I'm taking a break! Well, in a way I'm just working from a different location -- a different continent for three weeks -- but the plan is to wind down and recharge the batteries after a full-on couple of years.
I'm in Canada staying with friends for Christmas, and trying to catch up on some paperwork before what should be a huge 2010.
This year has already been massive, including landing a third container from Europe for Eurocentric Wine Imports in early December. It was a lot more trouble than it should have been, thanks to crazy shipping companies. I used Ziegler for my pickups this time, as they offered a quick, careful and inexpensive service. They also wanted to pack the container and ship the goods, so I let them to see how they went.
Well, they didn't fill the container for a start. They left out 150 cases! Granted I may have been ambitious, forgetting how much bigger Champagne and Burgundy bottles are than riesling bottles, but it seemed crazy that they left the back row stacked only halfway up, and throughout the container it looked like they could have gone one row higher.
At first I thought I would be paying storage for these 150 cases until I could get another full container organised out of Europe. But then I discovered a new service, where you can share space in a refrigerated container. It's an extra expense, but better than driving customers mad waiting for overdue stock. And I wanted to get it off Ziegler as soon as possible, thinking this all might have been a scheme to get more money out of me.
Then, the day before the container arrived, the customs clearance agents realised they didn't have the necessary paperwork. Why they didn't think about this earlier, they still won't say. The shippers said they'd send it by DHL, a useless courier company which managed to turn a three-day promise into a six-day non-delivery before I went and snatched the envelope off them. We dodged cancellation fees at the port and fortunately Ziegler picked up the bill for the courier and a day of storage, and finally the container was delivered on December 8.
Anyway, it was still nice and cold when we cracked it, and replenished stocks of René Geoffroy and Henri Billiot champagne, plus included David Léclapart champagne (biodynamic, zero dosage), Jean-Claude Bessin chablis, Jean-Marc Burgaud beaujolais, and 2007 Burgundy from Dupont-Tisserandot, Humbert Freres, Aurélien Verdet, Benoit Ente and Jean-Philippe Fichet.
Some of these have already been snapped up by Rockpool Bar & Grill, Bentley Bar & Restaurant, Aria and Ultimo Wine Centre in Sydney; the Royal Mail Hotel in Victoria; and the Wine Emporium and Enoteca 1889 in Brisbane.
I've hardly had a chance to show the wines yet and already I want to uplift another container in Europe -- this week! I'm hoping to get the go-ahead today for collections in Germany to bring out the 2008 rieslings from Willi Schaefer, Schloss Lieser, Reinhold Haart, Andreas Schmitges, Knebel, Schafer-Frohlich, Emrich-Schonleber and Rebholz, plus the first shipment from Van Volxem in the Saar, including 07s and 08s. There will also be some left-field wines -- sparkling riesling and pinot-chardonnay from Rebholz, as well as weissburgunder, grauburgunder, spatburgunder, dornfelder and gewurztraminer from various producers.
There will also be some very limited mixed dozens from Willi Schaefer -- just six of them, which will contain one bottle of a special 07 auction auslese, a very rare 08 auslese, the last of some other special 07s and the best of the 08s.
There will be other limited items, including back vintages from some of the top producers. The best way to get a heads-up on these is to subscribe to the Eurocentric newsletter at www.eurocentricwine.com.au
Hopefully the German container will land in Sydney by February 1 because it will contain a large parcel of the off-dry riesling Haart to Heart as a potential Valentine's Day gift. Maybe I should team up with a gift basket company on that one!
Next up, as soon as I can afford it, will be another container primarily out of France, but also including the first shipment from Carl von Schubert's Maximin Grunhaus and a mixed 1993/2008 shipment from Zilliken. The French portion will include champagne from Vouette et Sorbée, Chartogne-Taillet and Georges Laval for the first time; beaujolais from organic producer Roland Pignard; clean, lush and inexpensive Rhones from Domaine des Espiers; and gorgeous Burgundies from Drouhin-Laroze, David Clark and hopefully I can squeeze in a couple of others.
That might have to do us for a while! The warehouse is bulging, so I better concentrate on sales! Well, by the time I get back on January 13 I will have six weeks to sell, plus host Unison (NZ) boss Phillip Horn in Sydney and Melbourne, and hopefully do some German wine dinners with one or two producers on a flying visit.
Then it will be back off to Europe to sample the 2008s from France and the 2009s from Germany, plus attend the Grands Jours de Bourgogne trade show in Burgundy and finalise agreements to import one or two more boutique producers from the heart of the Cote de Nuits.
I better recover quickly because it seems like the pace isn't going to let up for a while yet!
However, I'm encouraged by surging sales, new restaurant listings and some others to be added soon, plus the blanket coverage achieved in WA by my agents Terra Wines. The Eurocentric website store is now fitted out to accept credit cards, and debtor finance will make it easier to deal with the cashflow challenges of introducing so many new producers to the market in quick succession.
Starting our third year, I'm more excited than ever and looking forward to bringing more great wine to those who appreciate quality at a fair price. There's no reason not to spoil yourself and try a few of these new gems.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wave goodbye to heat damage
If you've ever bought wine from an interstate cellar door or retailer, hopefully you've been told of a "heat policy" that delays delivery of wine at certain times of the year. Like right now.
With a heatwave gripping much of Australia, it's timely to consider what happens to wine when it's shipped with regular postal carriers or couriers.
There isn't much available in the way of specialised wine delivery service in this big brown land, and Australia Post is not only increasing its rates but slowing delivery times, in my opinion trying to force people to use their more expensive express service.
The lack of proper service is a real concern for Eurocentric Wine Imports, which has always had a "driving" concern about the heat-sensitive (or rather insensitive) handling of wine by some parties entrusted with its care. We use temperature-controlled trucks in Europe, a shipping container set at 14C for the duration of the journey from warehouse to warehouse across the high seas, and a 14C storage facility in Sydney. Transport across Australia has been the missing piece of the puzzle.
Where possible, Sydney deliveries are done in an airconditioned vehicle, but interstate despatches have required an eye on weather forecasts along the intended route. And we don't send wine interstate on Thursdays or Fridays to ensure it doesn't sit around in unsuitable conditions over the weekend.
This has come to a head with the 40C+ heat in the Adelaide region at the same time our Perth agency, Terra Wines, has been going gangbusters getting listings for Dombeya, Knebel, Emrich-Schonleber, Ployez-Jacquemart and others.
It seems every customer wants to list the wines -- and now. Terra quickly ran out of stock and put in an urgent request for a top-up, but we weren't about to ship (especially Champagne) when we knew the wine would be unprotected in the back of a truck for more than two days. OK, the trucks use two drivers and go virtually non-stop, but there is still a chance of heat damage as the wine cruises out of Sydney and thunders over to Adelaide, across the Nullarbor and into Perth.
Then, just when it looked like Adelaide was going to get some respite from the heat, the forecast for Sydney was several days of heat, and once that passes Perth is set for a temperature rise. And we're not even in summer yet!
Enough was enough, and after many frustrating phone calls to freight companies who admitted they couldn't deliver, we struck gold with a firm that does daily runs across the country. The Perth pallet was booked in, we get to choose a temperature down to 2C, the wines never leave that environment until they reach Terra's airconditioned warehouse, and everyone's happy.
We can also make temperature-controlled deliveries for order of eight cases or more to Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne, and we'll be working on securing proper facilities there so we can store and dispatch smaller orders from each city, thus saving time and avoiding the risk of damage.
It's one of the reasons Eurocentric was formed -- to treat customers and their wine with the respect they deserve. We trust you'll appreciate the difference in your glass.
With a heatwave gripping much of Australia, it's timely to consider what happens to wine when it's shipped with regular postal carriers or couriers.
There isn't much available in the way of specialised wine delivery service in this big brown land, and Australia Post is not only increasing its rates but slowing delivery times, in my opinion trying to force people to use their more expensive express service.
The lack of proper service is a real concern for Eurocentric Wine Imports, which has always had a "driving" concern about the heat-sensitive (or rather insensitive) handling of wine by some parties entrusted with its care. We use temperature-controlled trucks in Europe, a shipping container set at 14C for the duration of the journey from warehouse to warehouse across the high seas, and a 14C storage facility in Sydney. Transport across Australia has been the missing piece of the puzzle.
Where possible, Sydney deliveries are done in an airconditioned vehicle, but interstate despatches have required an eye on weather forecasts along the intended route. And we don't send wine interstate on Thursdays or Fridays to ensure it doesn't sit around in unsuitable conditions over the weekend.
This has come to a head with the 40C+ heat in the Adelaide region at the same time our Perth agency, Terra Wines, has been going gangbusters getting listings for Dombeya, Knebel, Emrich-Schonleber, Ployez-Jacquemart and others.
It seems every customer wants to list the wines -- and now. Terra quickly ran out of stock and put in an urgent request for a top-up, but we weren't about to ship (especially Champagne) when we knew the wine would be unprotected in the back of a truck for more than two days. OK, the trucks use two drivers and go virtually non-stop, but there is still a chance of heat damage as the wine cruises out of Sydney and thunders over to Adelaide, across the Nullarbor and into Perth.
Then, just when it looked like Adelaide was going to get some respite from the heat, the forecast for Sydney was several days of heat, and once that passes Perth is set for a temperature rise. And we're not even in summer yet!
Enough was enough, and after many frustrating phone calls to freight companies who admitted they couldn't deliver, we struck gold with a firm that does daily runs across the country. The Perth pallet was booked in, we get to choose a temperature down to 2C, the wines never leave that environment until they reach Terra's airconditioned warehouse, and everyone's happy.
