Author: Christy

It’s the End of the World as We Know It: Box Wine in a Fine Wine Store

Originally published on August 19, 2008

Time to confront all the snobbish notions you hold about wine and what it’s supposed to be….box wine has made the New York Times!! Check out Dr. Vino’s op/ed piece right here. For even more fun, check out the comments related to the article on his blog. I find these comments especially interesting for two reasons.

First, they highlight how complex the whole notion of ‘green’ consumption is. I’m not in the mood to get on my high horse about the complexities of organic vs sustainable vs the ever-looming carbon footprint, but trust me, you don’t want to come into the shop and ask for organic wine when I’m in an ‘educational’ frame of mind. You’ll leave with a nice wine, but your head will be spinning. It’s not a simple subject.

Second, the comments highlight how much snobbery there is built into the whole wine experience. Call it ‘ritual’ if you want, but turning up your nose at screw caps or box wine simply because you miss the pop of a cork or the glint of light on a bottle….it really just blows my mind. These are two packaging options that are a good thing, period. You can’t argue that screw caps are the best way to cap off wine meant to be consumed within a year or two of bottling (which is most wines, really.) And there’s nothing about putting a wine into a tetrapak that magically turns that wine into complete crap. Just because there isn’t much good wine out there in a tetrapak doesn’t mean it can’t be done. And while the recycle-ability of tetrapaks vs. bottles may be debatable, the fuel savings related to shipping the lighter packing material aren’t.

Frankly Wines already carries one of the wines mentioned in the Times piece – the ‘unoaked malbec made from organically grown grapes’. It’s called Yellow + Blue (make green, get it?) and I brought it in for the same reason I bring in every wine – it represents great wine for the price. The fact that it was in a tetrapak was just an added bonus – it’s always fun to have something on the shelves that will tweak people’s expectations about what wine is supposed to be…good wine in a box? Absolutely!

Chateau Musar – Cellar in a Box

Originally published on August 9, 2008.

One of the things I like most about being a retailer is dreaming up cool ways of selling wine – hang tags with quirky tasting notes, 2 or 3-packs that play on a theme or a varietal, rotating displays and features, and so on. For a while, I’ve wanted to put together some 12-bottle cases that play on different themes – summer whites, a Bordeaux starter case, a wine course in a box – the list could be endless. But the day to day of the store seems to always come first. But when I heard that one of my distributors was pre-selling some Chateau Musar back vintages, I decided I had to act!

Chateau Musar is one of my all-time favorite wines with a back story that’s the stuff of legends. Winery and vineyards are located in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Founded in the 1930’s, with wine produced in nearly every harvest despite battles waged among the vines. Cellars that served as bomb shelters in the 80’s. Certain vintages that taste of gunpowder.

What I really like about Chateau Musar is that it tastes like nothing so much as itself. When describing wine to customers, I’ll often compare regions and grapes, like some wino-version of a Hollywood pitch (it’s like a Beaujolais on steroids with a little bit of Shiraz-spice thrown in.) But with Chateau Musar, there are no comparisons. It’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Cinsault and a few other grapes. It’s a constantly evolving mix of exotic spices, stunningly vibrant fruit, earthy, gamey, meatiness. It lasts practically forever and is a classic example of a wine that you want to keep tasting as it changes. You want to grow old together.

Ah, growing old with a wine – buying a case or two of a specific vintage, drinking one bottle every year or so until you decide it’s just the way you like it and then polishing off what’s left. Such is the dream…You read that advice everywhere, but it’s not so practical in real life.

So when I heard that the Musar importer was putting some of the back vintages up for sale, I decided I was going to put together a little Musar cellar-in-a-box. 12 bottles of various vintages, including one bottle of the highly obscure Musar white.

