Day 18: Berberana Red Dragon
Guest post by Mariëlla Beukers, co-author with Irene de Vette of Wijn van Eigen Bodem
There IS a story to tell about mass-market wines: the story of how they are used and how they are drunk.
Being a wine lover in the Netherlands, I think I am very lucky. The choice of wines in our country is amazing. We can try wines from literally all over the world, from France to New Zealand and from Argentina to Australia. We have been a wine-trading nation for centuries, and that has its effects on the selection we now can enjoy, in the 21st century.
This does not mean however, that everyone here knows how to find their way in wine. Like almost everywhere else, more than 90% of all wine purchases are made in the supermarket. Most people like drinking wine, don’t know much about it, and just want a bottle for tonight. To go with the pancakes, the Brussels sprouts or the stew.
And like almost everywhere else, price is a very important factor to decide which wine to buy. After all, the Dutch are not known for their lavish spending.
Our supermarkets have great selections, ranging from the big brands to wines from lesser known producers and even lesser known grapes. Last weekend, I spotted a Godello and a Grüner Veltliner at my local supermarket, for example. Not your everyday wines for most people.
I used to think of the wines I find in the supermarket as wines to just drink, not to discuss. Now I’m realising that I CAN tell stories about supermarket wines, but it will have to be different stories. Not the tales about the passionate makers of the wine, or the history and culture of the region where it comes from. But stories about food pairings, about having fun with friends, about moments to drink a wine.
Five years ago, I wrote a report on my website (Wijnkronieken) about a press dinner by a Dutch chef, paired with Berberana wines. Berberana, owned by United Wineries, is distributed in the Netherlands and it’s the biggest Spanish wine brand available. The wines are priced around 6 or 7 Euro per bottle. The combinations of food and wine at that dinner were superb, and my review was very positive. Till this day, that post is the most-viewed page on the website, and Google Analytics shows that “Berberana” is the most searched term. Every time I see my page views rising, I know that the Berberana is probably on discount again!
Quick Background Note: The Blue Collar Wine Guide is a 30-day, 30-wine experiment that looks at some of the world’s most popular, consumer-friendly wines. The idea is for me — or colleagues and guest writers — to take off my wine-writer shoes and stand instead in the shoes of Jane-and-Joe-in-front-of-a-wall-of-wine. Thank you for reading today’s post!
