October 19 2006
I live in an area of Indianapolis that is urban and home to the area’s best known entertainment district. This part of town also happens to be bisected by a street that divides the area into two neighborhoods--kind of like the "Soc’s" and the "Grease" from the movie "The Outsider’s."
There are two sides of the track, so to speak.
If you’re heading south, the right side of the street and the ensuing blocks to the west hold a wealthy enclave of beautiful neighborhoods, brick Tudor style homes and a nice mix of young Yuppies and upper-middle class Empty-nester’s. On the left side of the street is another neighborhood--this area more transitional, very mixed demographically and generally rich in patina and various walks of life. This is the area I live in. It’s classic post-WWII housing. My house has six panel doors, glass door knobs, original glass tile in the upstairs bath and vintage nautical blue wallpaper in the hall closet. This is to say, it’s vintage, but there’s no leaded glass like our friends to the West have ... it does have a dining room that holds four people if everybody eats with their elbows tucked, but that’s an axe for my wife to grind another day ...
My neighbor to the immediate left is a newly married in her 60s, an ex-Nun and a math teacher who a buddy of mine had in school--they affectionately called her ‘Sarge.’ My neighbor to the right is a computer analyst at a hospital. The neighbor to my rear is a Chef that is now the Dean of students at a new culinary school in town and the neighbor across the street is in her mid-20s and works for an accounting firm. We’re all work-a-day folks. No BMW’s here.
But, when you combine the two areas in a sweeping three mile circle what you get is some pretty good demographics in between the Joe Average’s, midwestern bohemia and the Yuppies. The demographics are so good in fact that the neighborhood association for the "Soc’s" lured a nice grocery store to the corner-- the corner I use everyday—to replace a neighborhood icon grocery store that closed a couple of years ago. The rationale is simple, according to an article from the Indianapolis Business Journal, our weekly business fishwrap:
More then 86,000 people live within a three-mile radius of the intersection of 54th Street and College Avenue, in households with an average income of $64,140, according to demographic research prepared for IBJ by the local office of St. Louis-based Colliers Turley Martin Tucker.
Within a one-mile radius of the intersection, the average income is even higher-$79,005. And roughly 57 percent of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. "You don’t get opportunities to go into areas like that very often," said John Byrne, a Colliers retail real estate broker who lives in the area and looks forward to shopping at the new store.
Affluence is in the eye of the beholder, I think, because my neighborhood is far from posh, but, to retailers this is a target rich environment. And the grocery store is going to take advantage of it. Some might even say those demographics look like wine drinker demographics. Probably very true. The grocery store concept going in, The Fresh Market, is known for its gourmet takeout foods AND its well-crafted selection of wines.
But, interestingly, as I continue to read articles about how Australian imports continue to well-outpace domestic growth of wine, I’m struck by how this is occurring. Sure wine growth is growing for everybody, but how can Australian’s be lapping American wine?
This article from Winebusiness.com sums it up: Imported wine sales are on the rise and are taking market share from domestic wines. Imports currently account for 21 percent of case volume and 26 percent of dollar sales in the ACNielsen-tracked food store retail channel*. Australian wines, as always, are expected to be a large part of the imported wine landscape in the future. Since August 2003, case sales of Australian wines have grown 62 percent and established the country as the leading importer of wine into the United States, with a 9 percent market share.
"Australia has always succeeded in the export market, more so than the U.S. has," said Stuebing Smyth. "I would expect that success to continue and build as more Australian brands are looking to export here."
So, how does my neighborhood, demographics and Australian wine come together?
The picture at the top of this post is a billboard from right across the street from where this new supermarket will be built--an industry billboard for Australian wines--a Rosemount Shiraz and a Penfolds Chardonnay--both popularly priced under $10 and both likely candidates to be carried at the grocery store.
That’s good business--advertise where your customers are at, gather economies of scale for the industry and give a simple message--"Flavors of Australia." Oh, and, of course, deliver in the bottle, which they do.
Austrlian wine imports are up because wine is a business and the Aussies treat it like one. And, ironically enough, The Fresh Market happens to be featuring Aussie Red’s this fall? Smart businesses, both of them.
How about California getting in on the action?