It will include:

  • 3 bottles each of the 1997, 1995, and 1994 vintages – three very different young (for Musar) wines to be opened now, later and much later to see how they evolve
  • 1 bottle each of 1991 and 1988 – two older wines that are generally thought to be the two best vintages of the last 20 years
  • 1 bottles of the 1995 white, which is a whole other bottle of uniqueness – read about a recent vintage here

While it’s not cheap, I’ve priced it to be a much better buy than purchasing all the bottles individually (if you could even find them.) And it’s still much less than buying even one bottle of a top Bordeaux.

I think it’s a pretty cool concept. We’ll see if anyone else does.

This Week’s 3-Pack…..

Originally published on August 7, 2008.

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Over 10 year later and we’re still selling these wines up at Copake Wine Works. I walked in one weekend and there they were, on the shelf. Celene, my trusty manager who traveled up to the wilds of the Berkshires from Tribeca had tried them, liked them and added the to a recent order. Now she had never tried them back at the old store – they had left the market, or we had lost track of the distributor, or any of a million things that result in a wine disappearing from the shelves. But tasty wine at a good price (and yes, a cute bottle) will find a way to those who are always searching. Even if they are located way up in Copake!

….IS A 2-PACK!

Funky-looking bottles. Funky blends from a funny, little-known region of France. Lots of interesting facts for the wine-geeks among you, but for those just interested in good juice, this fits the bill.

Producer: J. MOURAT PERE & FILS – Father and son team, practicing organic.

Region: FIEF VENDEENS MAREUIL – An obscure region within France’s Loire Valley, near the Atlantic Ocean (“only a handful of minutes away” to quote the lovely translation on their web site). The region is part of the equally obscure VDQS classification. VDQS basically stands for “wine classified as superior quality”. It’s always mentioned in the the more academic (some would say pedantic) wine tasting courses out there, but rarely do you see it in real life – until NOW!

J Mourat ‘Collection’ Rouge: A blend of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, and Negrette. (This is the definition of funky.) Soft red fruits from the Piont Noir, a litle bit of garden-fresh earthiness from the Cab Franc, and some extra structure from the Negrette. What, never heard of the Negrette grape? Neither had I until the day I bought this wine. And on that very day, I tried two different wines which had Negrette in the blend. This one, as well as one from Greece. Perhaps it’s the start of a trend?

J Mourat ‘Collection’ Blanc: A blend of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. (We did say ‘funky’.) I don’t know if it’s a rule, but both whites I’ve tried from this region were a blend of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. The Chenin Blanc gives the wine a crisp, almost racy acidity, citrus peel notes, and some minerality. All that raciness is balanced by the fuller Chardonnay which also adds a little hint of pear. It’s an odd combination but it works.

Summer Wines Almost Under $15: A Big Bottle of German Happiness

Originally published on July 30, 2008.

At $15.99 it’s just over $15, but it’s a Liter, so if you equivalized it to a standard 750ml bottle, it would be under $15. And a big bottle of happiness is worth the extra dollar.

This wine is the liquid equivalent of a summer beach read (chick-lit, to be specific): a little sweet, a little racy, and it goes down quick and easy. It has more in common with those trashy celeb-filled magazines than with War & Peace, but a life filled only with Russian novels can be a little overbearing.

Halbtroken’ means ‘half dry’. And if you’re one to turn up your nose at the idea of any wine with a bit of sweetness to it, then you’ll be missing out on a really fabulous summer drinking experience. That little hint of sweetness makes this wine the perfect pairing for spicy foods. Or salty foods. Or just an empty glass in need of liquid fulfillment. It has classic Riesling notes of lemon/lime, minerals, green apples with the crisp acidity that plays off against the sweetness and makes you want to sip.

Not much more to say – this isn’t a wine meant to inspire rapturous analysis and discussion. It’s meant to be drunk. Cold, and often. Enjoy.

Frankly Wines is Zagat Rated!

Originally published on July 27, 2008.

