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November 24 2008
As a good (albeit lapsed) Catholic boy with 12 years of Catholic schooling under my belt, I am used to saying these words, “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.”
That statement, in a confessional booth with a priest, was followed by a litany of small, inconsequential sins for which I was asking for forgiveness.
Father would give me three “Hail Mary’s,” four “Our Father’s” and on down the road I would go.
Father Mascott, from the grade school I went to, went on to get married, but that is a post for another day, and much better than the other things priests are usually in the newspaper for …
To the readers of this blog, I ask for forgiveness because I have been drinking … something … other … than wine …
I have been dabbling in craft beer.
Horrors!
I am not talking Sam Adams or Blue Moon—more along the lines of high-end Double IPA’s from tiny brewers across the country.
With fall (bordering on winter) weather now gripping the Midwest, my palate has been asking for the gripping sweetness of a nice hopped-out beer. In fact, I am anxiously awaiting the release of seasonal beer called Hopslam that is released by Bells Brewery in Michigan on January 7th.
I wish I could say I was learning something relevant to wine enthusiasm, but, in fact, it is quite the opposite.
I might need to ask Father for forgiveness for a small rant …
First, it is very educational to drink craft beer as a layperson, because I look at the aisle of a specialty beer shop the same way that 95% of wine consumers look at a wall of wine, all labels and foreign excitement and anxiety; gawky like a teen on prom night. The craft beer aisle might as well be a double snap bra that requires a simultaneous pinch and twist. While interesting, it is also intimidating because I really do not know what I am buying – by definition, I could not tell you the difference between an IPA and an Imperial IPA – just like most cannot tell you the difference between Syrah from California and Shiraz from Australia. And, I do not know any of the producers / breweries either.
And, that is the problem from a consumer perspective. I am buying a pig-in-the-poke. Instinctively, I find myself trying to read beer labels, like a wine bottle, but there is scant copy.
Yet, the U.S. beer world is blindly following the same marketing tactics as the U.S. wine world, just 25 years later.
I want to tell somebody, anybody, to STOP!
It is maddening.
Increasingly, craft brewers are:
1) Bottling beer in large format 750 ml bottles
2) Bottling beer with corks
3) Creating marketing shtick with special glasses – ex: Sam Adams here
4) Increasing price points to luxury levels (I paid $8.49 for a single 12 oz beer from Dogfish Head Brewery—do the math for a 6-pack)
5) Naming beers with wacky names like Dreadnaught and Gumballhead
6) Rating beers on a 100 pt. scale.
7) Using lifestyle marketing tactics
8) Creating celebrity, “midas touch” brewers
9) Pairing beer with food
In an interesting bit of irony, I am currently drinking a beer called Ommegeddon in a large format bottle, with a cork/champagne-like enclosure that has been inoculated with Brettanomyces – yes, Brett; the bane of every winemaker. Next up is a lambic with a cork finish – the cork has a grape bunch on it because, well, I do not think nomacorc makes corks for beer quite yet.
And, here is what I want to tell every craft brewer –
“We (speaking on behalf of the wine industry) have tried the tactics you are trying and the thing that we have found that works best is engaging with customers on a one-to-one basis, providing meaningful education, being accessible, but not goofy and, most of all, demonstrating our passion for creating a high-quality product with a compelling storytelling narrative that is authentic.”
The rest is all marketing. And, while marketing is a sin that a Priest forgives, what they do not forgive are capital sins – that is what purgatory is for.
Here’s hoping the craft brew industry learns some lessons from the wine industry before going into consumer purgatory without getting a chance at heaven.
Links of Interest: Craft brew article in this weeks The New Yorker
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January 23 2008
If I had to draw a line of differentiation, I would say there is a difference between being a “cult” winemaker and being a winemaker with a “reputation.”
When I say reputation I mean in a good way, as in “what a great winemaker” not “he gets around with that overwrought, bombastic chard style of his.” I mean somebody with a reputation that precedes them, you know … somebody with street cred.
You could play a game of Hollywood Squares with the current crop of wine industry shining stars –cultists and those with reputation- and still have enough winemaker wattage to fuel a run in syndication, too.