We can also make temperature-controlled deliveries for order of eight cases or more to Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne, and we'll be working on securing proper facilities there so we can store and dispatch smaller orders from each city, thus saving time and avoiding the risk of damage.
It's one of the reasons Eurocentric was formed -- to treat customers and their wine with the respect they deserve. We trust you'll appreciate the difference in your glass.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
On the road again ...
I made a last-minute decision to postpone my European buying adventure and do an Australian selling adventure instead.
I packed the car with new-bought eskies (one holds 36 bottles and stays cool for days and the other holds about 12 bottles and runs on mains or car power) and set off after two hours' sleep for steamy Brisbane. Remarkably painless drive and even managed to make a few phonecalls via Bluetooth. Fair bit of roadworks but not too many delays.
After catching my breath in Brisbane I set off for Noosa and knocked on plenty of doors to see if anyone there wanted to drink decent wine over summer. Some said they had already done their summer shopping, others didn't have space, and others promised to order. If I was going there for a week, I would have eaten at Sails at Noosa Heads, the River House, Wasabi and Ricky's at Noosaville. Sails has several cellars and would be your best bet for a decent wine list.
Made contact with several contenders at Maroochydore, Mooloolaba and Caloundra and emailed the catalogue and pre-arrival offer to 20 or more potential customers.
Then I hit Brisbane with very little time to organise anything. I started by sending out an email to every restaurant and retail address I had in town, and soon had appointments at Aria Brisbane, Wine Emporium, Cru Bar, Drinx/Grand Central Cellars, Festival Cellars, Bar Alto, Stewarts Wine Co, Enoteca 1889, Bar Barossa and Nectar.
Aria already has the 93 Zilliken spatlese and 06 Dupont-Tisserandot Fixin on its list but really needs much more red and white Burgundy, so I hope they buy up soon.
Tony Harper at WE seemed impressed with many of the wines and hopefully they will expand their Eurocentric offerings. Cru already take a few wines, namely Willi Schaefers and Alex Gambals (which they reordered), as well as Alluviale, Dada, Rene Geoffroy champagne and now the Benfield & Delamare bordeaux blend from Martinborough -- their first outlet in Australia!
Grand Central went for Dombeya shiraz and the bordeaux blend, and the Champagne Gallery ordered Henri Billiot as a Christmas treat for their loyal supporters.
Bar Alto boss Simon Hill is renovating his Isis Brasserie and relaunching with a new look and feel before Christmas and I am very hopeful of getting a good range of German riesling and gewurztraminer there, as well as the gorgeous Redoubt Hill pinot gris.
Better not jump the gun but I think Brisbane wine lovers will be able to find other Eurocentric wines in several other retail outlets soon.
WA has been going great guns through the agency Terra Wines, and after a week of driving through the Gold Coast, Byron, Coffs Harbour and Newcastle, I will seek to spread the love throughout NSW to Canberra, then Melbourne and Adelaide.
I'm counting on it all going well enough that I can sneak over to Europe in November.
I've also added a post on the www.eurocentricwine.com.au site showing the shipping movements expected over the next few months.
Redoubt Hill should be in the warehouse next week, about the time the new Dombeya wines set sail from Durban (I ship from there to avoid going through Singapore and a double equator crossing).
My focus now is on some quick sales to clear some space and raise money for three more containers planned from France and Germany. Sales have been going well for the first one, heavy on 07 Burgundy, with our two Chablis producers and two Beaujolais domaines to make their debuts, and David Leclapart's first 20 cases of champagne for Australia finally to get on board.
It's hot here in Brisbane. Perfect weather for Hawke's Bay sauvignon blanc or German riesling. And now I'm thirsty!
I packed the car with new-bought eskies (one holds 36 bottles and stays cool for days and the other holds about 12 bottles and runs on mains or car power) and set off after two hours' sleep for steamy Brisbane. Remarkably painless drive and even managed to make a few phonecalls via Bluetooth. Fair bit of roadworks but not too many delays.
After catching my breath in Brisbane I set off for Noosa and knocked on plenty of doors to see if anyone there wanted to drink decent wine over summer. Some said they had already done their summer shopping, others didn't have space, and others promised to order. If I was going there for a week, I would have eaten at Sails at Noosa Heads, the River House, Wasabi and Ricky's at Noosaville. Sails has several cellars and would be your best bet for a decent wine list.
Made contact with several contenders at Maroochydore, Mooloolaba and Caloundra and emailed the catalogue and pre-arrival offer to 20 or more potential customers.
Then I hit Brisbane with very little time to organise anything. I started by sending out an email to every restaurant and retail address I had in town, and soon had appointments at Aria Brisbane, Wine Emporium, Cru Bar, Drinx/Grand Central Cellars, Festival Cellars, Bar Alto, Stewarts Wine Co, Enoteca 1889, Bar Barossa and Nectar.
Aria already has the 93 Zilliken spatlese and 06 Dupont-Tisserandot Fixin on its list but really needs much more red and white Burgundy, so I hope they buy up soon.
Tony Harper at WE seemed impressed with many of the wines and hopefully they will expand their Eurocentric offerings. Cru already take a few wines, namely Willi Schaefers and Alex Gambals (which they reordered), as well as Alluviale, Dada, Rene Geoffroy champagne and now the Benfield & Delamare bordeaux blend from Martinborough -- their first outlet in Australia!
Grand Central went for Dombeya shiraz and the bordeaux blend, and the Champagne Gallery ordered Henri Billiot as a Christmas treat for their loyal supporters.
Bar Alto boss Simon Hill is renovating his Isis Brasserie and relaunching with a new look and feel before Christmas and I am very hopeful of getting a good range of German riesling and gewurztraminer there, as well as the gorgeous Redoubt Hill pinot gris.
Better not jump the gun but I think Brisbane wine lovers will be able to find other Eurocentric wines in several other retail outlets soon.
WA has been going great guns through the agency Terra Wines, and after a week of driving through the Gold Coast, Byron, Coffs Harbour and Newcastle, I will seek to spread the love throughout NSW to Canberra, then Melbourne and Adelaide.
I'm counting on it all going well enough that I can sneak over to Europe in November.
I've also added a post on the www.eurocentricwine.com.au site showing the shipping movements expected over the next few months.
Redoubt Hill should be in the warehouse next week, about the time the new Dombeya wines set sail from Durban (I ship from there to avoid going through Singapore and a double equator crossing).
My focus now is on some quick sales to clear some space and raise money for three more containers planned from France and Germany. Sales have been going well for the first one, heavy on 07 Burgundy, with our two Chablis producers and two Beaujolais domaines to make their debuts, and David Leclapart's first 20 cases of champagne for Australia finally to get on board.
It's hot here in Brisbane. Perfect weather for Hawke's Bay sauvignon blanc or German riesling. And now I'm thirsty!
Monday, September 21, 2009
New shipment, new markets
After a frantic week last week, this week should be, well, frantic as well!
Last week I had Dombeya winemaker Rinie Strydom in town to celebrate the success of her Haskell Pillars Shiraz 07, which won the Tri Nations prize for best shiraz, best red and best wine of show. The 2007 Dombeya Chardonnay also won a gold medal.
We toured the Sydney restaurant and retail scene on Monday and Tuesday, cramming in 16 visits and securing several new markets, the best being an order for 30 cases of 2009 Sauvignon Blanc by Quay, Sydney's No.1-rated restaurant.
A groovy South African food store in Lane Cove called Springbok Delights took all three wines available and put their hand up for the three new releases -- the SB, a straight 2007 cabernet and a straight 2007 merlot.
Aria, near the Opera House, went for the 2006 Boulder Road Shiraz and 2005 Samara cabernet/merlot/malbec, while Bentley Bar went for the Samara and wants the SB as well.
The well-stocked Sackville Hotel Bottleshop at the top end of Darling St in Balmain/Rozelle loved all the wines and took the three available now, as did Cremorne Cellars, which is one of the best-looking wine stores in Sydney.
We expect orders from Tetsuya's and Galileo, too.
The SB, Cabernet and Merlot should be landing in Sydney in late October.
The rest of last week was taken up with drawing up a pre-arrival offer for the next shipment of wine out of France, containing lots of fabulous 2007 Burgundy, as well as our first Chablis and Beaujolais, with two boutique producers from each of those two regions. We'll also be getting more Billiot and Geoffroy rosé, and the first shipment from cult Champagne maker David Léclapart.
Arriving today, September 21, is some new wines and some fresh stocks from New Zealand. From Alluviale in Hawke's Bay comes the gold medal-winning 2007 Merlot Cabernet Franc and more stock of the moreish 2008 Alluviale Blanc. Unison top up their fabulous 2007 Gimblett Gravels Merlot and 2008 Rosé just in time for summer. Ash Ridge on nearby Ngatarawa Road move onto the gorgeous 2009 barrel-fermented reserve sauvignon blanc and the equally enticing 2007 reserve cabernet merlot.
From Benfield & Delamare comes our first Martinborough wine, the cult classic bordeaux blend from 2006, and there's just 25 cases for the country.
Next onto the boat from NZ will be fresh stocks of the 2006 Surveyor Thomson Single-Vineyard pinot noir from Central Otago, and our first delivery from new team member Redoubt Hill in Nelson, with crisp, fresh and fruity 2009 sauvignon blanc and 2009 pinot gris.
I'll be hitting the road this week to spread the word and find some new homes for these beauties. I'll drive to Brisbane on Friday and meet with the famous Book Club members for some Burgundy callibration first. From Monday I will work my way down from Noosa, then have a couple of days in Brisbane, a couple on the Gold Coast, and then Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Newcastle and back to Sydney.
