Category: Syrah

Mind the Gap: Wine Marketing 101

Selling Wines Online: Two Different Approaches

Wines under the Wind Gap label are being unloaded. Garigiste.com offered several a few weeks ago, and today, two websites offered a Wind Gap wine at $15 a bottle.

As we start the New Year, which would you buy based on the website’s offer?

Here are your choices:

  1. Buy a wine associated with a guy in prison for fraud who claimed to be rich, spent lots of money, not always his own and also made by an excellent winemaker. And it was “millions” of dollars. And you are led to believe he, the guy in prison, spent tons of money on the wine.
  2. Buy a wine described in bright, uplifting terms made by an excellent winemaker.

#1 A Wind Gap Pinot Noir as offered by www.vivino.com

“What you are about to read may be the most significant cloak and dagger event in the wine industry ever!

June 27th, 2017 Wine Industry Tycoon Charles Banks was sentenced to 4 years in prison for fraud after excessively overspending to craft the best wines in the world.

The Players:

Charles Banks – His Resume:

✔️Screaming Eagle / Jonata: former co-owner / co-founder

✔️Managing Partner: Terroir Capital – $200 million in winery assets (including Wind Gap)

✔️Defrauds two NBA stars out of millions: (somewhere around $22 million)

Pax Mahle – The Winemaker:

✔️100 point superstar – founder of Pax Cellars and Wind Gap

✔️Possibly more 94-100 point scores than Heidi Barrett and Philippe Melka combined”

 

#2 A Wind Gap Syrah offered by  www.lastbottlewine.com

“BIG, bold, in your face Syrah from none other than Pax Mahle (yes, the guy who just scored 100 points for his $50 Sonoma Hillside bottling under the Pax label) that is made in a drink-me-now-with-gusto style. Bright, perfumey and juicy, this isn’t real heavy or meaty at all, just a warm, friendly, lovely, MIND-BLOWING DEAL if we have EVER seen one. Pax and his wines are all the buzz these days, so it’s particularly thrilling for us to have a little (little!) parcel to sell. PLEASE don’t miss! WILL sell out in the blink of an eye!

(oh, and Happy New Year, also, please hurry on this as Pax Mahle’s Wind Gap is more popular than a roomful of newborn kitty cats and we don’t have very much)”

 

So please cast a vote.

Shameless or frivolous?

 

Making Wine Tasting Great Again

 

Sensible and Informative

Just when I was about to give up the search for an online wine site that not only offers good wines at good prices but also serves as a vehicle for educating and teaching about wine, I found one.

The Weekly Tasting, a relatively new site related to WTSO.com,  is refreshingly sensible and informative. No membership requirements or hard sales tactics involved. No superficial program or pretend algorithm to create your tasting profile. Just two sommeliers working hard to select wines and to help you learn more about wine.

Such a change from the many sites that use sommeliers to shill for some overpriced wine by their rambling wine descriptions, overflowing with buzz words and baloney, to lead up to a rating of 95-100 points.

Each week, The Weekly Tasting usually offers 4 wines organized around a theme, and the packages are selected by two sommeliers, Elizabeth Schneider and Laura Maniec. Both are the real deal.

The themes are usually on a region or a varietal. As someone who has taught wine classes for many years, I can say It is not as easy as people think and so much comes down to selecting the best wines to illustrate the point or points you are trying to get across.

So, to get to my point, I find the wines selected for the different weekly tasting themes to be first-rate and reasonably priced. The package includes a video, tasting notes, wine pairing suggestions, all arranged in the box containing the bottles.

Let me cite a few examples to demonstrate why this is a vast improvement over the other so-called “curated” packages found elsewhere. The current weekly package focuses on Cru Beaujolais, a type that is probably not known to many, is not sexy or trendy, but might just appeal to red wine lovers looking for something different and delicious.

The current package is brilliant and performs a real service to those who truly want to learn about wine.  Here is it:

“Cru Beaujolais. Do not confuse the Cru of Beaujolais with Beaujolais Nouveau or even regular Beaujolais – these are serious wines. In fact, the region of Beaujolais has officially designated these villages as the best of the best. Many people compare Gamay, the grape in Beaujolais, to Pinot Noir in Burgundy. They have similar textures, but Gamay has softer acidity and is more plush on the palate. At this price point, I’d go so far as to say these four wines have more finesse and elegance than any Pinot Noir.” -Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan, MW

The price is $69.99 but with free shipping.

