Wainwright House Wine Tasting Preview – 2012

Click on the above link for the Adobe file.

THANK YOU

Hopefully I’ll see many of you tonight as we taste through 110+ wines and munch on Gary’s nibbles! It looks like a beautiful day out there and this evening will be no exception.

Organizing an event like tonight is always daunting and it is always a double edged sword. The last few days we have seen a precipitous drop in sales which augers well if it’s because everyone coming tonight is holding off before ordering cases from the tasting! So we have also been a little quiet on the buy side as we approached tonight’s event. However we did receive two very special cases of wine this week – Figgins and Doubleback. Let’s start with Figgins.

For more than 30 years the Figgins family has been producing wines at their Leonetti cellar. What started as Gary Figgins’ vision to produce world-class wines in Walla Walla turned into an American success story. Today Leonetti wines are some of the most sought after wines in the world. If you are a Parker hound you may be surprised to know that he has only scored Leonetti’s cabernet below 90 three times since 1989 – most of his scores are 95. I also remember Leonetti merlot being priced around $25 in the early 90’s. Now, if you can find it you’ll pay over $100 – for the present release, and hundreds for anything older. Enter Chris Figgins, Gary and Nancy’s son. Bred with an entrepreneurial spirit Chris’s comment on his wine-making sums up his creed:  “Building upon ones forefather’ legacy is both a privilege and a responsibility. We do so with a passion, focus, and utmost attention to quality. To do otherwise would be to dishonor the very foundation we are entrusted with”.

I understand that Chris may have taken over the helm at Leonetti but he also makes his own wine under the label Figgins. His 2008 Estate Red is the inaugural release. The wine has loads of fruit bearing down on it, from the red raspberry to red apple, blueberry and currant. Then you get the non-fruit flavors of Madura tobacco and wet leather, cedar shavings and cigar box and finally you get your tongue wrapped around the little berries like cassis, blackberries and elderberry. Some might say I’ve just described a fruit bomb – a classic 100 point Parkerized wine, I say I’ve described a perfect balance between breakfast, lunch and dinner – did I mention that Chris rides motorbikes too? With luck he and I will be riding this September through some mountains in Washington eating steaks and drinking great wine!

As to the actual cosmetics of the wine it’s a blend of cabernet sauvignon, petite verdot and merlot. 70% new French oak, 30% second fill French oak, 22 months. The wine is sold out and was only available to members of Chris’s wine list – a very small list because he only makes a tiny amount of the wine. I received 6 bottles, I’m keeping one and I’ll offer the other 5 to the first takers – the wine is $110 per beautiful bottle. If there is great demand (and I’m sure there will be, I will do my utmost to get hold of more)

The second case we got is tied to the first. Drew Bledsoe shouldn’t require much introduction. Former NFL Quarterback he was the number one overall draft pick in 1993 when he signed with the Patriots. He retired a wealthy man in 2007 and decided to make a smaller fortune by using his larger fortune to build a winery in his home town in Walla Walla, Washington. Fortunately, along the way, he remembered his good friend Chris Figgins (see the connection?) and being not quite as stupid as some sportspeople he enlisted the help of an expert. Chris makes Doubleback wine for Drew. A similar blend to the Figgins, 76% cabernet, 14% merlot and 10% Petite Verdot, aged 20 months in 50/50 new and neutral French oak.  When I tasted the Doubleback there was a definite comparison between it and Figgins but there was also something quite different. Where Figgins is a wine reminiscent of your favorite leather armchair the Doubleback had a ridge of acidity in it that made you want to rush out and buy a modern sofa – maybe in the Sinatra style. Both wines were amazing and both wines have a mystical value to them – they’ll keep for probably 25 years and they are so beautifully packaged they may just lie in a glass cocoon in my cellar for that length of time.

Similar story to the Figgins – tiny quantity, possibly 18 bottles available (same price $110), sold out at the winery, join the list but wait maybe years for an allocation. Let me know if you are interested – and if you like slip over to the website to see the bottles and the links.

Beginning next week we will e-mail the Price Brochure to all those who have purchased tickets so that you can preview the wines available for tasting. After the event the Price Brochure will go on general release to our e-mail customers and the order cut-off will be Thursday, May 17.

Back in the store, I drove down to Philadelphia on Tuesday to visit the importer, Vine Street Imports. Ronnie and his team put on an astonishing tasting for me. Vine Street are one of the largest importers of Australian wines and over the course of six hours we tasted more than 60 wines, and heard the stories associated with each wine. It was the first time that I really had the opportunity to taste this many Aussie wines in one sitting and it was a revelation! I am sorting through my tasting notes and very soon I’ll be able to restock our entire Australian portfolio – yea.

