A Wine Blog from the Files of Christy Frank
Originally posted on November 20, 2011.
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.
Originally published on November 19, 2011.
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
Originally published on November 16, 2011.
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
Originally published on November 11, 2011.
It’s true. I make this recomendation every year. But that’s because it works. And because I really love the wine. And because maybe this year….you’ll take me up on it!
Lopez de Heredia Tondonia Rosado Gran Reserva 2000 (Rioja, Spain): Imagine Thanksgiving dinner (the food, not your crazy uncle or your tispy cousin-three-times-removed.) The cranberry sauce, the turkey, the yams, the turkey, the stuffing, the turkey. It’s a wine-pairing nightmare. But this is the wine that can handle it all. Delicate enough to handle the turkey (which let’s face it, is pretty bland), a little fruit to deal with the cranberries and exotic enough to stand up to the stuffing, yams, and even pumpkin pie. It’s perfect.
But it’s not exactly your typical rosé – it has some of the tangy-ness you’ll find in a good fino sherry, only a hint of fruit, and lovely exotic spices like cardamom and ginger. So if you’re intrigued and looking for a little adventure pick up a bottle.
Price: $23.99
Originally published on November 9, 2011.
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Once upon a time I might have posted the picture here and just linked to that, but now we know about attribution and commercial licenses and we don’t do that sort of thing! But the picture I would post is a simple illustration of an elephant against a pink background. On its head is a barrel that says ‘vin’ with a spiget dripping red wine into a glass that it’s made with it’s trunk while a cartoon character named Harold does the backstroke in the liquid. This was a Harold’s Planet cartoon – and the illustrators did some of the best wine-related cartoons even. I can’t find the elephant one to link (and as I’m discribing it, I’m realizing that the title doesn’t make all that much sense, because the wine was rouge, not rose) but go here for a quick compilation. You’ve probably seen Yoga for Wine Lovers or Pilates for Wine Lovers in your social feeds at some point over the last however many years. Well – this is the source!
Originally published on November 9, 2011.
It’s that time again! Time for the constant stream of articles and recommendations about What to Drink with Turkey!
Wine industry people love to roll their eyes at these seasonal, themed pieces (Bubbles on a Budget! Wines to Pair with Chocolate! You Get the Idea!) But my take is that we need to write these things. Because even though I know what to drink with turkey – and have been making recommendations for the past I’m-not-going-to-do-the-math,-but-it’s-been-plenty-of-years – this could be the year the YOU decide to give it a second thought.
So this is the first time you’ve given any attention to these recommendations. And you probably don’t realize I’m cutting and pasting this intro from last year’s Thanksgiving Day posts (actually, I’m not, but if I bothered to check, I’m sure they’d be eerily similar.)
So on with the recommendations. Which I actually like to write. Because the reality is….the real #1 recommendation is: IT REALLY DOESNT MATTER WHAT YOUR DRINK FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER!
OK, that’s not completely true. To revise slightly: It really doesn’t matter what you drink as long as what you drink is light enough and refreshing enough that you want to drink more of it. Which means I can write about almost anything I like. Because most everything I like qualifies.
So with that first rule in mind, here we go:
Thanksgiving Wine Reco #1: For Those Who Need a Second Opinion
Ravines Dry Riesling 2009 (Finger Lakes, New York): Ravines has been a Frankly Wines staple pretty much since I opened my doors four years ago. At one point, owner/operators Morten and Lisa Hallgren, were driving their own pickup truck down from the Finger Lakes to make deliveries. These days, they have an actual distributor who can make deliveries, which probably makes their lives a little easier….more time to focus on the wine!
I could tell you all about this wine…How it’s drinkable proof that not all Riesling is sweet. That “non-Riesling” drinkers always seem to like it. That it’s just the thing to liven up a turkey-induced Thanksgiving Day stupor. But don’t take my word for it. Get a second opinion: Eric Asimov and the New York Times crew deemed this the favorites white wine of their annual Thanksgiving wine panel.
