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+--- Thread: Rant: Is it just me? (/thread-13291.html)
- Scoop - 09-27-2000
Everyone has a pretty good palate, but many just don't know it yet. Hence, what you say, Botafugo, is heartening -- a silver lining in that great big oak shadow that obscures many wines.
Cheers,
Scoop
- Bucko - 09-27-2000
It is not commercialism if someone asks a direct question and you reply. Do you all have a web site?
Bucko
- Botafogo - 09-27-2000
We are currently redesigning our web site but do a hilarious and in-your-face weekly e-mail newsletter. Here is an example of our issues:
Fighting Globalization in your Glass
"Once you guys succeed in making all wine taste the same, what will you do for a living?" That is the question we have been asking wholesale reps this week as we have been absolutely barraged by the forces of evil (well, severely misguided, focus group driven winemaking and marketing at least): The LA Times does a feature article on how the massively consolidated, technocratic, "we make wines in the winery not the vineyard", Australian wine industry plans to be making and selling the majority of ALL wines within a decade. An importer proudly presented us with a Parker Beatification Certificate pronouncing that one of his Chiantis "could easily pass for a fine Premier Cru Volnay" (a particularly soft and velvety and UN-CHIANTI-like Burgundy) which we thought was like telling Vince Lombardi that his star linebacker would make a dandy ballerina. Then, to top it all off, another supplier comes in with two samples alleged to be Cahors (a Southern French red made from Malbec and Tannat that has been famous since Chaucer's time for being BLACK, tarry, brambly and aggressive, just the thing to go with the local diet of confit of duck, fois gras, lamb cassoulet and such) that have been polluted with enough Merlot (?!?!) and a "huge investment in an ultra modern winery" to make them taste like Wild Vines Blackberry Merlot (which you can buy for $3.99 at Sav-On Drugs if you really need some). It seems the consensus amongst the "gatekeepers" is that Americans want wines from all over the world with fanciful names and long histories as long as they all taste the same and don't have any disconcerting "ethnic" character. So, do we just give up and roll over? NO!!!!!! We continue to champion wines with true personality, regional style (even outright idiosyncrasies) and a point of view and remind those in the supply chain that they are huge crowd favorites at OUR "focus groups" where we offer true diversity instead of merely different brands of the same old things. Some recent hits include:
a bunch of fun stuff that really tastes like it is supposed to. Cheers, Roberto
- mrdutton - 09-27-2000
Could you please tell me what "the bunch of fun stuff that really tastes like it is supposed to" is?
Thanks!
PS: Once your website is reconstructed, what will the address be?
- winoweenie - 09-27-2000
MrD,Hotsie, Foodie Et Al, This is the mad-man I`ve written about on our board. His name is Roberto and his store is the Wine Expo in Santa Monica.. Approach with care as he is armed and dangerous. winoweenie ( and as Curmster said, " Hard to tell what he means ") ww
[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 09-27-2000).]
- Garbo - 09-27-2000
Mad-man indeed! Best wine shop in LA metro area, but be forewarned you can't walk in without gettin schooled!
- Botafogo - 09-27-2000
Some examples of "stuff that tastes like it is supposed to:
Winery of the Week (these have been SLAYING people in our tastings):
Ancient Vines & Varieties from "Magna Grecia" ("greater Greece"= Calabria)
In our never ending quest for the Funk at VinItaly '99 we happened across Cantina Vintripodi, run by two brothers from the very toenail of the boot (married to two sisters from Ireland!) who have thoroughly modernized their winery, dragging it kicking and screaming into at least the Fourth Century BC!!!!!! They are dedicated to making wines the way the Greeks did, employing old varietals growing on very, very old vines, non interventionist winemaking and just plain pastoral patience to produce three reds and a dessert wine that are not only ultra traditional but absolutely delicious: Nurello gives Arghillà 1996 ($14.99) Pinot like textures but an Eastern spicebox nose: grill some chops, do a pork roast with figs, improvise. Palizzi 1996 ($16.99), blended from Calabrese, Nurello, Alicante and Nocera weaves a silky tapestry of Mediterranean and North African scents. The same blend as the above but with some drying of the grapes and longer aging gives Pelaro 1995 ($19.99) a lighter color but larger, more evolved flavors. Somewhere between Vin Santo and Old India Sherry, Mantonico di Bianco 1993 ($21.99, 375ml) was famous when Euclid was a Geometry student.