Then it'll be on to Canberra, Beechworth, the Yarra Valley, Melbourne and Adelaide, with a couple of sneaky side trips pencilled in.
Let me know if you have a fine wine store, wine bar or restaurant on this route that could do with some great boutique wines from some of the world's rising stars.
Europe might off the travel agenda for now, but I'm doing my best to bring a taste of it to our shores.
Last week I had Dombeya winemaker Rinie Strydom in town to celebrate the success of her Haskell Pillars Shiraz 07, which won the Tri Nations prize for best shiraz, best red and best wine of show. The 2007 Dombeya Chardonnay also won a gold medal.
We toured the Sydney restaurant and retail scene on Monday and Tuesday, cramming in 16 visits and securing several new markets, the best being an order for 30 cases of 2009 Sauvignon Blanc by Quay, Sydney's No.1-rated restaurant.
A groovy South African food store in Lane Cove called Springbok Delights took all three wines available and put their hand up for the three new releases -- the SB, a straight 2007 cabernet and a straight 2007 merlot.
Aria, near the Opera House, went for the 2006 Boulder Road Shiraz and 2005 Samara cabernet/merlot/malbec, while Bentley Bar went for the Samara and wants the SB as well.
The well-stocked Sackville Hotel Bottleshop at the top end of Darling St in Balmain/Rozelle loved all the wines and took the three available now, as did Cremorne Cellars, which is one of the best-looking wine stores in Sydney.
We expect orders from Tetsuya's and Galileo, too.
The SB, Cabernet and Merlot should be landing in Sydney in late October.
The rest of last week was taken up with drawing up a pre-arrival offer for the next shipment of wine out of France, containing lots of fabulous 2007 Burgundy, as well as our first Chablis and Beaujolais, with two boutique producers from each of those two regions. We'll also be getting more Billiot and Geoffroy rosé, and the first shipment from cult Champagne maker David Léclapart.
Arriving today, September 21, is some new wines and some fresh stocks from New Zealand. From Alluviale in Hawke's Bay comes the gold medal-winning 2007 Merlot Cabernet Franc and more stock of the moreish 2008 Alluviale Blanc. Unison top up their fabulous 2007 Gimblett Gravels Merlot and 2008 Rosé just in time for summer. Ash Ridge on nearby Ngatarawa Road move onto the gorgeous 2009 barrel-fermented reserve sauvignon blanc and the equally enticing 2007 reserve cabernet merlot.
From Benfield & Delamare comes our first Martinborough wine, the cult classic bordeaux blend from 2006, and there's just 25 cases for the country.
Next onto the boat from NZ will be fresh stocks of the 2006 Surveyor Thomson Single-Vineyard pinot noir from Central Otago, and our first delivery from new team member Redoubt Hill in Nelson, with crisp, fresh and fruity 2009 sauvignon blanc and 2009 pinot gris.
I'll be hitting the road this week to spread the word and find some new homes for these beauties. I'll drive to Brisbane on Friday and meet with the famous Book Club members for some Burgundy callibration first. From Monday I will work my way down from Noosa, then have a couple of days in Brisbane, a couple on the Gold Coast, and then Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Newcastle and back to Sydney.
Then it'll be on to Canberra, Beechworth, the Yarra Valley, Melbourne and Adelaide, with a couple of sneaky side trips pencilled in.
Let me know if you have a fine wine store, wine bar or restaurant on this route that could do with some great boutique wines from some of the world's rising stars.
Europe might off the travel agenda for now, but I'm doing my best to bring a taste of it to our shores.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Online shopping up and running
I've had a website for my wine importing business for more than a year, but with the addition of a retail liquor licence in April, I cracked the whip on a friend to set up online shopping on that site.
The idea isn't to undercut the retailers who support my producers, but to offer consumers the wines that aren't being offered anywhere else, such as very small allocations, bin ends, and very rare wines that might not otherwise find a home at a full retail price.
The store is up and running now, although improvements will continue to be made. I've finished adjusting prices and adding reviews to the product descriptions, and my friend has taken bottle shots and hopes to upload them this weekend.
Ideally I would like orders in straight dozens because then I don't need to handle the wine, reducing the cost of time and the chance of breakages. But in reality orders can be one bottle of each wine up to a minimum order of six bottles of champagne or 12 bottles of wine.
This gives people the opportunity to mix and match, try all sorts of new styles and producers, or share a sampler pack with friends.
I will probably tweak discounts from time to time and offer special trial packs, but for now you can enter the word "dozen" at the checkout stage to receive a 10% discount on the total order. Remember, many of these items are already at a lower price than retail, so the savings are substantial.
Payment is via direct deposit, so you place your order, await email confirmation and an invoice, pay the account and then wait for the mailman with your delivery. Postage rates are very reasonable to the eastern metropolitan areas but a little steeper to SA and WA. Order four dozen or more and we will waive the fee altogether. Insurance is available at $2.80 per $100 value.
Meanwhile, Terra Wines has made a great start to distribution in WA and Eurocentric wines will soon start to grace the wine lists of several restaurants and wine bars, as well as the shelves of adventurous retailers.
I will soon be hitting the road to Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide to try to improve the takeup rate in those areas. Whether I make it to Europe in time for the German riesling auctions -- where the best wines of the 2008 vintage will be shown and sold -- depends on whether I see a sudden influx of orders and payments.
I'd certainly like to be there to try the cream of the crop, to finalise orders from the big Eurocentric team in Germany, to visit a new Champagne producer, catch up with the latest from Burgundy and to meet one of the leaders from the resurgent Beaujolais wine scene.
The idea isn't to undercut the retailers who support my producers, but to offer consumers the wines that aren't being offered anywhere else, such as very small allocations, bin ends, and very rare wines that might not otherwise find a home at a full retail price.
The store is up and running now, although improvements will continue to be made. I've finished adjusting prices and adding reviews to the product descriptions, and my friend has taken bottle shots and hopes to upload them this weekend.
Ideally I would like orders in straight dozens because then I don't need to handle the wine, reducing the cost of time and the chance of breakages. But in reality orders can be one bottle of each wine up to a minimum order of six bottles of champagne or 12 bottles of wine.
This gives people the opportunity to mix and match, try all sorts of new styles and producers, or share a sampler pack with friends.
I will probably tweak discounts from time to time and offer special trial packs, but for now you can enter the word "dozen" at the checkout stage to receive a 10% discount on the total order. Remember, many of these items are already at a lower price than retail, so the savings are substantial.
Payment is via direct deposit, so you place your order, await email confirmation and an invoice, pay the account and then wait for the mailman with your delivery. Postage rates are very reasonable to the eastern metropolitan areas but a little steeper to SA and WA. Order four dozen or more and we will waive the fee altogether. Insurance is available at $2.80 per $100 value.
Meanwhile, Terra Wines has made a great start to distribution in WA and Eurocentric wines will soon start to grace the wine lists of several restaurants and wine bars, as well as the shelves of adventurous retailers.
I will soon be hitting the road to Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide to try to improve the takeup rate in those areas. Whether I make it to Europe in time for the German riesling auctions -- where the best wines of the 2008 vintage will be shown and sold -- depends on whether I see a sudden influx of orders and payments.
I'd certainly like to be there to try the cream of the crop, to finalise orders from the big Eurocentric team in Germany, to visit a new Champagne producer, catch up with the latest from Burgundy and to meet one of the leaders from the resurgent Beaujolais wine scene.
Monday, August 3, 2009
New producers and online shopping
Very remiss of me not to update you more regularly. If I ever end up in hospital and have use of my arms (or preferably a remote location with power and internet access), I will spend some of the time catching up on months of tasting notes!
There are two main snippets of news to share right now:
I have secured the Australian distribution rights for Martinborough, NZ, boutique producer Benfield and Delamare. I've been allocated 25 cases of the delicious 2006 vintage of their top wine, a merlot-cabernet franc blend. It is an elegant, enticing wine, plummy and perfumed with what I would call fruits of the forest -- blackberries, blueberries, wild strawberries even.
And the website for my business -- www.eurocentricwine.com.au -- now has an online store so that the Australian public can browse and choose from the complete range. Retailers obviously pick and choose through the portfolio according to what they believe their customers will buy, and some great wines have until this point been overlooked. There are also some rare and very expensive German sweet wines that might find favour with a collector or parent wanting to tuck away birth-year gifts for well into the future.
Special introductory mixed dozens are yet to be listed, but you can mix and match single bottles of your own choosing to a minimum order of one dozen and enjoy at least 10% off the total price.
Payment is by means of direct bank transfer of cheque, although the latter must be cleared before goods will be shipped.
The website now also carries a downloadable PDF catalogue with notes on producers and many international independent reviews of the wines. The monthly newsletter will also soon be available as an archive.
I will be busy in Sydney for the next two weeks, with plans to show wines to interested retailers and restaurants on Thursday, August 6. I will be in New Zealand from August 14-31, primarily to catch up with the North Island producers and try their next releases.
I aim to make quick visits to Brisbane and Melbourne in September and then go to Europe by about the 23rd. The VDP German riesling auctions are a great way to taste the best the 2008 vintage has to offer, plus secure some very limited edition gems and catch up with the 11 winemakers I import from.
If I manage to go, I will stay for a month and see some new Champagne prospects, taste the 2008s in Burgundy, and meet my new Beaujolais producer, Roland Pignard.
There are plans for a shipment of wine out of France in September if the finances come together. That shipment would include Champagne, Burgundy, Chablis and Beaujolais.