Price: $15.99
Originally published on October 24, 2011.
A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: Oh I remember those days. One of the huge perks of owning the business is that no one can tell you not to bring your kids to work. The kid in the picture actually drinks wine now. And has a pretty decent palate!
This installment of Things You Need to Know doesn’t really apply to all potential wine store owners. Just the ones that think it would be a good idea to open a wine store six months or so before having a third kid. Because if you, then eventually there will be a day when your manager has the rare weekend off, your newest staffer has a delayed start date due a nasty bronchial infection, your backups all dare to have lives outside of being your backups…and one of your kids will have a birthday party in the wide-open space of a Brooklyn park that guarantees at least one of your other kids will wander off into the Brooklyn wilderness if your husband attempts to take all three of them to the party.
Which is a long way of saying that if you have three kids and a wine store, eventually you’ll wind up with one of them in the shop in need of a couple hours worth of entertainment. They want to have fun. You want to get some work done. But there’s only so much work that can get done when the kiddo can’t even reach the counter.
Here are some tips:
Stock the Bottles Game
Shocking how well this one works. Probably because the kids aren’t usually allowed to touch the bottles. But in this game, not only do they get to touch the bottles…they get to MOVE THEM! To play, each shelf section is assigned a letter (another use for the indispensable Post-It Note.) Then the grown up calls out “yellow tops, Section A” or green tops, Section C,” or whatever. The lucky kiddo gets to PICK UP and MOVE THE BOTTLES from the wherever they’ve been piled to the assigned section. Once all the bottles are lined up, the lucky kiddo gets to yet again, PICK UP THE BOTTLES and HAND THEM to the grown up who puts them on the shelf. And if the kid is very, very lucky, he may even get to PUT BOTTLES ON THE SHEFL ALL BY HIMSELF! (Unless you’re 3 – 7 years old, you probably can’t imagine how exciting this is.)
Make a Display Game
First, you need to explain that a “display” is something you set up to be eye catching so people will stop as they walk by and want to learn more. Then you let the kiddo loose with various, often forbidden goodies, in this case, corks, plastic cups, flower pots (from the actual spring window display, fake autumn leaves, and yes….BOTTLES!
Photo Shoot
Give him the phone. Let him take pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Delete as needed. (Although some may turn out to be sort of cool, in an abstract impressionist sort of way.)
Last Resort
Let Angry Birds and Red Remover get you through the home stretch.
Today, we actually didn’t need to get to the Last Resort phase. The plastic dinos came out of the rolly bag (yes, we packed a rolly bag even through the apartment is right round the corner.) They took over a few wine boxes and the husband and other two kiddos returned just as they were about to annex the Australia section.
Originally published on October 19, 2011.
We had a good, long run working through our stash of Jean-Pierre Gaussen 2001 Bandol. We loved this wine for its classic, rustic only-in-Bandol blend of dark, brambly fruit, firm meatiness, and undercurrent of sunbaked herbs. And we loved that it was at the absolutely ready to drink – right off the shelf – when most other traditional Bandol’s on the market were new releases, in need of some serious aging. But save for a few magnums, the wine is now completely sold through.
Now when I sell through a favorite wine like this, I usually go into a mourning period for the old bottle, mooning over samples and price lists and bemoaning that I will never find a replacement bottle as good, at just the right price. And I did that for a couple weeks. But this time, the gods of wine (I guess that would be Bacchus) smiled on my and sent me a replacement very quickly.
So here’s the true story of our new Bandol…
*** WARNING ***
If you think wine buying is all about romantic travels through vineyards and cellars of little backroad town, then stop reading now. Your illusions are about to be shattered.
…So, on with the story: I run into one of my sales reps in Astor Place. He’s on his way from the Mud Truck and I’m on my way to the Mud Truck. (It’s a four-distributor tasting kind of day. Caffeineation is required.)
