So, yeah, it's true what they say - if you are a retail wine buyer, or maybe a wine director at a restaurant, you taste the most wine. Heck I still think retail buyers taste more wine.
So now that I'm not a retail buyer anymore, though I work some retail, about 2 days a week now on the weekend, I won't have that many tasting notes.
What you'll see here more is probably places I've been that have interesting wine.
Take yesterday for instance. During the day, probably my most interesting meeting was with the wine director at Sona. This is a restaurant I have heard much about and I know there was at least at one time tons of attention on this restaurant. Now that I've been through the kitchen (I entered through the back) and met with the wine director, I feel that this is a place I wish to dine and experience the tasting menu. Yep, just by walking through the place and seeing what wines they ordered makes me want to come back! Yum!
In the evening, I experienced a neighborhood I don't know a lot about - the area around Westchester, Culver City and Playa Vista. Is it ever booming! Among some other places, my friend and I ended up at a coffee-house-turned-wine-bar called Vinoteque which has a massive wine list and lots of stuff by the glass. A sommelier teaches wine classes here. I see my competing portfolio has already made inroads here, so I'll have to get myself in front of the sommelier and see what I can do!
At Vinoteque, I enjoyed a delicious glass of 2007 Hugl Gruner Veltliner - refreshing, green, melony, and drinkable. We used to have this wine at The Wine Country - I'll have to see if we can get it back because it is an excellent value that comes in a liter bottle. :)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Had a Perfect Sales Day Yesterday!
Incredible but true, I had almost an idea sales day yesterday! Met with a bunch of cool, nice folks all over town, and had great parking karma too!
The day started off meeting the new wine director at the Jonathan Club in downtown LA. Never been there before, and enjoyed my experience there, everything from the valet parking (comped!), tasting down in the cellar, and chatting about the business with the wine director.
Next up, I went over to Larchmont Village Wine, which was bustling with customers buying sandwiches left, right, and center - met the wine buyer who tasted through my wines, liked them. And oh, did I mention, both wine people at the Jonathan Club and at Larchmont Village had heard of me before - said my name looked familiar - my face too - ah! The Wine Country newsletter! Wow - it pays to be published! Thanks Randy!
Then it was over to the west side. Yes, I'm all over the place. I was headed to Playa del Rey where there is a small wine shop called The Vintage Shoppe. Met with one of the owners who tasted through everything and placed an order! Score!
Next up, I was headed back to Long Beach to meet with the wine director at 555 East, a steakhouse in the downtown area. Had a chance to say hi to the general manager, who said they used to do very well with the Rudi Wiest portfolio. The wine director tasted and placed an order! Bam!
After this, I spent some time stopping in a variety of places, including Parker's Lighthouse, the Queen Mary..... these will be places to follow up on in the future.
My second to last appointment was at Benley, a Vietnamese restaurant I will be doing a wine dinner at very soon. The wine dinner is totally sold out, so discussed with the owner about doing a second one a week later - he agreed! He also filled out the forms for being a new customer, so he is my first new account! BAM! I love this place too!
Finally, my last appointment was with a Sushi place on Second Street called Yen. Did a wine dinner here almost 2 years ago, but they never caught on as a Rudi Wiest customer. Yesterday, they decided to put one of the basic Rieslings by the glass and on the list. Hurray!
In the evening, Johan and I decided to check out the SkyRoom for some drinks. We had never been and I had been trying to get through to the manager there, without success. The place is very lovely! Awesome views, of course, as it is 13 to 14 stories high, 2 great bars, including a rooftop bar that has been remodelled. I had a Riesling which I think any item in our portfolio could easily trump. Later on in the evening, met the manager I had been trying to get a hold of, found out when they make appointments and when they usually taste - BAM!
Like I said, great sales day, and I hope to have another good one like that today! And tomorrow too. This is fun!
Thanks for reading!
The day started off meeting the new wine director at the Jonathan Club in downtown LA. Never been there before, and enjoyed my experience there, everything from the valet parking (comped!), tasting down in the cellar, and chatting about the business with the wine director.
