Doing my part for the economy: buying wine

Haven't seen my buddy Ralph since going into the wine and spirits store more than a month ago, but he walked right up and asked me how I liked that Spanish red he recommended last time. Huh? I didn't remember that, until I got home and typed my new purchases into my wine log and realized that, heyyyyyyyy, he did suggest a red that was de-lish. It's
Mad dogs & Englishmen, a blend of Monastrell, Cab Sauv and Shiraz that's made out of a winery in the Jumilla region of Spain. The alcohol content (14 percent) was a bit higher than many of my Spanish favorites, but it's still nowhere near the vicinity of, say, a Zinfandel. It was really good, as was a bottle of Pillar Box Red from Australia that neatly blends Shiraz (53 percent), Cab and Merlot.

Anyway, Ralph, your memory is better than mine. Definitely a good recommendation.

Obviously I couldn't leave the store this time (or any other) without some bottles in hand. Picked up one bottle of my favorite inexpensive Tempranillo, an '03 Hoya de Cadenas Reserva that I've seen some online reviewers diss for being too shallow, too leathery, too .. oh, who cares? It's one I always enjoy. Also picked up another Spanish red, a Higueruela Cosecha 2005, which is a blend of primarily Garancha. Opened it last night and ... oh my, this one needs to go back even with legs that would be comparable to Jessica Simpson's. Supposed to taste blackberry, blackcurrant, raspberry and strawberry. Instead, got gamey and a whiff of manure and olives. Hey, it happens. Hopefully someone at the store will agree. And pilfered from the clearance section was a Greek white called Santorini Argyros Atlantis, which I'm expecting to make today's crab feast sing. Will let you know.

P.S.: Syrah, I'm told, will give off the scent of black olives. Didn't know that. And there's 12 percent syrah that's blended with the Garancha in that Spanish red I tried. But I returned the bottle and brought home another of the same. We'll give it a whirl tonight and see if it was the wine or just my taste buds.

And finally: That new bottle? More like I expected, with the aromas of fruit evident from the moment the cork pops off. That's much better. As for that Greek white, go find a bottle or two. A steal for $6.99.

Trip West gains "biggest purchase ever" for LCB

Another buying trip down; more than 100,000 cases of largely Chairman’s Selection wine on its way to Pennsylvania between now and the end of the year.

Tony Jones, the chief of product management and pricing division for the state’s Liquor Control Board, said by phone earlier this week that it was the largest purchase that he and director of marketing Jim Short have ever made on one of these trips out West. They make two a year: one in June and another one in January.

But it wasn’t the trip per se that made this newsworthy. They were accompanied a couple of weeks ago by consultants from several of the state’s premium collection stores: Patty Meckley (my wine guru from the East Market Street store in York), Robert Skelly from the Pittsburgh area and Rian Poltrone from the east region, basically the area in and around Philly. It’s the first time that they’ve brought along the consultants, and this first trip was so successful that Jones said they’re going to be accompanied by a new group of consultants every time they head to California.

“They were definitely an asset on the trip,” Jones said. “Myself and Jim, we know what sells in stores, but to hear them kind of reinforce that; when we can turn to them and say, ‘Can you sell this?’ and all three nod their heads yes, that instantly certifies what our thoughts are.”

They spent the first three days in Napa, welcoming around 25 suppliers that represented more than 100 wineries. Jones then took them through Paso Robles and Napa and Santa Rita Hills to other wineries. If he’d change anything for next time it might be the route, perhaps setting up shop in Paso Robles and welcoming suppliers before heading to Napa and possibly to Lodi and Monterey. “Down there,” he said of Paso Robles, “we ran across some real good wineries and got a lot of real good insight into that region. So I think there’s a lot of opportunity for us there in the future.

Jones said they tasted wines from just about all the world’s major producers. “I would say about 40 percent of those cases are being ordered now, and then the reminder will be ordered in August, which will put them in stores for the October, November and December holiday season.” He said about 80 percent of the brands are recognizable. “We had a couple of brands that may be a little more obscure.”

Many of those will show up at what are called Chairman’s Selections luncheons for the store specialists in mid-August, one in Harrisburg and another the next day in Philly. “We’ll have about 20 or 30 of the wines and they’ll get to sample them, see what is coming into the stores that can help them with the sell-through. It’s something we always do after every trip.” Jones said the trio who headed to California will be invited. “At these two events, I’m going to ask them to stand up and just share their experience with everybody that’s there. And then that way hopefully their enthusiasm will kind of rub of on everybody else, get people motivated to sell these wines that come in.”

Hopefully no one will ask for every details of the tastings; Jones said they “had to suffer through” about 450 wines to come up with those 162. It gets a little laborious,” he said, the emphasis on “a little.” And his one piece of advice for the next crew that heads out? “You also learn to wear dark shirts when you go on these trips,” he said. “Wine splash back and all that kind of stuff.”

