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However, you should note that many totally fine Champagnes have a yeasty flavor that you don't get in any other wine.
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Jan 27, 2012 20:38
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RobertLeeYates posted:Anyone familiar with how Total Wine runs their business? They are supposedly setting up shop in our town to sell wine, beer, and liquor and was wondering if they would be worth working for instead a competitor. I worked for just about 4 years as a Wine Manager for TWM. It's not easy to work for them and I suspect it's gotten worse. What did you want to know about them, specifically?
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Jan 29, 2012 07:05
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RobertLeeYates posted:Actually it's the wine manager job that I was interested in. From what I can find out about the company on the Internet is that they work them long hours although the benefits are supposedly good. Do they get to choose any of the wines they bring in? Also, how important is it to sell their private label stuff that hopefully isn't garbage? They do make you work long hours, but the hours aren't what makes things grating. The atmosphere is very intense. The company is privately owned by a couple sharp guys that probably know your job better than you do. If there's a single day that you sat back on your heels because your dog died or your wife left you, they're going to know about it and it'll just make things harder for you. There is also ZILLIONS of pages of paperwork to do daily and again if you fall asleep at the wheel and start pencil-whipping things, they'll know. The benefits are industry-standard, but I guess industry-standard is now industry-leading. You have ABSOLUTELY ZERO input on what is carried. There was one wine manager I knew that made a few decisions about what came into his store, but he had been there for years and eventually got promoted. You will be told what will come in and where to put it. How important are their private labels? They are EVERYTHING to the company. Every measure of your success is derived from your percentage of WD (winery direct) sales. You are NOT ALLOWED to admire any "national brand" (non-WD) wine while on the job. The quality is mixed. Some of the wines are actually legit and not contract swill, but there is plenty of contract plonk that you must push to make numbers. Overall, I wouldn't recommend. Though I imagine if you have some fortitude you could consider it a stepping stone to greater things. They DO teach you the nuts and bolts of wine and spirits retail in a way that no other retailer will. This will help you if you decide to stay in retail. Subtlet posted:Good to see you back Overwined! What have you been drinking lately? I'm all excited about 2010 Mosel Riesling. Thanks, Subtlet! As it turns out I am excited about 2010 Riesling as well. I am actually buying up some 2009s right now because they represent a great vintage and are being overshadowed by 2010s. I will buy and age some 2010s as well, though. I'm trying to exercise some restraint and let some good Rieslings age awhile because I love the flavor aged Riesling. I recently bought some JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich 2009 and some Schloss Johannisberg 2009s. I usually don't buy Rheingau Rieslings, but I found this one to be really alluring.
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Feb 4, 2012 02:37
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pork never goes bad posted:
Carbonnieux holds a really special place in my heart. When I was a young man and exploring big bold (over-extracted, over-sugared) red wines, I was working in my first Manhattan restaurant, an old steakhouse called Keen's in midtown. To this day, this is the most well-run restaurant I've ever been in. The GM there was fantastic and very wine-positive. She taught me a lot and got me to open my overly-opinionated mind about many things. Anyway, I can't remember the circumstances, but she asked me if I wanted a half full bottle of Carbonnieux Blanc to take home and I said hell no. White wines are for suckers. She pushed me to take it and I went home and drank it and had an epiphanic experience where I realized what balance is and how subtlety plays in good wines. I think I owe my white appreciation to that moment.