So the 2009 New York City Gourmet Shopping & Entertainment Guide has hit the shelves. And my store is in it with a big ‘NEW’ next to it. Even better, I neither paid anyone nor asked anyone to write the review – it just happened. So in the name of shameless self-promotion, here’s the the review:

A “frakly fabulous addition to the neighborhood” according to locals, this new TriBeCa wine boutique uncorks a “small but thoughtfully selected” range of labels highlighting small producers and wines from the Southern Hemisphere (Australia and New Zealand, Argentina and Chile, etc.); those who’ve discovered it give a thumbs-up to the fair prices and “perfect recommendations” from its able staff.

2009 New York City Gourmet Shopping & Entertainment Guide

I couldn’t be more pleased with the review even if I had paid someone!

Desperately Seeking Cheap and Cheerful Pinot Grigio

Originally published on July 21, 2008.

Cheap and cheerful Pinot Grigio – it’s one of those bread and butter items that every neighborhood store has to have. And I have been having a devil of a time keeping one on the shelf. My usual $10 – $11 bottle was out of stock at the distributor. It’s now back in stock, but before I could get more than a case or two, the distributor shut down. For two weeks. During a heat wave. Another week to go before they open and there’s no more cheap and cheerful Pinot Grigio on my shelf and the weather is still pushing 90+ degrees.

Sure, I have the Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio, which is a fabulous wine, but at more then $20/bottle, it’s not what most people want when they come in looking for a Pinot Grigio. I also have a nice Godello from Spain – Valdesil Montenovo. To my palate, it’s more interesting than Pinot Grigio, but still has that crispness, slight citrus edge and general neutralness that most people want in their Pinot Grigio. (In wine-speak, ‘neutral’ means ‘doesn’t taste like much’ or ‘alcoholic water’ or, to take a phrase from my Polaner rep Linus, ‘refreshingly inconsequential’ which frankly, is what most people look for in a Pinot Grigio.) And while the Godello can stand in for Pinot Grigio in a pinch, at $13, it’s still a couple dollars more than most people want to pay for their ‘refreshingly inconsequential’ beverage – and most damningly, it doesn’t say “PINOT GRIGIO.”

As luck would have it, one of my sales reps happened to have a sample handy of a nice little Pinot Grigio that fit my cheap and cheerful requirements. I like to try everything I sell, even those wines that fall into the cheap and cheerful category (in the Frankly Wines case, that’s $9.99, or $10.83 with tax). I especially like to try those wines. I think if people see that you take as much care selecting your lowest priced wines as you do with your higher priced wines, they’ll have more confidence in your entire selection.

So I tried the wine and it definitely fit the bill – . It’s not life-changing wine, and if you don’t already like Pinot Grigio, it won’t make you a fan (try the Livio Felluga for that). But it tastes crisp, clean, with a hint of citrus, clearly says Pinot Grigio on the bottle, and will sit happily on the shelf at $9.99. Actually, given the heatwave, it probably won’t do much sitting.

Unfortunately, i don’t remember the name of it, but that’s not really the point.

My First Wine Blogging Wednesday

Originally published on July 19, 2008.

Yeah, I know today isn’t actually Wednesday, but I just read the announcement for Wine Blogging Wednesday #48 on the LENNDEVOURS blog and I’m very excited!

(For details on what Wine Blogging Wednesday is, go here.)

This may be WBW#48, but for me, it’s the first time. And fittingly, the August theme is “Back to Your Roots” so I get to start at the beginning: we’re each supposed to go back and re-taste a wine from our wine-tasting baby days.

Could be 1) the first wine we ever had – in my case, Sutter Home White Zinfandel, or if we’re counting anything with ‘wine’ on the (plastic) bottle, then it would be a California ‘wine’ Cooler.

Or could be 2) something we drank a lot of in our early wine-drinking days. In my case, that would be slightly sweet Rieslings (especially Finger Lakes Rieslings given that I was at Cornell, far above Cayuga’s waters).