Next up, I went over to Larchmont Village Wine, which was bustling with customers buying sandwiches left, right, and center - met the wine buyer who tasted through my wines, liked them. And oh, did I mention, both wine people at the Jonathan Club and at Larchmont Village had heard of me before - said my name looked familiar - my face too - ah! The Wine Country newsletter! Wow - it pays to be published! Thanks Randy!
Then it was over to the west side. Yes, I'm all over the place. I was headed to Playa del Rey where there is a small wine shop called The Vintage Shoppe. Met with one of the owners who tasted through everything and placed an order! Score!
Next up, I was headed back to Long Beach to meet with the wine director at 555 East, a steakhouse in the downtown area. Had a chance to say hi to the general manager, who said they used to do very well with the Rudi Wiest portfolio. The wine director tasted and placed an order! Bam!
After this, I spent some time stopping in a variety of places, including Parker's Lighthouse, the Queen Mary..... these will be places to follow up on in the future.
My second to last appointment was at Benley, a Vietnamese restaurant I will be doing a wine dinner at very soon. The wine dinner is totally sold out, so discussed with the owner about doing a second one a week later - he agreed! He also filled out the forms for being a new customer, so he is my first new account! BAM! I love this place too!
Finally, my last appointment was with a Sushi place on Second Street called Yen. Did a wine dinner here almost 2 years ago, but they never caught on as a Rudi Wiest customer. Yesterday, they decided to put one of the basic Rieslings by the glass and on the list. Hurray!
In the evening, Johan and I decided to check out the SkyRoom for some drinks. We had never been and I had been trying to get through to the manager there, without success. The place is very lovely! Awesome views, of course, as it is 13 to 14 stories high, 2 great bars, including a rooftop bar that has been remodelled. I had a Riesling which I think any item in our portfolio could easily trump. Later on in the evening, met the manager I had been trying to get a hold of, found out when they make appointments and when they usually taste - BAM!
Like I said, great sales day, and I hope to have another good one like that today! And tomorrow too. This is fun!
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
If you have to drink wine at 10 am, make it a German Riesling, please
It's Saturday, and I'm having my post-10-mile run meal and a couple small tastes of Rieslings that are left in my fridge from my week of work. Oh, and I should mention this is my pre-work meal also, since 11 am is when I start my shift at The Wine Country.....
If you have to taste wine or drink something this early in the morning (though it feels late since I was up at 6am), make it a Riesling. Better yet, a fruity Mosel 2007 Riesling. I'm drinking 2007 Mosel River Riesling, a negotiant wine made by Rudi Wiest Selections/Cellars International. Awesome. Fresh, bright, citrusy, floral, and apply, all in one. The wine I tasted before that was the 2006 Von Buhl Jazz Riesling which I liked less, but others like it, those that prefer a drier palate. But for me, bring on the fruit and don't hold back, especially when it comes to fruit from Germany 2007, because it's clean, fresh, and zippy.
Yum!
If you have to taste wine or drink something this early in the morning (though it feels late since I was up at 6am), make it a Riesling. Better yet, a fruity Mosel 2007 Riesling. I'm drinking 2007 Mosel River Riesling, a negotiant wine made by Rudi Wiest Selections/Cellars International. Awesome. Fresh, bright, citrusy, floral, and apply, all in one. The wine I tasted before that was the 2006 Von Buhl Jazz Riesling which I liked less, but others like it, those that prefer a drier palate. But for me, bring on the fruit and don't hold back, especially when it comes to fruit from Germany 2007, because it's clean, fresh, and zippy.
Yum!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Some pics from the Okanagan!
I kept calling this place "Lakeview Terrace" because all the vineyards are lake-facing and almost all of them are hillside. A very scenic place indeed!
The first 2 pics above are from Mission Hill. Note they have an arch like the Mondavi arch.
Here is Gray Monk.
Tasting rooms with a view:
Monday, September 1, 2008
Updates from British Columbi'a Wine Country - The Okanagan
Happy Labor Day everybody (Labour Day in Canada). It's been a while since I have posted, and I thought I should take these few minutes in the early hours of Labor Day to say hi from the Coast Hotel in Kelowna, BC, right in the heart of the Okanagan.
