West Side Wine

I had one of those “so that’s why I got into this business” experiences yesterday. Lunch at The Modern (MoMA), with eight outstanding Spanish wineries represented and 21 gorgeous wines being poured. Tuesdays will never be the same. Hosting this event was Tempranillo, the exclusive distributer of the wines of Jorge Ordonez. Look for his name on a bottle of Spanish wine, and you’ll be assured of something very special. The food was superb, the wines even better, if there’s something better than superb. Highlights included Torre Muga ’04, El Puntido ’04, Finca Coronado ’04, Emilio Moro ’05, Cepa 21 ’06, Spiga ’04, ,Bcrux (Argentina) ’04, Alto Moncayo Veraton ’05, Juan Gil ’05, Jorge Ordonez Victoria ’06 (dessert). While most of the wine world is going nuts on prices, thanks to the Euro, Spanish wines are still one of the greatest values out there. If you haven’t discovered Spain, shame on you. But you can change that tonight. I wish I had room on the shelves of WSW for more of them. Tinto Fino, a wine shop in the East Village, sells nothing but Spainish wines. Now that’s a little bit of heaven.

I had a conversation with a terrific importer of Italian wines the other day. His list is small, but I have to say — they’re all gems. He recently started the business, so I asked him how it was going. He said that 80% of is business is “on-premise”, which means restaurants, as opposed to “off-premise” ,which means retail. He’s Italian and so are his wines, so he concentrates on “better” Italian restaurants.
Now, even though his wines are relatively unknown to the general public, some of them have gotten notice in some of the famous (or as far as I’m concerned, infamous) wine magazines that like to put a number to a wine. He mentioned that one of these mags gave one of his wines 90 points, so I congratulated him. He shrugged and said that a 90 is meaningless today, as his on-premise clients were ony impressed with ratings of 95 points and above. Huh?
Think of the absurdity of that philosophy. Does your average diner know or really care that their dinner wine is that highly rated, and can they possibly discern the difference between 90 and 96 points, as long as it’s a beautiful wine? If I’ve said it once I’ve said it ten million times. A rating is one person’s opinion. That’s all. I don’t even look at ratings when I’m deciding what to include in my inventory. Why should I, or you for that matter, care what the wine critics think? You have a palate, I have a palate, let that be the judge. I only find out about a rating after I’ve tasted a wine, loved it, and then tried to buy it, only to find that it received x points, so it’s out of stock. And that’s the only reason it’s out of stock — because the ratings lemmings have jumped on the bandwagon.
Be your own critic. Taste, taste, and then taste some more. Then come up with the only number that means anything….yours.

It’s an everyday occurence. Going around the store, tearing off price stickers and replacing them with new ones. And guess what? I’m not lowering the prices. My nice, affordable, everyday old worlds are now becoming wines that people have to think twice about, because that everyday price is gone. In a lot of cases the prices are going up by a buck, maybe two. But the killer comes with the wineries that have “held off as long as they could” and are now repricing at over $3 a bottle. Hey, guys, you aren’t doing me, or the consumer, any favors by holding off. If you’d acted earlier, I could have eased folks into the new prices a dollar at a time. But you can’t expect somebody to pay $3 more for a wine that was $11. Maybe for one that was $30, but “value” wines are called that because that’s what they are.
And, unfortunately, our lousy dollar isn’t limited to Europe. Check out what’s happening in places like South America, the world capital of $9 wines. Not any more. That nine is becoming eleven. I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but from where I’m sitting, I’m seeing that it definitely is a big deal to a lot of folks.
What really gets me is that when, or if, the economy improves, these prices are not going to come down. Why should they? The consumer will be used to paying it,so why not leave it where it is? There are still a lot of bargains out there. You and I are just going to have to look a lot harder for them. I’m on it.
BTW, Happy Earth Day to you, Earth. I hope you made the most of it. I’m glad you now have a day like mothers, fathers, flags and arbors. But don’t get a swelled head about it. Yes, you have your day, but don’t forget the other 364 are not about you.

Elijah, you’re out of luck. The morons at Manischewitz forgot Passover was going to happen in 2008, so they forgot to make enough “kosher for Passover” Concord grape sugar water this year.
Now, normally this wouldn’t upset me, but the demand for this junk is insane this time of year. Either I carry it, or I incur the wrath of many. The Manischewitz distrbutor, Empire (as in evil), claims that they have been out of it for a long time, and that they have backorders for over 3000 cases. But nooooo, that wasn’t explained to me as they happily took my order, assuring me that I’d be receiving it the next day. More genius in action.
So kids, forget that once-a-year treat of grape soda and seltzer. Mom, you’re going to have make the charoset with another flavor, if that isn’t out of stock as well.
There will be no joy at the holiday table this year thanks to the Manischewitz “winery”, idiots of the month. On the other hand, perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise…an opportunity to try one of the many really, really good kosher wines, the kind without sucrose. Check out my personal picks.