Another shipment out of Germany would bring Maximin Grunhaus and Van Volxem wines here for the first time, plus the 2008s from Willi Schaefer, Schloss Lieser, Rebholz, Emrich-Schonleber, Schafer-Frohlich and perhaps the rest of the team there.
Champagne has been the hot ticket lately, with Rockpool Bar & Grill in Sydney lapping up the Rene Geoffroy Empreinte, while Aria, which won the Good Food Guide wine list of the year award in 2009, proved their good taste in opting to list the Geoffroy Rosé de Saignée by the glass and bottle.
Stocks are low of red Burgundies until the 2007s arrive, but there are some fantastic New Zealand reds available now, and ample riesling and white Burgundy to suit the white wine lovers.
And so this brief note turns into another epistle ... I'm off for now, but please check out the website. I'd not only appreciate your custom but your feedback.
Cheers!
Neville
There are two main snippets of news to share right now:
I have secured the Australian distribution rights for Martinborough, NZ, boutique producer Benfield and Delamare. I've been allocated 25 cases of the delicious 2006 vintage of their top wine, a merlot-cabernet franc blend. It is an elegant, enticing wine, plummy and perfumed with what I would call fruits of the forest -- blackberries, blueberries, wild strawberries even.
And the website for my business -- www.eurocentricwine.com.au -- now has an online store so that the Australian public can browse and choose from the complete range. Retailers obviously pick and choose through the portfolio according to what they believe their customers will buy, and some great wines have until this point been overlooked. There are also some rare and very expensive German sweet wines that might find favour with a collector or parent wanting to tuck away birth-year gifts for well into the future.
Special introductory mixed dozens are yet to be listed, but you can mix and match single bottles of your own choosing to a minimum order of one dozen and enjoy at least 10% off the total price.
Payment is by means of direct bank transfer of cheque, although the latter must be cleared before goods will be shipped.
The website now also carries a downloadable PDF catalogue with notes on producers and many international independent reviews of the wines. The monthly newsletter will also soon be available as an archive.
I will be busy in Sydney for the next two weeks, with plans to show wines to interested retailers and restaurants on Thursday, August 6. I will be in New Zealand from August 14-31, primarily to catch up with the North Island producers and try their next releases.
I aim to make quick visits to Brisbane and Melbourne in September and then go to Europe by about the 23rd. The VDP German riesling auctions are a great way to taste the best the 2008 vintage has to offer, plus secure some very limited edition gems and catch up with the 11 winemakers I import from.
If I manage to go, I will stay for a month and see some new Champagne prospects, taste the 2008s in Burgundy, and meet my new Beaujolais producer, Roland Pignard.
There are plans for a shipment of wine out of France in September if the finances come together. That shipment would include Champagne, Burgundy, Chablis and Beaujolais.
Another shipment out of Germany would bring Maximin Grunhaus and Van Volxem wines here for the first time, plus the 2008s from Willi Schaefer, Schloss Lieser, Rebholz, Emrich-Schonleber, Schafer-Frohlich and perhaps the rest of the team there.
Champagne has been the hot ticket lately, with Rockpool Bar & Grill in Sydney lapping up the Rene Geoffroy Empreinte, while Aria, which won the Good Food Guide wine list of the year award in 2009, proved their good taste in opting to list the Geoffroy Rosé de Saignée by the glass and bottle.
Stocks are low of red Burgundies until the 2007s arrive, but there are some fantastic New Zealand reds available now, and ample riesling and white Burgundy to suit the white wine lovers.
And so this brief note turns into another epistle ... I'm off for now, but please check out the website. I'd not only appreciate your custom but your feedback.
Cheers!
Neville
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sleepless in Sydney
Well, it's kind of nice to be in the one place for a little while, because the second half of the year is shaping up to be quite hectic.
I've just done a lap of the right-hand side of Australia (OK, I went to the three biggest cities outside Sydney) to show off some of the new arrivals and "old" favourites from the first shipment.
Straight back from NZ I went to Melbourne, starting with a Central Otago tasting at Prince Wine Store in South Melbourne, where I helped Sharon Flavell on the Surveyor Thomson stand. We got a lot of good feedback for the 06 pinot, which is sealed under diam reconstituted cork. The 07 was out and about for a sneak preview. Some of it was sealed under diam, the bulk under screwcap, but right now the diam-sealed is the better bottle. I think the screwcap will have caught up by the time it is released in November.
It was a pretty big turnout and a tiring day coming on top of about two hours' sleep as I printed catalogues, prepared materials and caught a 6am flight ... I stayed with friends in the Yarra Valley for the next two nights and then ventured back to the big smoke for a trade tasting at Comme. Well, only 13 of the 25 trade who confirmed for the Central Otago masterclass bothered to turn up, and there was only a handful of other trade who came along to taste. It was a shocking result for the region. Melbourne seems to be hurting a bit more than it is letting on, and I have heard more than a dozen restaurants are banned from buying wine from other suppliers because of non-payment of bills.
I left there and went to the Albert Park Hotel, where I had a beautiful room upstairs for my first trade tasting of the year. Again, the turnout was disappointing. Many who said they would come didn't, most with valid reasons: doctors stuck in surgery, lawyers stuck in court, retailers swamped with work. The feedback from the punters was fantastic though: the champagnes from Billiot, Geoffroy and Ployez all found many new fans, and the lineup of 20 or so rieslings was like a masterclass of nine producers, from dry to auslese goldcap.
I bundled up all the leftovers for a major retailer to try the next day, and prepared for leg two in Brisbane. I went straight from the airport to the next Central Otago session, trade followed by public at the same venue. These were both well supported and the feedback very popular. Punters would come back and say the Surveyor Thomson pinot was in their top two or three of the day, and at $45 retail it's good value.
The next day, Wednesday, June 17, I held my own tasting at Monsoon in Fortitude Valley. There wasn't a huge turnout but they were quality customers -- a guy who owns a couple of top restaurants spent a fair bit of time there, as did the whole team from the Wine Emporium in a couple of shifts. Cru Bar + Cellar staff tasted widely and ordered strongly, and wine critic and writer Tyson Stelzer took lots of notes and will be publishing some in the next WBM100 magazine. There's a 94, a 95 and a 96-pointer in there from him, which I'm mildly pleased about ;-) There was also a great crew of customers from the Champagne Gallery who call themselves FOCers - Friends of Champagne. The head honcho described herself as the Mother-FOCer. 8-)
Went back to Sydney to regroup and plan the next tasting on Monday, June 22. Again, lots of no shows from trade ... it seems I will virtually have to go door to door to catch the attention of some sommeliers, which is rather time consuming and less productive for all concerned. At this tasting I had more than 50 wines open, and if I was going door to door I would take just six to 10.
The extras this time were the new Ash Ridge and Unison wines from Hawke's Bay, plus a preview of Stephane Aladame's Cremant de Bourgogne -- bubbles from outside the Champagne region -- and some 07 Burgundies. The Alex Gambal Deux Papis bourgogne rouge is a gorgeous little wine and will be a hit later this year. The Camille Giroud 1er crus also had people reaching for their wallets, but they will have to wait for the next container too!
The feedback again was excellent -- a sommelier from an Italian restaurant who came to try the champagnes succumbed to temptation and tried some rieslings, and was stunned. He wanted to not like them but couldn't resist and said he would have to add some to his wine list! Woohoo.
The last stop was Adelaide. There was some confusion as to who was going to invite the trade (I'm being diplomatic), so I hit the phones on Sunday and tried to round up as many people as possible. Got a good public turnout and more valuable feedback. People loved the champagnes, the Hawke's Bay syrahs, Alluviale's merlot-cabernet franc, the Dombeya wines and different rieslings won over different people, which is exactly how it should be.
The venue was nice but I didn't like being charged $200 for a staff member who went home before the tasting started! And they are resisting my calls for a refund. They haven't heard the end of this.
The next day was windy and stormy but I eventually tore myself away from the comfort of Alex Romanee Conti's house to go to McLaren Vale. I showed a few wines to Fino (they seemed to love everything) and Salopian Inn. Couple of top eateries there. I almost bought a place in MV once and would still love to live down that way. As well as the house in Burgundy of course ;-)
Back to Sydney, I ran myself ragged with a sleepless night from illness and an early flight. For the first time in I don't know how long I couldn't sleep on the plane, and then it was into a hectic seven-stop tasting tour with Philip Horn from Unison and Chris Wilcock from Ash Ridge. Their presence opened the door at some new retailers, and the wines were well received all day (as well as at five more stores the next day). Already they are for sale at Wine Culture in Roseville, Best Cellars in East Sydney, Vintage Blue in Kent St and as of tomorrow will be at the fabulous new Rockpool Bar & Grill in Hunter St.
We had dinner that night with friends at A'Mews on Glebe Pt Road to show how food friendly the wines were ... Richard Moyser did exceptionally well (on his birthday) to match dishes to wines he hadn't even tasted!
I'm never without plenty of work to do ... and I have to make the most of the new financial year to ring up some good sales as the pressure is on from Europe to settle bills and pay for the next shipment. I would love to get this 20-foot container of Champagne and Burgundy -- including my first Beaujolais and two Chablis -- here by October, in time for the warmer weather.
What's next? An agency is about to start pushing the range in Perth, which is well overdue, and I will sneak out to Canberra and Newcastle to show any interested restaurants and retailers a few bottles. In mid-August I will head to NZ to try new releases from Alluviale, Ash Ridge and Unison, and in September I hope to go back to Europe to try new wines, attend the German riesling auctions (for the rare few sweeter wines of the 08 vintage), try to find a northern Rhone bargain to import, and seal the deal with a couple more cult Champagne producers.
