Fetzer Mussels in on The List

After saying, just a few posts ago, that we don't drink much California wine at home, here we are opening a second bottle of a California white in the same week. What's going on?

There's no chance that said proclamation has Californian winemakers raising their voices to the heavens - or BC producers quaking in their boots - nor should it. Boo is just pushing me really hard to drink up the wines that we already have - and this one was laying around. It didn't hurt that it should match up with tonight's mussels either.

1160. 2008 Fetzer Vineyards - Valley Oaks Sauvignon Blanc (California)

The Fetzer brand is one that I certainly recognize but I can't say that I'm at all familiar with their wines. This is the first wine of their's that I'm adding to The List - and, to be honest, I don't even think I bought it. I think it's a straggler that was left behind from a party.

Not knowing much more than the name, I asked Mr. Google for a bit of assistance. I'm not surprised that (at least in the early 1990's) it produces over two million cases annually - which I'm sure is far more than the entire BC wine production - but I was surprised by the emphasis their website places on the winery's commitment to sustainability and environmental impact. I was also oblivious to the fact that Fetzer operates the organic producer Bonterra that does so well in our market and that Fetzer, itself, was purchased by Chile's Viña Concha Y Toro in 2011.

Entry level. Easy drinking. 96.6% Sauv Blanc with small percentages of Chardonnay, Semillon and Viognier, it's not going to set any sophisticated palates on fire. But then, at the same time, it's quaffable and affordable - and there's lots of it. So many of the wines I find myself drinking are ones that I'll never find again because there was so little of it made, one site I saw says that Fetzer made 630,000 cases of this wine alone.

What more do you need on a weeknight as the summer starts to kick in?