Christy – Page 22 – Bending Elbows

An Old Classic Updated

Originally published on September 18, 2008.

A customer just told us this story:

A professor was lecturing his class. He filled a jar with some golf balls. “Is it full?” he asked. His class said yes. So then he put some pebbles into the jar which filled up the empty space. “Now is it full?” he asked. His class said yes. Then he put some sand into the jar, filling up all the remaining little spaces. “Now it’s full,” he said.

You’ve probably heard this version of the story – or read it one some annoying email chain letter – the golf balls are the important things in your life and the pebbles and the sand are the other things that just take up space. Focus on the golf balls, blah blah blah. Actually, I think the golf balls are actually rocks.

Anyhow, the customer had a little update to this story. In her version, there were two glasses of wine sitting next to the jar. So when the professor said the jar was full, the students wanted to know what the wine was for. So the professor dumped the glasses of wine into the jar, proving that there’s always time for a couple glasses of wine!

Keep Your Assets Liquid…Drink Wine…

Originally published on September 17, 2008 .

…so says the store outside my shop.

Given the current market climate, I think this is good advice.

Given my shops location between a major subway line and some of the Lehman/Merrill offices, it’s pretty amusing…in very, very dark, dry way. And when times are bad, people drink more, which for a wine shop, isn’t such a bad thing.

How to Keep Corks Happy Once Screwcaps Rule the Earth

Originally published on September 16, 2008.

The most commonly asked questions in my wine shop don’t involve wine. They don’t involve the parking rules for the spots outside the store. They don’t even involve directions to the World Trade Center (although that topic comes close.)

Surprisingly, the most commonly asked questions in my shop involve corks.

Actually, it’s not so surprising, because the back wall of my store is covered almost entirely in corks. Lots and lots of corks. And if you think it looks cool in the picture, it looks even cooler in person.

People are drawn to it, literally – drawn right behind the counter to where they can touch it. (This is a problem, because the staircase to the basement is right there as well, and if they don’t look where they’re going, they’ll be drawn right into a big hole.)

Children are especially fascinated by these corks. A few (including mine) have written their initials on a specific cork and come to visit it from time to time.

Misforecasting

Originally published on September 7, 2008.

So this weekend was the first official weekend of fall, at least according to the retail calendar. The wine drinkers in the neighborhood appear to back from their summer holidays and drinking wine with a vengeance! And let’s just say, I was a little bit unprepared. As of this moment we are out of, or 1 bottle away from being out of the following:

Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc –> go-to NZ Sauv Blanc
Rain Sauvignon Blanc –> a few bottles scrounged out of desperation on Friday to get me through the weekend. People seemed to like it so it may be added to the permanent line-up, at least temporarily)
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc –> between vintages. The 2008 will be here soon, thank goodness!
Stellina Pinot Grigio –> as good as Santa Margherita for less than half the price and it’s downright painful to be out of stock on this wine because people looooooooooooove pinot grigio!
Chateau Beau Vallon –> damn good St Emillion for $25 bucks
Roger Perrin Cote du Rhone –> the current winner in the on-going battle for the CdR space on the shelf
Terrazas Reserva Malbec –> was moving sort of slowly in August, but the last week, it has zoomed off the shelf
Sebastiani Chardonnay –> good Cali Chardonnay for less than $15. Fills the creamy/buttery slot for Chardonnay
Nell Chardonnay –> good Aussie Chardonnay for less than $15. It’s from Yarra Valley, where it gets quite cool, so it fills the crisper/cleaner Chardonnay slot
Domaine de la Noiraie Bourgueil –> had this open on Friday and it was a huge hit…huger than expected – only 2 bottles left!
Hirsch Riesling –> fantastic biodynamic Austrian producer. Love this wine
Ruinart Blanc de Blanc –> $66 may not seem like a bargain for a bottle of Champagne, but after all the recent price increases, it is! If I’m spending my own money on big house Champers, this is one of the few I’m buying
Julien Meyer Pinot Gris –> blew through a case of this in just over 2 weeks, which is amazing given that it’s one of the wines I always forget to recommend. Doesn’t seem to matter – people seem to know it and realize it’s fantastic stuff at a great price
Ecchverria Sauv Blanc –> people seem to inhale this one

Well, time to stop typing and get down to ordering…

Forget about school, let’s get Back to Wine…

Originally published on September 2, 2008 .

Haven’t written about wine in a while….so thought I’d give highlights of a couple recent tastes.