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Feb 4, 2012 06:17
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Thought I would just post this little gem that I have been enjoying over the past few months: This is the Dom. Matrot Bourgogne Chardonnay 2009. I have to give cred to my Asst. Manager for bringing it in. It's a great little find. You should be able to get this stuff for easily under $20. The guy that sold it to us said this was better than their Meursault bottlings! Well, guess what, that's probably bullshit. But it is very good and represents a great value from an appellation that, let's be honest, no longer cares for the "v" word. The wine is definitely cut from the Meursault mold with a tinge of earthiness and some faint popcorn on the nose. The palate is much brighter than a traditional Meursault, with bright baked apples and a tinge of tropical fruits. There is certainly an oak and some malo influence (this might just be ripe fruit), but the acid and fruit is bright and graceful. An wine that really wants to be drunk and one that I feel many can appreciate. A good entree into the world of "pure" Burgundian Chardonnay. It's imported by Vineyard Brands, a major US importer of French (and other) wines, so it should be easy to track down in your neck of the woods. EDIT: I'm waiting for the 2010s to be released since it's supposed to be such a great white wine vintage in most of France. Don't get me wrong 2009 is also awesome, so if you can fine either, buy it. Overwined fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Feb 8, 2012 |
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Feb 8, 2012 05:04
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idiotsavant posted:Uh, a whole lot of poo poo from the Loire and or Languedoc/Rousillon and maybe Spain and etc etc etc. Try to find something from Domaine Baudry or Domaine Rimbert or like a bajillion other vignerons. It seems like a great time to be drinking wine to me. Dom Pepiere is really the poo poo. They are one of the last laser-sharp hold outs in a world of soft malo sell-outs. They aren't the only ones, but one of the few. Also, I'd like to say FUUUUUCCCCKKK YOOUUUUUUUU to whomever in this thread (or the last) introduced me to Garagiste. I'm in deep to those fuckers and about to explode. GET ME MY WINE YOU DELICIOUS FUCKERS!!!
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Feb 22, 2012 02:31
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So, I registered for the IS and CS tests to be administered consecutively this April. I'm pretty excited to be finally doing this. It's something I think I've had the knowledge for, but haven't really had the time/money ($850 for both tests  ) until now. I have taken and passed the CSW exam and I feel pretty confident about the written part of the CS. The tasting and service part I am not too sharp on. Anyone here that has taken it that can give me some idea what to expect?
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Mar 1, 2012 02:46
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IS = Introductory Sommelier. Level 1, basically with CS (Certified Sommelier) being level 2. Thank you for your post though, it is actually very helpful. I am still in the wine biz and think/work around theory all day every day. Service is something I've been away from for far too long to be comfortable with it. I am starting to do batteries of blind tastings to practice in that regard. I have confidence in my palate and with practice I think I can do well here.
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Mar 1, 2012 21:11
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Insane Totoro posted:Wait what is the difference between late harvest Riesling and a normal Riesling? Just that. Late harvest is harvested...later. Riesling has a propensity for hanging on the vine long after other grapes would have dropped. As the grapes hang, the water evaporates out of them and they get sort of shriveled. Less water plus the fact that the grapes have been developing sugar longer, means a sweeter, more concentrated wine. Sometimes, depending on the region, botrytis cinerea (aka Noble Rot) can infect they grapes that hang this long, causing even more water to evaporate out. Anyway, long and short is that the longer the grapes hang on the vines, the sweeter and more unctuous the wines become. Be aware, however, that this is not a binary system. It's not like there's "regular" harvest and late. There's a whole spectrum. The Germans are very concerned with this. They have several "pradikats" which describe the amount of sugar in the grapes at harvest. If you are curious they are, in increasing sweetness: kabinett, spatlese, auslese, berenauslese, eiswein, and trockenberenauslese.
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Jul 12, 2012 02:26
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Stitecin posted:I have checked wine on flights from Australia, France, and New Zealand without seeing and loss of quality. I would be more worried about it in the trunk of your car to and from the airport. When transporting wine in my trunk I open the passthrough between my trunk and the cabin on my car to let some soothing AC in there. Or fold your seats forward if they do that.
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Jul 21, 2012 01:16
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FreelanceSocialist posted:If relatively short trips in the trunk of your car, even in soaring heat waves, worries you, I probably shouldn't tell you what happens in transit from the distributor to retail. Don't worry about it being in your car for a bit. I think the sun is worse than the heat, honestly. I've seen perfectly cool bottles of wine that were standing upright start weeping juice in less than 15 minutes in direct sun.
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Jul 21, 2012 02:32
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Don't blame the driver. That reefer unit on the cargo area of the truck? 9 times out of 10 the Trucking Manager tells the drivers to keep it off. 100 degree days be damned. We gots costs to slash!! Years ago a guy I was selling to told me a story about an $800 case of wine that he kept refusing because there was wine busting out of the capsules. He told me the Trucking Manager or Logistics Manager or whatever the gently caress called him and bitched him out saying, "Do you know how many cases of wine you've cost us?!?!"
