It was one of those big-event, hotel ballroom dinners with perhaps a thousand or more guests. You know, the kind at which we’re supposed to focus on the program at hand and just settle for what we’re offered to eat and drink, the food being of secondary importance and the wine even further down on the list of priorities. I often contemplate bringing my own wine to these dinners but then chicken out, so to speak.
So there I was the other night at the mercy of a hotel-catering department at a mass-produced event. Is there anything to look forward to less in food and wine? But then, what do you know? The dinner wasn’t half bad - your basic fillet mignon with scalloped potatoes. And the wine? The red was a real surprise; it was actually OK. (I didn’t try the white.)
Now this is not the kind of gathering to serve esoteric, small-production wines to which some people might have a hard time relating. While the attendees may find themselves in the uniformity of black tie, when it comes to wine there will be very different levels of experience and interest. That’s why the wine needs to be something that everyone can enjoy, one that’s ready to drink with plenty of fruit, balance and at least a bit of complexity. If you’re serving many hundreds of people or more, price becomes an important factor as well.
With all of that in mind, Beringer’s 2002 Founders’ Estate California Merlot did the trick. Is it the most exciting merlot out there? Of course not. But with a price of $10 or so - I have seen it listed for as low as $7 - it satisfies the need for a good basic red that won’t break the bank and is widely available, with 200,000 cases produced.
The wine is mainly merlot with small amounts of syrah, petite sirah, zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon. The grapes are sourced from vineyards throughout California. It all melds into a fairly soft wine with notes of raspberry, black cherry, plum and hints of orange and vanilla. It also has decent structure and acidity, which keeps the overall impression bright.
Finding a decent wine at our table that night gave the dinner a nice lift. Keep this one in mind for big parties or to serve as a house wine.
Edward Deitch's wine column appears Wednesdays. He welcomes comments from readers. Write to him at EdwardDeitch