Terry is here pouring his wines. He always seems to wind up pouring on rainy days and Mondays. Honestly, he usually seems to be pouring on rainy Mondays. And true to form… it’s a rainy Monday. Rainy Mondays aren’t the busiest days for foot traffic, but that’s OK because Terry and I can gossip a bit in between the customer. It also gives me a chance to whip up some fun shelf talkers for his wines. (NOTE: what you see below aren’t really shelf talkers.They’re neckers. But that’s a technicality that only supermarket buyers and POS specialists care about.)
Have a look at my handywork below… and just in case your eyesight isn’t quite so good, I’ve typed out the specifics.)
Aquila del Torre AT Sauvignon Blanc: Italian Sauvignon Blanc… not your usual suspect. Put it under house arrest — your house
Gillia Freisa d’Asti: Like Nebbiolo in a bustier (think Sophia Loren in leather)
Gillia Malvasia: Only mean people don’t like this wine
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Part of the reason that people never thought we had spritis is because the shop name was Frankly Wines. If it had been Frankly Wines & Spirits, that would have solved the problem. But it wouldn’t really have fit on the sign. (And when I first opened that shop, I had a wine-only license.) Customers take the names of alcohol-related shops very literally. You think I would have learned that lesson and names my new shop Copake Wine & Spirits Works. But nope, I went with just Copake Wine Works. It fit on the sign, it evoked the nearby Copake Iron Works. And honestly, even though we do sell spirits, we’re not the typical “liquor store” that “& Spirits” or “& Liquor” evokes. I think even if we did have that catagory in our name, people would still walk into the shop and ask where the liquor is.
I worked in marketing for many years before opening this store, so I know a thing or two about the theortical application of reach and frequency in the midst of major media clutter. But with the store, I’m living the reality. Every chance I get, I mention that we now sell spirits. It’s in the newsletter. Every newsletter. For the last six months. We have a big sign at the store with a big arrow pointing at the spirits shelves. And those shelves happen to sit right next to the cash register, where there’s usually a helpful Frankly Wines employee ready and willing to answer questions.
And one of those questions is often, “Is there a store around here that sells spirits.”
Now from this position, if the person asking the question were to just turn their head a half click and focus, they would see several shelves filled with spirits. Actually, they probably did see the shelves. They just didn’t SEE them. Such is the nature of our cluttered environment.
Anyhow, this is a long way of introducing some of the gift options we’re most excited about this year Cocktail Kits!
Because they involve sprits. Which we know sell. Right up there by the cash register. Right in front of your eyes.
The Not-So-Classic Not-Champagne Cocktail Kit: All boxed up and ready to go, this could be the perfect gift for your favorite budding mixologist, bar chef, or whatever they want to be called these days. Each kit includes everything you need to make Nick’s not-so-classic take on a classic Champagne cocktail. It’s the perfect accompaniment to brunch, with just a little sweetness, a hint of berry fruit notes from the cassis, and a lovely floral lift from the Elderflower Liqueur. And bonus – the bottles are really, really pretty.
Each kit includes 1 bottle each:
Pierre Chermette Crème de Cassis Chase Elderflower Liqueur Vullien Sparkling Vin de Savoie + a recipie card
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: I really need to get the Copake Wine Works wine club up and rolling. Soon. Soon!!!!
I firmly believe the best way to learn about wine is to get out there and just drink it. Drink wines you’re not familiar with. Made from grapes you’ve never heard of. Grown in regions you can’t find on a map without aguide. You may not like everything you try, but you may also find something you absolutely love, that completely takes you by surprise.
And the best way to get these bottles of wine you never you needed?
Easy….join a Frankly Wines Wine Club!
(Full disclosure: I may be somewhat conncected to Frankly Wines. But if you didn’t already know that, you really need to pay more attention.)
So…Wine Clubs. We have options…lots of them.
There’s our monthly Sampler, available in two different budget options. Or go for maximum impact with our Bubbling Over sparkling clubs.
All are available in 3-, 6-, and 12-month options. Or go on a month-by-month basis – just sign up and we’ll keep sending you wine (and charging you for it, we’re not THAT generous) until you tell us to stop.
