July 12th, 2009 by Phil
Standard preface for this category: we love our customers – 99% percent of them we welcome as personal friends and enjoy getting to know – you’re the reason we like coming to work every day; and the other 1%, we thank you for helping us to pay our bills – but there’s always some interesting interactions that make us cringe and laugh simultaneously and are fun to share.
Compared to big-box shops, we’ve got a pretty tight selection – about 550 well-chosen SKUs – and obvioiusly we can’t stock every wine there is (though we’re happy to special oder anything), so we get a fair amount of people asking for a wine (usually something they can find floor-stacked at any supermarket, but occasionally something obscure) that we don’t have on the shelves. Our standard reply is that we don’t currently have it, but if it’s available in WI we’ll be happy to bring it in for them, as little as one bottle. Often their response is “Well, do you know where I can get it?” Um…no. And then they get mad at us. Sorry, but we don’t and can’t keep track of every other retailer’s inventory; if we did, we’d have no time to run our own business and best serve our own customers. I file the people who ask this question under the “well-meaning-but clueless” category.
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July 8th, 2009 by Phil
Belated notes from the June 23 tasting “Beyond Nebbiolo” – Exploring the other grapes of Piedmont. Piedmont, in northwest Italy, is known mainly for its majestic Barolos and Barbarescos, but it’s got several other noteworthy indigenous grapes as well; for this tasting I wanted to explore those.
The first wine was Araldica’s 2007 “La Luciana” Gavi. From a single vineyard and 100% Cortese, this wine was showing really well. I tasted it when it was first released several months ago and it was quite tight, but really expressed itself nicely for this tasting. Cortese to me always has a savory characteristic, with notes of dried herbs and minerals. The Araldica showed that, along with fairly juicy green fruit and good acidity. A nice example of Gavi and a really enjoyable wine – I’ll put this on by the glass at some point.
The next wine was supposed to be Bruno Giacosa’s Arneis, which is a stunning example of the delicate, floral Arneis grape (think Torrontes without the soapiness and more minerality). The distributor was out of stock, though (more on that below) and the last-minute replacement I ordered the Fratelli Barale, was supposed to be the ‘07 vintage but the ‘06 got shipped. It was DOA – completely aldehydic and over the hill, so I scrapped that and substituted another Dolcetto.
Paitin’s 2007 “Sori Paitin” Dolcetto d’Alba was richer than most Dolcettos, which are known for their tart cherry and cranberry flavors; this showed a roundness you don’t often see while still being true to type. This wine is at its peak now, showing good secondary flavors and integrated tannins.
The next wine was Bruno Giacosa’s 2008 Dolcetto d’Alba, the last-minute substitution. Why did I have this wine? Well, when I ordered the Arneis, which was theoretically in stock, the warehouse guys for the distributor couldn’t find that wine so they shipped me the Dolcetto instead. Dolcetto, Arneis – of course they’re the same thing!?! I had them set aside to be returned, but they came in handy after all. The Giacosa’s a little more expensive than the Paitin, so it made a good quality comparison. The wine was incredibly juicy and grapey, almost like a good cru Beaujolais. The Paitin is drinking better now, but if you looked beyond the grapiness and focused on the structure and concentration of the wine, you’d see that this has all of the elements and in a year or so will be exceptional; it’s still very young. I ordered more of this and it’s now on the shelves.
On to Barbera; again doing a quality comparison – the Ca del Sarto 2006 Barbera d’Alba is a good everyday Barbera for $10.95 – bright red cherry fruit, good acidity, easy-drinking, not incredibly complex. Exactly what it should be. The Luciano Sandrone 2005 Barbera d’Alba ($29.95), on the other shows how good Barbera can be. A serious wine, with significantly more tannins, fruit concentration, and structure. Darker fruit, with some chocolate and spicy oak flavors; great balance, long finish.
I was bummed about not having an Arneis, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind and it was funt to taste two vastly different Dolcettos.
- Araldica 2007 “La Luciana” Gavi
- Fratelli Barale 2007 Arneis, Roero
- Paitin 2007 “Sori’ Paitin” Dolcetto d’Alba
- Ca’ del Sarto 2006 Barbera d’Alba
- Luciano Sandrone 2005 Barbera d’Alba
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July 7th, 2009 by Phil
The Thief Winos (composed of Phil and a few Thief friends) scored a rousing victory on Opening Day of the Milwaukee Wiffleball League, crushing the Dugout Drunks 15-5 at Hart Field in Tosa. We started off with an 8-run first inning (invoking the 8-run-per-inning mercy rule, otherwise it would have been far worse) before cruising into the third inning stretch (beer break at Leff’s Luckytown) and maintaining our dominance in the second half.
Great weather and lots of fun – looking forward to next week.
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June 23rd, 2009 by Phil
The rosé tasting that we did in May happened to fall on Mother’s Day, so of course I needed to a Father’s Day tasting to not discriminate against the dads, and what better theme than Great Wines for Grilling?!? (plus, we’re always looking for excuses to open up some fun bottles.) All red of course, this being a manly kind of a tasting.