Then, I suspect many new wine drinkers buying Malbec by the boatload are curious about the difference between Malbecs from Argentina and France. So, here’s what is selected in another package:

What Elizabeth Schneider Has Picked For This Tasting

  • Domaine Des Bateliers Cahors 2009
  • Château Vieux Poirier Bordeaux 2014
  • Pascual Toso Reserva Malbec 2014
  • Famiglia Bianchi Malbec 2014

The price for this is $59.99, with free shipping.

Though everyone reading this is a wine expert, if you happen to know someone who would like a solid introduction to different wine varietals, consider this 6 bottle package:

See What Laura Maniec Has Picked For This Tasting

  • Seven Hills Oregon Pinot Gris 2015
  • Bernardus Monterey County Griva Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2015
  • Domaine Les Chenevieres Mâcon Villages Blanc Chardonnay 2015
  • Windmill Valley Vineyards Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
  • Metz Road Pinot Noir Mesa del Rio Monterey 2013
  • Château Tour du Moulin Les Terres Rouges Fronsac 2014

While unfamiliar with Windmill, I can understand how the other 5 are typical examples of the respective varietal.

Now don’t get me wrong; this is not master sommelier classwork. But the site and its packages are excellent starting points to wine education. The list of terms is solid as in the breakdown of the major wine varieties.

And yes, the point is to sell more wine.  Learning about the wine before you buy it is not a bad thing.

Time to Harvest Great Wine Deals

The first major online September wine sale is at www.cawineclub.com   

And is a wonderful way to kick off the harvest season.

And stock up on all types of wine because this sale turns out to be a bargain hunter’s paradise with excellent wines from real wineries.

Take advantage of terrific discounts, a few over 50% off.

And the sale includes $1 shipping on 6 or 12 bottles. Shipping a case normally runs $38-40.

Check out this exciting “Harvest Wine Sale” which ends on September 30, 2018.  Prices listed are per bottle.

My top 5 Great Value picks under $15

2016 Cambria Monterey Chardonnay  $8.99

2013 Tangent Grenache Blanc Edna Valley $9.99

2013 Zaca Mesa Syrah Santa Ynez $12.99

2014 Kieu Hoang Cabernet Sauvignon Napa $11.99

2016 Clos LaChance Central Coast Red $13.99

Top Scoring Wine

94 points, (tasted at the winery 23 August)

2016 Clos LaChance Central Coast Red $13.99

Combines Merlot, Cabernet, Malbec and Petit Verdot from home vyd in Santa Clara and nearby estate vineyards.

Crafted in a smooth, rich classy style. Classic blackberry, tea leaf, spicy aromas and flavors with light touch of oak. Serve this Meritage red to your snobby Napa Valley friends and they will think it is a $100 bottle.

Drink now or age this one for a few years This is the old Clos LaChance label that is being replaced next vintage which might explain the exceptional deal.

Best of the Rest under $50

2015 Morgan Winery Pinot Noir, Double L, Santa Lucia Highlands $38.

This is the top of the line and is fabulous Pinot at any price.

See more at www.cawineclub.com

Check out more online deals and honest, detailed reviews of wine clubs at

www.bestonlinewineshopping.com

A Wine Club: Intimate & Educational

Can a wine club be exclusive, limited to a few hundred members, hosts private special events, make great wines and be non-snobby?  

I added that last point because the ATTITUDE you encounter in some wineries is a real turn-off, at least to me. (Are you listening, Napa Valley?)

Some people may think being made to feel uncomfortable and being talked down to by some twit on a script is part of the wine club deal. And attending over-subscribed winery events with boring speeches is the trade-off for buying expensive wines.

A good club, we can all agree, offers something more than high-priced, hard to find wines. The personal service should be attentive and the events should be more than tasting wines and listening to a sales pitch.

But membership should also be a positive experience, as in fun and a rewarding experience, as in learning.

The educational element is all too often non-existent in wine clubs today.

Drinking wine is easy; thinking about it as in expanding your knowledge, well, that’s a different thing.

So, if you share my interest in a wine club that has it all, except the attitude, look no further.

The answer is a new winery named Clarice, located in Sonoma County.

http://www.claricewinecompany.com

This is the new venture of a seasoned pro, Adam Lee, who founded Siduri Wines in the early 1990s and came to know every unusual Pinot Noir vineyard from Oregon to Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey. And Santa Barbara. And San Luis Obispo. Well, you get the idea.

I was among his many fans who enjoyed Siduri Pinot Noirs because each was a lesson in its place of origin. Yes, they were great studies in “terroir.” Still are.

I also liked the Syrahs made under the Novy label. Make that: loved them.