Helen Turley? Cult winemaker
Heidi Barrett? Cult winemaker
Mia Klein? Cult winemaker
Ed Sbragia? Reputation
Merry Edwards? Reputation
David Ramey? Reputation
I’m not really sure what the difference is between a cult winemaker and somebody that merely has a reputation, but I surely can sense it and I’d definitely like to figure it out. Methinks that there might be an inversely proportional line between bottle price and mere reputation, but that would be very simplistic …
Whatever the reasons might be, I think David Ramey would like to know, as well. Because if anybody’s output is meritorious of cult status, it might be David Ramey from Ramey Wine Cellars.
In fact, if he keeps going, it might not be too long before he hits cult status.
The interesting thing about his winemaking style is, to my palate, making only Chardonnay and Cabernet, stock-in-trade California wine varietals, he strikes almost a perfect balance between ripe California fruit and Old World balance and finesse.
In his words, according this interview found here, Ramey strives for:
Balance, harmony, deliciousness
While trying to avoid:
Heaviness, coarseness, clumsiness
Does he ever.
In reference to a Jericho Canyon Vineyard Cabernet, which he thinks can age 30 years, Ramey says,
Tastes good now, tastes good later – but different. That’s the new mantra.
Speaking of mantra, it would be nice if all “New World” winemakers got on the same page about “tastes good now, tastes good later” and mercifully ended this New World-Old World-Parker argument.
Providing additional insight into his style ala the job interview question, “tell me what your friends would say about you,” Ramey goes on to say in the same interview that his “desert Island” wine would be:
“… a bottle of 1998 Chateauneuf du Pap Les Caillox by Andre Brunel. I really like the combination of sweetness with acidity, richness with elegance, and complexity.”
That kind of sums up his wines, I think—richness with elegance, and complexity.
Dare I say it, but if I had to pick a winemaker for Chateau Good Grape, it might be David Ramey.
This past weekend I had an opportunity to attend a public tasting of the ’05 Ramey Wine Cellars line-up held by one of our really good local wine shops, Grapevine Cottage, just outside of Indianapolis.
These sorts of tastings happen all the time, but you really have to keep your eyes open to get in on the good tastings and I feel for those that missed the Ramey tasting.
Standing on the shoulders of giants, I won’t give my tasting notes or reviews of the wine. Just know that Parker is enamored with Ramey, as is Tanzer—and for good reason.
In my estimation, Ramey might be the most un-cult, cult winemaker out there. These aren’t the cheapest wines—ranging in price from $38 to $115, but if you are going to splurge, these are some dandy wines to spend some money on.
Tasting through mostly the ‘05’s, I particularly enjoyed the following:
2005 Ramey Sonoma Coast Chardonnay $38
2005 Ramey Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay $58
2005 Ramey Hudson Vineyard Chardonnay $58
2005 Ramey Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon $75
For more information on Ramey Cellars check out the following links:
Robert Parker column from BusinessWeek magazine in ‘06
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August 15 2007
A local wine merchant (and one of the best, if not the best) in the Indianapolis area, Grapevine Cottage, sends out a weekly email with an article (a blog post if it were set-up as such a thing) written by owner Doug Pendleton. In June I posted one of these articles on an Oregon winery, The Pines 1852. Doug always writes good, insightful, transparent articles on the wine business and the below is another fine example of that. Here, he takes us inside an Australian trade tasting attended by Jay Miller from The Wine Advocate and Josh Raynolds from Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar. For additional reading on tasting and Jay Miller, check out Dr. Vino’s recent post here. Thanks to Doug for letting me share his article:
Last week, I took advantage of one of those offers that you just can’t bring yourself to refuse. The Australia wine importer, Southern Starz, invited me to a “new release and reviewer tasting” they were holding in Washington DC at the Australian Embassy. They were bringing the winemakers and/or winery owners from all of their properties for the reviewers from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar. So, never having been in an Embassy before, and further tempted by dinner at the embassy after the tasting, I bought a plane ticket.
The tasting was set up in an art gallery adjacent to the embassy lobby with two small conference rooms on either side reserved for Jay Miller from Wine Advocate and Josh Raynolds from Steven Tanzer. 22 wineries were represented with almost 100 wines available for tasting. The professional reviewers worked for 2 days and began tasting at 10 am and worked until 4 pm, while the invited retailers and distributors tasted through the wines in the gallery on the first day.