Last week I made comment of the wines from Le Roc des Anges, the winery located at the foothills of the Pyrenees. Seems they were popular! We ran out within a few days (one of them within hours of the release!). But we obviously made a hit with the wine-maker, Marjorie Gallet and the importer, because we did get some more in. I’ll say it again – they are quite probably the best wines I have tasted this year – certainly the most exciting. So if you are interested I suggest you call ASAP.

We also took in an allocation of small Chateau’s from Bordeaux this last week. After an extensive tasting we chose:

Chateau de Bense Medoc 2009 – $19.00

Chateau Les Carregades Medoc 2009 – $14.00

Chateau Les Rouilleres 2009 – $12.00

Chateau La Garrousse 2010 – $11.00

All little wines from Bordeaux at really little prices – we love that. Three of them are from the famed 2009 vintage and what is crucial to understand about the ’09 vintage is that whilst  1st growth wines reached prices similar to ‘The Scream’, smaller outlying areas created fantastic wines and are very affordable. That’s the great thing about a great vintage in Bordeaux – it’s a wonderful opportunity to buy in small estates at excellent prices, and hold them for a while – they will, just like
the 1st growths, get better with age.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember…stay thirsty

It’s also 4 days since we began selling tickets to the 6^th Annual Wine at Five wine tasting event. Obviously many of you have learnt from previous years because the phones and the emails have been pouring in. I think we are over 1/3 full and since we have to be really strict this year on the numbers, if you want to come call in fast, or send an e-mail. All we need is your name, a telephone number, a working e-mail address and your credit card details. We have been working hard on the wines and by inviting this year some of our most unique importers I promise you the wines this year are better than ever before. And because everybody is hurting, us as retailers included, we will do everything we can to bring the prices down to where everyone should be thrilled. So if you want the best opportunity to taste 100+ wines, the best prices of the year, in the luxurious surroundings of the Wainwright House, and with the amazing culinary talents of Mr. Gary Stone and his team at Cornerstone Catering, then mark your calendar now; May 11, Wainwright House, 6:30pm – get the baby-sitter!

Talking shop here – are you aware that we deliver in Rye and the immediate surrounds? I had a lady on the phone earlier this week who was desperate to have some wine for this weekend, but she couldn’t bear the thought of trying to park and she had injured her arm so could we deliver? Of course – we’ve been delivering wine in Rye since 2006 – no reason to stop now. So if you need a case or two, (I think we have delivered a single bottle but let’s not take this too far!) and you don’t  want to park then call us – we’ll deliver it no problem. Also, Realtors, now that the market is coming back and you are selling more, give a thought to us putting together a welcome basket of wine – what better way to celebrate dropping a few million on bricks and mortar than cracking open a bottle of chardonnay?