Having sold Siduri in 2015 to Jackson Family, Adam has been working on a new brand and a unique wine club concept.

The concept has 3 key elements: fine wines for members only, educational discussions, and community.

It is limited to 625 members, and the wines are offered only to members.

Here’s the deal:

“As part of the Clarice Wine Community, members will enjoy two exclusive parties a year, one focusing on the Clarice Pinot Noirs and the other spotlighting a fellow winemaker and their wines, during which members will learn about their viticulture and winemaking, taste their wines, and receive special discounts. Finally, members will receive a case of Clarice Pinot Noir as part of their membership.”

Membership fee is $964.00 a year. But is it payable in six monthly installments.

The case will be available each October. The first vintage was 2017.

Granted, plunking down $160 a month is a big commitment, and once you begin, well, you are in.

The add-on to me is the personal touch in the educational programs. Members will learn about many facets of winemaking such as oak barrels, how they are made and what they add to wine.

Better to let Adam explain the educational aspect:

“From vineyard management and barrel making, to winery accounting and wine distribution — and so much more — you’ll learn from and interact with the true leaders of wine. In addition, you’ll gain access to a growing library of wine-related articles, written by a who’s who of industry experts.”

So, you will earn what the “MT” designation on an oak barel means.

Also, Clarice will offer private social media forums to handle members’ questions or concerns about wine and restaurants, or in Adam’s words:

“Wondering which restaurants have the best wine lists? Need help deciding what to add to your cellar? Join our private social media groups to share knowledge and recommendations.”

To me, that says they are willing to put a ton of effort into making members happy and a part of the family or community. The number of members is limited by the amount of wine produced each year.

Red Wines for Those Dark & Stormy Nights

Focusing on Red Wines offered in Special January Sales, and came up with a stunning deal from a great winery now featured on my website. Too good not to share here.

Available through January but  wines like the Enigma will disappear quickly. And yes, the Viognier is a big-boy white and suitable for January drinking.

check out the sale at http://www.terrerougewines.com

Online Sale of Terre Rouge & Easton

2010 TERRE ROUGE Enigma ~ $25 reg./ $13.25 sale

  • 2009 TERRE ROUGE Viognier ~ $25 reg./ $13.25 sale
  • 2012 EASTON Cabernet Franc ~ $28 reg./ $17.50 sale
  • 2006 TERRE ROUGE Syrah, Sentinel Oak  ~ $40 reg./ $20 sale
  • 2009 TERRE ROUGE Syrah, Wilderotter ~ $32 reg./ $17.50 sale
  • 2005 EASTON Zinfandel, Rinaldi ~ $30 reg. /$15 sale
  • 2007 EASTON Zinfandel, Estate ~ $35 reg./ $18.75 sale

Case purchases only, but can mix and match.

Best Wine Sites On Cyber Monday

As the dust settles on Cyber Monday, only 4 wine websites showed any real effort to compete for our attention. The others seem to sleepwalk through the 4-day weekend, offering a super deal or unusual wine among a long list of the usual suspects sold online year-round.

There was one clear-cut winner offering 10 exciting values: www.wineaccess.com, while the three other active sites hung in there with solid efforts.

See my picks and more details at http://www.bestonlinewineshopping.com

Top Ten Values from wineaccess.com:

2014 Three Wine Company, Zinfandel, Contra Costa $23

2013 Bouchaine Pinot Noir Carneros $20

2015 M. Sarrazin Bourgogne Rouge, Vieilles Vignes $24

2015 Akarua Rua Pinot Noir, Central Otago $21.99

2015 Domaine de la Colline, Vacqueyras, $24.99

2015 Albert Bichot Vire Clesse $19.00-30

2016 Lioco Chardonnay, Sonoma County $22

2015 Domaine Roger Sancerre, $20

2015 Richmond Plains Sauvignon Blanc, Nelson, NZ $17

2015 Silkman Semillon Hunter Valley $22

Discounts were as high as 60% on several wines with free shipping. There were other added incentives for bigger orders.

This site is now well-balanced and includes many of the big names for the big spenders such as: Caymus, Amuse Bouche, Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne, Laurent Perrier Rose, Lagier Meredith Syrah, Duckhorn Three Palms Merlot, Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet

www.wine.com was active all weekend and wrapped it up with 1 cent shipping on orders of $29 or more on Monday.

www.invino.com continues to impress as it picks up new wines from around the wine world. I liked the rarely seen Meyer Family Anderson Valley Chardonnay at $19.99, and all Foppiano wines, especially the 2014 Estate Zinfandel at $15.99.

www.cinderellawine.com kept coming up with intriguing deals over the weekend.The most amazing was the 2015 Chateau Saint Roch Chimeres, Cotes du Roussillon, $13.99 and free shipping on 6 bottles. In the Roussillon, Minervois regions, 2015 is an excellent vintage and this is one major league deal!