Hand made by nice people (never a bad thing):
Soletta Rosato di Cannonau "Petalo" 1999, Sardegna $8.99
Smells like rose petals and maybe cranberries, just enough spice for BBQ or spicy seafood, BONE DRY, you'll want more.
Perlage Prosecco di Valdobbiadene 1997, Veneto $14.99
Organic, delicious, refreshing, smooth enough for Grandma but hip enough for your wine geek friends, what's not to like?
Villa Bellini Valpolicella Superiore (Ripasso) 1996, Veneto $21.00
WOW!!! The quiet revolution turning Valpo from a nice Beaujolais substitute into a world class, deep, dark and lovely red of serious concentration and staying power continues. This just floored us at Amici Mare last week.
Big, Serious stuff that no one actually NEEDS but are hard as hell to GET...
Villabellini Amarone della Valpolicella Classico "riserva" 1990, Veneto $89.99
When Cecilia Trucchi visited us earlier this year to reintroduce her wines to California we commented on how much we missed her fabulous 1990 Amarone (sold out five years ago!). "Well", she said, "I still have ten cases at the winery..." SCHWIIIIIINGGGGGG! Now they are here (with "Riserva" handwritten in gold on every bottle as there is not actually a DOC for Amarone Riserva). Boys and girls, can you say "Amazing"?
Giuseppe Quintarelli Recioto della Valpolicella Classico 1993, Veneto $110.00 / 375ml
Take enough old vine Corvina from prize plots to make a case of normal Valpolicella, air dry them till the juice is so thick that the valiant little yeasties give their lives for your pleasure at 14.5% alcohol leaving just enough sweetness to make this the most comforting thing you've put in your mouth since Grandma's homemade hot cocoa with a dash of rum. Serve with (or drink from the navel of) someone you love with dried fruit, veined cheeses, nuts, you get the picture, enjoy.
- Botafogo - 09-27-2000
I will stop now, but Jackie came and invited me to "liven up the boards like you used to do" last night.
Ciao, Reggazzi
Roberto
- Catch 22 - 09-28-2000
WW,
Madman indeed! He sounds quite sane to me. As far as what he said about all wines tasting the same, I remember reading that B. Phillippe de Rothschild said something in the 70's that all American wines tasted the same, like Coca Cola. 25 years or so later, here we are saying again (or is it still) that too many wines taste the same. Ahh, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
- winoweenie - 09-28-2000
Catch22 and ALL members of the board. When I call Roberto a mad-man it`s meant in the most complimentary way. His zeal, passion for the grape, and focus are VERY much admired by me.I don`t always see eye-ball to elbow with him but that`s natural. His store is a reflection of his-very-own-self and as was pointed out on this thread by Garbo" the best wine store in the LA-LA area." Hard as the blazes to enter the premises and not leave `mit a case or 6. Any-hoos, it`s good to have you on board ole-cock-ole bean. WW. He`s also into music up to his pony-tail.
[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 09-28-2000).]
- Bucko - 09-28-2000
What?! No functional web site? You go stand in the corner and drink cheap Pinot Grigio until your site is functional. Us computer geeks buy our stuff via web sites after a solid recommendation.
No jazz for you, one year.
