FROM RESTAURANT wine lists organized into categories with evocative
names ("Creamy and Rich" or "Brighter and a Little Lighter") to the
self-serve tasting technology of San Francisco's Vino Venue, the
current trend is unmistakable: Make tasting and buying wine as
approachable -- as affordable and fun -- as filling up your cart at
Ikea.
And at Vintage Berkeley, a wine shop that opened last month in the
heart of the Gourmet Ghetto, it's clear that the trend isn't about
pushing cheap, mass-produced merlot, but offering inexpensive artisan
wines, wines with a pronounced local character.
These days it's all about passing up big, oaky chardonnays in favor of offbeat varietals that explode with authentic character.
Forget that heavy, expensive, tannic cabernet reeking of burnt oak --expensive enough to keep you from admitting you hate it.
For less than 10 bucks, you can pick up some thirst-quenching dry
rose that actually tastes great with your burger. And hey, if you hate
it, you can afford to dump it out and move on to the next bottle.
In places as diverse as the rustic wine campus of Tesla Vintners in
Livermore, where you can taste wines from four small local winemakers
and give them feedback, to the sleek surroundings of Swish Wine Room in
Pinole, wine is busting out of its stuffy cellar. Especially for the
under-35 age group.
Michael Spitler, wine specialist at the Walnut Creek Whole Foods
store, credits user-friendly wine lists and wine writers who focus on
inexpensive, food-friendly wines with commentary like the breathless
interjections of movie critics. More and more, he says the younger
drinkers are abandoning artisan ales with quirky names and
tangerine-infused vodkas for shiraz and viognier.
Young early adopters are flocking to wine shops, seeking out wines
that are the polar opposites of their dad's serious wines. "Younger
people are loving more offbeat wines," says Spitler. At Whole Foods,
lightly oaked Australian chardonnays are flying off the shelves; so is
bright, spicy Hoya de Cadenas tempranillo ($5.99) from Spain.
Sangiovese -- the predominant grape in chianti -- is as sexy as artisan
cheese. "Younger buyers are like, why pay for chianti when I can get
sangiovese for under 10 bucks?" Next on the horizon: German and
Alsatian wines, which Spitler says fit the profile of younger drinkers
but have yet to capture their imaginations.
Peter Eastlake and Michael Werther are poised to capture the
imagination of new drinkers and jaded aficionados alike. They're the
new boys on the block in Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto, offering
inexpensive wines marked by distinctive regional character -- that
elusive, subjective quality known as authenticity. Eastlake, formerly
national wine buyer for Cost Plus and wine director for Best Cellars in
New York, puts it differently: "We're offering wines that tell a
compelling story."
Nearby Gourmet Ghetto anchors Chez Panisse, the Cheese Board
Collective and Peet's Coffee seem a little long in the tooth these
days, but Eastlake and Werther's Vintage Berkeley wine shop radiates
the energy of a puppy. Eastlake and Werther, both 31, are juicing up
Vintage Berkeley with the passion of kids who believe their concept is
so right it's merely inevitable. Sure, you can get cheap wine at Trader
Joe's, but it's cheap because it's mass-produced in big wineries.
So-called Two-Buck Chuck may not be bad, but nobody expects it to have
personality; Eastlake seeks out relatively inexpensive wines he
believes reflect a certain artisanal quality.
In the long-empty Vine Street Pumping Station, a circa-1930 concrete
structure sprouting enormous, spiky, neo-Palladian lanterns, Eastlake
has assembled an eclectic array of bottles from wine regions all over
the world. Many of them are displayed along the walls on shelves
composed of chunky wood beams, like designer shoes in a stylish
boutique. Hearing Eastlake describe them, you want to try them all on.
(There's a tasting each evening from 4-7., and 2-4 p.m. on Saturdays.)
Eastlake says the 2002 Tamarack Merlot ($20) from Washington tastes
like chocolate-dipped plums. "Like Duckhorn on a budget," he says.
Eastlake gets all lyrical describing Buitenverwachting Sauvignon Blanc
($16.75), its grapes grown on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa.
"The coastal sauvignon freshness is electric," says Eastlake, "like
biting into a key lime." For $18 you can pick up a bottle of heirloom
abouriou (a favorite grape of California's early Italian winemakers)
from Steven Canter's one-man Luddite Vineyards in the Russian River
Valley.
The long central aisle features dozens of bottles that all weigh in
below $20, and on the back wall, there's a temperature-controlled case
stocked with splurgey wines. Ice cider from Quebec ($30). Mt.
Difficulty Pinot Noir from New Zealand ($35). "We don't want to deprive
our customers slightly higher-end wines, either," says Eastlake.