Or could be 3) the first wine that was an ‘a-ha’ wine, a wine that was somehow a life-changing (or at least a palate changing) experience.

I’ll probably take the second route and I hope most of the WBW bloggers do the same. The ‘wine-that-changed-my-life’ stories can be a little cliche – mainly because they always seem to revolve around gorgeously-aged Barolos, heart-breakingly perfect Burgundies or a brilliant bottle of vintage Krug pulled out from a moldy cave (preferably by a Krug family member.) And most people don’t just randomly come across a glass of ‘life-changing’ wine – chances are they already have some sort of wine history beyond Yellow Tail before they made it to that moment.

Sure, there are be plenty of a-ha-moment wines that don’t involve 5-star bottle. Moments when our taste buds realized that balance, elegance, even restraint could be a beautiful thing. But that’s sort of cliche as well. Change the name of the wine and the region, but the story is still the same.

What I really want to read about is what came before that. If everyone is really really true to what those wines were, I’ll bet there are many happy bottles of buttery chardonnays, fruit bomb reds, and slightly (or not so slightly) sweet whites that weren’t exactly models of balance and elegance – a graveyard of wine skeletons we now bemoan as suited only for the great lead-palated masses.

But we all had to start somewhere and for those not born into wine royalty, that start was probably a long way from whatever we’ve evolved into, be it a burghound, rock-head, point-chaser (although there don’t seem to be many point-chasers roaming blogland), or just a generally promiscuous wine slut.

The point is, our wine tastes evolve over time. Obviously that’s stating the obvious. But since most blogs revolve around where a given drinker wound up, I think it would be espeically interesting to learn where we started.

Bring out those skeletons!

More Summer Wines Under $15: Domaine de la Noiraie Bourgueil Rose 2007

Originally published on July 19, 2008.

This is the time of the year when wine stores should be selling the roses they already have on hand – not buying new ones. But when Eva, one of my reps brought this one in to try, I just had to throw caution to the wind and bring some in. Good idea it appears – we sampled it on Friday and went sold almost 2 cases in 2 hours. For a little store like mine, that’s pretty stunning. Needless to say, more of this little gem will be arriving on early next week.

Domaine de la Noiraie is located in Bourgueil, a sub-region within the larger Loire Valley region. If it says Bourgueil on the lable it’s Cabernet Franc in the bottle. Outside of the Loire, it’s unusual to find a wine that’s 100% Cabernet Franc. It’s most often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Merlot to make a Bordeaux-style blend (unless of course you’re actually in Bordeaux, where’s just called, well, Bordeaux). But in the Loire, in regions like Bourgueil and Chinon, Cabernet Franc is the star grape and makes wines that are unique, food-friendly, and relative bargains.

As a red wine, any true expression of Cabernet Franc will have a little bit of funky earthiness to it, like the scent of a garden after a rainfall – fresh, wet, green earth. It may sound icky when put in these terms, but combined with the usual red fruits of the grape, it makes for the perfect summer red – a little lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon, but still capable of being very serious. The wine can be made in such a way that the little bit of green funkiness disappears, but then what’s the point – might as well just drink a Cab Sauv if that’s what you want.

This happy little Cab Franc rose has that little green edge as well. It comes through as celery or maybe cucumbers and combines with the berry/watermelon notes to make for a very refreshing drink. If you’ve ever had a Pimms Cup, then you know a little bit of cucumber is a good thing in a summer beverage. If not, you’ll just have to trust me.

The producer, Domaine de la Noiraie has a blog tracking the harvest activity. It’s in French and the google translation renders it even more incomprehensible. One of the posts is titled ‘Repliage Chopsticks!’ I have no idea what it means, but it sounds as exuberant and happy as this wine tastes. So raise a glass and make a toast……….Repliage Chopsticks!!