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Jul 21, 2012 04:01
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I don't know, but if I were making an "American Only" BTG wine list, all but one or two of the whites would be from Oregon and in cool vintages.
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Aug 1, 2012 02:35
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I don't know if you could hammer St. Innocent Pinot Blanc into the $9/glass range, but I would do something to make it fit. I also like Elk Cove's Pinot Blanc....a lot. I like Pinot Blanc from Oregon, if you can't tell.
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Aug 1, 2012 04:40
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No love for Cameron reds? The first time I tasted a Cameron Pinot Noir it was a revelation. EDIT: I guess it'd be REALLY hard to get one of their Pinots in the $9 a glass category.
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Aug 2, 2012 04:04
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moflika posted:Don't want to fill this thread up with too much of my crap, but I've been looking around and it looks like the Champagne and Beaujolais regions have a ban on mechanical harvesting. Since I'm looking to pick, anybody aware of any others? I think almost all AOC (or AOP whatever the gently caress) regions of France have a strong hand-picker showing. I can't think of a single one where you could go and have trouble finding wineries that refuse to auto-pick. I mean, if you want to be hardcore about it and break your back in the offing, you can go work the harvest(s) at Sauternes.  In Italy you can find some big commercial ventures that I'm sure have auto-harvesters, but again the prestige appellations all hand-pick. In general in Italy stay away from Veneto and like Puglia. Everywhere else the majority hand pick. The same can be said for Germany, though their large commercial ventures are LARGE COMMERCIAL VENTURES. And the hand-picking here can be treacherous. Not like "ow I scraped my knee" treacherous, but "ow I fell down 300 feet of raw slate and now I'm dead" treacherous. EDIT: The Languedoc and some of central Loire would be the only regions of France that tend to be highly commercial that I can think of. Bordeaux is pretty drat commercial and I'm sure they have wineries that use auto-harvesters, but there are also shitloads that don't. EDIT2: Here's a picture looking up one of the steeper vineyards, Bernkasteler Doctor. Yes, in the tradition of black humor the Germans have called one of their more deadly steep vineyards "The Doctor". (The Bernkasteler part is the village prefix). 
Overwined fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Aug 8, 2012 |
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Aug 8, 2012 01:39
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Well good luck to you. I think what you're doing is pretty cool. Could we convince you to keep a sort of online journal about your experiences here? Poster 4liters did that when he was interning in Tokaji (Hungary) and Australia. I'm sure most people would love to hear about what you're doing, myself included.
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Aug 8, 2012 12:47
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No, see, that's what I want to hear. I know how wine tastes, it's all I do every day. I want to hear about the men and women that work in the vineyard. Gimme some of that rustic pastoral poo poo.
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Aug 8, 2012 23:55
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You West Coast Winos have all the fun.
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Aug 31, 2012 14:13
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Yes, wine is often more academic than your average person expects. However, it's still wine and it's still fun to drink. So you have that to look forward to.
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Sep 25, 2012 04:06
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kirtar posted:Is it common or normal for red wine to cause your tongue to turn a fairly dark color? I don't know that I'd characterize it as black, but it's hard to tell what hue it actually is. From what I can find on google it seems to be that some things will while others won't, but is it the exception or is it typical, and is there any good way to guess if a wine will do so before trying it? How important to you is it anyway? Does it bug you that much? Modern, super-high extracted wines will do this to you, especially as you drink a ton of them. Pack a toothbrush? It's not harmful to you. This seems purely like an image issue.
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Oct 3, 2012 00:53
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gently caress the TTB now and forever. Amen.
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Oct 6, 2012 22:22
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I like pretty much any Italian white wine with almost all fish. The exceptions are the "red meat" fishes which do need a little something more.
