from other countries in giant bladders inside seagoing vessels.</p><p>As a result, brands as familiar as Franzia, Vendange, Inglenook, Foxhorn and many others are being bottled (or boxed) here with wine from South Eastern Australia, Argentina and Chile. Meanwhile, older vintages of popular California brands remain on store shelves. And discounting now is a way of life for almost everything.</p><p>The other day I saw 2006 Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc at a deeply discounted price at a pharmacy. The 2007 should have been sold out more than a year ago, and the 2008 should be nearly gone. They are crushing the 2009 wine now!</p><p>You can only guess why this wine didn't sell before this -- and it wasn't because there's something wrong with it. Indeed, it's still quite good.</p><p>One discount shop I went into last week had the well-crafted Thomas Hyland Shiraz from Australia, which should sell for about $15 a bottle, selling for $6.99. The fact that this was the 2003 wine indicates how far backed up in warehouses are the people selling this wine.</p><p>Other wines on deep discount include the 2005 Chivite Gran Feudo Rosé, at $4.99, the 2002 Vine Cliff Merlot for $10, and a handful of other wines.</p><p>An old friend who collects fine wine and serves them on special occasions is always looking for what he calls Tuesday night wines. He now suggests that paying more than $10 a bottle for any everyday wine is a waste of money.</p><p>Wine of the week: NV Foppiano Vineyards Lot 96, Bin 002 ($10) -- When Foppiano first released this wine more than a year ago, I was thrilled with its design: a light, fragrant red blend with no pretense. This version, the second blend, is even better: 28 percent sangiovese (so the wine has excellent acidity), 19 percent petite sirah (for gutsy fruit), 17 percent zinfandel (for berry spice) and four other varieties for complexity. Almost always discounted.</p><p>Dan Berger lives in Sonoma County, Calif., where he publishes "Vintage Experiences," a weekly wine newsletter. Write to him at danberger@rocketmail.com.</p>