West Side Wine

The 2009 rosés from everywhere are fantastic, and that means Europe and the U.S. of A.  Sometimes everything just clicks, and this vintage is one of those times. My West Side Rosé will be here in the beginning of May, and we’ll be tasting this beauty in the store on May 15th with the famous winemaker Tony Coturri. We had a sample sent to us two weeks ago, and boy was if sensational.

I had high hopes today of discovering Mexican wines.  Paula Farmer from Vintage Wines sent me a great e-mail about them, so I asked her to come in this morning for a taste.  The whites?  Odd, and  I’m not sure about them.  Strange combination of Chenin Balnc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  Don’t get me wrong, I love odd, but this wine was in no man’s land.  The 2003 Zinfandel, however, was really interesting.  I would have never guessed that it was a Zin.  Relatively light for a Zin with some slight, but positive, oxidation and great minerality.  Who knew?  This one is tempting, and may be added to the already crazy WSW inventory.  We’ll see.

Just a reminder that the Great Wall of Pink is up and flourishing.  We have over 30 rosé choices already, and more coming in May.  The bottles are flying out the door, so it looks to be a great pink summer.  Lots of new additions and some great old friends.  Check out a sensational oddball if you’re in the neighborhood: the La Grapperie 2006 rose made from Pinneau d’aunis and Grolleau.  Mind blower!  Cheers.

I can remember like it was yesterday, the first time I went there. The huge crowds outside, standing around, waiting to go in. Then we finally decided to go through the turnstiles and get  to our seats.  You had to walk through a tunnel, no matter where your seats were, and the first thing I remember is the biggest, greenest lawn I had ever seen.  I had seen a hundred games on television, but they were in black and white.  And the tv screen was about 18″. I had no idea what green was until I saw the outfield of Yankee Stadium for the first time. I don’t remember who they played that day, or who won, or who did what, but I’ll never forget that field, the crowd, the noise, the hot dogs, the fun of a day at the ballpark. And even though I have gone to countless Yankees game since, I never once lost that thrill of walking through that tunnel and seeing that outfield.

So when I went up to the Bronx yesterday and saw that pile of rubble that once was my source of amazing memories, I felt like it was the end of my childhood.  Now, I know that that physically ended a long time ago, but we all think that we’re kids forever. And I really didn’t think that seeing it torn down would affect me at all. I mean, life goes on, things change, it’s just a building, progress is good, yadda yadda yadda. But this really got to me. There it was — sitting in a heap, lifeless and greenless.

Now, the new place is nice and new and shiny and green. And there have a been a few good memories made in the first year. The only thing that’s missing is that thing that’s going to make me feel like a kid again.  Maybe in time. 

Here’s one to the House That Ruth Built.  And I still have Stan’s, but those are a whole different set of memories, more childish than kid-like.

In my former life, I was the head of marketing for two cable television networks (USA and Sci-Fi.) They were then, and they are now, networks in every sense of the word. They have affiiates, like a network. They have complete national distribution, like a network. USA and the Sci-Fi Channel are more profitable for General Electric than NBC Network. So why is it that Bill Carter of the New York Times is so astounded that Conan O’Brien is going to the cable “channel” TBS, as opposed to a “network?”  Bill Carter must have gotten stuck in a 70′s time warp, where cable “channels” had limited distribution and were fighting for respectability.  Hello, Bill. It’s 2010. Conan O’Brien is in very good hands with a full-fledged, professioanl, extraordinarily profitable  “network”.  Wake up!  People don’t think like that anymore. USA, TBS, ESPN, CNN, are as much networks as any of the original ones way back when.

It’s a whole new world out there, Bill.  It’s time to join it. Stop perpetuating this ancient perception. These networks are very successful. It’s been in all of the papers, even yours.

Lucille

As you may or may not know, WSW is going to have its very own rosé this summer, called (appropriately) West Side Rosé. Tony Coturri of the famed Coturri Winery in Glen Ellen is makng it for us, and we received a sample two days ago. There’s only one word for it…..fabulous.

Tony just e-maled me that it has been coarse fined and is going in bottle next week. He also used the word fabulous, and he’s a modest guy. We bought a barrel, so 24 cases of this lusciousness will be in stock very soon. 

Hold on to your hats, kids, this is not a rosé for amateurs. We can’t wait to offer “Cuvée Lucille” (named after our beloved deceased mutt Lucy) to you very shortly. You will be blown away.

Happy April to all. Here in NYC the sun is shining, the temperatures are rising, and I’m getting e-mail after e-mail from my importers telling me that the rosés are here, and ready to ship.

I have to tell you, this week in particular has been a total drag. Three restaurants around me have closed –one to the north, one to the south, one to the west (two very good, one that will not be missed.)  I actually witnessed a public auction  in one of them yesterday. I asked myself, “Where is the renaissance that is April?”  Well, maybe not that literally, but you get the idea.

And then, today, I was  inundated with those e-mails about the rosés. I know this might sound trivial, given what everyone (including yours truly) has been going through the last couple of years, but we need a little rosé, right this very minute. 

So, if I can borrow another song lyric, the rosés will come out tomorrow– bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there’ll be rosés. I’ll take renaissance anywhere that I can get it.  Cheers, and here’s to a wonderful Spring and Summer.