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October 18 2006
Nascent female wine writers not named Immer or Robinson have been busy lately. Natalie Maclean from Nat’s Decants has released her book--Red, White and Drunk all Over. And, Jennifer Rosen, wine columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, has rebranded her web site as the Cork Jester i.e. www.corkjester.com and released a book of the same name.
Rosen, I think, must be a heckuva dinner companion. Any woman clearly in their 40s and willing to pose in a mid-riff baring court jester outfit on a trapeze bar gets my vote for somebody to split a bottle of red with. Check out the site or just live with her promo and chanteuse shots below.
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October 18 2006
The other day I wrote about the peculiar case of Napa River Winery—a Napa winery that doesn’t appear to be listed in any Napa phone book, or online.
The offending wine (and winery), which I haven’t purchased yet is a brand sold at Trader Joe’s and allegedly a winery based on bulked out vino from Napa--a requirement that was a part of the legal ramifications that Fred Franzia ran into. I think the law requires that labels have wine from the appellation it references. Hence, Franzia’s central coast wine can’t be called Napa Ridge it has to be renamed which Franzia has done calling it Harlow Ridge.
Then, the very next day, I get an email from Crush Wine & Spirits in NYC titled “Gimme Shelter” that detailed a luxury Sav. Blanc (called “Shelter”
and built a little mystery around its origins. With a Mick Jagger sighting in Napa last week, I’m going with the “Gimme Shelter” title for this post, as Crush has. Their email blurb provides a pretty good, if not cursory overview and is provided in excerpted form below.
I’ve purchased from Crush in the past and can recommend them, as well, though I hope the Shelter Sav. Blanc isn’t made in the massive quantities that the TJ’s stuff is ... 50K + cases. If so, the story gets shot to hell ...
… we can’t tell you too much about this wine because its exact origins must be kept a secret. Yes, this is 007 meets the wine business.
What we do know is that Shelter Sauvignon Blanc ... is blended from the top vineyards of one of the most famous winemakers in the region. Superstar vintners obviously don’t want you to know where their extra juice goes, so it is sold with the promise that its identity will kept on the DL.
Believe me, the wine itself offers up more than enough proof of its aristocratic pedigree: Shockingly rich fruit for a dry white wine, with a ripeness and opulence second to none. The only thing that’s missing is the famous label. This is a wine to buy for immediate consumption.
Here’s how Shelter comes to be:
Top winemakers always vinify more top quality wine than they bottle, preferring to tinker with their final blend and add more juice from some barrels than others.
The owners of the Shelter project, with their friendships and deep rooted relationships in Napa, find out about this incredible extra juice before it’s disposed of (read: quaffed at Napa Valley parties) and purchase it to label at a fraction of the price. What you end up with is an excellent bottle of wine that’s selling for well under its inherent value.
No pretension – just killer wine. It’s everything you could possibly want from a New World Sauvignon Blanc: Pure ripe melon and pineapple fruit, incredible richness and a sumptuous texture.
The efficiency of the Shelter project keeps costs low and passes on the savings to us and to you. But there’s just not much of this "extra wine" so please reply to this email or call (212) 980-9463 immediately to secure your piece of this small-production gem.
All well and good, but I’d still like to find Napa River Winery ... paging Napa River Winery.
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October 17 2006
I justcame back from a long weekend in Michigan and an unanticipated break from Good Grape—I had no idea I would essentially be “off the grid” in terms of Internet access. Anything north of Cadillac, Michigan is considered “Up North” and I was in the Northwest portion of the state that hasTraverse City as its hub; it’s definitely “Up North” and an easy eight + hour drive from Indianapolis.
There are other spots in the Midwest, including Northern Minnesota, but for sheer enjoyment of scenary not in California or New England, this is “God’s Country.”
And, I’m currently reading a social history of Napa Valley that includes detail about the fight between commerce, new money and an agricultural sensibility--I’m struck that Northern Michigan is very likely what Northern California was in the early 60’s, right down to the farmland preservation battles that are ongoing.
The other interesting aspect of our trip up north was the local flavor and history provided by the friends of ours who were our hosts: As I soon found out, Jennifer Granholm, Michigan’s current Governor, famous to most wine lovers as THE Granholm in Granholm vs. Heald that over-turned the ban on out of state wineries shipping to consumers, is likely out as Governor of the state--facing an up uphill battle to win against challenger, Dick DeVos.