Back to wine – I’m getting over the aftereffects of spending 10 days in Italy tasting every type of wine you can imagine and eating some really interesting stuff as well. For more reviews on what went on go over to www.wineatfive.com Back home the mice were playing whilst the cat was away – not too much but I did spy a few new bottles on the shelf. And trust me, there will be even more soon. Straight after I flew back on Sunday I was in the thick of it Tuesday afternoon at an amazing French Producers wine tasting event at the Standard Hotel in NY.  Two or three new wines that blew me away and a Rosé that took me back to Provence – its smells, its food and its life. Let’s start with the rosé – from Chateau Pigoudet it’s called Insolite and it recently won the Medal D’Or in Paris – I don’t think Domaine Ott did. The bottle for the wine is extraordinary, almost conical, tapered at the top, flared at the bottom with a very deep punt – it’s not a cheap a bottle. The wine is sublime – the palest of pale salmon hues with a perfumed aroma of strawberry and melon but the taste is so full yet fresh and silky – thinking about it this would be the perfect wine to pair whilst watching the Victoria Secret’s annual tease. The blend is 75% syrah, 25% cabernet sauvignon – which in itself is an interesting blend – syrah and Grenache or syrah and mouvedre yes, but the cabernet gives it a dimension that the other Rhone wines can’t. I really loved this wine and even at $22.00 it’s worth every cent and then some. I also tasted the new vintage of Serge Lalou’s Sancerre Cuvee Silex – 2010 is so much better, IMHO than their 2009 (which savvy customers will know didn’t actually make it to the store). The 2010 was so much more refined and elegant – this is the kind of Sancerre you spend your money on – $30.00. There was, of course, an ulterior motive to going to this French wine trade show – the lovely Ms. Cecile Dusserre was in attendance and I really need to ask her how her husband was!  Whilst there I tasted her line of Rhone wines and the Domaine de Montvac Vacqueyras Vincila 2007 was simply alien – as in out of this world. Super smooth, super rich but perfectly balanced. The wine has evolved from being the stubborn child to becoming Mr. James Bond. This is what really good Rhone wine should taste like. It’s not your extracted, over rated, over here crap, this is true wine. Loved it. So too her ‘Arabesque” 2009 and the new Gigondas offering – “Adage”. My friend Paul Vendran was also pouring so I tasted his La Ferme St. Pierre Cote de Ventoux 2010. Let me tell you, for the price this is one hell of a good Rhone wine – it’s that perfect bottle for when you don’t have a clue what to have – versatile, drinkable, rich, affordable, anything you want it to be, when you want it. That’s quite rare in a wine – $15.00. Next up were the wines from another dear friend, Marc Pichon – readers might remember, he’s the Frenchman married to a Swede with a house full of children and animals (with various amounts of limbs) running all over the place. I’m going to admit here, and I know that he reads this, but his white wines were incredible, and I thought, much better than his reds. His Gris Montagne Rose was terrific, his Rousanne quite extraordinary and his Viognier Vaucluse was just brilliant – loved them all, want to buy them all – and I want to experiment with the viognier. I have some very old Condrieu stashed in my cellar somewhere but I’m going to put some of Pichon’s Anne Pichon Viognier in the cellar and see if I can keep my hands off it for 10 years – then crack open a bottle just for the hell of it. Across in another corner the Burgundies were being poured so I hovered over to Roger Belland – I tried both his Chassagne Montrachet and a very large glass of his Batard Montrachet – heaven. No need for words – I can’t afford the Batard but I want to bring the CM in. If you are interested the Batard will go for about $250 per bottle – the CM a mere $80. The wines of Jean Michel Gaunoux were up next. An even more intense version of heaven – one without a hell. I can’t remember the last time I marked a series of Burgundy wines with such high scores – from the Mersault 2008, the Mersault 1er Cru Perrieres 2007, the Genevrieres 2007, the outstanding 1er Cru Les Gouttes d’Or 2007 – I fell in love with each sip. I have no idea whether these wines have been rated by Parker or Burghound but from my perspective, they were sublime beyond compare. For those interested in these high-end Meursaults they start at $55.00 for the 2008, $105 for the Perrieres 2007, $99 for the Genevrieres 2007 and same price for the Les Gouttes d”or 2007. – At the moment, special order only. Slightly less expensive but no less intoxicating was the newly released 2009 Pouilly Fuisse “Les Birbettes” from Chateau des Rontets. Old vines dating back to the 1920s give the wine an intensely aromatic and ripe flavor. And the star of the show, from a quality/value perspective has to be the Romain Bouchard DRB 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre 2010. It’s Chablis from one of the historic 1er cru sites, its organic, it’s absolutely delicious and to be able to drink premier cru Chablis of this quality for $38.00 these days is a find.

Don’t forget – May 11 for the wine tasting event of the year. Tonight if you are inclined to step into southwestern France and sip some wine with us, and this weekend – start buying the rosés.

Enjoy.

On the first night of the show I was invited by Ca’del Bosco to a dinner at their winery. This is the Franciacorta that I wrote about recently on everydayawine.com. The winery is like a set in a modern day James Bond movie. I have photos on a slide show at the store for anyone who wants to see what a few million dollars can create. They have the tallest gravitational flow tank in Europe, specialized refrigerated container rooms where the early morning picked grapes can rest and a huge rhinoceros hanging from the ceiling! Dinner was prepared by a three-star Michelin chef who looks the part, and his entire kitchen staff. Dignitaries abounded, and here, for the only time, did I come across any serious Russian buyers. We drank some of the finest sparkling wine I have had outside of champagne, and indeed it put most champagnes to shame. I know it’s pricey but if you are willing to ‘experiment’, and what’s life if you don’t, then you have got to taste Franciacorta – this may well become the thorn in the side of the dreaded ‘yellow peril’. For the record the owners also poured their 2002 Pinot Nero that was exceptional – someone at my table even commented that it was similar to an older DRC that he had tried recently – but I think he was showing off to his date. Also poured were: Franciacorta Cuvee Annamaria Clementi 2004, Ca’del Bosco Chardonnay 2008 and 2003, Pinéro 2008 sample from the barrel and Pinéro in Magnums 2002. It was a fantastic night

Monday night I was invited to the incomparable home of Maralissa Allegrini – the Villa Della Torre. Her company included a variety of bankers who flew in by helicopter, obviously ignorant of recessionary protocol, and the Italian Minister of Agriculture who came by donkey. The evening was an indulgent tribute to the Bolgheri region of Italy and the guest list included the owners of such wineries as Ornellaia, Tenuta Guado al Tasso (Scalabrone), Tenuta San Guido (Sassicaia), and to mark the occasion we drank: Castello di Bolgheri 2007 & 2008, Grattamacco Vermentino 2010, Grattamacco Bolgheri Superiore 2008, Pogio al Tesoro, Solesole 2011, Cassiopea Toscan 2011, Mediterra Toscana 2011, Sondraia Bolgheri 2008, and the magnificent Dedicato a Walter Toscana 2006. From Tenuta dell’Ornellaia we had Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia 2009, Ornellaia Bolgheri 2009 and 2009.From Guado al Tasso we enjoyed the Scalabrone Rosato 2011 and the Guado al Tasso Bolgheri 2008 and we finished with the Sassicaia Bolgheri Sassicaia 2006. I believe I was driven home but I can’t be sure. On both evenings the hospitality and showmanship were exceptional, so too the foods and of course, the wines. It was all very special.