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Jan 20, 2013 00:33
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Temperature is only really important if the wines are really expensive, old, or delicate. Most stuff you are buying day to day isn't going to sit there long enough for it to be an issue. Now, if it's some place that refuses to put their A/C on and it's literally 80 or higher, then stay away. Again, light is an issue only for wines that sit in the store for a longer period of time. Although in general a retailer that puts any wine in direct sunlight is likely ignorant to the damage they can do and should maybe be avoided. As far as the larger question on what you should look for, I'd say the #1 criteria is people. Are they friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable? If you walk up to a counter and ask where something is and someone just sort of throws a finger in the general direction, think again about shopping there. If they don't care how their wines are bought, then they certainly were careless when buying them. In general, the person you're talking to should engage your interests and not try to foist onto you whatever wine they want to push this week. It's a subjective thing, but you should feel good about talking to your wine merchant. Second, I'd say is neatness of the store. To me this is very important, but for others less so. I don't look for a neat environment because I'm a clean freak, but I want to go in to a store and use their organization to judge their overall level of care. Even if they organize their wines in a way that doesn't appeal to me, the fact that there is a careful considered plan that has been executed well will make me feel good about shopping there. Third, and some might argue most important, do they carry the types of wines you want to drink? If they are willing to special order them, that's great, but it's tedious and I'm sure you just really want to stop in and pick up a bottle or two. It should go without saying, but if your interests are in Italian reds, then you shouldn't be shopping at a primarily Burgundian whites store (yes, these exist).
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Jan 28, 2013 16:10
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When we're blind tasting whites we often taste them with only a light chill on them. It's true that the aromatics will get totally shut down on a really cold wine. It's also true that most whites are served well below recommended temperature. There probably isn't a wine in the world that should be served at fridge temps other than super cheap poo poo Pinot Grigio. I will also say that there is no wine that should be served at the modern standard for room temperature. It's way too hot for reds but doubly for whites. At that temp esters seem brash and the wine gives up its alcohol to your nose too easily.
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Feb 7, 2013 15:25
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Congrats on your CS pass. It is indeed a more difficult test than it appears on the surface. RE: Wine temps. Recommended fridge temp is just a shade above freezing (35 to 38F) which I think is way too cold for just about everything. Nothing breaks my heart like a good Champagne that has been sitting in an ice and water bath for awhile. For me, absolute bottom temp is probably around 45F for wines like Muscadet, Crispy Sauv Blanc, etc. Now I realize that this is a matter of preference and likely situation. But anything below 45 or so numbs my tongue and dulls the experience for me.
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Feb 9, 2013 20:04
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pork never goes bad posted:gently caress breasts Simply the best typo given the situation.
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Feb 14, 2013 14:36
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Jubs posted:Below shoulder Not a great sign, but in those days a lot of bottles were hand filled so it could have started life lower. The other pending questions: has it appeared as if any wine has leaked up to the top of the cork? And can you speak to the matter in which it was stored (laying down or standing up? What general temp? Is it humid or dry? Is there a lot of vibration where it was stored? Did it get any direct sunlight?)? These are all questions people would ask if they wanted to pay you top dollar. Given the implied circumstance in which it was found, I would have to say that this is not a "prime" bottle and will fetch you little if you chose to sell it. It may, however be a shitload of fun to drink.
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Feb 17, 2013 06:34
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It would be helpful to take off the capsule (the wrapper for the top of the bottle) and take a picture of the top of the cork and maybe the sides if you can see them through the glass. Some people hate to do that and if you didn't want to I'd understand. But if we can see the condition of the cork, it'd help greatly.
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Feb 17, 2013 14:59
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It's really hard to judge the real color from those photos. Yes, the wine looks washed out in color, but again...really hard to see. And with hand-filling you can get some wonky fills that don't necessarily mean anything. I've had Burgundies from around that era with low fill levels that were perfect. To be honest, though, none were that far below the shoulder.
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Feb 18, 2013 22:24
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Yes and when people ask you why you don't drink it, put on your monocle and say in your most aristocratic British accent, "A First Growth Claret less than a hundred years old?!? Infanticide!!"
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Feb 19, 2013 01:59
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4/20 NEVER FORGET posted:drat Crimson.... ballin' outta control Can't be ballin' without no Dujac. 
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Feb 20, 2013 03:14
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Yes. "Finish" just means how it ends in it's flavor evolution. Some wines have very little evolution, though the flavor they put out may be perfectly pleasant. Others can go on for a full minute or more.
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Mar 1, 2013 16:22
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For a basic CDR, 2011 is not too young, though a couple more years would be nice. Sadly, this is the industry we work in. Slap it in the bottle and get it to market pronto, or should I say toute de suite in this case. Nonetheless, there aren't many CDRs that demand you age them. So drinking your 2011 now is in no way a sin.