The other sites I monitor kept a low profile and seemed to have decided to lay low and let Amazon enjoy the spotlight.

Power to the (Wine) People!

 

Or, what Happens when 26 Million People Vote for Best Wines

Vivino just published its 2018 Wine Style Awards which it describes as  “the only awards within the industry wholly decided by the public.”

Here is how it works: “Over 26 million wine lovers from around the world have chosen the 1,490 winning wines, that span 149 wine style categories, by rating them on Vivino over the past 12 months.”

The full winners can be viewed at  www.vivino.com/awards.

Vivino founder and CEO, Heini Zachariassen, commented:

“The Vivino Wine Style Awards showcase the democratization of the wine world, by putting the power into the people’s hands.”

“Through our 26-million strong community, we’re not only able to deduce which are the best wines in the world, but also a host of other interesting wine trends…”

If you don’t know  much about vivino, see my review at www.bestonlinewineshopping.com   which is generally favorable.

Vivino is certainly one of the most dynamic online wine sites. 

A few business articles have suggested it is trying to become the Amazon of the wine world. No harm in trying.

But let’s try to figure out what this list is and whether it has any real value to consumers or the wine trade. Is this a list of “the best wines in the world” or simply the “most popular” to vivino’s subscribers? Or are they one and the same?

Having read through all 1,490 wines listed, I came away thinking it is primarily a re-listing of the most famous, most expensive wines in the world.

With few exceptions. This is especially true of all French and most Italian and Spanish categories. But also of California. And Argentina led by high-end wineries such as Via Cobos and Catena.

I was hoping for some exciting trends to emerge, breakaway producers, dozens of new wineries pushing the old guard aside. But this was not the case. Instead you get all the oldies from Antinori to Petrus to Chateau d’ YQuem with only minor shuffling within categories.

I’m not opposed to ratings from the wine community, consisting of people with widely different levels of expertise. I’m supportive of anything that might be more useful than the 100 point system.

Posting notes and comments empowers some people and makes wine tasting fun. It also forces them to focus on the wine and to develop a vocabulary to support their opinions.

Best of all, it frees wine lovers from relying on ratings from any and all professional critics.

So why didn’t this concept of “putting the power into the people’s hands” yield some amazing newsworthy or at least some totally new stuff?

Too many categories? Too many reviewers? Something clearly did not click when the top White Rioja is one from 1986 priced at $899.99 and when the best Amarone will cost you $546 a pop.  

And for one more example: the best northern Italian white is the 2011 Gaja Chardonnay at $241 a bottle!

Maybe the answer lies buried in the French Burgundy categories. One has to wonder did 194 Vivino members taste and review the 2006 DRC “La Tache?

And did 127 taste the 2012 La Romanee which retails for $14,962?
So how does any of this high priced stuff, to quote from the press release “help producers better understand consumer behavior and demand”? 

The news release mentions the inclusion of Tannat from Uruguay and the growing interest in Cremant as a sparkling choice. Both wines consumers should know better.

The ten best New Zealand Pinot Noir list is excellent with several newcomers to join oldtimerFelton Road. Also found some excitement in the Chilean Malbec list and in the Spanish Syrah list.

In the various California categories, it was newsworthy to see such solid names as Frank Family, Rombauer, and Cakebread continue to be recognized.

And, yes there were a few new names such as Garguilo for its Cabernets, Robert Lloyd for Chardonnay and Arkenstone for Sauvignon Blanc. They google very well.

So what is the takeaway after studying this list of “The Year’s Best wines chosen by 26 million people?

One idea that keeps coming back is that since one assumes these amateurs actually bought the wines with their own money, 

It is normal to want to love the most expensive wine. Especially if you bought it.

Who wants to  shell to out $795 for the Harlan Estate or $1,4962 for the DRC only to admit to friends and family that the wine really wasn’t that great?  And then rate them both 3 out of 5.

Not gonna happen!

Nor am I going to slip in a comment about the occasional failure of the democratic process to come up with the best.

It is an imperfect system.

Looking for A Special Wine Club?

How About A Hidden Gem in the Silicon Valley?

