May 11 2008
I am a fan of Spencer-Roloson winery, so I sought out Sam Spencer for our “20 Not So Penetrating Questions for a Wine Craftsman.”
Sam and his partner Wendy Roloson produce high-end, affordably priced, small lot Rhone and Spanish style wines, mostly reds and a couple of delightful whites.
Simply, these people get it.
They sell in Indiana, which always engenders a boutique producer to me, because most others eschew distribution in the state without understanding the opportunity. They sell Direct-to-Trade, a program that I helped initiate with Inertia Beverage Group; they are starting a blog and their positioning to market is, “Provocative Wines Evocative Dirt.” Oh, and this is on top of their wine line-up being fantastic from top to bottom.
But, Sam doesn’t stop there, in fact he has side projects, too. His most recent project is the current Cameron Hughes “Hughes-Wellman” Cabernet. As a wine club selection and a slight one-off from the CH model, the $50 Cabernet with just 199 cases produced should go extremely fast. Available now at this link.
Fortunately, Sam found a few spare moments to interview with us and our 20 questions … an economy of words and a spareness of detail makes this interview kind of like the subject—smart, to the point and without a lot of artifice. Though, as a child of the 80’s and a viewer of late night Cinemax as a young teen, I do have to chuckle at his favorite movie genre.
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins are you most guilty of?
Sam: Lust mostly, pride in the balance
What is your biggest pet peeve?
Sam: Poor diction and improperly spoken English. Although I speak Spanish terribly and mangle that language daily.
Sam: Failing to keep your area/station clean
What is on your nightstand?
Sam:
James Salter: Last Night
John Mcphee : the founding Fish
Luca Turin: Perfume: the Guide
What is in your refrigerator or pantry that you would not openly admit?
Sam: Nothing
What do you drink when you are not drinking wine?
Sam: Tecate, Campari or Patron silver-rocks and lime
What type of music or radio station is played most often in your car?
Sam: KQED for news and KCRW via satellite for the best music in CA
In what era would you live if you transport yourself?
Sam: 100 years in the future
What is the best wine-related book you have read?
Sam: The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr and Assembling California by John Mcphee
The former is about the science of olfaction, scent and the perfume industry the latter is about the geology of CA put into lay terms with explanations
What is your favorite movie genre?
Sam: 1970’s Soft-Porn
Is your desk messy or organized?
Sam: Both
Are you always early or terminally late?
Sam: Late
Whom would you want to play you in the movie about your life?
Sam: Jack Nicholson
What super-power would you most like to have, and why?
Sam: Super strength and endurance—Get more done with time to spare for hanging out with my family and friends
What do you do if you have a spare hour?
Sam: Ride my road bike
What was the last great restaurant you ate at?
Sam: Justus Drugstore in KC, MO and Momofuko-Ko in NYC.
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Sam: Coffee
What is the best compliment you have ever received?
Sam: You are doing good work.
For additional reading, check out Alder Yarrow’s post on Spencer-Roloson.
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May 8 2008
For lack of better phraseology, it must be a pain in the arse when your livelihood is pinned on one opinion. If New York restarantuers think they have it bad with the New York Times dining section, imagine having all of midtown or Greenwich Village predicated on the penstroke.
BORDEAUX (AFP) — Influential US wine critic Robert Parker has drawn long faces in Bordeaux, handing out a series of low scores, and telling buyers not to bother with the 2007 vintage unless chateaux owners cut prices substantially.
“There is unquestionably little need to buy these wines as futures, unless dramatic price reductions occur. I don’t expect that to happen,” said Parker in his annual vintage review, titled “2007 Bordeaux: Who Will Buy Them and at What Price?”
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May 7 2008
In my old age I’ve really been turning the dial on skeptical cynicism. To that end, nothing rankles me more than more government. Well, at least more government where it shouldn’t be. Saving people from themselves, yes. Helping those that need help, yes. Ensuring children can maximize their potential, yes. State-run liquor stores, no.