Me: Hey, they were out of the 2004 Bandol at the tasting. Could you get me a sample soon? I need a Bandol with some age on it. Him: Let me check (pulls out some spreadsheet reports.) We actually have two cases of the La Bastide Blanche Bandol “Cuvee Estagnol” 1997. You interested?
Me (in my head): I really hate to buy wine without tasting it. But I really liked the 2008. Too young to really drink easily, but it has the bones I like in my Bandol. And the 2004 was poured off a couple hours before the end of the tasting, which is always a good sign that it was showing well and drawing some excitement. And two cases isn’t a lot and there aren’t many older Bandol vintages kicking around the market and I really don’t like not having an older Bandol on my shelf so…..
Me (out loud): Ship them next Tuesday.
Deal done. Off to get coffee and hop the subway to get to another tasting. So much for wine romance.
Anyhow, the wine arrives and it’s time to open a bottle and try it. And happily, it tastes exactly as it should. Grapes for this cuvee are grown on clay-limestone soil, so this wine is a wee bit less beefy than the Gaussen. But we’re not talking elegant here – this is classic Bandol, Powerful and meaty, with firm tannins and a core of baked, dark fruit that recalls the sun-baked slopes of Provence. Perfect for autumn weather and richer, wintery foods. Think stews, lamb, game (hunting season is just around the corner.)
Buy it now, drink it within a year. If you’re a Bandol fan, you won’t be disappointed (unless you wait around until it’s all sold out….remember….we bought the last 2 cases and have already opened a bottle!)
Price : $44.99
Originally published on October 15, 2011.
A while back, I shared a quick tip on how to remove slow pours from a wine bottles. Or rather, how to remove a slow pour from a wine bottle without breaking a nail or slicing your finger off.
Now if you don’t already know (and haven’t already guessed) what a slow pour is, then here’s the definition: it’s a little plastic device that allows you to pour wine s-l-o-w-l-y. Without looking stingy. Which is especially important at big, fancy tastings where you want to give lots of people a little taste of wine but are too cheap to run through more than a bottle or two.
These are geezers.
So the other day, I’m talking with one of my sales reps to coordinate an upcoming tasting at the store. What time to arrive, which wines, what order – the usual – when he asks if I have any geezers he could borrow. This is a strange question, so I ask for a little clarification.Well, apparently ‘geezers’ are his name for slow pour – which makes perfect sense since geezers stereotypically move more slowly than the average person – especially if that person is a New York City wine sales rep. ‘Geezer’ also implies a certain crankiness, which is usually how the person pouring the wine feels when stuck behind a table dealing with clinkers, anti-spiters, and the general sloppiness that is a big, fancy tasting*
These are also geezers….but you can’t put them in a box.
So we’ve started to call them geezers at the store. It’s especially fun to yell down the basement – “bring me some geezers – they’re in that box under the stairs!” Just as long as no one from the AARP is in ear shot.
*Not to be confused with the good time that is pouring at a cool, little Frankly Wines in-store tasting, where the pourers get to stand in front of the table.
Photo credit: Plastic geezers: Christy Frank. Geezer sign: rileyroxx
Originally published on October 14, 2011.
New York wines hit the big time! Specifically wines from the Finger Lakes region, which got a big Eric Asimov write up in the New York Times this week. And as happened maybe once or twice (or more) before, we already have a few of the mentioned producers in stock. Old favorites like Hermann J Wiemer and Ravines that have been around since I opened, along with more recent finds like Bloomer Creek.
These Finger Lakes wines (FLX for the acronymicly inclined), along with a couple Long Island producers (hello Shinn…another NYT favorite) have colonized enough shelf space that we decided to put together a New York sampler case.
Now this is not a bandwagon thing – we decided to expand the New York state section back in February. And this sampler case has been on the to-do list since, oh….May.
Time flies when you’re selling wine.