Donnhoff Riesling 2003 -No special vineyard designation, just plain old Donnhoff. That’s an oxymoron, really. Even basic Donnhoff is pretty fabulous. If you want to read all about the magic of Donnhoff, the best place is the Terry Theise catalog. I tasted this one blind and liked it at first sniff. It had that hint of petrol you can get with ageing Rieslings, but not too much. And to my nose, crystallized pineapple. Very pure, fresh, opulent without being full-on decadent. Just delicious. And acquired for the rock bottom price of $17 at a wine shop that shall remain nameless (at least until I go raid the selection myself…then I’ll give full disclosure.) In fact, I don’t even know the name – just the address – it’s one of those many fairly nondescript stores you’ll find on the streets of NYC that sometimes have treasures lurking on the shelves.

Actually, maybe I’ll give highlights on just one recent taste – it’s time to close shop and go home!

Kindergarten Crazies

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: The kindergartner mentioned above is … wait for it…. applying to colleges!!!! (1.23.2022)

Originally published on August 31, 2008.

Labor Day weekend is almost over and Fall is just around the corner. It’s almost OND! (October, November, December – the time of year when most wine stores actually make their money.) Time to start thinking about programming for cooler weather, for Thanksgiving, bubbles for the holidays, maybe some corporate gift programs.

TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT KINDERGARTEN!

Because this is New York City and even the sanest person can get a little crazy with the whole application process. For those of you outside of the Boroughs, yes, applications, for KINDERGARTEN!! Real thought must go into selecting the place where your juniors will hang out all day, slinging paint, eating crayons, and refusing to eat tasty school lunches. Actually, selecting the places where you hope the junior will get to hang out, because here in New York City, they also get to select you.

Oh well, it’s a good excuse to drink more wine…

The Real World Intrudes on the Rodney Strong Affair

Originally published on August 31, 2008.

As of today, the Rodney Strong Affair was still going strong with comments and twitters barely trailing off – despite this being a holiday weekend. Tim, one of the bloggers who reviewed the wine, posted a summary today.

I’ve been reading through all the posts and comments trying to formulate some sort of coherent opinion, but it’s hard to keep track of exactly what the issues are – they seem to change with every post.

The big question seems to be if ethics ‘were breached b/c the bloggers accepted samples in exchange for writing about the wine during a certain time period’? This remains the issue, whether the program was conceived by the Rodney Strong winery (as originally reported by both Tom Wark: Fermentation and Steve Heimoff) or Jeff at Good Grape (as was actually the case.)

My thoughts: Sure, yes, this breaches the journalistic code of independence that we (would like to) believe old guard media adheres to. But when it’s done so transparently, it just doesn’t feel like a breach of trust. I’ve been told exactly what’s going on and I can choose to believe what follows – or not. It’s a level of disclosure you never see in mainstream media.

Beyond this, the issues are plentiful: The original objectors to the program didn’t get their facts straight and wouldn’t just admit it. The program was an indicator that bloggers are taken as seriously as traditional media. The program was an indicator that bloggers were more easily manipulated than traditional press. The ethical concerns assume that bloggers want to play alongside traditional media. The original objectors are being hypocritical in their ethical objections. And on and on.

And as I read, I was wondering what the real world thought about this debate. Did they realize it as going on, or is it only bloggers that read the blogs? And if they were reading, what did they think of all this?

Finally, at some point late today, one lone voice from the real world emerged and sure enough, watching this was making him sad.

This week in Blogland…

Originally published on August 27, 2008.

Seems like it’s been a very busy week in Blogland, with several stories capturing the keyboards of bloggers across the internet. Rather than go into great detail myself, I’ll just do the hyperlink thing and take advantage of all the virtual ink that’s already been laid.

The Rodney Strong Affair: Rodney Strong gives samples of their new, high end wine to bloggers to review. Bloggers review it. The chattering classes chatter away about journalistic ethics, revolution, and the eventual mainstreaming of the blogging frontier. Tom Wark’s Fermentation has links, thoughts, and a rowdy comments page.
Little Trouble in Big Wine Spectator Land: That mighty marketing marvel, the Wine Spectator, gives out these silly restaurant awards. Actually, it doesn’t give them out, you have to pay $250 and send in some info. Recently, they gave one to a restaurant that doesn’t exist and the blogs and wine boards go wild! Bigger Than Your Head gives one of the more balanced summaries I’ve seen. While both of these stories have the blog world in a tizzy, I wonder if anyone in the ‘real world’ cares…..

You know how to spit, don’t you?….

