KNOW YOUR BRAND..
Yellow Tail is without doubt the most
popular Australian brand of wine known in the USA and UK.. But it was virtually
unknown before 2000.
The top 10 popular brands in the Liquor
industry are all spirits and they all have wonderful histories. Branding rather
than country or region of origin.
(about to finish off a bottle of Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina with my friend E at Restaurant La Bodeguita in Buenos Aires, Argentina)
The best-known brand is Smirnoff, which has
nothing to do with Russia; it is owned and produced by a British Company.
Captain Morgan has nothing to do with
Jamaica except historically for being a pirate in that turbulent region.
Bronfman, a Canadian Jew bought the recipe for spiced rum from two Jewish
pharmacists in Jamaica, the Levy Brothers and began manufacturing and selling
it. It is the most recognized brand of rum around the world.
Bacardi Rum is not made in Cuba but in
Bahamas, Puerto Rico or elsewhere. But the association is always with Cuba. The
original factory in Santiago de Cuba still stands and produces Havana Club,
which is a far superior product than the weak Bacardi rum sold abroad.
Coming back to Yellow Tail, most of its
wine and their grapes come not from their vineyard but is gathered from all
around Australia, not from Riverina where the owner is located!
This is a trend which began in 1940s and
now well entrenched. If you want a good sauvignon Blanc, buy a bottle of Kim
Crawford at a reputable store. If you fall for Marlborough Valley label on the
wine, you may be falling for origin of the grapes from various parts of the
valley and is not even bottled in a winery in the region. I have seen this over
and over again on wine bottles from South Africa with strange sounding African names
or from Chile with imitated mapuche Indian names. So I have learned that if the
name sounds a little strange, the wine origins are also a bit strange.
I am off to Cuba where the drinking culture
is purely rum locally produced to satisfy the population. Havana Club White,
which is sold for about 4 dollars a bottle, is excellent to make a Cuba Libre,
and Anejo 7 year old is good to sip…
While I am there, drinking a good glass of
wine is just a hope and a dream… but there is a difference. In Cuba, drinking
Rum, you do it with friends and incessant conversations. So it is very social
and very satisfying from a personal point of view.
So, with a sauvignon Blanc from 360 degrees
from Santa Ana in hand, I salute you… LChaim. To life…
Drinking wine, a glass or two with your
meals, is certainly good for your health; I recommend it as an Endocrinologist
and specialist in Nutrition…