First wine was 2005 Domaine des Rouet Chinon, a lovely lighter Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley. I picked this wine because not everything on the grill is a big hunk of red meat, and the Chinon is light enough to work well with pork, chicken or grilled veggies. Plus it’s low in alcohol (12.5%) and great with a bit of a chill on it, so perfect for a hot summer day. The wine showed well, with classic graphite / violet / raspberry flavors and nice acidity. A good way to start.
Next was Laurel Glen’s 2006 “Reds”, a Zin / Carignane / Petite Sirah blend from Lodi California. Full-bodied and chewy, with a lot of structure and dark brambly fruit. A lot of wine for under $10.
Jip Jip Rocks Shiraz / Cabernet from Australia’s Limestone Coast region (a bit south of Barossa Valley in South Australia; slightly cooler due to its proximity to the coast) was up third. I picked this wine because it tastes like it’s got a touch of residual sugar in it – that slight sweetness gives it a really lush mouthfeel and I think would pick up well on the sweetness found in most barbecue sauces. Very tasty wine, with lots of dark berry fruit, a hint of chocolate, nice tannins from the Cabernet, and a long smooth finish.
Going in a totally different direction, the Novy Cellars 2006 Sonoma County Syrah was smoky, spicy, and meaty, very much like a Northern Rhone but with more fruit. Loads of black pepper, and the smokiness makes it an ideal match for the grill. Joan, a customer and friend who was at the tasting, bought a burger from Rupena’s to have with the different wines, and this Syrah was the perfect pairing for her.
Saving the best for last, I opened up the 2005 Mas d’en Compte Priorat. We’ve had this wine at tastings before but I absolutely love it and thought it’d be a nice father’s day treat. Still a very young wine, so I ran it through the Vinturi aerator and decanted it for a couple of hours before the tasting. A blend of 50% old-vine Grenache, 40% old-vine Carignane, and 10% Cabernet, this wine is stunning – layers and layers of flavors, with incredible complexity and depth. Smooth yet structured, with an incredible finish. Everyone loved it; a great way to end.
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June 17th, 2009 by Phil
Last night’s tasting was of Beaux Freres’ 2007 Pinot Noirs, plus another moderately priced ‘07 Willamette Valley Pinot as a control. Though young, the wines showed their different personalities well and were quite expressive; the tasting went really well as a result. Overall, lots of fun. I poured all four wines at the same time, and everyone really enjoyed being able to go back and forth between the wines
I decanted all wines through a Vinturi aerator at 3:30 and put them back into bottle (again through the Vinturi) at 5:30 for pouring; I wanted to open up the wines as much as possible, since Beaux Freres is known for being exceptionally tight in youth (due to their reductive winemaking techniques, which also makes them quite ageworthy).
The first wine was Klee’s ‘07 Pinot – it’s a nice Willamette Pinot for under $20, and I threw it into the tsating because a)you can’t have a tasting with just three wines; and b) it’s a great point of reference to have a less-expensive wine when you’re tasting a bunch of expensive wines; it helps to have a point of comparison for just what makes the expensive wines worth it (or not, as the case may be). Bright sour cherry fruit, good acidity, nice balance, a really pretty wine. It served its purpose well in highlighting the quality of the BF wines as well – going back to it after tasting the three other wines showcased a world of difference; the BFs are at an exponentially higher level, and the Klee seemed downright simple by comparison.
Beaux Freres 2007 Willamette Valley Pinot – sourced from their Upper Terrace and Beaux Freres VIneyards, along with a significant portion of fruit from the highly regarded Shea Vineyard and three other vineyards, the Willamette Valley is the most feminine and elegant of the three, yet still with great depth and structure. This wine had an appealing slight floral component, along with sweet strawberry, some brown spice, and high acidity. All three wines had pronounced acidity, actually – this will settle down and integrate in time; in a few years they will all be absolutely stunning. Long, smooth finish; great balance.
Beaux Freres 2007 Beaux Freres Vineyard Pinot – my favorite of the three for drinking right now. It had a really lush middle palate, with some notes of chocolate and brown sugar that were unique to this wine. Still noticeably tight and young, yet quite smooth. My allocation on this wine was a whopping six bottles; I sold three and we poured one, so I’ve only got two left. I think one might be headed for our personal cellar (along with a few of the Willamette; I was able to get better supply on that).
Beaux Freres 2007 Upper Terrace Vineyard Pinot – the Beaux Freres Vineyard was more of a Cotes de Beaune with its softness, while the Upper Terrace is more Cotes de Nuits. Brooding dark fruit and the most earthiness of the three, along with the acidity and structure common to all three. Over time this will ultimately be the best wine; even with decanting now it was very tightly wound. I’d love to taste this again in 6-8 years. Alas, my allocation was only two bottles – we opened one and I sold the other. I’ll see if I can get more.
In sum, Beaux Freres makes damn good Pinot; it was great to be able to experience them.
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