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: I nearly spit out my coffee as I read this post. Because just yesterday I was re-reading Alice’s book, the very scene that describes spitting. And was I musing over the ridiculousness that every wine book requires such a scene? No I was not. I was wondering, “Hmmmmm…. how would I write about this myself?” So I have either become ridiculous, or there really is something so universally weird about learning how to spit wine that it does warrant a scene in every wine book. (And yes, “both” is a perfectly acceptable answer.)

Originally published on August 25, 2008.

….you just put your lips together and…no no no, that’s whistling. Spitting is a completely different matter – and apparently interesting enough to merit special mention in almost every wine memoir ever written.

I noticed this while working through this summer’s crop of wine-related books. In Reflections of a Wine Merchant, Neal Rosenthal devotes a full paragraph to the etiquette of spitting. Good aim, flair, and self-confidence are good. Drooling, dribbling, and barrel splattering are bad. In The Battle for Wine and Love, Alice Feiring remembers her first time time – especially the backsplash on her glasses.

I dug out a few older books and sure enough, in Red, White, and Drunk All Over, Natalie MacLean goes into great anatomical detail as to the mechanics (seems you can’t just put your lips together and blow). And in Bacchus & Me, Jay McInerney recalls the strangeness of tasting wine without swallowing during an interview with Helen Turely, his first as a newly-minted wine writer.

Apparently, if you write a book about wine, you must have well-defined opinions and memories about spitting. And here, I thought it was something you just did to keep from getting drunk.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #48: Hermann J. Wiemer Riesling

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Full disclosure… it’s almost certainly the Semi-Dry bottling that I was writing about, not the Dry bottling. And I’m laughing at my note that I probably wouldn’t order it again. I have, often, both Dry and Semi-Dry, and love them and love that people love them. I get antsy when at least one of them isn’t on the shelf at Copake Wine Works. I’m also laughing about my craving for “mind-numbing” acidity. These days, I often find myself bemoaning it as fashion and craving at least a bit of sugar. Oh dry bird of youth….

Originally published on August 22, 2o08.

Just a little over a week late…

The theme for this WBW was “Back to Your Roots” – the idea being to go back to one of the first wines that made some sort of impact on our wine-drinking selves. Although they were the first wines that actually touched my lips, I’m skipping the J Roget sparkling ‘champagne’ and Sutter Home White Zinfandel and going straight to Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Riesling.

The Wiemer winery is located in New York’s Finger Lakes region, which is also home to Cornell University, where I went to school. I wasn’t in the Hotel School, but my senior year, I took the school’s Intro to Wines class. This was an intimate wine education course for 500 – 800 people. It was a model of logistical efficiency – imagine the complexities required to get tasting-sized portions of 5 – 7 wines to an auditorium filled with thirsty college students.

The first tasting session focued on Cornell’s backyard – the Finger Lakes wineries. Since it gets cold there, the region is best suited to the same grapes you’ll find in Germany or Alsace – espeically Riesling. This was a lucky twist of geography because the Riesling is an easy grape to love, especially the trademark Finger Lakes style of that time (early 90’s) which was dry, but not too dry. It was the perfect first step into the ‘real world’ of wine beyond White Zinfandel and J. Roget sparkling ‘champagne’.

The Wiemer Riesling was one of the wines we tried that first class and the wine store just off campus wisely displayed bottles of it which many of us picked up on the way home. I introduced my friends to the wine and it was a confidence booster to see that they liked it as well. It felt like proof that wine didn’t have to be a scary, snob-ridden thing. The Wiemer not only introduced me to the world of wine-beyond-blush, but it also introduced me to the joy of sharing and introducing that world to others.

So the Wiemer was the wine I had in mind for this WBW. Of course I didn’t get my act together and the Wendesday passed without notice. But that Saturday I was at Terrior, leafing through their Summer of Riesling list….and there it was….the Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Riesling 2006!

So how did it taste? Like the really easy to love starter wine I remember it as. It didn’t have the mind-numbing acidity that I now tend to look for in my dry Rieslings. Nor did it have the precise balance of sweetness and tartness you find in the best sweet German Rieslings. But it was nice – notes of lime, minerality, hints of honey, enough sweetness to please a neophite wino’s sweet tooth balanced by enough acidity to raise the experience up a notch or two on the sophistication scale.

Would I order it again? 15 years into my (legal) wine drinking career, probably not…my palate has evolved and I like my Rieslings styled a little bit differently. Would I bring it into the store and recommend it to those just starting to get into wine? Probably. After all, you need to start somewhere!

Author: Christy