4. I am always (not so) subtly pleased with myself when I already have something on my shelves that pops up in the New York Times Wednesday wine column. Well….guess what happened today! One of my wines popped up again. The Chateau de Rouquefort Corail Rose 2009 was the #1 choice of the annual rose tasting panel. Some of you may remember meeting the winemaker/owner, Raimond Villanueve when he was pouring at the store a couple months ago. Feel free to brag about that to your friends.
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: I can’t believe that it took me nearly three years from opening the shop to stock this wine. And I can’t believe I stocked it on a whim! I still adore this wine and love selling it… and need to reorder it for Copake Wine Works soon. Looking back, this wine (along with the Bornard poulsard pet-nat) were probably the first big steps I took into the natural wine-proper side of things.
This would have been long before natural wine morphed into “natty wine,” when it was just starting to tiptoe into wine shops like mine – the cool, neighborhood-focused shop that stocked small production wines… but didn’t really focus too deeply on what “production” actually meant.
Originally published on June 6, 2010.
Time to wrap up on this Unreliable Witness series. I’m going to close it with a success story – and give a mention to a tasty, funky wine I’ve been wanting to mention for a while. A combo That-Customer-Wine-You-Never-Knew-You-Needed column.
Like I’ve said before, the best way to make sure you can find that great wine you had the other night is to write it down. Better yet, write it down….and take a picture. Then you can be the success story instead of the poor follow looking for the French wine with the house on the label.
Real Life Example: That Customer #4.6 – The Success Story:
So in this example, Customer #4.6 calls us. He’s looking for a wine he had the other night. He knows it was sparkling, had Dolce in the name, and was from somewhere in Italy. He thinks the producer was Donati and most importantly…he’s taken a picture of the label!
He emails it to us and yes, it’s dark and blurry and obviously taken at the end of a late night in a dark bar, but it’s enough that we can put everything together and confirm he wanted the Donati Camillo Malvasia Dolce Frizzante 2007
So we special ordered him a case and the story ended happily!
But that’s not the end of it…I was intrigued enough by his description to order an extra case for the store. Clearly, this was the rare…
Wine I Never Knew I Needed
Now I don’t usually order wine sight-unseen (well, bottle-un-tasted) but this bottle had several things going for it.
1) Customer #4.6 described it as a cross between cider, wheat beer, and cream soda, a funky combination I found oddly irresistible.
2) It’s part of the Louis/Dressner portfolio which is filled with oddly irresistible wines and one of a handful of importers from whom I’ll buy the occasional case without sampling.
3) I hadn’t been able to try it at the recent Louis/Dressner trade tasting because by the time I arrived (I always seem to arrive later than I’d like) it had already been drained by the sipping masses. While disappointing, this is usually a good sign.
4) It’s from the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, home to many delightful fizzy wines (including Lambruco) which the perfect companions to salty snacks. And I’m always looking for companions to salty snacks.
So I decided to make a leap of faith and bring in an extra case for the store. And it is indeed tasty. It’s not the easiest wine to sell – the cider/beer/cream soda description scares off a lot of people, as does the fact that it’s slightly sweet. But those who have tried it (me, my mother, a group of people in Indiana who keep ordering bottles of it) really like it.
It’s weird, but good. And we all need a little of that in our lives.
In an earlier That Customer #4 post, I set out some of the reasons why it may be difficult to find that great white wine you had last week at a restaurant that was from Italy or maybe Spain with a blue heart on the label or maybe it was a fish but you’ll know it when you’ll see it.
Even if you remember the country, you’re still going to have difficulties remember the wine. Especially if it’s from France. The following real life example is especially instructive. It’s also amusing, but let’s just assume I’m sharing it because it’s instructive.
Real Life Example: That Customer #4.5:
So That Customer #4.5 comes in. He’s just getting into wine and he’s super excited because he had something the other night that he really enjoyed. It was the first red he’d ever had that he actually liked and he wanted to get another bottle or two.
What he remembered:
The wine was from France. And it had a fancy house on the label. And he’d know it when he saw it.
So he walks over to the France section. And he sees a bottle with a fancy house on the label. Chateau something-or-other.
That’s it! (Major excitement! Huge!)
And then he looks at the bottle next to it. Which is also called Chateau something-or-other. And has a fancy house on it.