I'm up here with my parents and my husband. My parents' good friend's daughter was getting married this weekend, and since I am in the midst of changing jobs, I felt it a good idea to fly up here and spend a long weekend with them, in preparation for not being able to take any time off between now and the end of the year.
We didn't arrive until late Thursday evening, as there was an important Rudi Wiest tasting Thursday around noon - the famous Dry Tour - this is a tasting of German dry wines. We tasted 55 dry German wines presented by 7 winegrowers who flew in from Germany - Sebatian Furst of Furst, Fritz Becker Jr. or Becker, Rainer Schnaittman of Schnaittman, Christoph Graf of Von Buhl, Hansjorg Rebholz of Rebholz, a last-minute substitute for Felix Buerklin with Gunter Kunstler's step-daughter whose name I cannot remember - of Kunstler, Uwe ___ of Hans Wirsching, and a few other dry winemakers.
It was also my opportunity to meet some folks who would be my clients - a wine director from Wolfgang Puck's Cut, and another wine director at the Regency Club. There were others - a lot of meeting and greeting and gathering of business cards for folks I need to follow up with when I get back to Los Angeles.
Now back to my little vacation. Got to visit briefly with my siblings before they took off in various directions for their Labor Day weekend jaunts. Then, Saturday morning, my parents, my husband and I packed ourselves into the car to make the drive into the Okanagan Valley.
It has been over a decade since I have been to this part of the province. When I was a kid, we would take vacations here, a region rich with peach and apple trees. In recent years, the area, probably like similar places in the state of Washington and Oregon, has been transformed away from orchard land into vineyard land.
One of my goals for this trip was to observe the changes that have taken place, and taste the wines that people all over Canada rave about, but people outside of Canada have not had a chance to experience. This is due to the small quantities produced here, and the tendency to sell most of it within the province (80%), while "exporting" the rest of it to the other provinces (eg. Ontario).
The drive was difficult. Lots of mountain passes, often hitting patches of rain with poor visibility. In August! It reminded me of trying to get over the Voges range in France to get from Lorraine into Alsace. Difficult!
Finally, we arrived into Kelowna, a pretty town on the lakeside. The lake that dominates this valley is called Lake Okanagan.
Now, about the wineries: We managed to visit 5 of them: Mission Hill, Quail's Gate, Summerhill, Gray Monk, and St. Hubertus. All were beautiful and scenic, located on a hill of some sort overlooking the massive blue lake. Many had restaurants with great views, featuring the local fresh ingredients and wines. All were quite busy entertaining visitors and tasters coming to enjoy the location, the wines, and the shopping.
These are my observations and impressions:
1. The Pinot Noir here does not impress me. I have heard many great things about B.C. Pinot Noirs and how great they are, being cool climate and all. I find them generally lacking. It could be that I haven't tasted any premium ones, or I didn't hit the right ones, but I have tasted them before in Vancouver restaurants and now at these cellar doors, and they just don't do it for me! Please still give me a Burgundy, thanks!
2. I like the dry whites. I was impressed by the 2007 Quail's Gate Dry Riesling and we bought a bottle to bring home. I also liked a 2007 St. Hubertus Pinot Blanc but we didn't get that one, as Johan preferred the 2007 St. Hubertus Chalassas (Swiss variety, we were told). I preferred the dry whites to the sweet or off-dry whites I tried. There weren't any sweet whites that I particularly liked, though I didn't try any ice wines. I think icewines are more rare here anyway - the dessert wines are mostly late harvest here (maybe it really doesn't freeze that much out here compared to in Niagara in Ontario).
4. Johan liked the Marechal Foch. Everything I have read about this French hybrid has been negative, ie. it is terrible and it has practically been ripped out of most vineyards, especially in Ontario. But it appears that the Okanagan has been a champion of this variety, giving it almost a cult status. I compare it to Dornfelder - it is dark in color, so it looks like it will taste like a ton, but on the palate, it is gentle, has virtually no tannin, and tastes like an earthy red when done well, like a foxy, skunky red when done not so nicely. We tasted three of these from three different estates: Quail's Gate (where it tasted funky), Summerhill (where it tasted quite pleasant), and St. Hubertus (where it was also good, but not as tasty as the Summerhill's). The grape is also early ripening - at St. Hubertus, they had put nets over their already ripened Foch vines (it is Labor Day weekend, so these hybrids are ripening possibly a month or month and a half before other grapes!)
