Category: Behind the Counter

Thanksgiving Wine Suggestions – The Overview

Originally published on November 9, 2009.

So it’s almost Thanksgiving. Time for anyone who writes about wine in any context to write….the “Thanksgiving Piece.” This could be a straightforward “what to pair with Turkey” format. Or a year in review wrapped in a “thanks, no thanks” format. Or the “if I’m going to write this it might as well be funny” format.

Some people just decide to skip it altogether because they feel there’s nothing new to say. That’s true (there really ISN’T anything new to say), but it’s not really fair to the wine buying public. Yes, the meal is more or less the same every year. No, some new wine pairing hasn’t been invented over the last year that will suddenly revolutionize the Thanksgiving table. But still, just because wine people have been writing the same basic stuff year after year doesn’t mean that the same people are actually reading it year after year.

Let’s take Mr. Smith, my hypothetical neighbor:

Last year, he just told his guests to bring a bottle of “whatever.” But this year, for whatever reason, he’s decided he wants to put some thought into the wine and give some real consideration to what he serves. But….this is the year every wine writer on the planet has decided, finally, to not write another Thanksgiving piece. And the bloggers (which are really just a subset of writers) have decided to write nothing but snarky posts about why Thanksgiving posts are useless. And every retailer has decided there’s no reason to make any Thanksgiving recommendations, because they’ve been making the same ones for the last 10 years and there’s no reason to repeat themselves yet again. Too bad for Mr. Smith. He should have gotten the wine bug last year, before everything had already been said.

So while wine people may think they’re repeating themselves, there’s a very good chance many of their readers or customers are giving the Turkey/Wine Pairing Challenge real consideration for the very first time. And they deserve some good advice too.

Long way of saying….at Frankly Wines, we’ll still be talking turkey (gobble gobble), lamb (baa baa), turducken (gobblequackbwack) or whatever language you speak (yam?).

Watch this spot every day (or nearly every day) for practical, adventurous, and the occasional just plain odd Thanksgiving pairing suggestions.

Things You Need to Know: How to Count Out a Cash Drawer

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: This is easily my single most popular post ever.

Originally published on November 11, 2009.

You may think owning a wine store is about, well, wine. But if you’re a Frankly My Dear reader, you know there’s more to it than that. So in the spirit of giving valuable real-life tips to would-be wine store owners, I’m staring a new recurring feature: Things You Need to Know. In each segment you’ll get step by step instruction on how to do very useful wine store things that have nothing to do with wine.

To start: How to Count Out a Cash Drawer

Imagine. It’s the end of a long day. Lots of wine tasted. Lots of bottles stocked and sold. Lots of time on your feet. And the only thing that stands between you and going home is counting the cash left in the register.

You would think this would be easy. After all, it involves counting and not much more. But you would be wrong. For some reason, this seemingly simple task has the ability to reduce very intelligent people to the brink of tears.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. In my vast experience counting out cash drawers, I’ve developed the most effective, efficient method of doing this. Yes, you’re laughing. But trust me – I’ve probably counted out a lot more registers than you have. So seriously. Just trust me.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Gather writing utensil, paper (maybe something less expensive than a Post-it Note?) and calculator.

2. Down the left side of your paper, write 50/100-, 20-, 10-, 5-, 1-, Q-, D-, N-, P-, Rolls-. Don’t argue. Just do it.

3. Count out the 20-dollar bills (20, 40, 60, 80, 100. 20, 40, 60, 80, 200. 20, 40, 60, 80, 300….etc) and write it down next to the 20- on the paper.

4. Count the 10-dollar bills (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100. 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 200….etc) and write it down next to the 10- on the paper.

5. Count the five-dollar bills (I don’t really need to explain this, do I?) and write it down (next to the 5-… I’m going to spot explaining that as well.)

6. Count the one-dollar bills (Just count them, from 1 to whatever. Don’t make piles. Just count!) And, yes, write it down.

7. Count the quarters – hold them all in one hand. Pick out four with your free hand and put them in the quarter bin. That’s “one.” Pick out four more quarters and put them in the quarter bin. That’s “two.” Repeat, repeat, repeat…etc. And then right it down (next the Q… for… “quarters.”)

8. Count the dimes – hold them all in one hand. Slip them into the dime bin as you count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Let’s say you wind up with 23 dimes….then you have $2.30. 45 dimes? $4.5. Get it? Write it down.