Stay tuned.
I've just done a lap of the right-hand side of Australia (OK, I went to the three biggest cities outside Sydney) to show off some of the new arrivals and "old" favourites from the first shipment.
Straight back from NZ I went to Melbourne, starting with a Central Otago tasting at Prince Wine Store in South Melbourne, where I helped Sharon Flavell on the Surveyor Thomson stand. We got a lot of good feedback for the 06 pinot, which is sealed under diam reconstituted cork. The 07 was out and about for a sneak preview. Some of it was sealed under diam, the bulk under screwcap, but right now the diam-sealed is the better bottle. I think the screwcap will have caught up by the time it is released in November.
It was a pretty big turnout and a tiring day coming on top of about two hours' sleep as I printed catalogues, prepared materials and caught a 6am flight ... I stayed with friends in the Yarra Valley for the next two nights and then ventured back to the big smoke for a trade tasting at Comme. Well, only 13 of the 25 trade who confirmed for the Central Otago masterclass bothered to turn up, and there was only a handful of other trade who came along to taste. It was a shocking result for the region. Melbourne seems to be hurting a bit more than it is letting on, and I have heard more than a dozen restaurants are banned from buying wine from other suppliers because of non-payment of bills.
I left there and went to the Albert Park Hotel, where I had a beautiful room upstairs for my first trade tasting of the year. Again, the turnout was disappointing. Many who said they would come didn't, most with valid reasons: doctors stuck in surgery, lawyers stuck in court, retailers swamped with work. The feedback from the punters was fantastic though: the champagnes from Billiot, Geoffroy and Ployez all found many new fans, and the lineup of 20 or so rieslings was like a masterclass of nine producers, from dry to auslese goldcap.
I bundled up all the leftovers for a major retailer to try the next day, and prepared for leg two in Brisbane. I went straight from the airport to the next Central Otago session, trade followed by public at the same venue. These were both well supported and the feedback very popular. Punters would come back and say the Surveyor Thomson pinot was in their top two or three of the day, and at $45 retail it's good value.
The next day, Wednesday, June 17, I held my own tasting at Monsoon in Fortitude Valley. There wasn't a huge turnout but they were quality customers -- a guy who owns a couple of top restaurants spent a fair bit of time there, as did the whole team from the Wine Emporium in a couple of shifts. Cru Bar + Cellar staff tasted widely and ordered strongly, and wine critic and writer Tyson Stelzer took lots of notes and will be publishing some in the next WBM100 magazine. There's a 94, a 95 and a 96-pointer in there from him, which I'm mildly pleased about ;-) There was also a great crew of customers from the Champagne Gallery who call themselves FOCers - Friends of Champagne. The head honcho described herself as the Mother-FOCer. 8-)
Went back to Sydney to regroup and plan the next tasting on Monday, June 22. Again, lots of no shows from trade ... it seems I will virtually have to go door to door to catch the attention of some sommeliers, which is rather time consuming and less productive for all concerned. At this tasting I had more than 50 wines open, and if I was going door to door I would take just six to 10.
The extras this time were the new Ash Ridge and Unison wines from Hawke's Bay, plus a preview of Stephane Aladame's Cremant de Bourgogne -- bubbles from outside the Champagne region -- and some 07 Burgundies. The Alex Gambal Deux Papis bourgogne rouge is a gorgeous little wine and will be a hit later this year. The Camille Giroud 1er crus also had people reaching for their wallets, but they will have to wait for the next container too!
The feedback again was excellent -- a sommelier from an Italian restaurant who came to try the champagnes succumbed to temptation and tried some rieslings, and was stunned. He wanted to not like them but couldn't resist and said he would have to add some to his wine list! Woohoo.
The last stop was Adelaide. There was some confusion as to who was going to invite the trade (I'm being diplomatic), so I hit the phones on Sunday and tried to round up as many people as possible. Got a good public turnout and more valuable feedback. People loved the champagnes, the Hawke's Bay syrahs, Alluviale's merlot-cabernet franc, the Dombeya wines and different rieslings won over different people, which is exactly how it should be.
The venue was nice but I didn't like being charged $200 for a staff member who went home before the tasting started! And they are resisting my calls for a refund. They haven't heard the end of this.
The next day was windy and stormy but I eventually tore myself away from the comfort of Alex Romanee Conti's house to go to McLaren Vale. I showed a few wines to Fino (they seemed to love everything) and Salopian Inn. Couple of top eateries there. I almost bought a place in MV once and would still love to live down that way. As well as the house in Burgundy of course ;-)
Back to Sydney, I ran myself ragged with a sleepless night from illness and an early flight. For the first time in I don't know how long I couldn't sleep on the plane, and then it was into a hectic seven-stop tasting tour with Philip Horn from Unison and Chris Wilcock from Ash Ridge. Their presence opened the door at some new retailers, and the wines were well received all day (as well as at five more stores the next day). Already they are for sale at Wine Culture in Roseville, Best Cellars in East Sydney, Vintage Blue in Kent St and as of tomorrow will be at the fabulous new Rockpool Bar & Grill in Hunter St.
We had dinner that night with friends at A'Mews on Glebe Pt Road to show how food friendly the wines were ... Richard Moyser did exceptionally well (on his birthday) to match dishes to wines he hadn't even tasted!
I'm never without plenty of work to do ... and I have to make the most of the new financial year to ring up some good sales as the pressure is on from Europe to settle bills and pay for the next shipment. I would love to get this 20-foot container of Champagne and Burgundy -- including my first Beaujolais and two Chablis -- here by October, in time for the warmer weather.
What's next? An agency is about to start pushing the range in Perth, which is well overdue, and I will sneak out to Canberra and Newcastle to show any interested restaurants and retailers a few bottles. In mid-August I will head to NZ to try new releases from Alluviale, Ash Ridge and Unison, and in September I hope to go back to Europe to try new wines, attend the German riesling auctions (for the rare few sweeter wines of the 08 vintage), try to find a northern Rhone bargain to import, and seal the deal with a couple more cult Champagne producers.
Stay tuned.
Friday, June 12, 2009
New shipment, more travel, trade shows ...
I must be way overdue for an update.
A lot has happened in the past few weeks: the second container for Eurocentric Wine Imports arrived; I went to New Zealand to visit Surveyor Thomson; and I booked venues for four trade and consumer tastings in Australia!
The bare bones ... the container was finally delivered to WineVault in Sydney on Monday, June 1. It wasn't on pallets, and the paperwork was wrong, but those are things that can be overcome. With the help of WV staff, an impatient truck driver, a friend I had taken along just in case and The Hawk on rescue duty, we pulled the 800-900 cases off the truck and roughly stacked them on pallets. I even took a crash course in how to operate a forklift (the push kind, not the drive kind) and managed to get all the wine off without a breakage.
That day and next, Michaels and I restacked every pallet so we could check them off and put them in more reasonable order for storage. Turns out the WV guys are going to restack it all again anyhow. I managed to kick over the most precious wine there -- a 1993 Zilliken Auslese -- and as fantastic as it smelled, I resisted the urge to lick up the remains from the dirty cement floor.
Fortunately I did most of the order packing while I directed Michaels on how to correctly identify and stack the rest of the wine. I think he was broken for about a week afterwards. No wonder I was so sore when I unloaded that first container almost by myself!
The pre-arrival orders were all dispatched without drama and then I raced to NZ for a week. I stayed overnight in Auckland then flew to Queenstown, where Sharon Flavell, the marketing manager of Surveyor Thomson, showed me around. I checked out the small vineyard, planted in two stages on an elevated site overlooking Lake Dunstan. They are going to build a tasting room/lodge there on the highest spot, in the shadow of a mountain range. Awesome place.
The tour included a helicopter flight over the ski fields, lakes and mountain ranges to get a feel for the special place that produces some of New Zealand's most internationally acclaimed wines.
I returned to Auckland and then made a detour to Tauranga to talk to Doug and Ange Hendry about their business, The Puzzle Company, for which I am the Australian rep. They are doing very well in the face of threatened newspaper extinction, and in fact a lot of people probably buy the paper for their crosswords, quizzes and brain teasers.
I had a nice surprise with two big orders from new customers while I was away. I hadn't met either person but they had seen the new catalogue and they knew of some of the wines. Rene Geoffroy is proving a hit (and I have opened only one bottle so far, and that was a rosé for Aria, who promptly made it their house rosé).
Bernadette O'Shea is the queen of champagne in Queensland and she prompted the Wine Emporium to lash out on some Ployez-Jacquemart, Rene Geoffroy and Henri Billiot, and we will probably team up for some dinners later this year. I've also had contact from "Champagne Jayne", a champagne corporate educator/entertainer, who is a mad Geoffroy fan and is keen to see as many people enjoy them as possible.
The second satisfying order came from the new Rockpool Bar & Grill, which boasts the best wine list in the southern hemisphere, if not the world. They bought Geoffroy, Billiot, Alex Gambal red and white Burgundies, Dupont-Tisserandot red Burgs and Matrot whites. They are also sizing up the Geoffroy Empreinte as their house champagne.
I've been frantically trying to book venues in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide for tastings to get the wines seen by as many trade as possible. Melbourne was a real problem, not only to find a suitable venue, but to find one that didn't want thousands for the honour! I eventually locked in the Albert Park Hotel's upstairs lounge. I should have moved on this earlier as that was a suggestion by Winestar supremo Bert Werden ... I've since heard it is renovated and looks a treat.