For the rest of the week I ate pizza!

Actually, truth be told I did have pizza quite often if only because it is so good over there. It tastes nothing like the garbage we get here. I also had a rather strange meal consisting of boiled bits of various parts of unnamed animals. It’s supposed to be a delicacy and so I ate it with a similar amount of delicacy and tried hard to find places to hide some of it. Not my cup of tea. On another night we dined at a local restaurant that does a brisk trade with the local stables – horse was on the menu, pretty much all the menu actually. But here I differ from my American friends (though fortunately none were at this particular dinner), I don’t mind horse. Stronger than beef, on par with buffalo and pretty tasty when married with some really good aglianicos! The big thing this year in Verona was the ‘spritzer’. Prosecco combined with a little Aperol or Campari and a dash of soda and a slab of blood orange floating on top. Damn it’s good. Pretty alcoholic too so don’t do more than a gallon on your first shot. It looks so pretty too – all red orange – perfect for early summer.

For more on the wines you’ll have to wait a little longer. Italy isn’t big on people working on the internet, or working anywhere for that matter. The trade show had no internet unless you paid a small fortune or bribed one of the producer/booth owners to give you his password; the hotel did have internet but not on my floor so I would have to traipse down to the lobby to surf. And in Rome there was nothing, and since they don’t like Starbucks there was no friendly café to pop into and work. So all the wine tasting notes are still in my note book waiting for me to transcribe them digitally. When I do they’ll be on everydayawine.com

I did find a few treasures but interestingly, the wines I already get from one specific importer were some of the best wines I tasted at the show. I write a lot about the David and Goliath of the wine distribution business and honestly I still believe that the NYS liquor laws are some of the most arcane, anti-business laws in the industry, but I also write a lot about the small importers and distributors who spend their lives, and their capital, attending these kinds of trade shows to find the best wines and the best values to bring to the US. Without them we would still all be drinking Santa Margherita (no offence to Ca’del Bosco!). So to the importers and distributors
who spent so much time with me in Verona – thank you, it was an honor to watch you work and savor the fruit of your labors.

We do anticipate tasting better and better wines and at this juncture I have to admit, we’ve left winter behind. The wonderful Burgundies I tasted a few weeks ago were just the prelude to a bunch of great wines we’ve tasted collectively since. Others are drumming up business by offering Yellow Tail at $4.99 and I’ve even seen Gallo Cabernet at $4.99 in New Jersey. We, on the other hand, think that if we find better and better wine each week we do ourselves a service, we do you a service and if all else fails at least I have good wine to take home! WE had the boys from Walla Walla here a few weeks ago and that was huge. A big thanks to all who came in that Saturday and made them welcome by buying large quantities of their wines. Since then we have had growers from California (David Jeffrey – Calluna Vineyard – check out everydayawine.com), Burgundy (Burguet), Italy, more North-by-North West (Rotie),and a brilliant afternoon with Mike Loberg of Mark Herold Wines (see at right on everydayawine.com index). And the wines have been terrific; new, very well made, different and exciting. They have made this period of anticipation bearable. I cannot remember a droll, dull, gray February ever bringing so much good wine to our door as this year.

In further anticipation of Spring and fat wallets I drive south on Monday to Virginia to visit for a couple of days with one of America’s most celebrated importers of fine wine –Kysela Per & Fils. Over a day and a half I’ll get to taste through hundreds of wines, predominantly from Europe and I know it will end with a huge shopping list – he never fails to show excellent wines. Later in the week I’ll head over to Phily to meet up with an importer bringing in Australian wines – Australia has a huge glut at the moment and very few American distributors touch the stuff. That’s possibly because of the damage done to their reputation and the market by wines like Yellow Tail, but it’s also straightforward economics. They have one of the strongest currencies in the world and we are paying some of the highest oil prices in history. The combo isn’t good. However, these guys in Philadelphia are sourcing excellent, value and quality oriented wines for consumers. So fingers crossed. In March I fly off to Italy in anticipation of tasting thousands of wines at the huge wine trade show in Verona. It’s a 4 day binge and in all truth, it’s not that much fun. You go to bed at midnight having feted with Italian growers who all speak too fast, you get up at 6.00 to get ready to travel off to a warehouse complex on the outskirts of town, you start tasting at 8:30am and you finish, barely standing, at 6.00. Go straight out to dinner with another bunch of wine-makers who also talk too quickly, and do it all over again for the next 3 days. Sounds great! But there is a lot to anticipate in Italy this year – rumors of price increases across the board, sketchy quality and politics, but it’s the anticipation of finding the gem that makes it all worthwhile. Back home for a month and then off to California in an attempt to convince some really small producers to provide the Northeast with some of their wines. The more I talk to Californian wine-makers who make Faberge Egg style wines the more I hear from them that there are others in the wilderness making similar quality, similar quantity wines and they too want a voice. Who knows? It could just all be an excuse to travel on a taxable expense ticket, eat well and drink great wine!