9. Count the nickels using your nearly perfected hold-in-one-hand technique. As you slip them into the bin, count 5, 10, 15, 20….you know the drill. And…write it down

10. Count the pennies. Just count from 1 to whatever. No hanky panky. No piles. Just count. And….write….it….down!

11. Count the rolls. These are a separate line item. Don’t try to add dime rolls to your dime count. Or penny rolls to the penny count. Just count up all the rolls and write the total down. Don’t trust me on this one? Go ahead. Add your quarter rolls to your quarter count. Then…when you realize that your total is all off because you thought a roll of quarters = $5 and a roll of dimes = $2 and nickels, you totally forgot to add in the nickels…..well, you’ll have to go back out the rolls from your totals. But you won’t remember what to back out because you won’t remember what you thought the rolls were and you’ll just have to recount everything and…..just trust me on this one and TREAT THE ROLLS AS A SEPARATE LINE ITEM!!

12. Add everything up. Write down the total. Add everything up again to double check your total.

13. Run the register report. Notice your cash is $250 short!!!! Panic! Panic! Panic!

14. Realize you forgot to count the big bills….because you didn’t follow Step #2. Count them and add them to the total.

15. Next time, do it my way.

The Mom Test

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: This was when the Tissot wines were at Frederick Wildman and they just… sort of… sat there. Somehow I realized they were there, or Rachel, my first Wildman sales rep knew I would dig them and brought me a sample. However it happened, once I was on to them we bought as much as we could. And they were so, so, so much fun to sell. Around this time, over about six months, Wildman wound up going through three, maybe even four vintages of the Poulsard as it started to catch on and buyers started to realize it was there, buried in the Wildman book. The Tissot whites were also starting to move as well, but the Poulsard was definitely the easier sell, so it FLEW!!!!

Originally published on November 12, 2009.

Within two years, Camillie Riviere, who had been a major force in getting the Tissot wines out of the warehouse and onto shelves and menus, would start her own importing company with the Tissot wines as a key part of the founding portfolio. Those were crazy days – she would come into town with a magic bag literally stuffed with more bottles than a human should be able to carry. An appointment with her was always as close to a party as you could get, without actually being a party. The idea was work like hell to sell the wines as soon as they came in, and then get back to France to find more wines.

What does any of this have to do with the Mom Test? Nothing really. I just like to take an occasional walk down memory lane and recall the days when I really did spend most of my time behind the counter, when regions like the Jura were still new and mind-blowing and not just another notch on the coolness belt. It reminds me that for most wine drinkers, the Jura is still as obscure as it was when I was writing these posts over ten years ago, waiting to blow people’s minds. Sure, the wines are more expensive now then they used to be, (a spate of small yield vintages haven’t helped) but there are still ways in. Time to sign myself back up for Jura Duty and go find those ways.

I’m down to my last bottle of Tissot Poulsard 2006, the obscure red wine from the Jura region of France. We’ve sold quite a lot of this obscure little wine over the last couple months, possibly due to the following reasons:

  1. An enthusiastic, well-trained staff that likes the wine nearly as much as I do
  2. A recent article in the New York Times Dining & Wine section.
  3. My fabulous 3-Pack (that’s really a 2-Pack)
  4. A hand-written bottle tag noting that Poulsard is a surprisingly good match with steak (people can’t resist the word ‘steak,’ especially when they see it in print)
  5. Flying colors on the Mom Test

The Mom Test?

Yes, the Mom Test. My mom likes wine, but she doesn’t exactly qualify as a wine geek. So if I sit her down at a meal with one of my more esoteric choices and she enjoys it, than there’s a good chance that most of my customers will enjoy it. It’s a good test because if she likes it, it’s just because she likes it. Not because it’s the newest, coolest thing. Not because it scored big points. And certainly not because she’s SUPPOSED to like it.

So when I tell customers that the Tissot Poulsard is beloved by wine geeks AND my mom….well, it works better than steak.

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P.S. If high scores on the Mom Test have you hankering for a Tissot Poulsard, never fear. My last bottle of 2006 should be joined by some 2004 this week and soon after that, some 2007. Don’t wait too long to get some….my mom may just buy it all.

Why Ticker Tape Parades Aren’t So Great for Wine Stores

Originally published on November 6, 2009.

The Yankees fans were in the neighborhood for the big ticker tape parade. I wish I could say it was good for business. Unfortunately, most of the fans that stopped in only had interest in buying the following, none of which I sell:

Cigarettes
Matches
Beer
Liquor
Little bottles

One fan was mystified that a place that sold liquor didn’t sell matches. He failed to notice I didn’t sell liquor, so therefore, I didn’t actually need to sell matches. At least according to his theory.

Tales of a Clairvoyant Wine Merchant

Originally published on November 5, 2009.