I'm going to Melbourne tomorrow (June 13) for the Central Otago series of trade and consumer tastings, then on Monday afternoon I will be waiting hopefully for trade to turn up at the Albert Park for my session from 2pm, with retailers able to bring their favourite customers in to the late sessio from 5.30pm.
The format will be repeated in Brisbane at the Monsoon restaurant in the Bravo Hotel next Wednesday, in Sydney at Time to Vino on Monday June 22 and in Adelaide at the Universal Wine Bar on Monday June 29.
After that I will try to arrange a session in Perth, and will do road trips to Canberra and Newcastle.
The orders are flowing from people I haven't even spoken to, so hopefully the cashflow will overtake the buying debts and I can work on the next super-exciting container of Burgundy and Champagne.
I finally created a new portfolio and price list, as well as a newsletter in a reader friendly format, so if you'd like any of them, drop me an email.
Cheers,
Neville
A lot has happened in the past few weeks: the second container for Eurocentric Wine Imports arrived; I went to New Zealand to visit Surveyor Thomson; and I booked venues for four trade and consumer tastings in Australia!
The bare bones ... the container was finally delivered to WineVault in Sydney on Monday, June 1. It wasn't on pallets, and the paperwork was wrong, but those are things that can be overcome. With the help of WV staff, an impatient truck driver, a friend I had taken along just in case and The Hawk on rescue duty, we pulled the 800-900 cases off the truck and roughly stacked them on pallets. I even took a crash course in how to operate a forklift (the push kind, not the drive kind) and managed to get all the wine off without a breakage.
That day and next, Michaels and I restacked every pallet so we could check them off and put them in more reasonable order for storage. Turns out the WV guys are going to restack it all again anyhow. I managed to kick over the most precious wine there -- a 1993 Zilliken Auslese -- and as fantastic as it smelled, I resisted the urge to lick up the remains from the dirty cement floor.
Fortunately I did most of the order packing while I directed Michaels on how to correctly identify and stack the rest of the wine. I think he was broken for about a week afterwards. No wonder I was so sore when I unloaded that first container almost by myself!
The pre-arrival orders were all dispatched without drama and then I raced to NZ for a week. I stayed overnight in Auckland then flew to Queenstown, where Sharon Flavell, the marketing manager of Surveyor Thomson, showed me around. I checked out the small vineyard, planted in two stages on an elevated site overlooking Lake Dunstan. They are going to build a tasting room/lodge there on the highest spot, in the shadow of a mountain range. Awesome place.
The tour included a helicopter flight over the ski fields, lakes and mountain ranges to get a feel for the special place that produces some of New Zealand's most internationally acclaimed wines.
I returned to Auckland and then made a detour to Tauranga to talk to Doug and Ange Hendry about their business, The Puzzle Company, for which I am the Australian rep. They are doing very well in the face of threatened newspaper extinction, and in fact a lot of people probably buy the paper for their crosswords, quizzes and brain teasers.
I had a nice surprise with two big orders from new customers while I was away. I hadn't met either person but they had seen the new catalogue and they knew of some of the wines. Rene Geoffroy is proving a hit (and I have opened only one bottle so far, and that was a rosé for Aria, who promptly made it their house rosé).
Bernadette O'Shea is the queen of champagne in Queensland and she prompted the Wine Emporium to lash out on some Ployez-Jacquemart, Rene Geoffroy and Henri Billiot, and we will probably team up for some dinners later this year. I've also had contact from "Champagne Jayne", a champagne corporate educator/entertainer, who is a mad Geoffroy fan and is keen to see as many people enjoy them as possible.
The second satisfying order came from the new Rockpool Bar & Grill, which boasts the best wine list in the southern hemisphere, if not the world. They bought Geoffroy, Billiot, Alex Gambal red and white Burgundies, Dupont-Tisserandot red Burgs and Matrot whites. They are also sizing up the Geoffroy Empreinte as their house champagne.
I've been frantically trying to book venues in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide for tastings to get the wines seen by as many trade as possible. Melbourne was a real problem, not only to find a suitable venue, but to find one that didn't want thousands for the honour! I eventually locked in the Albert Park Hotel's upstairs lounge. I should have moved on this earlier as that was a suggestion by Winestar supremo Bert Werden ... I've since heard it is renovated and looks a treat.
I'm going to Melbourne tomorrow (June 13) for the Central Otago series of trade and consumer tastings, then on Monday afternoon I will be waiting hopefully for trade to turn up at the Albert Park for my session from 2pm, with retailers able to bring their favourite customers in to the late sessio from 5.30pm.
The format will be repeated in Brisbane at the Monsoon restaurant in the Bravo Hotel next Wednesday, in Sydney at Time to Vino on Monday June 22 and in Adelaide at the Universal Wine Bar on Monday June 29.
After that I will try to arrange a session in Perth, and will do road trips to Canberra and Newcastle.
The orders are flowing from people I haven't even spoken to, so hopefully the cashflow will overtake the buying debts and I can work on the next super-exciting container of Burgundy and Champagne.
I finally created a new portfolio and price list, as well as a newsletter in a reader friendly format, so if you'd like any of them, drop me an email.
Cheers,
Neville
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Hard at work in Sydney
It's all happening at the moment ... hang on, when hasn't it been all happening for the past year?!
I've been out and about in the trade for the past couple of weeks, meeting existing clients and potential new ones. The first couple of days was with Grant Dodd of Dombeya in Stellenbosch, even though Grant is an Aussie, former golf pro and now Channel 10 golf commentator! The Dombeyas have been getting a great reception, and people are very pleasantly surprised by the cost. I approached Grant about these wines originally because Kemenys wanted some. I didn't intend to source them but Grant twisted my arm (lob wedge to the back of the head). When they landed, Kemenys cancelled their order. Grrr.
Now Becasse has put the chardonnay on its list, North Sydney Cellars and Wine Culture at Roseville have taken the chardonnay, shiraz and Samara bordeaux blend, Annandale Cellars loved the chardonnay too, and Cremorne Cellars has gone the chard-shiraz double. Who'd have thought South African wine would be so popular? Must be all the new immigrants! No, the wines are genuinely good, and retail for $30-35 each. Another of Sydney's top restaurants, Aria, has asked to see the chardonnay and bordeaux blend next week too.
This week I was on the road with Wine by Brad and Mantra wines, Surveyor Thomson pinot and Alluviale wines from NZ, and a couple of rieslings. The response made me realise I should take fewer wines each time ... people wanted to buy all of them but couldn't, so they were in competition with themselves. Becasse ended up taking Schloss Lieser riesling; Fix St James went for the Brad duo of cab merlot and sem sav blanc, as well as Schloss Lieser and Willi Schaefer rieslings; the Australian Wine Centre restocked Surveyor Thomson; Cremorne Cellars went for Schloss Lieser, Alluviale Blanc, Surveyor Thomson and Dupont-Tisserandot premier cru red Burgundy; and Annandale opted for WBB, Surveyor Thomson, Willi Schaefer and Dupont's Gevrey village.
Most of these wines are sealed with screwcaps or diam corks, so I don't have any problem with faults, thankfully.
I'll be hitting the phones again on Monday and Tuesday to rustle up some more appointments, because on June 1 and 2 I hope to be packing people's pre-arrival orders, on June 3 I fly to Auckland, on June 4 I pop down to Queenstown to see the Surveyor Thomson vineyard (even though it will be under snow! What is it with snow following me everywhere?!)
Then I have a couple of days to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday, at the same time finishing off the new catalogue to reflect the 20 exclusive imported wine brands that will be available nationwide from Eurocentric Wine Imports from June 10. Scary in a way -- that's only half of it!
I'm really excited about this shipment, although it's all white wine. What's with that in the middle of winter? Oh well, in plenty of time to get on the sumer wine lists, I hope. What is going to take off? I think the Rene Geoffroy and Henri Billiot rosés, the Geoffroy Empreinte champagne, as it's just been listed as the house bubbly at French Laundry and Per Se, the bourgogne blanc sealed in screwcap from Thierry Matrot, and the bargain premier cru whites from Stephane Aladame.
I'm obviously a riesling tragic, representing 13 top producers from Germany, but these truly are some of the great whites of the wine world, and so inexpensive. Arriving down under for the first time are five-star producers Emrich-Schonleber, Schafer-Frohlich, Okonomierat Rebholz and Zilliken, and the bargain Mosel mover Andreas Schmitges.
What else is happening? The company bought me -- or is leasing at least -- a much more suitable car for sales and delivery calls. It's an SUV, so I can flip open the boot, put the seats down and load up the back with wine that can be covered and kept airconditioned, and there's not the same back-bending and scrambling as required when you load up the back seat of a Honda Accord!
The deal has been done in such a way as to take advantage of the government's tax breaks on asset investment, while the sale of the Honda will go back into the business as I battle on manfully for the three years that banks insist on before they will even consider financial support. By then I might not need it.
Right, back to work ... I'm ringing every Australian who has stayed at the wonderful house at Ployez Jacquemart in Ludes, Champagne, offering them an introductory deal and some free flutes and ice buckets if they buy enough!
Cheers!
Neville
I've been out and about in the trade for the past couple of weeks, meeting existing clients and potential new ones. The first couple of days was with Grant Dodd of Dombeya in Stellenbosch, even though Grant is an Aussie, former golf pro and now Channel 10 golf commentator! The Dombeyas have been getting a great reception, and people are very pleasantly surprised by the cost. I approached Grant about these wines originally because Kemenys wanted some. I didn't intend to source them but Grant twisted my arm (lob wedge to the back of the head). When they landed, Kemenys cancelled their order. Grrr.
