I would say that the wine is what it is. The name doesn’t mean as much as whether it is something that someone would like. I put in an order because it’s something that I can easily see myself enjoying.
As to the pizza in a Chinese restaurant analogy, there’s a lot of “pizza” being made these days that doesn’t come from Italian restaurants and that in my youth anyone who called it “pizza” would be mocked pretty severely.
The VA restrictions are a separate issue. They specifically passed a law requiring third party wine/alcohol merchants to register as an agricultural co-op. The requirements to be approved as such and/or the licensing fees involved are apparently too much to deal with and it doesn’t look like wine.woot will ship to VA anytime in the near future.
The problem with the other recently blackballed states appears to stem from NY laws which were recently re-interpreted in such a way that prevents wine.woot from shipping to NY as part of the state’s “three tier” system. Apparently, NY laws contain language similar to that of other states, which has caused temporary disruptions in service to those states as well.
That’s my understanding of what’s going on based on the little bit of information that’s floating around.
There is a discussion thread specifically about NY related shipping issues, and this conversation should really be taking place there, so I am going to cross-post this message to that thread which can be found HERE.
it’s been awhile, and I AM ITALIAN, so why not 
EDIT;
Last Wooter to Woot:fredrinaldi
I actually thought about you when I was writing the review - trying to connect in some with our similar progressions regarding Copa cab.
Oh please tell me it’s not at the Copa level, please, please, please.
Not at all, Fred. Had I mentioned Copa it would have been to assure any wondering wooters that it is not at all like Copa. But in that vein I could extend my thoughts.
I put the Copa in with the large market of mass markket cabernet that line the shelves of grocery stores (in states that allow such) in the the $8 to $12 range. They are all soft, rounded, semi-dry at most, and innocuous. Mirrasou and Barefoot, in my mind, are exemplars of what I’m thinking of. Most of the wines in that category I can’t take for more than half a glass. And to me that right where Copa sits. It’s pretty much Mirassou, at half the price.
I envy other states too because there are only three of us in Illinois that want to get a gathering together anymore.
It’s not the state. We don’t ever get more turnout than that for our western Washington events.
Despite the many issues CA may have, we don’t lack for frequency of events or turnout!