A couple weeks ago I was going on, as I’ve been known to do, about how my personal wine geek preferences seem to be a leading indicator of what shows up in the New York Times. Yes, I know one really has nothing to do with the other. But I still get a kick out of it. I’ll quote a portion of that post:

“…if my personal obsessions are good indicators of what you’ll see in future New York Times articles, then stay tuned for features on dry muscats, Gemischter Satz wines, very old Chianti and anything alpine…..”

And what showed up in this week’s New York Times? Gemischter Satz wines! And a mention of my latest favorite Gelber Muskateller, a.k.a. a dry Muscat!

Spooooooooooky.

Wine You Never Knew You Needed: Gemischter Satz

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Ten years later and I’m still in love!

Originally published on November 4, 2009.

What? Never heard of Gemischter Satz wines? Neither had we, until this summer, when Mr. Carlos Huber showed up at our shop. Well, he didn’t just show up, he did have an appointment. And in his wine bag, he had a range of tasty Gemischter Satz wines.

GS for short (at least accordingly to me), these wines come from inside the city limits of Vienna, are made from anywhere from 2 to 20 grape varieties, all growing on the same plot of land, and all harvested and vinified together. I could tell you more about the joys of field blends, or you could just read what Eric Asimov at the New York Times wrote in his Wednesday column.

Tasting through Carlos’s selection of GS wines, I was impressed at how different they all were. Some were light and floral, some a bit more weighty and oily. One had this almost yeasty/bready note going on. But all managed to be wonderfully fresh, aromatic and generally charming. Pardon me while I get all wine-geeky, but they all tasted like slightly different versions of springtime. And as the weather starts to get all chilly and bitter, who couldn’t use a bit of springtime in a glass.

That’s the general scoop on the GS. To get more specific, the one we currently carry is Weinbau Jutta Ambrositsch Wiener Gemischter Satz Sommeregg Reserve 2008. The name is quite a mouthful: Jutta Ambrositsch is the young, female winemaker. Gemischter Satz is the GS classification I mentioned above. Sommeregg is the vineyard site. Weinbau means something like Domaine and Wiener just means wine. At least I think that’s what it all means.

The wine itself manages to combine lightness with complexity – flowers, citrus, earthiness, white spices, berries, fresh herbal notes. Very close to 20 grape varieties are grown on Jutta’s plot of land, which was planted over 50 years ago. It’s a rarity that a wine of this dry wine is so light yet so complex, but that’s old vines, a diverse field blend, and a good vintner can do.

At $45.99, it’s not inexpensive. There are less expensive GS wines available, and we’ll probably bring some in. But we were intrigued by this one and wanted to get our hands on some before someone else got them all. If you’re looking for a unique, wonderfully different white wine that can justify a $50 price tag, this would be your bottle.

Come pick one up before we drink it all ourselves. (Fair warning…we have been known to do this, despite our accountant’s better judgment.)

P.S.  (Can I do this on a blog post?  Apparently, I can if I say I can.)  Mr. Asimov also mentions the fantastic Rainer Christs’s delicious Gelber Muskateller.  But every good Gelber Muskateller deserves it’s own post, so we’ll get to that later.

And Now for Something Completely Different: Lopez de Heredia!

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Yeah, that never happened. We never made a window display of LdH bottles filled with tiny foam leaves. I think the prices started to go up and we had to put the breaks on the drinking of it, so not so many empty bottles. But it would have been very, very cool.

Originally published on November 4, 2009.

Alright, alright. I write about LdH all the time.

But this time, it’s not about the wine. It’s about hundreds of tiny plastic leaves shoved into a bottle of Vina Tondonia.

Looks cute, doesn’t it?

Next autumn, I’m envisioning a window filled with bottles of LdH, each filled with hundreds and thousands of these tiny leaves.

Even if it does feel a little sacrilegious.

A Happy Home for the Oddball Pallets

Originally published on November 2, 2009.

This is a picture of a freshly delivered case of wine (and my foot, to the left.)

As you can see, cases often arrive plastered with stickers: shipping instructions, account names and numbers, delivery instructions for the delivery trucks, picking instructions for the warehouse.

This one came in a month or so ago and I noticed the warehouse sticker referred to both an “oddball aisle” and an “oddball pallet.” It made me laugh because it’s a pretty good description of many of the wines on my shelf. I don’t remember exactly what was in this case – maybe a dry Furmint? Another Gelber Muskateller? Or maybe a Mondeuse? So many options! After spotting this particular sticker, I started to notice loads of my cases are designated with some sort of “oddball” sticker.

Perhaps I’ll need to add this designation to my buying grid…only X% of wines in the shop can be from an oddball palate.