Now Becasse has put the chardonnay on its list, North Sydney Cellars and Wine Culture at Roseville have taken the chardonnay, shiraz and Samara bordeaux blend, Annandale Cellars loved the chardonnay too, and Cremorne Cellars has gone the chard-shiraz double. Who'd have thought South African wine would be so popular? Must be all the new immigrants! No, the wines are genuinely good, and retail for $30-35 each. Another of Sydney's top restaurants, Aria, has asked to see the chardonnay and bordeaux blend next week too.
This week I was on the road with Wine by Brad and Mantra wines, Surveyor Thomson pinot and Alluviale wines from NZ, and a couple of rieslings. The response made me realise I should take fewer wines each time ... people wanted to buy all of them but couldn't, so they were in competition with themselves. Becasse ended up taking Schloss Lieser riesling; Fix St James went for the Brad duo of cab merlot and sem sav blanc, as well as Schloss Lieser and Willi Schaefer rieslings; the Australian Wine Centre restocked Surveyor Thomson; Cremorne Cellars went for Schloss Lieser, Alluviale Blanc, Surveyor Thomson and Dupont-Tisserandot premier cru red Burgundy; and Annandale opted for WBB, Surveyor Thomson, Willi Schaefer and Dupont's Gevrey village.
Most of these wines are sealed with screwcaps or diam corks, so I don't have any problem with faults, thankfully.
I'll be hitting the phones again on Monday and Tuesday to rustle up some more appointments, because on June 1 and 2 I hope to be packing people's pre-arrival orders, on June 3 I fly to Auckland, on June 4 I pop down to Queenstown to see the Surveyor Thomson vineyard (even though it will be under snow! What is it with snow following me everywhere?!)
Then I have a couple of days to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday, at the same time finishing off the new catalogue to reflect the 20 exclusive imported wine brands that will be available nationwide from Eurocentric Wine Imports from June 10. Scary in a way -- that's only half of it!
I'm really excited about this shipment, although it's all white wine. What's with that in the middle of winter? Oh well, in plenty of time to get on the sumer wine lists, I hope. What is going to take off? I think the Rene Geoffroy and Henri Billiot rosés, the Geoffroy Empreinte champagne, as it's just been listed as the house bubbly at French Laundry and Per Se, the bourgogne blanc sealed in screwcap from Thierry Matrot, and the bargain premier cru whites from Stephane Aladame.
I'm obviously a riesling tragic, representing 13 top producers from Germany, but these truly are some of the great whites of the wine world, and so inexpensive. Arriving down under for the first time are five-star producers Emrich-Schonleber, Schafer-Frohlich, Okonomierat Rebholz and Zilliken, and the bargain Mosel mover Andreas Schmitges.
What else is happening? The company bought me -- or is leasing at least -- a much more suitable car for sales and delivery calls. It's an SUV, so I can flip open the boot, put the seats down and load up the back with wine that can be covered and kept airconditioned, and there's not the same back-bending and scrambling as required when you load up the back seat of a Honda Accord!
The deal has been done in such a way as to take advantage of the government's tax breaks on asset investment, while the sale of the Honda will go back into the business as I battle on manfully for the three years that banks insist on before they will even consider financial support. By then I might not need it.
Right, back to work ... I'm ringing every Australian who has stayed at the wonderful house at Ployez Jacquemart in Ludes, Champagne, offering them an introductory deal and some free flutes and ice buckets if they buy enough!
Cheers!
Neville
Saturday, May 16, 2009
What's going on? An overview
I'm way behind in blogging ... I must update regularly and more briefly! Just to bring you up to date, this has been what I've been up to and what the schedule is for the next few weeks:
March 24-28: Flew to Frankfurt via Hong Kong and London. Picked up a rental car and visited Eurocentric Wine Imports clients Van Volxem, Zilliken, Maximin Grunhaus, Schmitges, Schloss Lieser, Willi Schaefer, Reinhold Haart and Knebel, in that order.
March 29-31: Prowein trade show in Dusseldorf. Two days was enough for me. I tried the wines of about 30 riesling producers, which underlined just how good my guys were, although there were two others I really liked ... one day, if sales take off ... also tried a champagne house and ended up visiting them in Champagne but ultimately decided against them on price ... a Burgundy producer who was OK but not right for me ... and took the last day off to catch up on paperwork.
April 1-2: More riesling tastings in the Nahe and Pfalz: existing clients Rebholz, Emrich-Schonleber and Schafer-Frohlich, and three other potential producers that I decided against.
April 3-6: Couple of nice dinners at very good restaurants with affordable sensational wine lists, and some disappointing tastings around Alsace. One fabulous tasting at Zind Humbrecht. I ended up ordering from their Aus agent.
April 7-16: In Burgundy with Gav and Gen for 10 days. Covered a lot of domaines, up to seven in a day ... picked up a few new ones here that I had been chasing for a while or who Gav had done scouting work on. Decided against some on quality, others on price. The additions to the portfolio are Jean-Philippe Fichet (Meursault), Benoit Ente (Puligny-Montrachet), Paul Pernot (Puligny), Aurelien Verdet (Cote de Nuits mostly) and Humbert Freres (Gevrey). There were a couple I had been chasing for a year who I just didn't think cut it for the money they wanted. And there's one I haven't yet decided on. But it was great to get back to Dupont-Tisserandot and see his fabulous 07s. Also was impressed by the wines at Alex Gambal and am working on getting them to Australia for a lower price. Camille Giroud and Domaine des Croix were impressive as expected. David Clark's wines are trucking along nicely, and the 07s that will be coming to Australia are now in bottle. Thierry Matrot's 07 whites are brilliant, and I will bring some of the juicy, fresh reds as well. I'm not sure whether his late-harvest sweet Aligote would find a market, but it is sensational! I had a fun visit with the cute young Aladame couple in Montagny and toured their vineyards to get a better appreciation for their fine work.
April 17: Chablis: I think I have chosen two very good producers with quite contrasting styles. One to enjoy young and one to cellar, and both very good value: Jean-Claude Bessin and Frederic Gueguen of Domaine des Chenevieres. I'm not sure which name is easier to say!
April 18: Another pleasant tasting (but a no) in Chablis before heading to the southernmost part of Champagne for a fascinating afternoon with new client Bertrand Gautheroe of Vouette et Sorbee. These wines "out-Selosse Seloss", as Sydney sommelier Nick Hildebrandt says. They are not for the fainthearted!
April 19: A leisurely drive through the backblocks of Champagne, finishing at a small hotel chain on the outskirts of Reims.
April 20-23: Lots of champagne tasting, starting with a "soil and vine" show for boutique producers to showcase some finished champagne and to show some 08 juice. I thought EWI clients Rene Geoffroy, Chartogne-Taillet and David Leclapart performed exceptionally. Visited a large Champagne house and could import it into Australia ... if I thought I could sell 40,000 bottles of it a year. Unfortunately I didn't much like the flavour or the price of the entry level NV, which should account for 85% of sales. It made me appreciate once again the quality from EWI clients Ployez-Jacquemart, Henri Billiot and Rene Geoffroy. I also took the opportunity to see more of the vineyards, to have a long and leisurely lunch with M. Leclapart, and to get an understanding of the great work Alexandre Chartogne is doing. Another cult producer that should join the team just doesn't have any wine available at the moment but should next year.
April 24-25:Drove north to Amiens, my base for a night so I could soak up the Anzac Day atmosphere in Villers-Bretonneux and Le Hamel. A sobering sidetrack. Then a five-hour drive through Belgium to Germany again.
April 26-27: In Mainz for the 2008 riesling vintage launch. I'd tried many of the wines three times by now so I know how good the vintage is. So refreshing!
April 28-May 2: R&R in London, and some careful Burgundy research with my mentor, Dr Jenkins.
May 4: Step off the plane in Sydney and proceed to battle jetlag for a good 10 days, the worst ever. Sleeping at all sorts of crazy hours, or not sleeping as was mostly the case. Still, I had plenty of work to do, with a shipment due in on May 26. A pre-arrival offer was created and dispatched, complete with tasting notes for all 10 producers.
Coming up!
May 17-31: Tastings in and around Sydney with potential new clients.
June 1-2: Unpacking the container and sending out orders.
June 3-9: In New Zealand to see Central Otago pinot noir producer Surveyor Thomson, celebrate my good friend Doug's 50th birthday and see my grandfather, who is fast approaching his 99th!
June 13-15: Trade shows in Melbourne, including a launch of the new Eurocentric offerings
June 16-17: Ditto for Brisbane
June 18: Central Otago in Sydney.
June 22: Eurocentric launch to trade
And so on. Phew. Much to do before another trip to NZ in August and a return to Europe in Sept-Oct to finalise orders, try new vintages and to sift through another 20 potential producers.
And just like that I've written a stack again.
March 24-28: Flew to Frankfurt via Hong Kong and London. Picked up a rental car and visited Eurocentric Wine Imports clients Van Volxem, Zilliken, Maximin Grunhaus, Schmitges, Schloss Lieser, Willi Schaefer, Reinhold Haart and Knebel, in that order.
March 29-31: Prowein trade show in Dusseldorf. Two days was enough for me. I tried the wines of about 30 riesling producers, which underlined just how good my guys were, although there were two others I really liked ... one day, if sales take off ... also tried a champagne house and ended up visiting them in Champagne but ultimately decided against them on price ... a Burgundy producer who was OK but not right for me ... and took the last day off to catch up on paperwork.