Easy does it for Pinot Noir at Moondancer

Caught up during the middle of the week with Jim Miller, winemaker and owner of Moondancer Vineyards & Winery in Wrightsville, Pa., and broached the idea of talking about a special bottling he had mentioned to me in a previous conversation of a wine he called Driagra.

Nothing wrong with the wine, Miller noted, but not what he'd call one of his signature products. "That’s not a typical wine for us," he said, then continued, "Our specialty really is a premium dry red. That’s what we really focus on. You know we do other wines and we do a nice job with dry whites, but we focus really on more of a European dry style wine, something that would be more typical of a winery in California or a winery in Europe, not necessarily what you’re typically finding on the East Coast."

Located no more than a 10-minute ride off the Wrightsville exit of Route 30, half the fun is winding up the driveway and taking in the spectacular view of the Susquehanna River as it makes its way south toward Peach Bottom and the Chesapeake Bay. While the entire plot covers a bit more than 30 acres, Miller said about 12 acres are planted with eight varieties of grapes: Chardonnary, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot, Syrah and Pinot Noir.

"The oldest part of the vineyard is 10 years old," Miller said, "so the wines are really starting to develop nicely."

One in particular is the Pinot Noir, which just won a double gold in the dry red category at the Keystone Wine Competition that was held in Cromwell, Conn., on March 1.

"I don’t really put the wines in many competitions simply because I don’t have the time and we miss the deadlines, but once in awhile we’ll put them in there and we’ve always done well with our reds and our dryer whites," said Miller, who spent the last weekend showing off his collection of wines at the Tastes of PA Wine & Food Festival at Split Rock Resort. "At Split Rock, I think we were one of the only wineries to take [Pinot Noir] up there. I think other wineries make it; in fact, I know they do, but we took it and a lot of people were amazed that you could even grow that grape here, and it actually does pretty well."

Primarily a grape you see on the West Coast in northern California and up into Oregon and Washington, it can be difficult to master on the East Coast because it ripens earlier than most reds, a process called verasion. "So the birds immediately flock to the Pinot Noir," Miller said. "It almost goes from green to black, and that attracts the birds even though they aren’t ripe, so the birds will get after it if you don’t net it right away. So you have to net it, you have to protect it from the birds early in the season, which is just one more management step in the vineyard, which can be difficult."

It's also grows in a tighter cluster than most, he noted, meaning it’s more susceptible to disease pressure. "When that cluster closes you can’t get spray around the berries," he said.

Still, he said, the wine has increasingly developed more characteristics as it heads toward another harvest. "The third year you get a little bit of fruit," he said. "The fourth year you get almost a full crop, but it’s about that fifth or sixth year where it starts to comes into its own , and . . . this harvest will be eight years. But is a difficult grape to grow. You don’t get a huge yield out of it."

That yield will come out of six barrels this year, filling about 150 cases, Miller said, then without a pause added, "We’ll drink half of those and sell the other half."

Cheers to that.

Hauser Estate takes its spot on the Web

We've previewed Hauser Estate Winery that's essentially located in historic Cashtown, Pa., talking to owner Jonathan Patrono and winemaker Michelle Oakes in recent posts. Patrono was working toward a July 1 opening for the winery, located about seven miles west of Gettysburg, but he said Sunday that the middle of July seems like a more likely date.

But they are getting close, obvious by the creation of the Web site. This includes a bit of the background info, including the fact that the winery will have a sales location at 17 on the Square in Gettysburg. But it seems most of the buzz about this family-owned winery will be the view from the glass-enclosed tasting room, which you can get a glimpse of in this photo that we "borrowed" from the Web site. Other construction photos also appear on the site. That tasting room will sit atop the underground winery.

According to the ad posted some months ago for a winemaker, the winery expects to produce 6,000 gallons the first year and quickly expand to 10,000 gallons/year. Both apple and grape wines will be mainstays.

Two acres of hybrid vineyard were in the ground at the time of the posting, with another eight acres of vinifera and two additional hybrid acres expected to go into the ground this year.

Patrono said in the original posting that the planning and work toward next month's opening began in 2006, and it has been a substantial investment of time and money. "Two years ago," he said, "I wouldn't have guessed that as much planning as we've done would have gone into it."

Terrapin Station one of Grapes! big hits

No one is more articulate about the wine industry in general and the Maryland landscape in particular as director of the state's winery association. Reached Wednesday, he talks in this taped segment about how well Great Grapes! did at Oregon Ridge Park last weekend and the impact that one as-yet unopened premium winery (Black Ankle) and one innovative winery (Terrapin Station) figure to have on the industry. Atticks calls Black Ankle "a new breed of East Coast wineries" and says it has been "interesting to see how the public has reacted" to Terrapin Station, which is boxing its wine. "It's an interesting idea that you're selling the wine on taste," he says, "which, frankly, is how it should be selling, not package and label design, which is how most wine is sold."

