Category: Behind the Counter

The Semi-Loud Gurgle – or Why I’ll Still Be Able to Buy More Rioja Than I Should

Originally published on August 16, 2009.

So I was last seen in this space ranting, or maybe it was whining, about the giant sucking sound set off by Eric Asimov’s Wednesday New York Times column about old-school Rioja. I was probably being a little overly dramatic.

To start, a mention in the New York Times will certainly raise consumer interest and increase sales, but it won’t cause a nationwide feeding frenzy, as when a wine is crowned, say, the Wine Spectator’s “Wine of the Year.” And while old-school Rioja is easily one of the best values in fine, age-worthy wine, it’s still not inexpensive – and in this economy, even the big stores are watching their inventory levels and working capital expenses.

Another mitigating factor of the giant sucking sound – there just isn’t a huge amount of old-school Rioja sitting around in the distributor’s warehouses. These wineries tends to release a specific vintage when they feel it’s just entering the first phase of “ready-to-drinkness.” And from what I can gather, they only release a portion, with a fair amount of their stock held back in their cellar for release at a later date. This later date generally takes the form of a DI offering, during which retail and restaurant wine buyers get to mull over lists of old vintages and decide how much of each to buy.

I’ve written before about how these offers are like Christmas for wine buyers. For me, this is especially true for the Rioja DI offers from the traditional, old-school Rioja. These are wines that seem to age endlessly, gaining a leathery, tea-leafy complexity as the primary notes fade into a haunting whiff of exotic spices and ghostly fruits. I could go on, but you might start to laugh. These are wines best drunk slowly and quietly, because you can sound a little silly if try to describe them.

So my DI wish list can get a little crazy, with most of the bottles falling under the heading of “one for me, one for the store.” But the actual purchase order is trimmed to a more fiscally responsible level. And then the wines arrive…and I squirrel them away and drag my feet on pricing them, setting them up in the system, and putting them out on the Internet. Because I really don’t want any one to buy them. I want to keep them….all.

Such is my love of old, old-school Rioja.

But the New York Times piece, great sucking sound aside, inspired me to share the love and let my semi-secret stash be known. So every bottle of Lopez de Heredia, La Rioja Alta, and Bodegas Riojanas in the shop is priced up and ready to go.

Well, almost every bottle. Fiscal responsibility only goes so far.

The Giant Sucking Sound – or What Happened to All the Old School Rioja?

Originally published on August 12, 2009.

Did you hear it? Over wine distributor warehouses on Staten Island and Long Island and near the ports of New Jersey? What was it? A giant vacuum cleaner? A massive sieve? A colander from the great beyond?

No, it was the sound of many bottles of Rioja being sucked out of distributor warehouses and into retailers across New York. Specifically, Riojas from a number of old-school producers mentioned in a very good article by Eric Asimov of the New York Times.

Here’s what happens:

An article gets published in a major paper or wine publication. Specific producers are mentioned. Customers read the article and want the wines. Retailers know there will be customers asking for those wines, which means relatively quick and easy sales. So they call their distributors and order lots of whatever wine was mentioned. This creates a giant sucking sound as those cases of wine move from distributor warehouses onto shelves across the city.

OK, so this process really doesn’t make a sucking sound. It’s more like the clicking of cell phones and computer keyboards as orders are placed, followed by the drone of delivery trucks. But you get the picture.

Now I don’t generally chase the wines that appear in these articles. The Frankly Wines selection is so tightly edited, that there’s just not space for whatever wine happened to be mentioned in publication X the day before. It’s also a good bet that I’ll already have a wine from the region in question – something that I think offers similar or even better value. After all, it’s my job to find those wines and if I’m only reading about them in the paper, well, I’m not doing a very good job.

But sometimes, I already have one of the wines being mentioned. And this can be a bad thing. Sure, it’s nice to get the quick and easy sales that come when a wine is suddenly sought out by lots of customers. But that bad thing is the giant sucking sound. The sudden demand can pull all of the wine out of the system within a day or two. I either have to buy more – and I can never buy as much as the big guys that make a living at this game. Or I have to come to terms with a favorite wine’s impending unavailability and find a replacement. And that sucks. Literally. Or figuratively.

Or in this case, both.

Mysteries of the Wine Shop World

Originally published on August 10, 2009.

There’s a certain science to retail. There’s a book called Why We Buy by the fabulously named Paco Underhill that goes into much of this science. Things like the “butt brush factor”. Or where to place shopping baskets. Or that most people turn right when they enter a store. A lot of it doesn’t apply to a shop like mine, which is so tiny that if you turn right, and you’ll hit a wall. But it’s still a great read.