Here it is: Sarah’s Vineyard, Santa Clara Valley, Santa Cruz Mountain 

http://www.sarahsVineyard.com     

Located at 4005 Hecker Pass Highway, West of Gilroy

Quick View:

Sarah’s Vineyard is strong on small-batch Pinot Noir, Estate Chardonnay, and several Estate Rhone wines. A true artisan winery.

Pinot Noirs from 5-6 appellations….will please any Pinot fanatic

Cozy and friendly, very modest facility with tons of country charm.

Members receive 3 wines 4 times a year and can select the type: red, white or mixed.

Prices are relatively modest, ranging from $20 for a few white wines to $48 for the top of the line Pinots.

Members receive a 25% discount on shipped wines; 20% off all other wines.

Wine tastings for members and your guests are comped.

Wonderful offering of tasting room exclusives….small batch wines.

Wine country feel as visitors pass through the small 28-acre estate vineyard as they meander up to the tasting center.

Background:

Marilyn Otterman purchased 10 acres in south Santa Clara County’s Hecker Pass area in 1977. She began the vineyard with an initial planting of seven acres of Chardonnay which she named “Sarah.” The winery itself was founded 1978.

She had a magic touch and quickly made the winery known for ultra-rich Chardonnays. They defined the term “blockbuster.”

The label design was beautiful, way ahead of its time. She priced her wines on a par with the Napa folks.

A few years later, the winery expanded into Pinot Noir from its estate vineyard.

It now makes a Pinot from the famous Chalone appellation and Santa Lucia Highlands.

It now offers five very distinct Pinot Noirs, all exemplary of the place.

In 2001, current proprietor Tim Slater, a Silicon Valley veteran, added

Rhone varieties and blended wines to the mix. Both the Roussanne and Grenache Blanc are  beautifully balanced and delicious

And over the next several years he began fine-tuning the Pinot Noirs.

Overall quality is very high.  The Pinots also represent superb value.

Slater is a music fan, so several musical events are held per year.

Tasting Room Exclusives:

Highly enjoyable Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Syrah top the exclusive items along with an Old Vine Zinfandel and powerful Cabernet from the historic Santa Clara Valley.

Relaxed tasting room atmosphere. Friendly, knowledgeable staff.

Good-sized pour with the daily flight of 5 wines.

Our Scorecard: 4.5 stars

  • High marks for wine quality and exclusive offerings
  • Excellent score on tasting room, special events
  • Basic Prices are reasonable but discounts are average.
  • One downside may be the tasting room which is, well, plain and lacks sizzle and off the beaten path.
  • But the views offset the tasting room building

 

Awesome Wines Under $15

The Wine Enthusiast magazine just released its Top 100 Wines under $15, and I found the list absolutely fascinating.

To its credit, the web page identifies those wines listed that are also sponsors, as in paid advertisers. So all is above board.

But can you trust the people behind the reviews?  

Well, I happen to know several of them quite well. Two in particular are excellent tasters who cannot be compromised: Roger Voss and Jim Gordon.

The wines from Oregon and Washington State mentioned in this list are also chosen by another highly regarded critic.

Voss is the magazine’s expert reviewer of French wines from Bordeaux, Loire Valley, the Southwest as well as the best reviewer of wines from Portugal.

Gordon is the West Coast reviewer who can be trusted for his ratings of wines from Mendocino, Sonoma, and Napa.

Back to the Top 100

The #1 wine was made by Columbia Crest.  No big surprise there.

Its Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay make most top values lists.

But the top ranked wine turned out to be the winery’s 2015 Grand Estate Syrah at $12 which is also one of my discoveries.

Sad. Now, everyone will know and it will disappear quickly.

Bargain hunters can check out the entire list at

http://e.winemag.com/219S-154XX-706QMTTT8B/cr.aspx

To me, the following wines are the Other Awesome Deals under $15:

2014 Bogle “Essential Red,” Old Vine, Clarksburg (often sold under $10)

2016 Gnarly Head  Zinfandel, Lodi

2016 San Pedro Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Chile

2015 Mas des Bressades  Cuvée Tradition Syrah-Grenache (Costières de Nîmes)

2016 Cline Cellars Viognier, North Coast

2015 Château le Payral, Bergerac Rouge

2016 Foris Dry Gewürztraminer Rogue Valley

2014 Hogue Red Columbia Valley

2015 Wines & Winemakers Lua Cheia em Vinhas Velhas Red Douro

2016 Dry Creek Vineyards, Dry Chenin Blanc (Clarksburg)

2016 Domaine des Carteresses, Tavel (a Rose)