Nah. Every wine shop needs a little (or in my case, a lot) of oddball. It makes the world go round.

Why I Love My Architect

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Definitely check out the link way at the bottom. The new owners of the shop gave it a major update – including taking over the space next door, which was always a dream of mine that I could just never make happen. It looks beautiful – and I’m more than a little envious of the proper sink that they have in the proper bathroom. But for a little peek at the original layout, the cork wall, and the plywood boxes I talk about below, then click away.

Originally published on November 1, 2009.

Before I tell you why I love my architect, let me tell you about Halloween in Tribeca. It’s possibly one of the coolest places in NYC for kids to go trick or treating. All the shops and restaurants put out quite a spread for the little ones, who go store to store picking up their goodies. Fancy decorations, fully costumed staff, very tasty, gourmet treats, music and dancing. All that – and the sidewalks are wide enough to accommodate the strollers.

As a wine store, there’s only so much I can do to entertain the kiddos without feeling irresponsible. But I can provide treats for the parents. So it’s a piece of candy or two for the kids and several sips of this and that for the grown-ups.

Now at any given time during the big Halloween rush hours, we can wind up with five or six kids picking out candy. And their five or six adults sipping on liquid treats. And then a regular customer or two picking out wine for the night or a case for the week. Throw in three Frankly Wines employees – and that’s a lot of bodies in 320 square feet of space.

Which is why I love my architect. Because my store can actually accommodate all this without giving the impression of a telephone booth stuffing contest. How is this possible?

The store is built like a ship. Paper goods in the big shelving units above our heads. A very long counter with wine coolers underneath it, hiding in plain site. Sneaky storage built behind the counter, into the 3×3 foot square bathroom, and under the window display units.

And most genius? These white plywood display units that can be pushed around the store to create additional shelving, display units, or table tops for tastings. Thanks to these, I can completely change the store’s functionality (nasty word, but it works) in just a few minutes. So we go from a display featuring box wines and sparkling cider to – presto change-o – a pleasant tasting area where customers can gather around a big ice bucket filled with treats. And then by 8pm, we’re back in display mode.

It’s magic! Or maybe it’s just very good design.

My architect (who has no idea I’m posting this):

Carlos Rodriguez
rodriguez studio
139 Fulton Street PH-3
New York, New York
http://www.rodriguezstudio.net/

Another 3-Pack: No Tricks, Just Treats

Originally published on October 31. 2009.

So Halloween is today and Tribeca’s little people will be on a trick-or-treating rampage. All the stores decorate and offer goodies to all the neighborhood kids. But their adults need something too, and at Frankly Wines, we happily oblige.

Our Halloween spread will include the three wines on offer in our latest 3-Pack. The two reds, the Velvet Devil Merlot and The Chocolate Block, may not win any cool-kid-my-palate-is-cooler-than-yours contests, but they are quite tasty. As much as I love turning customers onto wines that qualify as “weird but good,” Halloween is not the night to attempt the hand selling required to do it well. No, on Halloween, I want to open something yummy and crowd pleasing that doesn’t require an explanation.

On that front, we have The Velvet Devil Merlot 2007 from Washington State and The Chocolate Block, from South Africa. Charles Smith (not to be confused with Charles Shaw of Two Buck Chuck fame,) makes the Velvet Devil.

Boekenhoutskloof, best know at Frankly Wines for fan favorite, Wolftrap, makes the The Chocolate Block. These are both full-bodied wines with plenty of fruit and a balancing, earthy (and in the case of The Chocolate Block, funky) complexity.

But our third wine does manage to fall off the beaten track. It’s a sparkling apple cider from Normandy with one of those typically romantic wine story: sommelier at Three Star restaurant in Paris can’t resist the pull of the old, old apple and pear trees on his family’s property back home in Normady. So he leaves the big city to tend the orchards and make cider from the fruits of his labor.

And the ciders are very good. They taste like autumn in a bottle. We’ve included the Cydre Doux in our Halloween tasting. It’s a lightly sparkling, slightly sweet apple cider. The sweetness doesn’t really come off as “sweet,” but more like the sweet spice/warm apple tastes of apple pie. But a very grown-up apple pie. Eric also makes a sparkling pear cider, Poiré Authentique, and a couple reserve bottlings from only the exceptionally old (as opposed to just “old”) apple and pear trees on the property. I had the Authentique recently and it’s very tasty and would be fantastic with cheese. It’s a definitely more thought-provoking than the Cydre Doux, but on Halloween, I don’t really want to deal with thought-provoking. I want tasty and immediately lovable. Which is the Cydre Doux. It happens to have wine geek cred as well, but that’s just bonus.