But I don’t think it addresses one of the great mysteries of my wine shop…possibly any wine shop. The mystery is below, but first, a bit of minutia on how my shop is stocked.

The bottles are lined up on the shelves, standing up, one behind the other, like in the picture below. Yes, I can hear the wine geeks shuddering – “But isn’t bad for bottles to stand upright?” In the middle- to long-term, yes, but these bottles sell quickly. They’re not upright long enough for the corks to dry out…and half of them are screw caps anyway. And those that don’t move so quickly, we only keep one on the shelf and every week replace it with one that’s been on its side. So stop shuddering…I take very good care of my wine!

Now, on to the mystery…

A wine can sell like hotcakes, literally fly off the shelves. But when there’s one bottle left, with no mates behind it, it suddenly just sits there. And sits. And sits. And sits. It sits there until one of three things happen:

  1. I buy more and restock
  2. I fill up the space behind it with neighboring bottles
  3. I move it to the “going… going… gone” section at the front of the store. Sometimes bottles on this shelf get a $1 price reduction, along with the all-important big, red slash.

Now it’s no great surprise why a single bottle on the bargain shelf moves. People like bargains. And they really like big, red slashes.

But what I don’t understand is why a single bottle in the general shelf population won’t sell. Or perhaps oddly, why it does sell if you just put non-matching bottles behind it. Why are customers so wary of a little empty space?

Sparkling Wine Month: Sparkling Sampler Case

Originally published on July 24, 2009.

Sparkling Month will be wrapping up soon (we would say it’s going out with a bang, but that would be far too cheesy even for us.) We’ve had sparkling tastings twice each week, two different sparkling 3-Packs, and in true better-late-than-never fashion, we’ve finally managed to post our Sparkling Wine Sampler Case.

You’ll get 12 bottles of bubbly for just $200, including one bottle of actual Champagne from Champagne. In the realm of bubbles, this is a tremendous deal – about 15% off the individual bottle costs. It’s a great way to expand your sparkling wine horizones. Gather up some friends, split the case cost, pop the works – and drink…we mean taste, taste!

Here’s what you get:

2 BOTTLES EACH OF:

Althea Prosecco di Valdobbiadene NV (Veneto, Italy): Produced in the tank method, most Proseccos are lighter and fresher than their Champagne cousins. This was is our favorite – it’s elegant, fresh, and has the tiniest bubbles we’ve yet to come across in a Prosecco. (Regular Price: $15.99)

Lucien Albrecht Cremant d’Alsace Blanc de Blancs NV (Alsace, France): An excellent value in sparkling wine. A touch rounder than Champagne, with notes of pears and apples and just a hint of yeastiness. (Regular price: $17.99)

Cantina Del Taburno Falanghina Spumante NV (Campanga, Italy): Falanghina is a white grape indigenous to southern Italy, usually used in the production of non-bubbly wine. A sparkling version is a rare treat. A bit more full-bodied than Prosecco, it has a lemon-zesty finish and the tell-tale smoky notes of a good Falanghina. (Regular Price: $18.99)

1 BOTTLE EACH OF:

Medici Ermete Solo Lambrusco NV (Reggiano, Italy): Sparkling red…don’t be scared! Jammy, inky, with dark berry fruits and just a bit of fizz. It finishes dry and isn’t at all cloying or heavy. Perfect with cured meats, salty cheeses and it makes a pizza dinner something special. (Regular Price: $14.99)

Jean-Marc Villemaine Touraine Sparkling NV Rosé (Touraine, Loire Valley, France): It’s rare to see Pineau d’Aunis in a starring role – it’s generally used as a blending grape and rarely mentioned on a label. But this dry rosé, with its subtle berry fruit and hint of spice on the finish, is a nice exception to the rule. (Regular Price: $15.99)

Francois Pinon Vouvray NV Brut (Vouvray, Loire, France): A gorgeous sparkler from the Vouvray sub-region of the Loire Valley. It’s dry, but has just a touch of the honey notes you’ll sometimes get from Chenin Blanc. It’s a bottle of yeasty, creamy, honey-ed goodness. (Regular Price: $18.99)

Lingot Martin Cerdon-Bugey NV Rosé: Lightly pink, slightly sweet, but not at all cloying, this Cerdon is the definition of charming. It’s from a region of France that sits near the base of the Alps, it shows off delicate berry flavors and a hint of Alpine freshness. Excellent with cupcakes. (Regular Price: $19.99)