Or maybe it’s that one. (A little less excitement.)
And then he looks to the bottle next to that one. Another fancy house. Same as the next one. And the next one. And the one above it. And below it.
Now he’s bummed. And we’re bummed because he’s bummed. The excitement has rapidly drained away.
This is because about 45.65% of the bottles from France have fancy houses on the label. Another 32.14% feature some sort of clever drawing and obscure French-language pun. And the remaining 22.21% have no defining features whatsoever*.
So as much as we wanted to help him, there wasn’t much we could do. Well, there was plenty we could do – we had him describe the wine as best he could and gave him something we thought he would like. But if we knew the specific wine (or grape, or region) he was looking for, we would have had a very helpful reference point.
There is a moral to the story:
The next time you taste something you like, just write it down or take a picture. Chances are even if you’re carrying around some last-generation mobile phone, you have a camera or some sort of memo function. This little step will save you from being a bummed out That Customer #4.5.
Instead, you can be That Customer #4.6, who emailed us a photo of a bottle he was trying to track down. We looked it up, found the distributor, placed an order and voile – Customer #4.6 was soon the proud owner of a case of his heart’s desire. (Which did NOT have a house on the label.)
* This numbers are 100% fictitious (at least as far as I know.) Please don’t tell me you took them seriously.
The holiday weekend is over, I’m closing shop in an hour, and I’m feeling lazy. So even though I had always planned on posting about the summertime magic that is Txacoli, I’m going to take the lazy way out and point you to an older post about…the summertime magic that is Txacoli.
If you actually click through, you may notice I’m writing about the Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina. Yet in this post, there’s a picture of the Arregi Getariako Txakolina. Hmmmm, something a little (shell)fishy about that? (Shellfish – perfect pairing with Txakoli.) Certainly any wine retailer/blogger worth her salt(y snacks, another perfect pairing) can keep her bottles straight?
Sure I can. But like I said, I’m feeling a little lazy. And the old post describing that Txacoli also perfectly describes this Txacoli. But this one is $16 vs. the $22 – $24 the Ameztoi is now going for. Now the Ameztoi is tasty, and possibly even a slight bit more complex than the Arregi. But even the most complex Txacoli isn’t a terribly complex wine. Not that there are tons and tons of them floating around, but given the success of the Ameztoi, which used to be the only game in town, there are now a few more to chose from. And most of them are less expensive, which is a good thing because having an under-$20 option makes it much easier to introduce the thirsty masses to the summertime joys of Txacoli.
My choice this year, the Arregi, was actually my choice last year. But by the time I had tried it, I had already made my Txacoli commitments for the summer. Txacoli is one of those wines where you guess what you’ll need over the summer, buy deep early on and hope you guessed right. Go too deep – you’re trying to convince people Txacoli is also an excellent cold weather beverage. Not deep enough – and you’re scrambling for more come the heat of August. Sort of like air-conditioning units during a heat wave.
Anyhow, that’s your lesson on how a retailer thinks about making the annual Txacoli purchase. To read about the wine, like I noted above, go here and replace Ameztoi with Arregi.
See that thing sitting on the arm of that chair? What do you think it could be?
Look like a juice box of some sort? For those of you with a European bent, maybe a carton of Ribena or a box of milk?
Well, it is a box of juice. A Tetra-Pak of juice to be specific.And that juice happens to be made of grapes And those grapes have been fermented. Sort of like……….wine! Yes, it’s WINE! In a little 500ml Tetra-Pak container that looks absolutely nothing like a bottle of wine. Think of the possibilities.
As for what’s in this little non-glass-bottle, it’s an easy-drinking Cabernet Sauvignon from California. It’s not the most complex Cabernet you’ve ever had, but picnics, park benches, and baseball games don’t really cry out for overly complex wine. It’s a tasty, lighter-bodied (for Cabernet), highly-drinkable wine.
And…it’s made from organically-grown grapes.
And….it costs $8.99.
Why on earth wouldn’t you want to buy a bunch right now??
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Back in the day, we could just plop in pictures from anywhere into our blog posts. In the many years that have followed, we’ve learned that we should be concerned about copywrite rules and proper payment for content creators – even, or especially, those on the internet. So rather than plop in the picture, go have a look at their wine cartoons – and if you like them, buy them!
