Dr Vino's wine blog

Attention! One week from today is the international transnational multinational event known as Wine Blogging Wednesday! Bloggers of food, wine and otherwise from around the world post an entry around a common theme. As the host this month, I have chosen the theme of wine shops that feel the love. So visit a fun wine shop near you, write up the shop in a paragraph or two or three and drop me a line about your post next Wednesday. I’ll do a roundup after the event to provide a handy link back to all posts.

Bonus: while this month’s theme may appeal to wine fans who have never written a wine tasting note (or those who find them a bunch of mumbo jumbo) some die-hard WBW participants may feel incomplete without posting a TN. In that case, sample a good value wine based on the recommendation of the staff and write it up! Cheers,

Tyler

PS this is the frist WBW where we can actually write about PEOPLE!

PPS if you need a further backgrounder on WBW, click here

PPSS why does spell check on Blogger not recognize the words blog, blogger, or blogging?!?!

tags: wine | wine blogging wednesday | WBW |

Well, now that the gray lady says so, it’s official: Trader Joe’s is opening a location near Union Square. The address of the 10,000 sq ft store is 142 East 14th Street.

But the address wine geeks will care about is 138 E. 14th St since that’s where their wine store will be. They will have a separate at-grade entrance to avoid running afoul of New York State’s bizarre laws on wine retailing the way Whole Foods did at Columbus Circle. No word on how big the wine shop will be. No other TJ’s in NY or CT sells wine and one location in NJ does.

Trader Joe’s may be in for a rough ride in given the number of wine shops in the area. Their business model of selling high volume wines, such as the notorious Two Buck Chuck, may not fare well in Manhattan where consumers are often reluctant to carry more than a bottle (or two) home with their laptop and groceries. And it’s hard to see the profit margin in offering a $24 case of wine for delivery. But hopefully they will find diverse wines that are good values.

Just steer clear of the Chiaro del Bastardo…

tags: wine | food and drink | Trader Joe’s | NYC

Ah, February with its abundant love cliches is soon approaching. But this year we food and wine bloggers will have nothing to do with pink champagne and heart-shaped tubs (at least that we’ll write about). Instead, the theme for Wine Blogging Wednesday #18 is:

wine shops that feel the love!

We all have to buy our wines somewhere and why settle for dreary supermarkets or liquor stores when there are so many great (new) wine shops around the world? The shop that you will write about doesn’t have to be big. Or fancy. But it does have to feel the love for the fruits of the vine with a knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff, a good selection, periodic free tastings (where legally available) and reasonable pricing. Custom shelf talkers (if any at all), original design, store layout, wine displays, or an informative newsletter are definite plusses.

And for those who absolutely MUST drink taste wine for WBW, consider it bonus points to write-up a value vino that a member of the shop’s staff recommended.

I’m looking forward to learning about fun new shops endorsed by fellow bloggers that I can check out on my future travels. Wednesday February 1, 2006 is the date for your posting on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, start one! (or I can post the comment of the blogless in my roundup) If you want to post photos to Flickr, tag them WBW and/or WBW18. Thanks to fearless WBW coordinator and founder Lenn–I’m pleased to be able to use the new logo! Cheers,

Tyler

tags: wine | food and wine | Wine Blogging Wednesday | WBW

Are you ever in a new neighborhood in the city, looking for a bottle? Or wondering exactly where is that wine shop you keep reading about? Then this map of NYC wine stores should come in handy. My tech department in Bangalore has been slaving over this so, as they say in the finest casual dining locations, “enjoy!”

See the map of New York wine shops

PS- I WISH there were a tech department in Bangalore!!

Technorati tags: wine | wine stores | GoogleMaps | mashup | New York City

You’ve probably read about it. Or seen it. If not been there. Crush Wine Co: New York’s hottest new address for wine.

The most stunning feature is no doubt the display, an undulating 73-foot wall of backlit wines, all lying on their side. The Rieslings catch your eye as you walk in the door and it’s hard not to shuffle down the wall, head cocked to the left, taking in all the great wines, organized by varietal, as they often are on restaurant menus.

But the shop has two other eye-catching features: a sleek tasting room shaped like a large barrel on one side and a temperature controlled storage area with glass walls called “the cube.”

In the tasting room, tasting happens. While many wine shops have free tastings on Saturdays or pop open a bottle or two after 5 PM, the staff at Crush stand ready to pour at any hour (I recently stopped by at noon on a random Wednesday and was offered a taste). The tasting glasses are stylish Ravenscroft crystal vessels that you can squeeze two fingers into and not warm up the wine. On special events, such as a recent book signing or the debut of a new Mumm champagne, the stylish furniture and tables are removed from the tasting room and Riedel glasses brought in.

In the cube, a selection of hard-to-find wines runs deep, in the case of Opus One when I was there the other day, about five feet deep of six-bottle cases. With their big points and high prices, it’s nice to know this room exists but the value vino runs along the serpentine main wall.

I thought that all this cool and chic would come at a price, but there is a solid selection of wines under $15 (they claim 150) and an excellent selection between $15 and $25 (bargains for NYC). I searched the web and found their prices to be very competitive for wine shops in New York City.

Thanks to the store’s relationship with the Myriad Restaurant Group, the shop is able to score some hard to find wines. A staff member told me that Luddite Vineyards of Sonoma sold half its microproduction Pinot Noir rose to the shop and the other half to the French Laundry. Now that’s good company–but what do you expect when Drew Nieporent is a co-owner and he owns Montrachet, Tribeca Grill, and Nobu among other restaurants.

Wunderkind Lyle Fass is the wine director and rumor has it that he could be assuming more of the restaurant duties since Daniel Johnnes went to Daniel after twenty years at Montrachet as sommelier.