J Vineyards Cuveé 20 NV (Russian River, California): About as close to Champagne as you can get…without actually buying Champagne. Same grapes. Same production method. But from California, so overall it’s rounder and softer, but it has a similar mix of citrus and apple fruits combined with a rich toasty, yeasty note. Regular Price: $25.99)

Philippe Prie Brut NV (Champagne, France): Real Champagne is never cheap. It’s never even “inexpensive.” But there are good values out there and Philippe Prié is one of them. Stone fruits, citrus, minerals and a biscuit-y note combine with crisp acidity – it fits nicely into the “elegant” style of Champagne. (Regular Price: $35.99)

Wine Warning Labels….Don’t Say I Didn’t Tell You So

A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Alas, Amy Atwood’s mydailywine.com blog is no longer up and running. But she’s importing wine, so that’s probably a better use of her time. And at this point, ten years on, you can easily google ‘natural wine’ and a heap of articles will pop up. Or you could buy Alice’s book, Natural Wine for the People. Or subscribe to her newsletter, The Feiring Line, which I edit. Surprise!!

Originally published on July 23, 2009.

A recent post by Alice Feiring’s on her blog, In Vino Veritas, set off a small firestorm of a discussion on taste…good taste, bad taste, elitist taste, Devil Dog taste. The initial post was about Daniel Boulud’s “lowdown downtown place”, DBGB Kitchen and Bar. The bar is located on the Bowery, in the East Village, not far from the site of former punk-haven CBGB. For those not familiar with the intricacies of the New York restaurant scene or its gentrification geography, there’s a definite irony to a major multi-starred chef setting up shop on a street that was until only recently, best known for its many halfway houses.

I haven’t been to DBGB yet, but the post points out that the DBGB wine list is heavy on natural wines. Rather than lay out yet another definition of what makes a wine “natural”, I’ll just point you to another blog (mydailywine) which recently interviewed Alice. Since she is one of the leading voices discussing natural wine, her words should do just fine.

Now, back to the DBGB wine list. Lots of natural wines, which as Alice says in that post I pointed you to (go ahead, you know you want to read it now,) can be quite shocking. They don’t taste like other wines. Or to be more specific, they don’t taste like wines with big ratings from the big wine rating gurus. Which to generalize just a bit, is what many of the customers at a “lowdown downtown place” fronted by a big time fancy chef are going to expect.

Alice brought up the concept of warning labels. Since these wines can be a little, well, odd when not given a bit of context, why not put a warning label on the menu? Proceed with Caution. Or a skull and cross bones?

I had to laugh at the thought….because we tagged our first bottle with a warning label about a year ago: the Lopez de Heredia Rosado 1997 (now we’re into the 1998.) Fino sherry notes, exotic spices, very little fruit. Not so popular with someone looking for a lovely little Provincial rose. Generally, we were able to give verbal warnings, but sometimes if it was really busy, a bottle would manage to escape without getting its proper due. And often, that bottle would get returned because its new owner thought it was “off.” It wasn’t, it was just odd. So we would swap it for something else and drink it ourselves. A nice treat, but not so fiscally responsible.

The logical next step….a warning label:

The Perks

Originally published on July 16, 2009.

I spend a lot of time on this blog pulling back the magic curtain on the “dream” of owning a wine store. You may think owning a wine store is all about wine. But no – it’s really about hand trucks, electric bills, the perils of wooden wine boxes….

O.K…sometimes it is about wine. There are some very good wine perks. Like tonight, when I was the last stop on one of my sales rep’s daily road show. Being last is good – it means you get to take home the half-empty bottles. And tonight, they were some very nice half-empty bottles.

Tonight, I took home 2 different wine from Lopez de Heredia, the standard-bearing for old-school Rioja.

First up was the Cubillo Crianza 2003. It’s the first time I’ve had the Cubillo, which comes from the estate’s Cubillas vineyard, and it was quite yummy, even juicy. Now I’m never at a loss for words to decribe Lopez wines (elegant, haunting, exotic – pick your favorite semi-pretentious wine geek phrase) but “juicy” and “yummy” usually don’t spring to mind. It’s probably the combination of a very warm vintage (a.k.a. the heat wave of 2003) combined with the higher percentage of juicy, yummy Grenache in the Cubillo vineyard site. In any case, it was delicious and definitely a nice entry point to these very lovely wines.