If you get the chance this weekend enjoy some of our new arrivals:

Burguet Gevrey Chambertin “Favorits” Pinot Noir

Burguet Bourgogne Rouge Les Pince Vins Pinot Noir

Mark Herold Flux Red Wine

Bonhomme Vire Clesse Chardonnay

Bohigas Blanc de Blancs Xarel-lo

La Val Albarino Rias Baixas

For readers who want more information about some of the wines or just about wines I taste every day, check out the index at left for wines on the everydayawine.com blog

Have a fabulous weekend, and remember, stay thirsty.

It’s been an interesting week as far as wine goes. Some really
good new wines were brought in and the usual rubbish as well. Interestingly the
usual rubbish is getting less and less and since we sent out feelers to some of
the really small local importers and distributors the level of some of the
wines we are tasting has leapt. Sometime today, for example, we’ll receive an
allocation of a few cases of wines from Calluna Vineyards in California. We
tasted the wines earlier in the week with David Jeffrey, the owner and
wine-maker and I was blown away. I had almost given up on finding a Californian
wine that had the boldness and structure of a great right bank Bordeaux but
wasn’t comparably priced – i.e. above $300. But the Calluna ‘Aux Reynaud’ was
in a world unto itself – for a more in-depth tasting note wiz over to www.everdayawine.com and either look up
Calluna or simply scroll down to the entry. We have very little of it so hurry.
On a similar subject, I had a great evening a few nights ago at a dinner to
celebrate the Gambero Rosso’s award to Tasca D’Almerita as Winery of the Year.
Many thanks to the importer for inviting me, and for sitting me next to
Guiseppe Tasca – he’s a character! When I told him how much I enjoyed his 1979
Rosso del Conte and mindlessly asked him how much of it he had left he said, in
the way only Sicilian men can “I have enough for the next 16 years…..if
I drink 1 bottle every 2nd year!” Love it.

It’s been a good week for the sales reps too. We began to replenish
empty bins with new and exciting wines – two great whites from Spain, a new
Albarino less than $18.00 and a new Verdelho at less than $15.00; a Grenache
Blanc from Napa, three new wines from Australia, new wine from Broc cellars –
come in on Saturday and have a look – or go over to www.everydayawine.com and reab about
what I’m drinking – many of the wines are still available for purchase over the
web.

It’s a long weekend this weekend so if you plan to continue
drinking past Saturday just remember we won’t be open on Monday. Have a
fabulous weekend  and in the new
vocabulary “link like you have never linked before – lincredulous wines from Line at Five! Way to go Jeremy
Lin!” (pathetic…I know)

I have been talking to a few sages in the wine industry lately and discussions have been set in motion about creating a new way to critique wines. I personally have been so anti any mass media criticism of wine for so long and I am beginning to see a shift away from the inflated 90+ rating game – it reminds me of the backlash against Californian chardonnay – over-priced, over-oaked and rubbish. We think there is a market for the honest to goodness written word. No rating stuff, but a jury of five independent writers each writing, in their own words, about the same wine. Edited in such a way that each critic is assigned the same ‘spot’ in the editorial but the critics are anonymous. The benefit, we believe, is that a reader will be able to read five separate and objective criticisms of the same wine, each written in a manner that speaks to the tasting characteristics of the writer. You won’t have to rely on a single critic who just spent 5 seconds tasting the wine; nor the aggregate of a bunch of tasters tasting the same wine over a period of time but being edited by a single writer. We believe that the time has come to allow the consumer to make his or her own determination based solely on the superlatives (or not) scripted by five writers. As I have often said in the store – all ‘pedanticism’ aside you either like the wine or you don’t – it’s just a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Simple.

As an experiment I am going to write about a wine that we tasted yesterday afternoon. I bought five cases for the store and we’ll see how many are sold after this blog has been read. There are two versions of the ‘description’ – the first I took straight off a web site and it is the typical wine critic descritpion of any-named wine; the second is my tasting notes the way I felt about the wine and what I felt needed to be know about the wine: remember, it’s an experiment!