Click here for details. (Please ignore the wonky formatting, it’s still very readable and this time of year, there’s not enough time to slow down and fix it.)
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Oh the days when I could buy as much Ledru as I wanted and sell it for $50. I dont’ like to live in the past, but this holiday season had a bit of “glory days” about it. It was so much fun to sell these wines at a price that was wildly affordable for any champagne – especially these. As predicted, the wines blew up, Marie-Noelle retired, and the prices when up – but still not sky-high, not really compared to where they could have gone. One of my favorite memories of this time in the wine world was my Ledru pen. Some tchotchke company had taken the picture below from my web site and put it on a sample pen that they sent me to try to drum up business. It arrived in the mail and I couldn’t stop laughing at the tiny little image of Marie-Noelle Ledru on a cheap ballpoint pen. I wish I still had that pen. I do still have a few bottles of Ledru left. Maybe it’s time to open them.
‘Tis the season to drink Champagne. Is there really any more to say?
(Ok, there is more to say. Like that you shouldn’t wait until the holidays to drink Champagne. You should drink it year round. Whenever you want. And not just for big celebrations. Because champagne is “just” wine with bubbles. And it’s delicious!)
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: I still post a version of this every year. It’s still true. Most people still reserve Champagne for special occassions, when simply opening a bottle of will make any occassion special.
Now, on to the recommendation.
Marie Noelle Ledru outstanding in her field (photo credit: Bonhomie Wine Imports)
If I could place a bet on which champagne is going to be the hottest thing going in the next couple years, I would bet on the bubbles of Marie Noëlle Ledru.
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Yeah well, I sure called that one.
This is Grower Champagne produced in the tiniest of quantities. Ledru owns 6 hectares of vines – small enough as it is, but absolutely tiny when you consider she sells off half of that to bigger houses. She farms without chemicals or pesticides, minimizes sulfur additions, hand-disgorges each bottle, and does the riddling on her own.
Yes, all this attention to detail makes for good copy, but the wines speak for themselves. They’re a marvel of ripe fruit, firm minerality, earthy, salty, biscuity goodness. But what’s most amazing is the pricing. This bottle is $50 on the shelf. Certain perfectly-nice-but-but-definitely-not-hand-tended champagnes are pushing this price point.
But that $50 price tag may not last for long. [A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: hahahahahahahahaha. $50 for Ledru!!! I’m literally (like really, literally, actually, crying] As I mentioned, Ledru is poised on the edge of being the next big (well, not really big) thing. The people who talk about such things are quietly buzzing about these wines. Their charm, their deliciousness, their sheer value. The distributor has already removed any quantity deals…because what’s the point of a quantity deal when there’s not much quantity to sell.
So next year, when every single cool kid is going on about Ledru, you can say you drank it when.
Marie Noelle Ledru Grand Cru Ambonnay Brut NV Price: $49.99 Marie Noelle LeDru Grand Cru Ambonnay Brut NV (Magnum) Price: $99.99 Marie Noelle LeDru Grand Cru Brut 2002 Price: $74.99
Arriving soon: Extra Brut, Extra Brut Magnums, Rose
Yes, I clearly have a thing for these wines.
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: I should have bought more. Way way way more.
We’re now in what I call the silly season, more commonly known as DECEMBER! As my 7 year-old would say, “In my imaginary world, I have a beautiful booklet laying out all my suggested gift options. Would you like one?”
But that’s the imaginary world. In the real world, the autumn decorations are still in the windows, I’m still sorting out my Champagne buy, and there’s no beautiful booklet anywhere in the near future.
But there will be blog posts. And facebook posts. And tweets. So stay tuned.
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Yeah, there wasn’t much of any of the above. Well, maybe there were tweets, but I’m not going to wade through them. As for blog posts? There were exactly four more before the end of the year.
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: It’s impossible for me to post about muscat and not make a joke about “muscat love.” This was true back in 2011 and it’s still true now. Except now, in all the social apps, I could actually add the tune Muskrat Love to the posts. Would that have helped me sell those magnums any faster? Doubt it, but I would have bought them anyway!
I have a thing for muscat-based wines….especially dry versions. Or ‘almost’ dry versions. Sales reps know this, so I’m an easy target. I already had signed up for the regular size bottles of this delicious, very-nearly dry Binner muscat, so my former-staffer-now-sales-guy knew I would be a sucker for the big magnum bottles.