This was a great opportunity for me to put faces and stories together with the wines we sell. It’s always amazing to me to discover how many of them are really very small businesses. For example, Oliverhill owner/winemaker Stewart Miller, who produced the outstanding Jimmy’s Shiraz we just sold out of, only produces 3,000 cases a year. From a dollar volume stand point, he’s smaller than we are!
It was also a chance for new finds….and a great find was the Casabel Winery in the McLaren Vale. Spanish winemaker Susana Fernanez devotes herself to Australian expressions of Spanish varietals, producing small amounts of Tempranillo, Grenacha, Monastral and Syrah. Her version of a GMS blend (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre in Aussie) may be one of the best I have ever tasted…. 12 of the 90 cases she produced of it are coming soon!
The real story here, however, was how the professional tastings (and the subsequent reviews that were assigned) happened. With Josh and Jay in small conference rooms behind frosted glass, you could only catch a glimpse of what was going on thru the side lights or when the guard changed. One of the Southern Starz owners would appear in our midst every 30 to 40 minutes and tap a winemaker on the shoulder. The winemaker would gather his bottles and be ushered into the little conference room with a reviewer.
There, I was told, he would describe his wines and the production techniques, and then answer questions while the reviewer tasted and took notes. He would then be ushered out, and I am sure that scores were assigned before the next supplicant arrived. Returning to his table, other winemakers from nearby tables would question him on the reviewer’s reaction. In Jay Miller’s case, none of these winemakers will know the scores that will drive their sales until the October issue of the Wine Advocate arrives. I wonder how much sleep must be lost over noticing a random facial expression or an eye movement, here or there, when Jay tasted a wine.
On my part, palate fatigue began to set in! By 1:00 pm, when I couldn’t tell the difference between three Shiraz tasted in a row, I opted to retire to the hotel for lunch. Taste spit, taste spit… it all starts to blur together. After lunch, I returned and finally worked my way through the assemblage. Yet, in retrospect, I still don’t think that I could effectively describe most of what I tasted during the last hour, even with notes.
As a contrast, when Linda and I review a wine, we taste it when we first open it, then decant if necessary, take notes and leave it while we finish preparing dinner. After dinner we may adjust our notes based on how well it paired with food. Overall, it’s a pleasant, reasonably leisurely process. How Jay and Josh taste 100 wines, even over two days, while taking voluminous notes and assigning scores, is almost impossible for me to comprehend. I have to think that to be judged on a swish and spit has to be excruciating for these winemakers.
And here is where the “making sausage” comes in to play…because many times it is still all about personal taste. We use Wine Advocateto choose wines because their tastes tend to reflect mine and most of our customers. Steven Tanzer’s publication tends to lean toward old world styles, in contrast to the Parker taster’s new world palates. And here is a great example of what can happen…the Marquis Philips 2005 S2 Cabernet has been our best selling over $20 Cabernet this year. Earlier this year both Robert Parker’s and Stephen Tanzer’s publications reviewed, it and here is what they thought.
Marquis Philips S2 Cabernet Blend 2005 McLaren Vale, Australia $34
Jay Miller, Wine Advocate 94 Points
Marquis Philips’ luxury cuvées includes the 2005 S2, boasting an inky/blue/purple color in addition to a sumptuous, toasty bouquet of grilled meats, blackberries, crème de cassis, licorice, and subtle herbs. With superb purity, richness, body, intensity, and length, it should drink well through 2016.
Josh Raynolds, Steven Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar 87 Points
Ruby-red. Oak-dominated dark berry and kirsch aromas accented by dark chocolate and vanilla. Sweet blueberry and blackcurrant flavors show a liqueur-like aspect, with a strong vanillin oak quality gaining the upper hand on the back. Finishes slightly sticky and sweet, with toasty oak spice and roasted coffee lingering. I’d have guessed this to be a Shiraz, or maybe a dessert wine such as Banyuls.
