E&J Gallo is good at making wines for Everyman. Joe Breen meets one of the company's chief winemakers
You don't know Cal Dennison, but he knows you. At least, he thinks he knows what you like to drink. It's his job to know. As chief winemaker for US wine giant E&J Gallo's Turning Leaf brand, in California's Central Valley, he has to create a range of wines which pass the "everyman in every country" test - wines which, he says, the consumer recognises as being good value, reliable and sufficiently distinctive to merit repeat purchase.
"When we talk Turning Leaf, we say, 'What style are we trying to deliver to our customer?' Being from California, we know our quality is very good because we are basically in the wonderful world of lack of defects - we just have great wine in the bottle in every variety. But the question to be answered is, what style are we promoting? And so the style is fresh fruit, easy-drinking wines that can match and pair well with food. It is a wine for everyday consumption, of course, but it is also a wine that can be used at a dinner party, a social event where you want to serve a nice wine, a wine that has a lot of character but also has drinkability."
Dennison, born in Canada and raised in California, and a man who would not look out of place in the cult wine movie Sideways, is passionate about his wine and defensive against anyone trying to knock it, or the concept of mass-market retail brands. He attributes the success of Turning Leaf to the care that is taken in all areas of production, from the growing and selection of fruit, to the time the wine spends in cask or container.
Certainly, a quick tasting proves his point. These are wines which are inoffensive, packed with fruit and easy to drink, yet broadly true to their California roots. Dennison agrees that the smaller Californian wineries are producing some very interesting wines, but is correct in pointing out that there is room for both his everyday wines and boutique offerings.
He believes that oak is now being better handled by Californian producers. "Today, as you see from our wines, and wines from places such as Australia and New Zealand, the oak is integrated, part of the wine's profile. The objective in the red wines is not to taste the oak tannins, but to taste the grape tannins that have the oak sweetness and the integrated oak aromas and flavours. So in our world we are using oak just to complement the fruit, not as an end in itself." Turning Leaf wines are widely available.