The shop is not an on-premises facility although if you live in the area, you might be tempted to treat it the same as a restaurant. The shop has a clever “delivery menu” with wines arranged by different types of take-out food. One call for the food, the other for the wines. Let your fingers do the walking.

www.crushwineco.com 153 E. 57th (bet 3rd and Lex) 212-980-WINE

UPDATE: See my map of New York wine shops.

Technorati tags: food & drink | wine shops | New York City

In 1973 Paul Simon didn’t want his Kodachrome taken away. With Kodachrome almost relegated to the dustbin of history, there’s something else that deserves a place there (or worse) as well: styrofoam.

We talk a lot in the wine world about clever packaging but what we really need to be talking about is clever packing–environmentally responsible packing material that is.

Like hotels not washing your sheets and towels every day, this is an example where business profit-maximization and environmentalism are aligned. Hundreds of thousands of cases of wine have no doubt been shipped across the country in this Year I of direct shipping and many gift boxes are set to fly with the holidays approaching. Wineries and shops that ship directly to consumers would be well advised to consider other alternatives to Styrofoam.

MacArthur Beverages in Washington charges $12 for the shipping materials plus UPS rates to ship. Astor Wines in New York City by contrast charges only the UPS rates for out of the NYC orbit (delivery can be free in and around the city). What’s the difference?

Astor, which is developing their organic and biodynamic section, also has a “green” approach to shipping. They ship wine with cardboard inserts to cushion the bottles. While they may make sacrifices to other line items of their cash flow, I wouldn’t be surprised if a main savings was the fact that these shippers can be stacked efficiently (see photo), unlike Styrofoam, before they are boxed and shipped.

So, shippers: think green and ditch the Styrofoam (especially peanuts, which deserve a special place in Dante’s inferno). And wine buyers: the shipping container is not going to make or break your order but if possible, let the shipper know there are alternatives out there. And if you do end up with some Styrofoam, try to take it back to a store where they can re-use it.

Paul Simon already had is Kodachrome taken away. Now let’s banish Styrofoam too.

Hip and trendy wine shops that “feel the love” are sprouting all over New York City. Or so the NYT’s Eric Asimov writes in his column yesterday. Actually he worded it like this:

It is no exaggeration to say that New York has entered a golden age for wine shopping. Never before have there been so many different kinds of wine to choose from, and in so many different parts of the city. It’s a blossoming that trails similar explosions in the restaurant and food retail businesses in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. [NYT]

But it strikes me as more of a nationwide (global?) phenomenon rather than just a local story. I have a list of wine shops that catches some of the names. What are some new hip and trendy wines shops in your part of the world?

Breaking news: on August 9th Patricia Savoie sold Big Nose, Full Body to Aaron Hans. Pat has decided to pursue wine writing full time. We will catch up with her later to hear from her directly. Meanwhile, I went to Park Slope to meet Aaron, new proprietor of the shop…

Aaron Hans is so bursting with ideas and energy that is small wonder that his close-cropped blond hair stands straight up. But this thirty-something new owner of Big Nose Full Body has plans to tweak the shop, not give it a wholesale makeover. The clever name, the exciting range of wines, the handsome interior space, and the free tastings on Saturdays will all stay the same. But there will be minor changes including staying open seven days a week and even adding some apparel items.

Perhaps the biggest change for Aaron personally is his commute. As a sales representative for Frederick Wildman’s wine distribution he had taken as many as 10 subway trains a day to visit his accounts, both restaurants and shops. BNFB was one of his accounts and when he learned that Pat was thinking about selling he made her an offer. The five block commute for this long-time resident of Park Slope was undoubtedly a factor in his thinking.

“I’ve always wanted to own something,” he told me yesterday in the shop. An early stint in restaurants followed by a stint at a wine bar confirmed to him that he didn’t want to include food in his business. The shop seemed a good fit from that perspective too.

“You’re not going to get rich but you get to do something you really, really enjoy. I’m not stuck in a cubicle all day,” he said.

The store stocks wines from Wildman and Aaron is familiar with those. He hasn’t tasted through all the wines in the shop yet but any new wines that he adds, he will taste. He added a wine from Ridge to the store already, one that he knows and likes. The store currently gets wine from 22 distributors and he doesn’t plan on adding any more. “That’s a lot already,” he says.

I wondered, how do you value a wine shop? Aaron explained that when he purchased the shop from Pat in early August, he paid one price for the business, one price for the inventory, and the rest was thrown in as “good will.” That included odds and ends in the shop such as the racking and the computer-and even the staff. Larry, the assistant manager who was within earshot, joked that that was a lot of good will. “The staff are all great and we have no plans for changes,” said Aaron smiling.

With the busy season kicking in, he will however be buying a new computer to speed up the bookkeeping the current sluggish computer and to help with checkout. Last Saturday evening, there was a line the entire length of the shop.

In order to cope with this busy last few months of the year, Aaron has added opening hours on Sunday. Originally it was 12-6 but he said the last two hours were very busy and he felt badly turning people away. So now the Sunday hours are 12-9. Aaron says that he could easily work 80 hours a week but has limited himself to five days a week in the shop. He has to spend some time with his wife and kids after all.

Kids are clearly on Aaron’s brain. He interrupts our talk at one point to help a woman with a stroller into the shop. Given the demographics of the neighborhood, Aaron will be working with a designer to introduce Big Nose Full Body t-shirts—and baby apparel such as onesies and toddler tees.

“Who knows maybe you’ll come back next year and we’ll be making all our money in t-shirts?” he said. It’s an exciting time for him with lots of opportunities. And yes, he has agreed to continue to participate in The Real Wine World. That’s good for us!