TheMichigan economy is getting rocked by the roiling auto industry and allegedly DeVos is pro-business and a better fit for the current state of affairs.
In the “Up North” region of Michigan I hope that doesn’t mean he turns development loose for the sake of tourism dollars.
The Leelanau Peninsula and Old Mission Peninsula is beautiful—pastoral, virtually unspoiled and quaint. And, these areas also happen to be home to a fair number of wineries, as well.
In fact, by my count, there are at least 20 wineries within 35 minutes drive of each other making for a solid three if not four solid days of tasting opportunities.
We opted for an abbreviated tasting schedule, leaving some wineries on the Old Mission Peninsula for the next visit. All told, we visited nine wineries over the course of two days.
The wines up here are cool weather grapes—a lot of Riesling, Pinot Noir, some French hybrid blends
with Marechal Foch, Chambourcin and the like.
Michigan wines have been getting a fair amount of press lately and this article sums up the current wine state of affairs on the Leelanau Peninsula--net-net it’s on the rise.
One ubiquitous aspect of wine in these parts, famous for their cherry crop, is Cherry wine—100% fruit based aperitif style quaffers. Now, a lot of wine bloggers would eschew the cherry wine dismissing it as plonk. But, here at Good Grape, we espouse an authentic blogging experience and, frankly, I enjoy Cherry wine, despite the damage to the wine cred.
The wines, overall, were somewhat hit and miss. Later this week, I’ll detail some champagne, a Pinot Noir and a couple of Rieslings, but these were the exceptions, instead of the rule. Though, enjoyment can be had in the off-the-beaten path as much as the sublime and to that end the Michigan wines excel.
Overall, though, with Michigan, and several other “East of Mississippi” wine regions really taking off, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that 25 years from now American wine will be known forCalifornia, Northwest (OR and WA),Michigan, New York, Virginia and “other” wine regions as quality grows commensurate with experience.
For more Michigan wine reading, check out the below links.
More Vineyards need for Michigan Wine Industry
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October 16 2006
Go ahead, I dare you. I double-dog dare you. Try and find Napa River Winery in Napa Valley.
Go ahead – Google it: “Napa River Winery + address”
What did you find?
I tried, too. And, I tried a bunch of other strings and things that led me to lists of Napa wineries, none of which included Napa River Winery.
In fact, I was in Napa last week and looked on the Internet AND in an actual phone book (remember those)?
No such place as Napa River Winery.
That makes Trader Joe’s current monthly offer of its Napa River Wines oddly peculiar.
To be fair, I checked their Fearless Flyer monthly circular and the wine is being offered in Northern California as well as in Indiana, my home state, so I feel a little less inclined to wonder with deep skepticism because at least they aren’t just foisting flawed wine *only* on the naïve Midwest.
TJ’s current flyer has the following offer (excerpted):
Napa River Wines come to us from one of our best suppliers in the wine biz, a producer known for its commitment to quality and value. The wines themselves are produced by established vintners around Napa. Why, you ask, are they willing to sell their wares for prices so far below market rates? The answer is space. In a nutshell, most large wineries hold wine in tanks until demand dictates bottling. If the tanks are still full when the new harvest approaches, they must either bottle the wine or sell it in bulk to another winery. Bulk sales are quick and bring in a whole lot of cash right away. Thus, our partner is able to buy quality Napa wines at rock bottom prices. And we pass those savings on to you.
These wines are cellared and bottled at the Napa River Winery in Napa, California.
Each is just $4.99 a bottle, only at your neighborhood Trader Joe’s, and only while these quantities last.
Hmmm ... besides the obvious creative license they have taken with the description of the bulk wine process ... I mean, honestly, “If the tanks are still full when the new harvest approaches, they must either bottle the wine or sell it in bulk ...” Please. They make it seem almost quaint. Sounds like a diamond ring radio commercial – (deeply intoned radio voice) “We go to the source to cut out the middleman and save YOU money.” If I’m not mistaken, if the wine isn’t good enough to go into a second label it gets bulked out pretty quickly ... it’s not happenstance based on space availability.
But, the real head scratcher is where the heck is Napa River? It’s probably next to Napa Ridge—Fred Franzia’s “ Napa” winery.
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