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Mar 10, 2013 01:34
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Looking at California as a analog, the smoke taint effect seemed to be more localized than you might think based on prevailing winds and convection zones etc. So I'm hoping that most vineyards were spared. However, some probably lost a good deal of their production, which is sad. I was talking to an Tuscan winemaker yesterday (MAD NAMEDROPPING) about the guy that opened up the tonnes of high end Brunello and destroyed multiple vintages. The Tuscan winemaker said that the guy that owned the winery has a bit of a bad reputation in the area. But he and I both agreed that wine is sort of an innocent bystander in these cases. No one deserves to have their entire crops/vintages destroyed.
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Mar 10, 2013 17:57
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No. Stainless steel doesn't leech anything and I've never heard of anything else being used outside of cement and copper, which is the old fashioned standard. More than likely what you're tasting is either a chemical additive to treat/stabilize a wine or perhaps a fertilizer or pesticide has worked its way into the wine. It could also be the result of ferric (iron-rich) soils, but in a wine so cheap, I sort of doubt it. La Bastide is located near the village of Visan, which is prominently allowed to affix the name of the village to their AOC Cotes-du-Rhone-Villages, which is to say the wines around Visan are known to be slightly better than average. So, don't be too hasty to judge these appellations. Some really phenomenal values can be found in VDP wines.
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Mar 11, 2013 14:53
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simplefish posted:I've a quick question that's been bothering me for years. If you mean when used when someone says, "This wine doesn't travel well," it means wines that don't take to the sloshing around of an ocean voyage and that will usually oxidize at an increased rate. Varietals have vastly different propensities to oxidize. However, with modern technology and cleaner more precise vinification techniques, this is not really an issue any longer. There are still some things to watch out for with hyper-traditional European producers and vintages transported when already quite old, but those aren't things you are likely to run into unless you already are aware of them. In fact, there are many varietals that had such a propensity to oxidize that they were near extinct and are now making a comeback. EDIT: When looking at long term ageing, it is very important that a wine remain mostly stable. Even small vibrations can interfere with the natural ageing process. Noting a wine as "travelled" could also be to indicate that it has not been as stable as it should optimally be.
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Apr 4, 2013 04:34
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4liters posted:Can't it also refer to how far any wine has leaked up alongside the cork? I've never heard it used that way, but it would make sense if some people do. I most commonly use "seepage" terminology for that. Seepage is a good thing to talk about when buying a wine of unknown provenance. Or hell, if if you think you know the provenance, looking for seepage can confirm or deny what you think you know. For those that don't know, it's natural for a little seepage to occur in older wines. However you generally don't want to see it ever get to the top quarter of the cork or god forbid leak out. It's a sign that the cork at some time has had a prolonged period where it was not in contact with juice and has contracted through drying. Then the wine was stored on its side again and wine has seeped out along the contracted cork. This indicates a cork that MAY HAVE failed and let too much oxygen in. This is not often too terrible. I have had wines that have seeped out the top of the cork and the wines themselves were fine. There is another way seepage can occur, though, and this tends to be much more fatal. If wine gets too hot it will expand and push out of the cork. Here we're not worried about the oxidation as much as the fact that the juice has been cooked. I've seen young wines standing upright start busting out of their corks after being in direct sunlight for an hour. Of course you should never let this happen. It illustrates how fast heat damage can occur.
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Apr 4, 2013 17:53
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Crimson posted:Just finished my Advanced Sommelier theory exam, with the service up tomorrow. Extremely difficult, doubt I passed even with a 60% threshold. I don't feel too bad though, very few people pass on their first attempt. I can email all the questions I remembered to any certified somms interested in taking the exam. I would be curious. Would it be possible to post them here? If not, you can reach me at overwined AT yahoo DOT com.
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Apr 11, 2013 14:20
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Crimson posted:So it turns out I actually passed the theory, and the blind tasting as well. The service I just barely missed, a few mechanical things on the decanting station cost me a lot of points. Frustrated for sure, but I'll get it next year definitely. That's all great news for you, really. It means you put the work in and it paid off. You just made a few mistakes in execution. I'm going to go ahead and congratulate you on your AS next year.
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Apr 13, 2013 13:37
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