“Faillenc Sainte Marie is a small property, with only eight hectares of vineyards stubbornly clinging to the rocky foothills of Mont Alaric. The vineyards are buffeted by the northerwesterly Tramontane wind which blows over Alaric and by the southerly Autan breezes coming off the nearby Mediterranean, creating an extremely dry climate. Syrah, Grenache Noir, and Cinsault are the red grape varieties raised here. A small vineyard (1 hectare) is devoted to white grapes: Roussanne, Macabeu, Bourboulenc and Clairette. The terroir is composed of inhospitable, rocky limestone terraces. Only vines, olive trees and some scraggly brush survive under these harsh conditions. As a result, yields are naturally low. The grapes are strongly marked by their environment and this powerful character shows through in the wines. The charming, quirky personality, sense of humor and creativity of Dominique Gibert, as well as the sensitive and diligent vineyard work of his wife, Marie-Therese Gibert, also mark these wines, both in their style and in their names and labels (all designed by Dominique who is a practicing architect as well as vigneron).” (Description from Rosenthal Wine Merchant – importer)

Domaine Faillene Sainte Marie 2009: As an initial example of what I mentioned above, this wine could not have been a more stupid choice. It is brazenly different to anything I have had in ages and I would have to strongly warn against any vegetarian drinking it. Unzip the cork and just wrap your nostril around the hole; breathe in sharply and savor a nose full of venison, merguez sausage, sage, back-room rugby stalls, and beef broth. You know what the kitchen smells like when you are cooking up a really potent beef stew – initially you brown the bones in the oven, bring them topside, deglaze with a bit of sherry and pour in the stock to make a really rich base for the stew. That’s the opening line with this wine – roasted beef bones, hint of sweet sherry cask aroma, and broth. Be patient with the wine, just like the stew. Let the aromas blow off, swirl the bottle, stir the stew, taste the wine, test the broth. Unlike the stew, this wine isn’t going to burn you. Even though it’s 14% alcohol there is so much going on inside you don’t even think about getting sloshed. First taste is still all about the meat – huge chunks of fall-off-the-bone beef. Swirled around the mouth you pick up the herbs – sage is abundant, rosemary definitely in the mix, even a hint of cinnamon and as the wine trickles toward the back of your mouth you get the burst of energy – like popping a cherry acid drop in your mouth (not the stuff from the 60′s, the stuff from the corner candy store!). Your mouth is overwhelmed with black and blue cherry flavors, raison, mocha, coffee – reminds me of a Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut bar without the Monty Python. This is probably going to be the wine that haunts me all year. It had so much structure and complexity and it evolved so many times during the brief period it was in the bottle (I think we drank the entire contents in less than 20 minutes), and even though there is a lot of unusual stuff going on with it it’s not a difficult wine to fall in love with. In lay terms it’s rather like a zinfandel meets Goldilocks, brazen fruit with a dewy soft cherry, blueberry and blackcurrant overtone. Goldilocks wouldn’t have bothered with the porridge after drinking this. I loved it and I bought it and what little I got arrives tomorrow. Price will be $18.00 on the shelf. Accept the inevitable and buy it buy the case – I think you will love it too. (My notes)

On to more pragmatic stuff, I tasted a bunch of spirits yesterday as well. Another forecast here for 2012 – the run-of-the-mill spirits that we have all bought for the last 15+ years will comee under attack from limited, small batch, artisanal spirits that capture the essence of the spirit without adding all the blin-bling. For example, No.3 is a gin made to a recipe from Berry Bros. & Rudd, probably the oldest wine merchant in the world. The name No.3 refers to the street address of BB, 3 St. James’s Street, London, the HQ of BB since 1698 (and briefly the site of the Embassy of Texas to the Court of St. James!). It also refers to the simplicity of the recipe – 3 fruits and 3 spices distilled in traditional copper stills. The stuff was amazing. Before we moved over here I had a farm in Berkshire – small holding is probably a better description! On this farm there was a little cottage and in the cottage lived an elderly couple who we adored. Especially since David introduced me to the King’s Ginger – a concoction of god knows what brewed by the aforementioned wine merchants. Together, every Sunday at noon David would bring out the King’s Ginger and I would arrive clutching a bottle of aged whiskey. He would do the honors and by lunchtime we were smashed. Memories! I brought a single bottle with me to the States and lovingly raised a glass to David for as long as there was liquid left in the bottle. Yesterday all the memories came flooding back because there in front of me was Berry Brother’s King’s Ginger. Drinking it with a splash of Scotch is one of life’s most satisfying moments. Rounding out the spirit tasting I tried an English Harbour Rum distilled in Antigua since 1932. No added caramel, this is the real McCoy. Very smooth, rich, slightly sweet with lovely toffee and nut flavors – I’m not a big rum drinker but this was extremely good. And of course since we were tasting the King’s Ginger we needed to crack open a bottle of whiskey and very fortunately the beautiful sales rep had a lovely bottle of Springbank 15 yearr Single Malt. If you are into whiskey this is the Holy Grail – one of the oldest, if not the oldest independent, family owned distilleries in Scotland. The scotch is barrel aged in not just sherry oak barrels but also oloroso barrels and blended just before bottling. It’s one of the most sought after whiskies from Scotland and now available in the US.