As a wine guy, one of my biggest challenges is to get customers to articulate what they’re looking for. I usually get the same old things — dry, smooth, not sour, sweet-but-not-too sweet, etc. Nice tries, I guess, but really not very helpful. Somehow, however, we always get to a meeting of the minds. And more often then not, these customers come back pleased and looking for more help.
But some of the direction I’ve been getting lately has been too good not to pass on. Like the woman who came in the other day. “I need a wine for my mother who is having lunch with her old catholic priest,” she said. That was it. So, I kind of just stared at her and waited for more, but more was not forthcoming. Finally she said, “Oh, is that too much of a challenge for you?” Since I wasn’t up on what all older women or old catholic priests prefer, I tried the old “Do you know what’s for lunch?” approach. “How would I know?” was the response. Now what. It seemed like we were at a stalemate until, thankfully, she volunteered one more piece of information. “It doesn’t have to be any good, she never really liked him all that much, anyway.” Well okay. Now we were getting somewhere. All I had to do was pick out a lousy bottle from my hand-chosen collection of wines that I had painstakingly selected to be part of my inventory.
What we agreed upon, in the end, is of no importance. I just had to let you in on what I face all too often. If you’re guilty of giving this kind of “direction” to your wine person, cut it out. Qualities in a wine do not include the following:
I want something to thank my Dominican dogwalker.
My father-in-law really only drinks scotch, but I want him to start liking wine. What would you suggest?
I need the perfect wine for my book club meeting tonight and we’re discussing ‘Atonement’.
Enough said.

I got a sake education the other day courtesy of a terrific distributor, Polaner Selections, and their sake importer, Vine Connections. The seminar was conducted by John Gauntner, a renowned sake expert, along with a few of his master brewers (tojis) and brewery owners. One guy was a 55th generation sake brewer from the oldest sake brewery in Japan — Sato No Homare. There was one female toji — there are only 20 in all of Japan.
These wines from boutique breweries are amazing. Not cheap, but amazing. They really do vary quite a bit depending upon where they’re from (the prefecture), the rice (koji), and the water, among other factors including the cuisine of the region, the weather and even the culture. How they get flavors like anise, melon, pumpkin and even cocoa into these wines is beyond me.
The next time you’re in your favorite wine shop, ask to see their sake collection. All good shops have one. Grab a bottle, chill it (if it isn’t chilled already) and let the fun begin. Take it easy — they’re usually around 16% alcohol, so don’t plan on finishing it by yourself. This stuff works with a lot of different foods, except for hot and spicy Asian. That’s a no no. Chicken, fish, vegetarian — a slam dunk. How can you not like something that’s called “Moon on the Water” or “Divine Droplets” or “Wandering Poet”?

I had the good fortune of having two terrific winemakers from the East End of Long Island drop in on me last week. Kareem Massoud of Paumanok Vineyards and Chris Tracy of Channing Daughters Winery are exhibits A and B of why Long Island wines are getting so good. Kareem’s winery is on the North Fork, where his parents have been making wine for 25 years. Their wines are uniquely “old world” in a very “new world” setting. The fruit is all estate fruit (meaning they own it) and tasting their reds is like being in Bordeaux. I think that Paumanok’s truly world-class wines are their reds — Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and the blend (Assemblage), but they do also have a couple of killer whites. I didn’t let Kareem out of the store without grabbing some of his Chenin Blanc (the only Chenin in New York State) and his Sauvignon Blanc. Both have been sold out every time I’ve tried to land some, so I got my order in early this year. Paumanok also makes a late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc that’s out of this world.

Channing Daughters is located on the South Fork in Bridgehampton. Chris came to winemaking via acting and cooking, and he’s just a natural winemaker. They have 25 acres in God’s country, and plant an amazing array of varietals. While Kareem’s strength is red, I think Chris nails it on the whites. He also makes three fabulous rosés every summer (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.) I sampled all the rosés over the weekend (hey, somebody had to do it) and laid in both the Cab Franc and the Merlot. I also love his white blends, including the Vino Bianco (Tocai, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay) and the Syvalus (mostly Muscat Ottonel and Pinot Grigio with a splash of Pinot Blanc.)

Give the wines from both these wineries a try wherever and whenever you run across them. (BTW, the 2007 vintage from this part of the world is a grand slam home run.) Great people, great wines, if you’re in their neighborhood (they both have beautiful tasting rooms) stop in, say hello, and taste through the goodies.

Have you ever been to opening day at Yankee Stadium? I’ve been performing this rite for over 20 years, and it never gets old. First you pack yourself into Stan’s Sports Bar, located directly across from the stadium. And I do mean pack yourself in. Yesterday I found myself squeezing through openings only a piece of paper could fit through in order to meet my long time Yankee buddy, Lou Bender, at the bar. There he was, at the exact spot he always is, year after year. Lou had claimed his stake early that morning, when Stan’s opened up. I got there two hours, and 250 customers, later. And a lot of these customers aren’t exactly swim suit models. We’re talking 300 pounders and up, dressed in full Yankee regalia. Next to us, a guy intently texting someone, until he looks up and asks us how to spell “stadium”. Ooookay.
Anyway, there we stand for the next 3 hours, waiting through a rain delay, and there’s not a bottle or glass wine in site, not even a box of the Franzia Chablis that’s usually on the back bar. Now, I can only drink so much Rolling Rock, and listen to so many versions of New York, New York before I start to lose it. That, and being crushed from every conceivable angle by large, increasingly drunken humanoids. So, being the pragmatic guy I am, I rolled the dice on the game being called, said goodbye to Lou and spent the next 20 minutes slithering my way out of there through the crowd that was swelling by the minute. Doesn’t is sound idyllic?
But the real sick part of this is that I’m going to gladly do it all over again, tonight, because it is Opening Day, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world. I just wish there was a nice Bordeaux tucked away somewhere amongst the Jagermeister and Yuengling. Go Yankees!