By Tim Rutherford

Despite my best efforts to encourage a relationship with knowledgeable wine merchants, some of you still bring me your tale of woe:
“Tim, I’ll never buy my wine anywhere but the grocery store. I think the wine there is pretty good.”
Now then, you’ll never earn your “wine adventurer” badge with this attitude. But I decided over the Independence Day weekend to take on the challenge of finding a good wine – and good story – on the grocer’s shelves.
Frankly, my palate for crisp white wines was exhausted. While I needed something cool to consume while I smoked chicken, I also wanted a wine with body, with variety – that would stand up to a good chill.
I scanned the wine aisle of my neighborhood Publix like a hunter scouring the bush for an atypical buck. Finally, I settled on a 2005 vintage of Smoking Loon Zinfandel.
Why? First, I knew it was going to be a big, fruit forward wine. Its lower alcohol level of 13.5 percent was compatible to chilling – which often results in red wines tasting more of alcohol and tannin than fruit.
Here’s the back story on this ubiquitous California label:
Don Sebastiani, whose family has been in the wine business for more than a century, is a former Republican legislator who has a reputation for thumbing his nose at tradition. He and his sons formed Don Sebastiani & Sons in 2001, when Sebastiani stepped down from the family business his grandfather founded in 1904 when he came to Sonoma from Italy. Since then, father and sons have sourced grapes from around the world to blend into their affordable supermarket wines.
The company sells in the neighborhood of 2 millions case of wine a year – compared to many wineries I tell you about that have annual case production of less than 1,500 cases. The company consistently ranks just inside the top 20 largest wine makers in the United States.
And odds are, you’ve had one of its wines – or at least noticed one of its quirky labels. With names that puzzle, like Used Automobile Parts (a premium-riced wine), to those that tweak the establishment, like Screw Kappa Napa, the company boasts about a dozen labels. A division of the company – Three Loose Screws – produces its flagship brands Smoking Loon and Pepperwood Grove.
Even in bulk, serious wine making skills are a must. Its winemaker is Richard Bruno, a former distiller for Bonny Doon Vineyard and a consultant in the industry.
Still, the hold on the wines and the playful labels are a family affair. Son Don Jr. is the marketing director. August, heads up The Other Guys, a division of the company that produces labels such as Plungerhead, Hey Mambo and Le Bon Vin de la Napa Valley. The youngest child, daughter Mia, claims Mia’s Playground, a wine brand named after her. Its label has a picture of Mia and her mom, Nancy.
And if the wine, the labels and the anti establishment elements aren’t enough – look at the closures on these wines. From screw caps to synthetic corks to glass Vino-Seals to trendy Zorks – resealable closures that are as convenient as screw caps – the product line offers an eccentric feature crafted for nearly every audience.
Within each label is an impressive array of varietals. This is big wine doing what it does best – building brand loyalty with memorable marketing and wines that barely break a ten.
Until next week, cheers!

Wine of the week.
Smoking Loon 2005 Zinfandel – even chilled to the upper 40s – presents with a very blackberry aroma that gives way to dark chocolate and rich, ripe black fruits. That carries over to the taste – where ripe, luscious fruit offers natural sweetness with hardly a trace of tannin or acidity. The new vintage carries a reworked label – which is pictured here. Grocery prices will often top $10 a bottle for this wine – while wine retailers who carry the brand will sell for less than $10.
Mine paired great with hickory smoked chicken – but just about any grilled meat will be a willing companion to this easy drinking, casual wine.
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