Soup Nazi
- Botafogo - 09-28-2000
>>Us computer geeks buy our stuff via web sites after a solid recommendation. <<
Which is probably why over 70% of the transactions in our store are sales to WOMEN under 40 (probably twice the average of any other dedicated wine shop and WE LIKE IT LIKE THAT) which reminds me of a wonderful story:
On ZDTV (now TechTV) one day, the lovely and mischevious Kate Botello (imagine Lucille Ball, Janine Garofolo and Steve Wozniak morphed into one body!) is interviewing Larry Ellison who is opining on how "in the future EVERYTHING wil be online, there will be no need to go to a store" and she grabs him by the lapels, shakes the shit out of him and screams in his face "Earth to Larry, GIRLS like to shop and then we go out for lunch and the fact that you don't understand that is probably why so many of you guys don't have girlfriends!!!"
We communicate with literally thousands of people PERSONALLY and one on one via e-mail and our toll free number everyday which I feel is much better than an impersonal e-commerce site. We will be relaunching a VERY interesting and educational web site soon but it will NOT be a search engine to find the lowest price on the latest Parker darling, it will have actual content.
Roberto
- Bucko - 09-28-2000
Good, I *hate* web sites listing such nonsense as Parker's 100 pointers. Gimme a break. If I want overextracted, overoaked fruit bombs that will disintegrate in a years, I would be buying Turley stuff. No thanks...... all IMHO of course.
Bucko
- Botafogo - 09-28-2000
Bucko, I didn't mean in any way to imply that you did. I was talking about the inherent superiority of actual communication over impersonal e-commerce sites (especially when the products being offered are A0 so subjective and B) in our case probably completely unknown even by seasoned wine wonks. The Parker reference was merely tactical.
Roberto
- Botafogo - 09-28-2000
Bucko, I have taken up your sword that started this thread and turned it into a nuclear tipped battle ax in the Italian board (see the thread re Vitiano). Comments???
Roberto
- Bucko - 09-28-2000
No, no, I was just babbling..... I have had it with all of the shelf talkers on disgusting wines that give WS or WA 90+ points to justify their existence. I better shut up or someone will ask me to justify mine!
Bucko
- winoweenie - 09-29-2000
B & B, The reality probably, as usual, lies somewhere in twixt and tween. IMHO there are some extremely talented winemakers that take their stewardship of the grape seriously and make judicial use of oak to ENHANCE the finished product. I`d hate to think what Bob Foleys Merlots would taste like wif`-out a dollop of oak. Or Bos` CH Montelena Marvy juices with-out time in barrel. I Agree that Helen Has built her rep on the product of the lowly acorn, but again in adding another complexity , as Drew says " Oak Be Good "! By the way Bucko, I had a Dehlinger 95 estate Pinot last nite....Wunnerful. winoweenie
- Thomas - 09-29-2000
After all is said, Roberto has it spot on: when the consumer tastes and likes a wine, that is what the consumer buys. The problem has been, but is changing, that there weren't enough of those consumers across the nation, so the magazines, gurus and oak barrel makers held sway.
Like Roberto, I believe times have changed with consumers. That is why if I ever get my retail license in this so-called cosmopolitan NY City, I shall be both as wealthy and as irreverant as Roberto.
Nice to hear your voice again, R. Also good to hear that you like the "correct" music...that is a joke w.w.--do not attack!
- winoweenie - 09-29-2000
Foodie, Heavens-to-Betsy, me attack! As sweet, kind, considerate, and nurturing as I am, it hurts my fragile nature to have this dark, untrue, and vicious untruth hanging like a sceptre over moi`. Glad you`re making contact with the mighty RR as I think you`se two kids mite like rapporting( Kinda` like rapelling only difernt). Into the book. I`m makin` my version of mother Batchelors` Chikie soup `cept I add some Saffron to complete the stuff. Have 5 receipes dog-eared so far. winoweenie
- Thomas - 10-01-2000
WW, I am told the paper on which the book is printed is so cheap (publisher is too) that dog-earing might make the pages disappear--you should buy another copy; you should buy two more!!!!!