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:
- An enthusiastic, well-trained staff that likes the wine nearly as much as I do
- A recent article in the New York Times Dining & Wine section.
- My fabulous 3-Pack (that’s really a 2-Pack)
- 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)
- 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.