Next up was the 2001 Bosconia Reserva from the El Bosque vineyard. I’ve had some older examples of Bosconia bottles, from the 1970’s and 1980’s and they evoke all the usual Lopez phrases (see above for elegant, haunting, exotic). But this is the first time I’ve had a chance to sit with an younger bottle and I liked it very much. Longer time spent aging in the big oak barrels, a better vintage, and a higher percentage of Tempranillo vs. Grenache all result in a wine with a darker tone (I apparently taste in colors) and firmer structure than the Cubillo. It was one of those wines I wanted to run out and buy a case in order to taste it as it evolves over many, many years. And at around $30-something on the shelf, it’s highly possible that I just might.

Ah, perks. Sometimes it’s pretty nice behind the magic curtain!

What We Drank the Other Night at Frankly Wines: Chateau Petit Roubie Picpoul de Pinet

Originally published on July 15, 2009.

July may be Sparkling Wine month, but we still reserve Saturday afternoon to open whatever strikes our fancy. And last Saturday, our fancy was struck by a the Chateau Petit Roubie Picpoul de Pinet 2007.

Picpoul has been a bit of an obsession since we brought one in about six months ago. The Chateau Petit Roubie combines what may be our three favorite factors.

The Frankly Wines Favorite Factors:

  1. High level of obscurity
  2. High level of tastiness
  3. High level of affordability

Let’s break it down.

Obscurity factor: Most wine geeks, let alone regular civilians, haven’t heard of the Picpoul grape. It’s generally only grown in the south of France, and primarily used for blending. But in this sub-region of the Langeudoc (I suppose it’s the “de Pinet” region) it stands on its own.

Tastiness factor: An ideal summer wine for those willing to stray beyond Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. It’s crisp and refreshing, but still manages to have a bit of body to it. When we first tried it, it reminded us of a Muscadet, but from a warmer climate. Both have a serious minerality, citrus notes, and an almost salty/saline quality. Both pair perfectly with the shellfish found in their respective regions. But Muscadet, coming from the northern reaches of France, where the Loire empties into the Atlantic, is racier, leaner, more on the stoney side. Picpoul de Pinet, however, shows off its location near the sunny shores of the Mediterranean with more a tropical feel. We don’t want to suggest overripe pineapples, but rather a sense of the warmth of the region that you can feel in the wine, balanced by citrus notes, minerals, and that pleasant saltiness.

Affordability factor: $13.99. Works well for both the “Under $20” crowd and the “Under $15” crowd.

Obviously, we like it. But last Saturday, on one of the first really nice, sunny days of the summer, lots of customers decided they liked it as well.

Don’t Be “That” Customer – A New Recurring Feature

Originally published on July 11, 2009.

It’s a very rare day that we complain about our customers. After all, without customers, Frankly Wines would just be a very expensive wine closet. But occasionally, a customer walks in that just rubs us the wrong way.

Now I can hear you out there, thinking “those wine snobs, making fun of poor, unsuspecting customers that come in and ask innocently silly questions. That’s why wine has such a bad rap as an elitist’s drink. That’s why I just stick to beer!”

Now I can’t speak for other stores, but at Frankly Wines, we like to talk about wine. What you may think of as a silly question, we think of as an opportunity to talk about wine. And it’s a very rare customer who can annoy us by talking about wine.

No, the rubbing the wrong way usually has very little to do with the specifics of wine retail. That Customer would likely annoy anyone working in any retail establishment, regardless of what they’re selling. That Customer would likely annoy anyone, period.

You really don’t want to be That Customer. It’s just not polite.With that background in place, the Frankly Wines blog will kick off a recurring feature about That Customer. It will do nothing to increase your wine knowledge or increase our sales. But it could help make the world a kinder, better place.

Here we go:

That Customer #1Customer #1 walks into the store. It’s a small store and there’s only one person manning (or in this case, wommaing) the shop. I greet the customer, asks if he needs any help. He doesn’t. The phone rings. It’s a customer checking on a delivery for later that afternoon. Our conversation takes less than a minute during which the word “delivery” is probably stated 10 times.

During this less-than-a-minute conversation, That Customer comes to the counter to ask a question. I try to give the universal “be right with you” sign, which he doesn’t notice. He doesn’t really seem to notice I’m on the phone. Clearly talking to another customer about a delivery. Not talking to my mother. Not talking to a friend. Not yapping away for an extended period of time, like, oh, more than 45 seconds. Not talking on a phantom blue tooth ear piece in which case I could just be crazy and not actually, clearly, obviously talking on the phone about a delivery.
Nope, he asks his question loudly. Then asks it again. Loudly. Sort of like my 5 year-old, who is, well, 5 years old. I smile, wrap up the last 5 seconds of my delivery conversation and answer his question, smiling, smiling, smiling.