Supercool, super-tall magnums.
Biodynamic/little-to-no-manipulation wine-making.
Yummy dry wine with the slightest bit of CO2 prickle….it was a clear case of muscat love-at-first-sight.
Obviously I’m biased, but I do think this wine would be an objectively good match to the Thanksgiving dinner. You could drink it before, during, and after. And never mind the actual wine – the bottle is just damn cool. Be the hit of the party and pick up a big bottle. Or go all Goldilocks and get both small and large….together, they’re just right
Domaine Binner Muscat Ca Gazouille 2008:$29.99 Domaine Binner Muscat Ca Gazouille 2008 Magnum 1.5 Liter:$52.99
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: By “less than $25” I probably meant $24.99. And now, it’s around $27 – $29, which for nearly 15 years later is pretty darn good.
La Clarine Farms Mourvedre 2010.
Natural deliciousness for less than $25.
Not going to say much more because there’s not much to go around.
Yes, everyone suggests Beajolais Nouveau as a great Thanksgiving wine. It’s a pairing that doesn’t just verge on cliché…it is a cliché. But hey, it works. And despite it being extremely unfashionable among the wine geek crowd, I still love it, stock it, and drink it. Yes, it’s a cliché…but it’s also a bit of a tradition. So get over your cool kid self and drink some.
We have three on hand….choose your cliché wisely!
Paul Durdilly Beaujolais Nouveau 2010: The fruitiest of the bunch. Probably the closest to what people think of as “Nouveau” but without the banana nose. And definitely the most fun to say. (Say it now…durdilly!) Price: $10.99
Domaine de La Madone Beaujolais Nouveau 2011: Darker fruit + a little more structure…well structure of a Nouveau. Price: $11.99
Christophe Pacalet Beaujolais Nouveau 2011: Natural yeast, unfined, unfiltered, and this one will even be nice with a bit of age. (By age, we mean, it will still be tasty come, oh, January 1st. Which is a lot of age for a Beaujolais Nouveau.) Price: $12.99
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Time to revisit these wines. This is the one big thing I miss about having a shop in a high traffic area of NYC – the sales volume was just so much higher that I could bring in a 6pk of something like these wines and know that we would be able to sell them within a month or two. Up in Copake land, the total sales volume is much smaller, so the inventory levels get out of wack very quickly. If I were much better at getting out regular newsletters, I could play a little faster and looser with the fun stuff. But right now, with a foot in NYC and a toe or two in Copake, that doesn’t happen. Check back for a future Note from the Future – because hopefully this will change a bit when I’m up there full time!
In a wine store in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, you learn a lot about people’s families. You learn that a lot of people aren’t so keen on their families. And they really dread the prospect of an extended turkey-filled meal. It’s not like you can just sense this….they flat out tell you. Turkey Day wine requests usually go something like, “I need two bottles of white, two reds, and I really don’t want to spend the day with my over-bearing brother-in-law.” Or “I’m making oyster stuffing this year, do you have anything really strong that will drown out the annual argument between my mother and sister?”
OK, maybe they’re not all that explicit, but there’s definitely a lot of eye rolling, deep sighing, and general tension in the air.
So if you’re one of those customers in need of a little tableside harmony, there’s nothing more appropriate than a wine from Switzerland, that great bastion of neutrality (and cheese and cuckoo clocks.)
Our suggestion: either of Fabienne Cottagnoud’s two reds. Or both if you’re in need of serious peace brokering. Fabienne turns out a sexy, silky Pinot Noir that’s almost jewel-like. And for something a bit brawnier, her Humagne (that’s the grape’s name) is a stunner – something like a Northern Rhone Syrah crossed with a gust of Alpine air. These are beautiful, unique wines that will help you breathe more easily and forget about any turkey-time tensions hovering over your table. They’re not inexpensive, because apparently, neutrality has its price.
Caves des Tilleuls (Cottagnoud) Pinot Noir de Vertroz 2008: $34.99 Caves des Tilleuls (Cottagnoud) Humagne Rouge de Vertoz 2009: $44.99