In all, this is a very youthful and vibrant wine region, a region I would imagine to be similar to those in Washington State and Oregon. The new world that wants somewhat to be the next Napa/Sonoma/Santa Ynez, and has the clientele to the support it. A farming community that used to grow apples, pears, peaches and other stone fruits, but now supports enotourism. Why not? My parents asked me how this is different from the wine regions of Europe - I was at a loss to describe how it was truly different other than the ones in Europe being much older. And the food is different. But generally, I see them as similar. It's the wines that are different. The wines in the new world are good, fine, drinkable, enjoyable. The old world wines, for me, are out of this world. And the regions are historic.
I'm up here with my parents and my husband. My parents' good friend's daughter was getting married this weekend, and since I am in the midst of changing jobs, I felt it a good idea to fly up here and spend a long weekend with them, in preparation for not being able to take any time off between now and the end of the year.
We didn't arrive until late Thursday evening, as there was an important Rudi Wiest tasting Thursday around noon - the famous Dry Tour - this is a tasting of German dry wines. We tasted 55 dry German wines presented by 7 winegrowers who flew in from Germany - Sebatian Furst of Furst, Fritz Becker Jr. or Becker, Rainer Schnaittman of Schnaittman, Christoph Graf of Von Buhl, Hansjorg Rebholz of Rebholz, a last-minute substitute for Felix Buerklin with Gunter Kunstler's step-daughter whose name I cannot remember - of Kunstler, Uwe ___ of Hans Wirsching, and a few other dry winemakers.
It was also my opportunity to meet some folks who would be my clients - a wine director from Wolfgang Puck's Cut, and another wine director at the Regency Club. There were others - a lot of meeting and greeting and gathering of business cards for folks I need to follow up with when I get back to Los Angeles.
Now back to my little vacation. Got to visit briefly with my siblings before they took off in various directions for their Labor Day weekend jaunts. Then, Saturday morning, my parents, my husband and I packed ourselves into the car to make the drive into the Okanagan Valley.
It has been over a decade since I have been to this part of the province. When I was a kid, we would take vacations here, a region rich with peach and apple trees. In recent years, the area, probably like similar places in the state of Washington and Oregon, has been transformed away from orchard land into vineyard land.
One of my goals for this trip was to observe the changes that have taken place, and taste the wines that people all over Canada rave about, but people outside of Canada have not had a chance to experience. This is due to the small quantities produced here, and the tendency to sell most of it within the province (80%), while "exporting" the rest of it to the other provinces (eg. Ontario).
The drive was difficult. Lots of mountain passes, often hitting patches of rain with poor visibility. In August! It reminded me of trying to get over the Voges range in France to get from Lorraine into Alsace. Difficult!
Finally, we arrived into Kelowna, a pretty town on the lakeside. The lake that dominates this valley is called Lake Okanagan.
Now, about the wineries: We managed to visit 5 of them: Mission Hill, Quail's Gate, Summerhill, Gray Monk, and St. Hubertus. All were beautiful and scenic, located on a hill of some sort overlooking the massive blue lake. Many had restaurants with great views, featuring the local fresh ingredients and wines. All were quite busy entertaining visitors and tasters coming to enjoy the location, the wines, and the shopping.
These are my observations and impressions:
1. The Pinot Noir here does not impress me. I have heard many great things about B.C. Pinot Noirs and how great they are, being cool climate and all. I find them generally lacking. It could be that I haven't tasted any premium ones, or I didn't hit the right ones, but I have tasted them before in Vancouver restaurants and now at these cellar doors, and they just don't do it for me! Please still give me a Burgundy, thanks!