The Marcus files: Part 2

I set up this blog as an opportunity in part for people to sound off. Not viciously, mind you, and not to incite fights, but not to get people thinking and prompt discussion. So I invite the opinion and get it on the record. In this case, Doug Marcus of Towson Wines & Spirits has his problems, he says, with a majority of Maryland wines, primarily that so many are sweet nad lacking in quality. He says as much in his recent monthly newsletter, posted previously, as he was touting the wines of Black Ankle that he’s now carrying. That winery, located in Mt. Airy, is scheduled to open by the end of July.

We talked a bit last week and he went on the record a bit more in-depth about why he says he’s frustrated with Maryland wines, in general, and why Black Ankle will raise the bar in the state. These are just some snippets of what he said:

“What happens is, people don’t drink a lot of wine. And so there’s a parallel thing going on. The wineries in Maryland are not making the effort. Some are, most aren’t, because it started out as a hobby, you know, it’s like grandma’s apple pie. She doesn't care where the apples come from, she just wants to make an apple pie . . . so she lucks out and the first couple pies are made with good apples, and after that she has to make 10 pies instead of one, so she wants to cut back on her cost so she buys substandard apples, and all of a sudden the quality goes down. This is kinda what happens because people don’t know how to run a business or ramp up a business. And you end up with substandard wine, partly because of soil chemistry and partly because of wherever the source of the juice is if you’re not growing your own grapes. And you end up with really crummy wine. So what you do is put sugar in it . . . it’s like me and salt . . .salt makes everything taste better. And the same thing with sugar . . . so you end up with 20 of 22 wineries who make almost predominantly sweet wine because it covers all the ills of the wine.”

“When Black Ankle started . . . everybody said, ‘no, no, no, you gotta go sweet, sweet, sweet.' And what they did is they did some soil samples and did chemistries and hired consultants; they spent an absolute fortune. If you’ve not been out there . . .when you go out there you have to think California, not Maryland. They’ve got . . . if I were to guess $20 million, I think I’d be pretty close. They weren’t kidding around. I tasted their wines. To put it in perspective, they have 250 brand new French oak barrels and they cost a thousand dollars apiece. That’s a quarter million dollars in barrels. So before you get started, you’re talking about a lot of money . . . They’re doing the right things in that they’re planting the right vines and going through the chemistries of the soil and they’re doing everything they need to do, knowing full well that ultimately they’re going to be able to turn a profit at the same time they’re making good wine, whereas everybody starts off altruistically wanting to make good wine and they realize, ‘aw crap, this stuff isn’t any good, let’s throw some sugar in it.’ And there are enough people out there that buy wine without fail once a year that you can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the people some of the time, and that’s enough.”

“. . . People will climb up a tree to get a nice product it doesn’t matter if it’s a restaurant or an ice cream store or wine. So it’s really a matter of finding a product and being able to stand behind it. Most people are in the business of making money, and unfortunately with wine, you gotta make the wine first and then the money comes."

“. . . Black Ankle, and another winery -- I forget the name -- apparently they’re both doing it right, and by doing it right they’re going to put Maryland wineries on the map and set a standard that other wineries just can’t meet.”

Making friends with the Marietta folks

Walked into a nearby state store a couple of weeks ago and followed my normal course of action, perusing the shelves for something I haven’t tried that fits my budget. Grabbed an Old Vine Red from Marietta Cellars in Geyserville, Calif., in Sonoma County, and was happy I did from the moment I pulled out the cork. According to the Web site, the blend is primarily comprised of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignane as well as smaller amounts of Cabernet and Syrah. Other Italian varietals round it out.

Curious, I checked their Web site and felt immediately at home. In addition to all the information you’d expect to find, they add a splash of extra personality by listing their top 10 things. Not wines. Their top 10 things, like trips to Montana and Alaska and a recipe for Minestrone soup. It’s a clever special touch that introduces newcomers to owner and winemaker Chris Bilbro and his family.

Sending along four questions that I hoped would give me a little more insight into the winery, which does not have a tasting room, I received this response from Jake, one of Chris’ sons, in under 24 hours, far faster than it took me to polish off the bottle of Old Vine. That one I slowly savored for a few days.

Q, What one or two issues are of most concern to wineries where you are located?
A. I don't think there are any specific concerns in Sonoma County that wouldn't be industry wide concerns… more competition globally, rising production costs etc. I don't think there's anything astronomical however.
Q, How much is NOT having a tasting room an asset and a detriment?
A. Not having a tasting room hurts us from the aspect that we can't sell direct to consumers and we don't have a large local following but having a wide distribution gives us market share in a lot of different states which as a small winery insulates us from regional trends.
Q, Have you updated that top 10 since it was originally written. I love that. Not seen that on any other site I've been to.
A. We've updated it a few times but not consistently, it is pretty much our staple favorites.
Q, Really, really liked the Old Vine. How has that one evolved over the years?
A.I think OVR has the following that it does because it hasn't evolved over the years… It is the same wine we started making 30 years ago and our consumers know that and trust the corresponding consistency level in it.