Count Mourvedre aka Rick Burbank
countonwine.com

Very good point.
In our shared passion for wine and debate we were getting a little off topic. I don’t really know where our jet-setting Balkan traveller is leaving from so I thought I would try and make recommendations which would be easy to fulfill. I look forward to future discussions.
To our intrepid Bulgarian visitor… If it isn’t too much trouble, I would be overjoyed if you would share with us what your brought and your winemaker friend’s comments. It is always an amazing prospect to have some fresh perspective.

Afterthought:

In 1960, how many Napa Cabs were available in NYC?

Appreciate your thoughts. I would only say here that what I drink and cellar is not necessarily exclusive of any other wines. Every publication must have a focus and editorial tone.

Arthur, I disagree with your presumptions about availability, consistency. Try to find the wines that you mentioned in any store outside New York, California or Chicago and you would have a serious treasure hunt on your hands. I also think that it is very easy to single out marketing and promotion as the single reason people are enamored with Napa wines. I have worked as a sommelier for several years for top chefs around the united states and will certainly give every region in the world their fair respect earned by the quality of the wines. I am in no way disparaging the reputation of the many wonderful Cabernet producers of the Central Coast. I am simply pointing out that you might miss a lot of beautiful wines if you champion and focus only on one region.

I couldn’t disagree more about the availability or consistency of Central Coast cabs. I focus on the Central Coast wines in my writing and there are plenty great cabs out of the region, though I do admit I overlooked the SCM in my post.

I don’t think consistency is the issue with these CC cabs, but rather marketing, spin and exposure. The fact is though, that these wines are far more consistent than people imagine (partially because they don’t think of the CC as cab country).

I would go with any of the following: Bernardus, the Jekel “Sanctuary” blend, Ventana does some pretty good things with cabs, Koehler, Foxen, Clautiere, Whalebone, Lucas & Lewellen (for solid values), Westerly, Villicana and Vogelzang – just off the top of my head.

These wines are overlooked because everyone is enamoured with Napa.

I certainly appreciate the input. I do love Central Coast wines. In fact, you left out one of my favorite appellations, the Santa Cruz Mountains. There are some brilliant central coast Cabernets, but they require some careful research to find that gem in a land dominated by Pinot and Rhone varietals. The challenge is that while the Central Coast has been producing these varietals for years, they don’t have the consistency or track record of wines from Napa, Sonoma or even Washington for that matter. Perhaps if you suggested some particular brands for our Balkan traveller, he might have more success in choosing a great wine to represent the Central Coast style.

If you want to give a spectrum of merlot or cabernet sauvignon, I would have to include wines from Carmel Valley, Arroyo Seco in Monterey, Santa Ynez Valley and Paso Robles.

I know it makes for more bottles, but the Central Coast has been producing these wines for many years. These regions produce merlot and cabernet sauvignon of tremendous merit. Not infrequently, these wines are superior to the stuff with the four-letter N-word on the label.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92864128&ft=1&f=3