2. I like the dry whites. I was impressed by the 2007 Quail's Gate Dry Riesling and we bought a bottle to bring home. I also liked a 2007 St. Hubertus Pinot Blanc but we didn't get that one, as Johan preferred the 2007 St. Hubertus Chalassas (Swiss variety, we were told). I preferred the dry whites to the sweet or off-dry whites I tried. There weren't any sweet whites that I particularly liked, though I didn't try any ice wines. I think icewines are more rare here anyway - the dessert wines are mostly late harvest here (maybe it really doesn't freeze that much out here compared to in Niagara in Ontario).
4. Johan liked the Marechal Foch. Everything I have read about this French hybrid has been negative, ie. it is terrible and it has practically been ripped out of most vineyards, especially in Ontario. But it appears that the Okanagan has been a champion of this variety, giving it almost a cult status. I compare it to Dornfelder - it is dark in color, so it looks like it will taste like a ton, but on the palate, it is gentle, has virtually no tannin, and tastes like an earthy red when done well, like a foxy, skunky red when done not so nicely. We tasted three of these from three different estates: Quail's Gate (where it tasted funky), Summerhill (where it tasted quite pleasant), and St. Hubertus (where it was also good, but not as tasty as the Summerhill's). The grape is also early ripening - at St. Hubertus, they had put nets over their already ripened Foch vines (it is Labor Day weekend, so these hybrids are ripening possibly a month or month and a half before other grapes!)
In all, this is a very youthful and vibrant wine region, a region I would imagine to be similar to those in Washington State and Oregon. The new world that wants somewhat to be the next Napa/Sonoma/Santa Ynez, and has the clientele to the support it. A farming community that used to grow apples, pears, peaches and other stone fruits, but now supports enotourism. Why not? My parents asked me how this is different from the wine regions of Europe - I was at a loss to describe how it was truly different other than the ones in Europe being much older. And the food is different. But generally, I see them as similar. It's the wines that are different. The wines in the new world are good, fine, drinkable, enjoyable. The old world wines, for me, are out of this world. And the regions are historic.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Back from my first day!
Yep, it's exhausting, but it's not bad! People are actually pretty nice overall, they love Riesling, and they don't mind ordering some. What do you know?!?
Things I have learned:
1. Sometimes offices are on the second floor.
2. It is hard to walk up stairs with heels on, carrying a bag of 6 bottles of wine.
3. It's not impossible, it's just scary to think about it after the fact, and it makes me seriously consider sticking to flats (flat shoes).
That's all my mental energy will allow me to put out right now. I hit over 13 places today, 5 of them appointments. The rest were just to pop in and say hi. Oh, yeah:
4. There are a lot of places (restaurants and retail).
I'll have my work cut out for me! No shortage of clients out there in the big wide world. Woohoo!
PS I had lunch at Wahoo's taco joint. It was good. Brought back memories. I used to live near that one up on Wilshire Blvd. Ah, back to the old stompin' grounds.
Things I have learned:
1. Sometimes offices are on the second floor.
2. It is hard to walk up stairs with heels on, carrying a bag of 6 bottles of wine.
3. It's not impossible, it's just scary to think about it after the fact, and it makes me seriously consider sticking to flats (flat shoes).
That's all my mental energy will allow me to put out right now. I hit over 13 places today, 5 of them appointments. The rest were just to pop in and say hi. Oh, yeah:
4. There are a lot of places (restaurants and retail).
I'll have my work cut out for me! No shortage of clients out there in the big wide world. Woohoo!
PS I had lunch at Wahoo's taco joint. It was good. Brought back memories. I used to live near that one up on Wilshire Blvd. Ah, back to the old stompin' grounds.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
T'is the day before going out on the road...
The fridge is all stocked with samples before my first appointments to clients in the wide world. Monday should prove an interesting day of driving around in Los Angeles meeting with wine buyers.Last evening, I had the pleasure of having dinner with great friends and drinking a fantabulous old Riesling - not too old but just old enough: 1994 Wegeler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese. What a beauty! Absolutely balanced, with plenty of fruit for a 14 year old, soft mature Riesling flavors of baked apple, pear cider, pie spice, and dried apricot. Sweet but definitely not too. A wine that wows and never fails to impress. A stunner at only $37.99. I'm going to plan on drinking this wine a lot more often.
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