So I Passed…

Originally published on .July 17, 2008

A few weeks ago I was writing about studying for my WSET Diploma Unit 2 test. (It beat actually studying.) Well, I passed! With Distinction! I was sort of hoping I would fail, because then I could just end this whole madness of getting this fancy-dancy certification.

So what is this whole WSET Diploma thing? To start, WSET = Wine & Spirits Educational Trust. It’s a London-based organization that offers wine education and formal qualifications (certificates, diplomas, very British). Originally, the qualifications were intended for people in the wine trade, but increasingly, a lot of people not in the industry are taking the courses as well. It’s pretty intense and fairly wine-geeky.

The Diploma is the top level of the various qualifications the WSET offers. Going after it entails a 2 – 3 year commitment and the completion of 5 units. Courses in New York are taught at the International Wine Center.

You start off with the Unit 2 (I’ll get to Unit 1 later) which is culminates in multiple choice test on viticulture and vinification (grape-growing and winemaking in normal-speak). Sample questions: what’s the maximum sulphur content that can be added to red wine in the EU (which is different that what can be added to white wine, sweet wine, or very sweet wine.) If you remove a tree from plot 3 (referencing a cute little diagram) what happens to plot 5?

Once you take that test, you can move on to the remaining units in any order you chose. Unit 3 focuses on still wine tasting. The final test – 3 flights of 3 wines each. You taste each flight blind, write tasting notes, including a guess as to what each wine is. (You need to be more specific than ‘red’ or ‘white’.) Then you have lunch and come back and answer a bunch of essays. Units 4, 5, and 6 are similar to Unit 3, but focus on sparkling wines, fortified wines, and spirits. And Unit 1 involves writing a series of research papers on various business issues related to wine or spirits.

And when you’re done, you get a Diploma! And wine-world bragging rights! And probably a pin!

So why go though this gauntlet? For me, it’s a challenge, and I like challenges. And a lot of interesting people in the industry are ‘going for their Diploma’ so it’s a good networking environment, even if some of the people in the program are a little, um, intense (aka annoying, smarty-pants types.)

And once I’m done with this, I can move on to the Masters of Wine, another extremely fabulous qualification. But more on that next time…I have a research paper to start…

Another Summer Wine Under $15: Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais-Village

Originally published on July 12, 2008.

Beaujolais was the first red wine I ever drank and it remains my go-to recommendation for people just starting to cut their teeth on red wine. Made from the Gamay grape, it’s light, low in tannins, can handle a bit of chill. The wines i like have what I call a ‘sweet-tart’ quality and offer up a nice balance of fruit, earth, and crisp acidity.

(This is where trying to describe a wine can get you in trouble – some people hear ‘sweet’ and think yuck, some people hear ‘tart’ and think yuck, but I say it and think ‘yum’. For me, it’s shorthand for the sort of lip-smacking sweet-and-sour combination that makes so many foods and drinks so refreshing, like a Tom Collins or Sidecar made properly with fresh juices.)

Anyhow, I love Beaujolais for it’s ‘sweet-tart’ quality.

Beaujolais has somewhat of a bad reputation among ‘serious’ wine drinkers as being little more than a fruity-tooty version of red wine. And certainly a lot of the bigger, more commercial Beaujolais brands are more fruity than tarty (maybe that makes them tarty in a different way?). But there are plenty of smaller producers making a more classic, old-school version. And not every wine needs to be ‘serious’ to be good. That’s like never going to the beach because you could go to the library instead. And I’m not even going to get started on Cru Beaujolais which, aside from just sounding gorgeous as it roles off the tongue, can be absolutely serious and age-worthy.

So for me, for summer, it’s all about a nice, easy Beaujolais-Village. I currently have one on the shelf: Domaine de la Madone ‘Perreon’ Beaujolais-Village 2006. It’s got the fruit-tart goodness that cools you down on a hot summer day, or brightens up a rainy summer day. It even pairs well with air-conditioning. What more could you want for less than $15 (including tax).