Libation Station... "The Wine Shop Chronicles"
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
the sipping news...In 2005 wine surpassed beer as the nations number one octane injected beverage. Last year we as a nation consumed over 300 million cases of the fermented grape, almost enough to drink through the current six year grape glut. This is good news. Yesterday I was affected by a terrible urge to slap a coke can out of the hand of a woman in the parking lot. It looks like the market might take care of that for me, saving some embarrassing behavior and possibly jail time. If wine can surpass Coke and Pepsi, we may see the crumbling of the fast food industry. Imagine wanting a nice sip of Pinotage with that Big Mac you just got at the drive-thru because you didn't have enough sense to find the time to lunch healthily. The downside is to also imagine Micky Dees buying off the State legislature to allow them to pour boxed wine. Scary, but consistent in behavior.
Labels: Sipping News
Sunday, January 28, 2007
what Orson Wells said...Time in the bottle and letting the wine breathe; these are the only processes known for allowing the epic attributes of wine to be coaxed beyond the cork, out to its maximum potential. Texture, nose, finish released at its apex. Swill if you will, but if the time is not right, the wine is not ready and if you choose to plop down $100 on a wine that is not palatable for another 3 years and are too impatient to wait for it to shine, you are tossing good money out the window. If you can afford to do that, more power to you.
Notice I used the word "allowing". Wine cannot be forced into compliance. It cannot be leveraged. There's a new thingy on the market that supposedly speeds up the breathing process by using the natural modular harmonics of crystal. We actually tried this on a not so ripe Brunello and it actually worked. Maybe we just thought it did. It was our second bottle for the evening and wishful thinking tends to get amplified under such circumstances. We'll never know unless we can zip forward in time and see what that same Brunello is like 10 years from now.
We like new and improved. We like advancements and progressions. We really like it if it's techie. We expound market share dominance and cost efficiency. We ascend to be EBITDA positive (that's Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization). Wine could give a fat rat's ass about any of that.
So what's a better idea market maven to do with a product so obstinate? Sex up the label is a good start. Create a hip logo and then flood the mainstream media advertisement outlets is probably great. That cost thing about wine is still ugly though. How do we get supply side economics to work? Grow too many grapes? Outsource everything? Spin it as time honored and classic? At $6 a bottle, anything is possible. Build it and they will come.
In the shop we fight this battle with the distribution authorities every day, trying to go back to the future. We may not win in the end, but we damn sure are going to enjoy the journey.
Cheers.
Labels: Other Observations
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Croatian HoochI'm copying the follow verbiage. I'm admitting it as many others do not. Yet as far as wine blurbs go, I'm just as lazy. The wine is Zlatan. Eezz good stuff.
"This is a premium dry red wine made from grape variety Plavac Mali, which is the closest cousin to the "original Zinfandel" found in Croatia. Wine is rich and full bodied with beautiful balance of fruit and tannins and a fun, lingering finish."
I didn't realize Croatia was back into doing wine. Civil wars and genocide and the such normally tends to put a damper on such endeavors, but it would seem they are getting back into production. I guess the Romans started it all there back when Romans were doing what they did best at the time... engulf and devour.
Another Croatian wine we have stocked is Kozlovic Malvazija. This white varietal is Malvasia, which you'll find in Spanish wines. This is nice juice.
"fragrant and floral nose, nice acidity on the palate with dried herbs and spicy flavors. Quite a distinctive wine."
I stole that description too, but whoever wrote it is pretty much right on. I'd like to try this with Dungeness Crab... no butter or lemon.
Labels: Wine Alert
We have a new New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in the House. Everywhere else in the civilized universe, you'll find the label printed as "Cats Pee on a Gooseberry Bush", except here. Our archaically backward over morally self-righteous temperance laden government found the verbiage to be too risque. So the winemaker had to exchange "Phee" for "Pee". I know I feel safer and more inclined not to be offended. Sheez!
Anyway, it ain't all that bad for having a goofy name. Wonderful fruit and specifically apple and lime. The loud lime green label is the most I find obnoxious about this juice. I can't find any cat phee in it though.
Labels: Wine Alert
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
the north sound dining hound...This is something Georgiann and I have been contemplating for some time but have not found the time to delve into. As we have said before, we love to play with OPF (other people's food). One thing I have noticed is there are no true critical analysis mechanisms of local eating establishments; none free of advertisement dollar swaying. Fair but sometimes brutal does not exist in any publication I can find. This blows my mind as quality amenities are in such short supply north of the King County line. Sheez. If the pork takes a chainsaw to get through it, then say it. They might find a way to tenderize it if no one buys it. Granted, it all boils down to individual taste, but since we only sell wines we like to drink, we might as well promote food we like to eat. It seems like a natural fit.
Labels: The Dining Amenity Enhancement Project
We sell this for just over $10 a bottle. We've been notified by the distribution authority that the price is going up $2. That seems a little unreasonable. It probably means it's too good at this price. It is real good. An Argentine Malbec with exceptional comforting effects. Right now it's our daily drinker until it's not.
Labels: Wine Alert
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
glitches hitches and stretched stitches...We love putting on our wine events; the camaraderie, bantering, the engagement. It's safe to say, most of our clients have become friends. We love doing them so much we discount our wines for the event at such a low margin we basically cover our costs and that's about it. So when things go awry, our passion for giving our clientele what they deserve pushes and pulls us over and around the obstacles of potential disasters. Our experience in handling the nature of the beast concerning getting everything right and on time allows us to stay focused. Georgiann's ability to solve the issues at hand and work through the problem is amazing.
Sometimes our collaborators do not stay as equally focused. So when a certain restaurant I will not mention backs out of supplying the food three days before the event and then recommends a caterer I will not mention that does not grasp the concept of the provider/client relationship we have to make some adjustments. As the filtering out process continues , we just keep getting better. Many events are in the pipe. Stay tuned.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
a new blog template...Actually, many things are new. I tried several lofty and bright and fun templates but this one kept pulling me back into its abyss of dark and moody. It reminds me of times when I am the most introspective; when I get to reach the deepest realms beyond layers of goop. I like it here.
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photo by JAL Photography
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View my page on OpenWine Consortium
This work by Libation Station, Inc. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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