I can’t find the cartoon I posted back in 2010 on their site. It’s a little different than the How to Appreciate Wine version that I liked below. What I had originally posted was How to Truly Appreciate Wine. And it went like this:
Attend a history of wine lecture: MAYBE
Attend a wine tasting course: MAYBE
Read literature on the subject: MAYBE
Watch documentaries on the subject: MAYBE
Buy a bottle and drink it with someone nice: DEFINATELY
True then. Still true today.
Originally posted on May 28, 2010.
I subscribe to a lot of daily email lists, all somewhat related to wine, wine/press, food, and restaurants: HARO, Urban Daddy, Thrillest, FoodEatDrink, Tasting Table, Buffalo Trace, winejobs, decanter, Garagiste and who knows how many retail store sites. My in-box (well, honestly, my trash box) is filled enough wine/food industry news to fill a cable network. But I also subscribe to Harold’s Planet which publishes a daily carton about a blobby little guy named….you guessed it….Harold. Some of his thoughts/adventures are really funny, some are a little weird, and occasionally, like today, they’re about wine and absolutely, 100% spot-on.
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Oh how I loved that Bornard Poulsard. Some day, when I’m feeling sentimental, I’ll write an entire post about it filled with all sorts of (literally) explosive stories about it!
Originally published on May 26, 2010.
Pop tops. Beer caps. Bottle caps. Whatever you want to call them…(try “crown cap” or “crown seal” if you want to seem really technologically fancy)…they’re popping up more and more often beyond the realm of beer bottles and old school Coca Cola. You’ll increasingly see them topping off bottles of…gasp…wine! Yes, wine!
Here are several reasons you shouldn’t be turning up your nose:
1. You don’t need a corkscrew to open them. And really, who wants to deal with a corkscrew when it’s 92 degrees out and the humidity is at 80%. In a pinch, you can just use your teeth.
2. Even uber-pricey bottles like Cristal and Krug spend a good portion of their life under crown cap before getting dosaged and gussied up with a fancy cork. If it’s good enough for these “luxury bottlings,” surely it’s good enough for your roof top wine.
3. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll miss out on some of the coolest, freshest, most summer-appropriate wines on the shelf.
Frankly Wines currently has at least 4 different wines in stock bottled under crown cap. We probably have 5, but one of those is our last bottle of Rene Mosse’s Moussamoussettes and we’re not letting anyone buy it so it doesn’t count. But we are willing to sell the other four:
Hofer Gruner Veltliner 1 Liter Jug (Niederosterreich, Austria):$11.99 Hofer Zweigelt 1 Liter Jug (Niederosterreich, Austria):$11.99
These jugs of Austrian happiness are becoming a summertime fixture in wine shops across the city. Customers pick up one on a whim (or because we twist their arm) and almost always come back for more. Usually several more.
The Gruner is crisp and clean with a hint of citrus and a zip of minerality that make them perfect for summertime guzzling. If you’re in a Pinot Grigio rut and looking for something a little different, this is one to try.
The Zweigelt is a light, fresh, summertime version of the grape. OK, OK…if you haven’t had a “regular” Zweigelt before, that’s not terribly helpful. Regular Zweiglt, at least the style I stock, is medium-bodied with bright red berry fruits and a kick of black pepper on the finish. This version keeps the bright, fresh berry notes but with a lighter body and a hint of white pepper (for those who are intimate with their spice rack, there is a difference. The jugs are best served with slightly chilled – not ice cold, just a bit of a shiver.
Malvasia Dolce Frissante 2007 (Emilia Romagna, Italy):$20.99 Let’s say you can’t decide between wine and beer. This would be your option. It has a crown cap and the foamy, frothy head of a beer. It even sort of looks like a beer in the glass. It tastes like a cross between a wheat beer and a cream soda. That may not sound appealing, but paired with some cured meats, or just a tall glass and a roof deck, it’s pretty darn good.
Philippe Bornard Tant Mieux Rose (Arbois, France):$23.99 There are very few wines that combine sheer drinkability (Sparkling! Pink!) with utter wine geekery (Poulsard! Jura!) This wine does just that. And it features a cute little fox on the label as an added bonus. It’s a little sweet, but that sweetness is balanced by the bubbles, the acidity, and the underlying earthiness that’s a trademark of the Poulsard grape. Pop one open and you’ll be the hit of the party.