Yesterday was a great day! It’s amazing how quickly wine and spirits can put a smile on your face! I’m off to the UK again next week so no stories until the following week. Have a wonderful weekend, and remember, stay thirsty.

CP.

Unfortunately my travels back and forth to the UK did not help me begin the new blog over on www.everydayawine.com but I do have tasting notes for wines I drank during the last two weeks and when I get a chance I shall upload them to the web for all to read.

The New Year always heralds a rush of activity; fresh ideas that need to be planted quickly before the impetus runs out. I had plenty of time sitting on planes to think about the year to come and my inevitable prognosis was: if we thought last year was bad ‘we ain’t seen nothing yet’. Much of my despondency will be alleviated during the year through economic figures that will be sure to impress those that don’t look beyond the ‘chatter’. Already the employment figures released in December would indicate that all is well on the western front. And more and more statistics will be released over the coming months that have little to do with economic reality and much to do with political necessity. Sadly I’ve seen too many ‘politically adjusted’ statistics and I hold very little water with them. My prognosis for Europe is that we will see a break-up of the Eurozone, we will see a spiral decline in the euro and most European countries, England included, will fall back into recession by the second quarter. All of this will impact the US at some point, but further more I do believe that we have begun to see a fundamental change in US consumer spending – without access to free credit consumers are actually not spending and are enjoying saving money. Personally I would like to see all that saved money spent on building assets – such as wine cellars!

And so whilst I sat there high in the sky pondering the gloomy demise of Europe I tried to come up with fresh ideas for Wine at Five. I have already committed to new computers and a new POS system, I also decided to ramp up our Wine of the Month Club and beginning in February we will now devote an evening (1^st Thursday of every month) to holding a Wine Club members’ night where we will open each of the wine club wines and pair them with a few choice appetizers. Club members and their friends are all welcome. Over the next few weeks we will also be expanding our web-site by including a ‘shopping-cart’ section. We won’t be listing all of our wines on the web and nor do I want to create a web based sales business, but I do appreciate that the web is an important tool and if managed in a way that reinforces our commitment to supplying customers with small production, hand crafted wines then the benefits are there for all. We will begin by sourcing outrageously good wines from California, Washington and Oregon from producers who we have been introduced to who make tiny quantities of wines without the need for inflated ratings and paid criticism. We believe that there is a market for quality wines produced in tiny quantities that have not yet been afflicted by’ Parkerisms’. Rather like the Abeja wines that we introduced to customers last year and the wines from Tray Busch’s Sleight of Hands. When I look back over some of the wines that we have sourced from the west coast I realize that with a little more effort we really can introduce the east coast to wines that they have never heard of. Being that the quantities of these wines will be strictly limited the most equitable forum to introduce them and sell them will be on our web-site.

We will continue to emphasize quality wines from family owned wineries and we will continue to source new distributors and importers who share our common mantra. It is through these small channels that we will find great gems and since my hands are tied in the state of NY due to an archaic three tier distribution system we will weed out those importers and distributors whose interests are based solely on profit margin with a disregard for the wines they are selling.

I would like to increase the number of dinners we hold with selective wine-makers. We are always looking out for a new restaurant to hold these dinners in so if you have any suggestions please feel free to tell us.

We will continue to work with charities to improve the lives of others. In 2011 we donated goods and cash to the value of $35,000 to local charities and schools. This figure may be a little less this year (!) but we will continue to do what we can especially in our immediate community. In the interest of full disclosure I should also mention that I am a director of the Wainwright House in Rye. As finance director it will be my mission to ensure the longevity of this great institution and so please forgive me in advance if I come knocking on your e-mail door!

Coming up in the next few weeks we will be hosting two of our favorite wine makers. John Abbott, wine-maker of Abeja wines and Trey Busch the owner of Sleight of Hands winery. We were one of the first retialers in New York to introduce these wines and we are honored that both wine-makers will visit the store and maybe even crack open a few bottles with customers. As soon as I get dates and confirmation I’ll post them on the web.

In the meantime…stay thirsty.

All the best in 2012.

CJP.

So in the spirit of giving think on this: Free delivery of wine in the Rye and surrounding towns forever! Actually we’re not giving away anything new, we have always offered free delivery around Rye but it’s maybe more prevalent at this time of the year when you can’t find a parking space anywhere. I usually deliver before 10:00am but we also have on hand Dylan’s brother who can make deliveries for us during the day. So if you want the wine but don’t want to bother with the parking, call us, order up and tell us where to deliver – simple. Also, for all those commuters struggling with their shopping bags put them down for a moment and if you need wine text me: 2039472625. Text me from GCT, tell me what train you are on and arrival at Rye, text me what you want, sign with your full name and we’ll have yet another bag or box ready and waiting at the store – we’ll be open through 7:30 every night next week. If it’s impossible to get to the store and you want delivery to the main parking lot at Rye station let me know – we’ll have your bags/boxes waiting at the car park. How good is that?