Now I get it. It’s annoying if you’re in a store being ignored while the person behind the counter yaps away on the phone. But there’s perhaps a shade of difference between that situation and someone who greets you, asks if you need any help, and then has to take a 45-second phone call from another customer with a question.

Most customers notice the difference. Most customers have the patience to wait out a quick phone call. That Customer, not so much.

Please, don’t be That Customer.

The Land Where Post-it Notes Roam Free

Originally published on July 11, 2009.

I love Post-it Notes.

It’s a habit acquired in my corporate years, when I had extremely easy access to free office supplies. The supply closet was stocked with an endless array of Post-it Notes: big ones, little ones, pop-up versions, multicolored cubes, yellow ones, neon ones, pastel ones, lined or unlined. In theory, I could have used a different style of note for every mood or presentation format….but I really wasn’t that organized.

When I opened the store, I tried to replicate this Post-it Note extravaganza. But this is one of the shockers of running your own business.

Post-it Notes cost money. A LOT of money! But you need them. You really, really do.

It doesn’t work to use whatever’s just laying around. Like scotch tap and merchandising bags. For one thing, you can never find the scotch tape when you need it. And perhaps more importantly, merchandising bags are first a foremost, merchandising bags. They look like bags, and act like bags, and in a rush, you wind up bagging a bottle of wine with your phone messages, or delivery address, or daily stocking list. This may add a charming bit of authenticity to your packaging, but it’s not so funny when you have no idea where you’re supposed to deliver those two cases of wine because the address just left the store wrapped around a bottle of Pinot Gris. Hypothetically.

At Frankly Wines, we use the Post-it 4″ x 6″ Line-Ruled Ultra Colors Notes. (That’s the official name. And the size and color matter because they’re big enough and bright enough to stand out from the usual counter clutter.) They cost $10.29/3-pack at Staples. We go through one pad a week, which works out to about $200/year including New York sales tax. For POST-IT NOTES!!!

I’m considering switching to Staples Stickies 4″ x 6″ Line-Ruled Recycled Yellow Notes. At $11.99/pack, I could whittle my annual sticky-paper outlay to $135. But the notes are really more white than yellow, which means they’ll just disappear among the clutter. So they’re nearly as useless as the merchandising bag approach.

So looks like we’ll be sticking to Post-it Notes for now. But I’m certainly not above accepting donations from those who still work in places where Post-it Notes roam free. Hypothetically.

Another 3-Pack: Mediterranean Sparklers

Originally published on July 7, 2009.

Call us crazy, but we think nothing says summertime like a cold bottle of something sparkling. And since sparklers (the firecracker kind) are all the rage for Independence Day, we’re proudly declaring July Sparkling Wine Month at Frankly Wines. At the store, we’ll be doing sparkling-oriented tastings every Wednesday and Friday from 5.30pm – 7.30pm.

For those not lucky enough to be in downtown Manhattan during the summer months (the garbage smells lovely when it finally heats up) you can still get in the fun with our latest 3-Pack featuring three nicely-priced sparkling wines from two Mediterranean-minded countries – Italy and Spain. All three are crisp and refreshing, but each is distinctly different. It’s a great way to explore the diversity that bottles of bubbles can offer.

AltheaProsecco di Valdobbiadene NV (Veneto, Italy): Produced in the tank method, most Proseccos are lighter and fresher than their Champagne cousins. The Althea is no exception – it shows notes of crisp, green apples, peaches, pears and hints of citrus. It’s great on it’s own or paired with Sunday brunch. Bellini’s anyone?

Cantina Del Taburno Falanghina Spumante NV (Campanga, Italy): Like nothing you’ve ever tasted – we promise. Falanghina is a white grape indigenous to southern Italy, usually used in the production of non-bubbly wine. A sparkling version is a rare treat – so rare we didn’t know it even existed until a few weeks ago. The nose offers up apples and honey, but the palate is dry and refreshing, with the tell-tale smoky notes of a good Falanghina. Bitter lemon zest on the finish will make your mouth pucker for more. A bit more full-bodied than Prosecco, it’s great on its own, with a nice seafood dish, or with an Italian cheese plate.

Bodegas 1+1=3 Cava Brut NV (Penedes, Spain): This delicious little gem from Spain is produced in the Methode Champenoise, the same method used to make Champagne. It boasts aromas of apple, grapefruit, lemon zest, minerals, nuts and honey. Very fresh, dry and brisk, with lively citrus flavors and a Prosecco-like frothiness (and who doesn’t like a little froth). It’s a light, refreshing style that’s meant to be drunk early and often.

And of course, you can buy one at the fancy Frankly Wines web site for just $44.99, more than a 10% discount off the regular combined prices.