Thirsty? Just pop in and ask for something with a pop top, or be lazy and order at the Frankly Wines on-line store. That’s what it’s there for.
Every day through Memorial Day, I’ll be making a suggestion of what to drink during the holiday weekend. These suggestions don’t expire on Monday. They’re good all summer long. And yes, they’re available at Frankly Wines. Because this is a store blog.
Holiday Weekend Suggestion #1: A Case of Something Cheap and Cheerful
Summer weekends, especially holiday weekends = roof parties. Beach houses. Or maybe just quality time on your tiny balcony or fire escape. In any case, you’ll need something to drink. And something to serve your friends to drink at your place. And something to take to their place…
So if ever there was a time to stock up and buy wine by the case, summertime would be it. Nothing too complicated. Nothing that breaks the bank*. Just cheap and cheerful crowd pleasers. Ideally a mix of whites, reds, and roses.
If you ask, any good wine store should be able to put a summer stock-up case together for well under $150. At Frankly Wines, we can get you a 12-bottle case of mix and matched reds and whites for $100.Or 8 reds/white + 4 roses for $120. If you stop by this Thursday (May 27), we’ll even let you try before you buy. Click here to learn more.
*If you do want to break the bank, we’re happy to make some recommendations.
I’m just going to pretend it hasn’t been, oh, nearly a month since my last post and will dive right in with an announcement of this week’s Thursday tasting.
We’re going to be cracking open some Bodeags Riojanas wines, one of my favorite Rioja producers. We usually don’t let sales reps pour at the shop. (Sorry any sales reps reading this, but you know the drill – it gets confusing for the customers if someone who is pouring wine can’t help them with anything except the wine they’re pouring.)
But we’re making an exception for Paula because:
1.) she happens to know quite a few wines in the shop b/c she was part of an in-store tasting group I ran about a year ago, and
2.) she promised to bring a bottle of 1978 for the tasting if we let her pour.
Aparently bribery works because this Thursday, from 6pm until 7.30pm, Paula will be helping pour a fantastic selection of Bodegas Riojans:
Jura Whites – they’re not the easiest whites to love on first sip. Reds from this region – a totally different story. Leaving aside those hankering for big, extracted monster-truck wines, many Jura reds can easily please both wine geeks and regular-ole-wine-drinkers (like my mom.) The whites, not so much. Here are some of the typical descriptors:
Jura twang
Oxidative Sherry kick
Rancid walnut
Walnut polish
Raging acidity
Burnt sugar
Briney / salty
Stinky
These are not words that send most people racing out to buy a bottle.
So as you can imagine, these wines need to be sold very, very carefully. If you bring a bottle up to the counter, we’ll likely ask you if you’ve had a Jura white before. If you haven’t, we’ll mention the distinctive “Jura twang” (credit for this phrase goes to my Rosenthal rep, Clarke.) If that doesn’t scare you off, we’ll sell you the bottle with a warning to open it well before you want to drink it. Like maybe a day before you want to drink it.
But they are wonderful wines that are distinctive, thought-provoking and go blissfully well with Comte cheese, fondue, and anything earthy and creamy and rich. And we had just gotten in the latest arrivals from Jacques Puffeney – his Melon Queue Rouge, Cuvee Sacha, and Savagnin. And we wanted to open them. So we did – at last week’s Thursday tasting.
Now I fully expected lots of wrinkled noses at first Sherry-scented whiff. Like I said, these are not easy wines. And an in-store tasting, even with a hunk of Comte cheese on offer, is a brutal setting in which to first encounter them. But…people liked them! They really liked them! Some were thrilled to find a white wine they really enjoyed. Many started off unsure about what they were tasting and smelling, but worked their way through the three wines, increasingly intrigued by the unusual textures and tastes. Everyone seemed to appreciate the opportunity to try something different and unusual and relatively rare. (I’d say no one spit the wines out, but that’s not much of an indicator because no one ever spits anything out at a store tasting.)
These Jura whites rank up there with the Lopez de Heredia Rosado, Dard et Ribo St. Joseph, and Foundry Viognier for most surprisingly well-received warning-label-required wines. More proof that it’s best not to underestimate what your customers might like.
Hmmmm…perhaps it may be time to break out the Americano.