Wine is the most reviewed product on earth. Perhaps only the Broadway stage and fine restaurants are more dependent on reviews. And there is a reason… there’s an ocean of wine out there and a finite amount of shelf space. You have to have something to help you choose what to put on those shelves and I still believe the ratings provide that qualification. Often I am forced to select direct import wines untasted and unseen, often hundreds of cases at a time. I have used Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator reviews for making my selections over the last 7 years, and I’ve never yet bet on a clunker based on those standards.
My bottom line is still buying by the numbers ... yes, it’s messy, it applies the objective to the subjective, it quantifies art ... but it still works. I really feel that it helps guarantee that my customers don’t get many bottles of mediocre wine. But you just may not want to think too hard about the process.
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May 11 2007
Unfortunately, this post has very limited interest to those outside of the borders of Interstate 465 in Indianapolis, but I’ll write it anyway.
You see, I’m not a vindictive kind of guy, but I’ve had an axe to grind for some time and in a small way I feel somewhat vindicated.
I’ve alluded in very obtuse terms to a venerable Indianapolis wine shop that I felt was letting down its customers when it built a new wine shop.
You have to understand that when you think of wine shops in Indianapolis you think of Kahn’s. It’s the only place to buy wine futures and they have a great high-end selection of hard to find wines.
There is a responsibility inherent to being the best and when that trust is violated there are repercussions.
For example, the Star Wars prequels, to a large degree, have forked its fan base based on missteps with the most recent trilogy.
That’s how life is when you don’t uphold standards and you can’t at once remain true to your roots while being progressive.
When Jim Arnold, the owner of Kahn’s, was planning a new wine shop just 300 yards from the old cramped, dusty store a legacy remnant of the 80’s, he opted to build an aluminum shed/liquor barn with bad fluorescent lighting and concrete floors. He could have gone one of two ways—the comfortable wine boutique, future ready, or the Costco model, uncreative but with the perception of value. I thought then, as I think now, that the Costco model was a horrendous mistake given all of the empirical trend data that exists for where the wine market is going, but that’s the decision he made.
My lingering vitriol was originally ignited by the fact that two years ago, in the midst of he and I communicating around a customer satisfaction issue I had with his pricing techniques, he told me that he would never apologize for making a profit. Um, okay. When a customer wonders why a wine is priced $9 dollars higher within the same year for the same vintage and you say that, “You’ll never apologize for making a profit” about all I can say is you have to be a pretty oblivious to what creates a good business. It’s the customer, it’s not the transaction. At that point I offered to buy him lunch because I had some ideas I wanted to run by him and he told me quote/unquote that he was “Too busy running his four businesses to take time out for lunch.” He did extend an olive branch by saying that I should say “Hi” the next time I was in the shop. That presumed that I would be in the shop again, cool guy.
One thing I would never do is pull the “I’m too important” card out, especially after you tell a customer that you’d never apologize for price gouging … er … making a profit.
At that point I decided that if he didn’t have time for lunch, I didn’t have time to spend money at his shop. So, I’ve taken my annual wine spending elsewhere—notably to the Cork & Cracker which knows a thing or two about building an amicable relationship with customers.
Now, I find out that not only does Jim no longer have four businesses (he now has one liquor barn), but his business partner basically was thinking the same thing I was.
I first got word when Jim sent an email out to his email distribution list on Saturday, May 5th. The email said in total:
Jim sells Carmel to Joe!
After 10 years of a great, growing partnership, Joe and I have called it “Splitsville”. As my Daddy always told me, there are two reasons you need a partner, you need their money, or you need their expertise. Well, it seems we are past that point, and we both have different ideas on what to do next. So we decided “what to do next”…split up as partners. I am selling Carmel, The Montage, and Kahn’s Katering to Joe. This is a deal we are certain is best for us, and we really think it will be best for you also. Effective immediately, the Carmel store is NO LONGER a “Kahn’s” (he hasn’t told me the new name yet) and will not be included in any Kahn’s advertising or buying effective immediately. It is still on the building, but I am sure Joe will change that soon enough. Joe and I hope to continue to do Wine Events together at The Montage in the future and to never let business get in the way of our healthy, though all too infrequent, golfing relationship. I wish nothing but the best for Joe in his endeavors and hope you will all wish him your best.