So, it was with much shock and chagrin that I read an article about the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PCLB) spending $3.6M dollars for store design improvements and general recommendations designed to improve the shopping experience ... in order to become a world-class retailer.
The upshot is that the Governor of the state, Ed Rendell, told the head of the PCLB, PJ Stapleton, to, “Run this place like a business, not a government bureaucracy.”
Gee, I can’t imagine anything as government-like as a $3.6M dollar contract with a branding firm. Now that I think about it, it’s awfully corporate, as well.
I want to say: guys, I’ll take a consulting fee of 10% on that $3.6M and save you the balance. With the savings, the PCLB can do one of two things--either drive to New York City with a bunch of MBA students who need a capstone project and go to every retailer in the city. Subsequently steal ideas from all that is good. Alternatively, head to Costco, the largest wine retailer in the country, and study how to sell high-volume low qty. sku’s to an adoring public.
There, I just saved them a bunch of money. I’ll wait for my check to arrive.
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May 5 2008
Inspired by a comment I received from Josh at Pinotblogger in response to my review of a BioD wine (found here). He raised the question, a very valid question, about whether I would enjoy the wine as much if I tasted it blind. He’s right. How much is my tasting the “vitality” in a BioD wine related to my own psychosomatic predisposition to being intrigued by BioD wines made with natural yeasts?
But, just as soon as you start to go down one path of mental resolution, you open up a $22 bottle of BR Cohn Silver Label Cab and a Trader Joe’s $5 bottle and you realize that the TJ’s wine is better. A normal predisposition would say the more expensive wine is better.
It’s all subjective; fortunately I’m a sales and marketing guy with a liberal arts degree so I don’t have to get bound up in quantifying the science in it all. This subjectiveness is illustrated as much by our desire to date to attractiveness (or, in my case, marry) demonstrated by eHarmony (it don’t mean a thing without the picture). Blind tastings and personalities matches are great, but, yeah, I guess the label does matter.
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May 3 2008
Perhaps it is serendipitous that my Amazon.com purchase of Alice Feiring’s new treatise, The Battle for Wine and Love, came at approximately the same time that I pulled the cork on a winery sample from Cooper Mountain Vineyards.
Feiring’s book is a broadside against technology in winemaking and the Cooper Mountain “Mt. Terroir” is as about as natural of a wine as they come.
(Cooper Mountain) Mountain Terroir (Five Elements Pinot Noir) is a blend of some of the best grapes harvested from our three vineyards sites (Grabhorn & Meadowlark & Johnson School). Singled out in individual barrels for aging, the contents of this bottle have been carefully brought together to convey what we hope to be the best expression of Cooper Mountain’s terroir, of our environment.
And, frankly, you have to love a winery that produces only 90 cases of a biodynamic Pinot Noir Cuvee from estate-grown grapes and they decide to sample some to the blogosphere. It is a bold choice and demonstrates an incredible insight into old-world winemaking technique and the new market dynamics of the modern day. And, it helps that it is a fantastic wine.
I feel like I was a part of an experiment. Ostensibly, this sampling was a litmus test by Cooper Mountain. The wine is certified organic and biodynamic, fermented with native yeasts. They wanted to know whom the rube is, who does not “get it.”
It is not hard to “get” this wine. And, in parallel to Feiring’s book, it is not hard to see the immediate point of natural winemaking.
Of all the biodynamic wines that I have tasted, each of them has expressed a certain “it” factor.
Now, mind you, just like NFL quarterbacks, it is very difficult to describe what “it” is. Sometimes you just know it when you see “it.” The liveliness, the je ne sais quoi … the LeBron James or the Peyton Manning factor at work, as opposed to the merely good, at the highest level.
Biodynamics wine is a controversial subject, some view it as poppycock, a skepticism about some of the mysticism.
Here’s where I come down on BioD wines – there’s room enough in the world all variants of winemaking, but it’s hard to argue with what frequently gets delivered in the bottle. BioD wine is hard to describe, but you know “it” when you taste “it.”
That is a point that Alice Feiring argues and Cooper Mountain delivers.
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