The Wine at Five Best of the Best has been published – our choice for best wines in a tidy little Wine at Five six bottle recyclable, environmentally friendly bag. We filled the bags with our Wine of the Month choice (we get to each review and propose our best wine of the year), and then we added two more wines we thought would be special for Christmas – Bench Cabernet Sauvignon and Cyprus Pinot Noir from Brack Mountain – these can be swapped out for wines of your choice. A tidy little bag to stick under the tree. We also geared up on Longboard Wines – one of our old time favorites from California – the Longboard Merlot is quintessential west coast merlot and the perfect pairing for a beef wellington; the Longboard Russian River Pinot Noir was one of our biggest sellers last Christmas and I suspect it will be again this year. For those looking for half bottles, I brought in a beautiful little Molotov cocktail bottle of Luiano Chianti Classico – the bottle looks cute but the wine is pretty damn good too – consider this for a stocking stuffer – all ages from 21 up! Another very tasty white wine for the holidays is Viognier – more commonly found in the Rhone Valley it has all the hallmarks of an oily Burgundian chardonnay with a little more floral note but we liked the Six Hats Viognier from South Africa – lighter than its sibling from France it’s great for aperitifs or better yet, for keeping in arms reach whilst prepping dinner. Along similar lines, the Illahe Pinot Gris is back with a new vintage, 2010, and it’s as good as ever. Bruno also found more cases of the Broc Cellars Carignan, this from our favorite wine-maker in 2010 Chris Broc, an incredibly talented young wine-maker from California. The Chante Cigale Chateauneuf du Pape I talked about last week had huge response and we are left with only a few cases – there are few wines as adaptable as a really good Chateauneuf du Pape and this one won’t be shy at a table of goose, duck, beef or just cheese. The kid (he’s not yet 28) that makes it is viewed as an idiot savant in the Rhone and will probably become something of a superstar status from critics. It’s worth buying up while supplies last, the stuff is amazing. We did sort through a bunch of promising magnums and we have so far brought in a tiny amount of Paul Chapelle’s Santenay Gravieres 1985 – kick ass wine still unbelievably vibrant after all these years and ridiculously priced at $110 per magnum. We are also trying to get some more Abeja Cabernet mags – presently only have 2 left, we have Double Black Cabernet from California and a few of Allan Shoupe’s Chester Kidder 2004. Not in magnums but worth mentioning, the Chateau Rieussec 2005 – possibly one of the greatest Rieussec’s this century, seen on-line at $180.00 we still have it at last year’s price of $110.00 per bottle. If you know of anyone who has, on occasion, bathed in Laurent Perrier Fleur this is absolutely the gift to get them. No question. It’s an outrageous example of how good sauterne is.

Very excited now, but with restraint because the wines haven’t actually been delivered yet, but a promissory note says they will be here today – we snagged a vertical of Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon! Here’s a little quote from the Iron Chevsky blog:  Mike is a “dude” with worldly sensibilities. Well educated, he invests no time in making himself appear an important figure of California wine industry. He is content being a village worker in the small town of Angwin, 15-min drive from St. Helena, where his Popeye-like forearms swell and ache tending to the Dunn family vines. You sit down with him, no white table cloths, no fancy glasses. He hardly even talks about the wines, he just lets you experience them,” I love that. I met his dad once, Randy Dunn – an icon in Californian wine making and one of only 5 vintners to have been asked by the equally iconic Allan Shoupe to make wine for his Long Shadow group of wines. I also personally think that Dunn Cabernet is one of the sole survivors of the ‘I want a Lear Jet’ set of wine-makers. The wine is equivalent to a first growth Bordeaux priced at the fifth growth level – insane but great. We should be receiving a few bottles of every vintage of Dunn Cabernet from 2000 through 2007 (latest release). Awesome. No idea about price yet but as mentioned above, they’re not priced at first growth levels – the vertical can be broken up but if you are interested in taking the entire vertical let me know as soon as possible – as an indication I suspect the price will be around $750 – $850 for all vintages, 2000-2007 – great gift for the man who doesn’t have a vertical yet!

Also in the goody bag this week –some terrific white Burgundies – Puligny’s, Chassagne’s Clos’s…loads to choose from – such fun; really brings the spirit of Christmas in – customers fidgeting in front of the Burgundy section trying to figure out which beauty to buy – just buy them all, and I promise, we’ll open the door for you!

Enough rambling, too much coffee and it’s still dark outside. This Saturday we’ll be opening some bad boys from California – step in and have a taste (don’t forget your friend in leather tucked in your pocket), should be fun.

Safe shopping, have fun – enjoy the moment and have a terrific weekend. And don’t forget…stay thirsty.