I thought then that there had to be something more to this, and it turns out there is more to it.
Joe Husar, his partner, has purchased Kahn’s in Carmel, Kahn’s Catering and Montage, their catering venue. The Indianapolis Star reports:
After more than a decade in business together, co-owners Joe Husar and Jim Arnold have decided to split up their holdings in what Husar called an amicable, if long-brewing, breakup driven by a differing vision of what the Kahn’s brand name should mean.
“We had been moving apart with that decision,” Husar said.
Arnold will retain control of Kahn’s Fine Wines & Spirits on Keystone Avenue. He also will own the Web site http://www.kahns finewines.com, which currently lists both the Carmel and the Indianapolis Kahn’s stores.
Husar, meanwhile, will own the yet-unnamed successor to Kahn’s Fine Wines Marketplace in Carmel. He also will own The Montage and Kahn’s Katering and the accompanying Web sites.
Kahn’s Katering made its name providing upscale, personalized high-end services. But the new Kahn’s Fine Wines & Spirits store on Keystone, which Arnold built recently to replace an older store just blocks away, didn’t reflect that image, Husar said.
Husar said Kahn’s Fine Wines & Spirits resembles a big-box superstore, with wide aisles, neutral colors and fluorescent lights.
“Catering has been growing for a long time, and my mindset had been to keep staying along the lines of the premium quality, high-end store, and I felt that the superstore was the opposite direction,” Husar said. “How do you tie in a superstore with premium catering?”
Despite the split, Husar said he and Arnold are still friends.
“Hopefully, we’ll continue to be golf buddies,” he said.
Um, yeah. Let me decode Joe’s comments for you: He is saying, “On the off chance that I get the chance to golf, I probably won’t be calling Jim, though if I run into him at the clubhouse at Hillcrest we’ll exchange pleasantries.” And, frankly, I can’t blame Joe. If Jim’s customer service bedside manner is any indication of what kind of guy he’s like as a business partner, then this was probably brewing for years.
I wish nothing but the best for Joe’s wine shop in Carmel, and in fact I feel like I can now go back to being a customer, but Jim, well, Godspeed to you brother and your aluminum liquor barn.
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April 11 2007
Congratulations to Twisted Oak winery—Jeff Stai, Boy Brainerd a.k.a. Pimp Daddy and their team for a successful market introduction in Indianapolis.
Renee from Feed Me/Drink Me, Ashley & Rob from Cork and Cracker, distributor Crossroad Vintners and I all collaborated on a tasting in March to coincide with their launch in Indiana—much fun was had by all and their distributor has delivered with what appears to be good placement for a new brand to the market.
A quick rundown on where to find Twisted Oak in Indy:
Calaveras Syrah
L’Explorateur
Adams Mark
Cork & Cracker
Calaveras Tempranillo
Payless 96th
Cork & Cracker
14 West
Brix
Spaniard
Cork & Cracker
Payless 96th
Grapevine Cottage
Brix
Calaveras Viognier
Cork & Cracker
Payless 96th
Red Rhone Blend
Payless 96th
Cork & Cracker
White Rhone Blend
Payless 96th
Cork & Cracker
Classic Spirits Carmel
Silvaspoons Verdelho
Payless 96th
Joe’s Butcher Shop Carmel
14 West
Brix
And, in the vein of “What to Eat with What you Drink,” I offer up suggested food pairings from the menus at the restaurants where Twisted Oak has secured placement:
Syrah at L’Explorateur – Big Fat Pork Chop with shitake mushrooms and red wine reduction
Syrah at Adams Mark – Filet Mignon
Tempranillo at Brix - Grilled lamb chop with a bacon barley risotto, fried eggplant
Spaniard at Brix - Turner Farms meatloaf wrapped in bacon with blue cheese knish, green beans & mushroom demi-glace
Silvaspoons Verdelho at Brix - paella with mussels, clams, & chicken over saffron risotto with mark turner sausage, olives & tomatoes
Again, congrats to Twisted Oak and Godspeed for continued success and longevity in Indianapolis and beyond. And, if you haven’t enjoyed their wines go try them. I think you’ll be pleased.
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