Apothic Red

You go into a nice little wine store looking for something new. The clerk greets you briefly and goes back to his phone.  You wander to the shelves and are immediately stunned by the number of bottles that stare back at you. Bottles from France, Napa, Portugal and Italy stand waiting for you to pick them up. Come on – take a chance! You shrug, look aimlessly around and grab something that you recognize.  The Apothic Red.  Good old Apothic.

Why do so many people love (and hate) this cheap and cheerful wine?  What exactly does Apothic mean, anyway?  The All-dictionary says “stunning or spectacular”.  How can a cheap and cheerful blend from California be “stunning or spectacular”? Some wine critics have pronounced Apothic “undrinkable”.  So why is it so popular?

Their website leads us down a path of marketing mystery, “Inspired by the “Apotheca”, a mysterious place where wine was blended and stored in 13th Century Europe. Apothic Red is one of the best red wines, offering a truly unique wine experience.” Wine maker, Debbie Jurgenson “looks for a unique blend of grapes to create intense aromas and bold flavours”.

It’s fruit-forward and sweet – over 16 grams of residual sugar.  Another wine reviewer suggested the Apothic as a good pairing with dark chocolate – so it can’t be all bad!  Apparently, we (the wine drinking public) say that we like dry wine but actually really like sweeter wine.  There seems to be a bias toward ‘dry’ – because it seems more sophisticated?  But many of us like sweeter, fruity wines like the Apothic.  And you can’t beat the price!  Under $15 in BC.