April 1-2: More riesling tastings in the Nahe and Pfalz: existing clients Rebholz, Emrich-Schonleber and Schafer-Frohlich, and three other potential producers that I decided against.
April 3-6: Couple of nice dinners at very good restaurants with affordable sensational wine lists, and some disappointing tastings around Alsace. One fabulous tasting at Zind Humbrecht. I ended up ordering from their Aus agent.
April 7-16: In Burgundy with Gav and Gen for 10 days. Covered a lot of domaines, up to seven in a day ... picked up a few new ones here that I had been chasing for a while or who Gav had done scouting work on. Decided against some on quality, others on price. The additions to the portfolio are Jean-Philippe Fichet (Meursault), Benoit Ente (Puligny-Montrachet), Paul Pernot (Puligny), Aurelien Verdet (Cote de Nuits mostly) and Humbert Freres (Gevrey). There were a couple I had been chasing for a year who I just didn't think cut it for the money they wanted. And there's one I haven't yet decided on. But it was great to get back to Dupont-Tisserandot and see his fabulous 07s. Also was impressed by the wines at Alex Gambal and am working on getting them to Australia for a lower price. Camille Giroud and Domaine des Croix were impressive as expected. David Clark's wines are trucking along nicely, and the 07s that will be coming to Australia are now in bottle. Thierry Matrot's 07 whites are brilliant, and I will bring some of the juicy, fresh reds as well. I'm not sure whether his late-harvest sweet Aligote would find a market, but it is sensational! I had a fun visit with the cute young Aladame couple in Montagny and toured their vineyards to get a better appreciation for their fine work.
April 17: Chablis: I think I have chosen two very good producers with quite contrasting styles. One to enjoy young and one to cellar, and both very good value: Jean-Claude Bessin and Frederic Gueguen of Domaine des Chenevieres. I'm not sure which name is easier to say!
April 18: Another pleasant tasting (but a no) in Chablis before heading to the southernmost part of Champagne for a fascinating afternoon with new client Bertrand Gautheroe of Vouette et Sorbee. These wines "out-Selosse Seloss", as Sydney sommelier Nick Hildebrandt says. They are not for the fainthearted!
April 19: A leisurely drive through the backblocks of Champagne, finishing at a small hotel chain on the outskirts of Reims.
April 20-23: Lots of champagne tasting, starting with a "soil and vine" show for boutique producers to showcase some finished champagne and to show some 08 juice. I thought EWI clients Rene Geoffroy, Chartogne-Taillet and David Leclapart performed exceptionally. Visited a large Champagne house and could import it into Australia ... if I thought I could sell 40,000 bottles of it a year. Unfortunately I didn't much like the flavour or the price of the entry level NV, which should account for 85% of sales. It made me appreciate once again the quality from EWI clients Ployez-Jacquemart, Henri Billiot and Rene Geoffroy. I also took the opportunity to see more of the vineyards, to have a long and leisurely lunch with M. Leclapart, and to get an understanding of the great work Alexandre Chartogne is doing. Another cult producer that should join the team just doesn't have any wine available at the moment but should next year.
April 24-25:Drove north to Amiens, my base for a night so I could soak up the Anzac Day atmosphere in Villers-Bretonneux and Le Hamel. A sobering sidetrack. Then a five-hour drive through Belgium to Germany again.
April 26-27: In Mainz for the 2008 riesling vintage launch. I'd tried many of the wines three times by now so I know how good the vintage is. So refreshing!
April 28-May 2: R&R in London, and some careful Burgundy research with my mentor, Dr Jenkins.
May 4: Step off the plane in Sydney and proceed to battle jetlag for a good 10 days, the worst ever. Sleeping at all sorts of crazy hours, or not sleeping as was mostly the case. Still, I had plenty of work to do, with a shipment due in on May 26. A pre-arrival offer was created and dispatched, complete with tasting notes for all 10 producers.
Coming up!
May 17-31: Tastings in and around Sydney with potential new clients.
June 1-2: Unpacking the container and sending out orders.
June 3-9: In New Zealand to see Central Otago pinot noir producer Surveyor Thomson, celebrate my good friend Doug's 50th birthday and see my grandfather, who is fast approaching his 99th!
June 13-15: Trade shows in Melbourne, including a launch of the new Eurocentric offerings
June 16-17: Ditto for Brisbane
June 18: Central Otago in Sydney.
June 22: Eurocentric launch to trade
And so on. Phew. Much to do before another trip to NZ in August and a return to Europe in Sept-Oct to finalise orders, try new vintages and to sift through another 20 potential producers.
And just like that I've written a stack again.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Digging deep in Champagne
I have been too busy to update this regularly, let alone daily, but I have many stories to share in good time. But first, the latest adventure -- my first day in Champagne on this trip:
"TASTE this dirt," said down-to-earth winemaker Bertrand Gautherot in the tiny Champagne village of Buxières-sur-Arce.
I was glad he offered it to my travelling companion Gavin first, a double handful of claggy clay from a neighbouring plot of vines. Despite protestations that his English was terrible, Bertrand can express himself very well in another tongue, but in this instance the word he was looking for was smell, not taste. It was a shame Gavin understood what he meant.
It's true, the dirt in his neighbour's vineyard not only looked pallid, it smelled awful in comparison to his own lovingly tended vineyard a few steps away. It was apparent from sight and smell that biodynamic practices produce healthier soil, and logically healthier vines and potentially better wine.
The proof was eventually in the tasting - of wine, still and sparkling, from bottle and barrel, rather than the dirt underfoot - that Bertrand is on the right track in his small plots in the southern region of Aube.
The story begins in World War I, when Bertrand's grandfather fought from start to finish and returned to this village one of the few surviving men. His land holdings soon increased from 30 hectares to 300, including 15ha of vines. Bertrand eventually inherited some of that land and has bought other small holdings to take his total to 5ha, although not all under vine.
Like most of the other growers still do in BSA, he contributed grapes to a co-operative until the mid-1990s, when he made a trip to Sancerre, Chablis and Alsace and became fascinated with biodynamic practices. He converted his vineyards in 1998, but kept selling to the co-op until the 2001 vintage, when it became apparent the two styles didn't mix. In fact, in that year the bulk of non-bio vineyards in the area could manage to get their grapes to a potential alcohol level of just 7.5% because of persistent rain, and tonnes of sugar were added to bring the wine to some level of drinkability.
Bertrand's grapes were much healthier and riper and, thanks to the insistence of Anselme Selosse, who Bertrand calls a biodynamic god, his own label was launched, Vouette et Sorbée. Bertrand had sought out the Avize champagne master to discuss biodynamic practices and said that after just a few days they had developed a special rapport. Selosse visited his estate and insisted Bertrand make his own wine. He jokes that he now has a dedicated telephone - a hotline to Selosse - if ever he has a problem. He has called just twice, and both times Selosse answered with a host of questions of his own to push his protege to figure out the answers for himself.
There are other disciples - notably Jerome Prevost and Olivier Collin - and Selosse insists it is their responsibility, along with others in the biodynamic forefront such as David Leclapart, Pierre Larmandier and Alexandre Chartogne, to pass on what they learn.
Bertrand's modus operandi is basically respect for the land. He allows grass and weeds to grow to contain vigour in the vines and to force the roots to go deeper; he sprays copper sulphate only when needed, as well as a biodynamic preparation; he raises his own cattle and mixes their manure with hay as a fertiliser (but happily admits to eating the herd's offspring); and he is preparing original American rootstock to accept cuttings because he doesn't like the way the nurseries do it.
The names of wines and vineyards all carry meaning: Fidele for fidelity/loyalty; Blanc d'Argile, a reference to the rocky soil; and the domaine name Vouette et Sorbee relates to natural features of the land, the narrow track up the side of one vineyard (a vouette), and the trees (sorbées) surrounding another. He's cheeky, too: we walked through a neighbouring vineyard to see more of his vines, and he called the climb "crossing Chernobyl". He's not far wrong: the soil looked pale and lifeless.
The soil in the area is the same as in Chablis, just 60km to the southwest, but the average temperature here is lower and the average annual rainfall 80mm higher.
OK, it's all well and good to cultivate healthy soil, crop at low levels and pick at optimal ripeness (the neighbours once knocked on his door, concerned that he had forgotten to harvest because they had finished and he had not started), but how did he get to the point in such a short time that demand for his wine exceeds supply?
First, the supply was so small: 3000 bottles in 2004 when he was selling the rest of his grapes to raise funds for much-needed infrastructural expansion, rising to a pre-allocated 15,000 in 2010, with an estimated increase to 30,000 in another three years and an ultimate cap of 40,000 bottles because he and his wife Helene have decided to preserve their lifestyle and not pursue more vineyards and a greater workload. You can tell that is going to be hard for Bertrand to stick to now that he has the bit between his teeth.
Second, the marketing plan was brilliant in its absence: He took some bottles to a quirky bistro in the nearby city of Troyes, where the staff decided the wine was fantastic and they would spread the word to Paris. Within two weeks he had received his first order from Japan - before he had even settled on a price list.
He's obviously not out to make millions: he has refused requests for stock for a couple of years to build up his cellar, and he says he wants just enough money to keep his wife and children happy. He also marks his labels with a code to ensure that if wine destined for one market turns up in another, he knows the guilty party. And he says fame is fleeting, and he wants his wine savoured by enthusiasts, not only by those with money and connections.
Bertrand chuckles when he thinks about how his wine has found its way to Italy, Scandinavia, the UK, US and Japan, and will soon be appearing in Australia. The first allocation for Eurocentric down under is just 60 bottles of 2006 Saignee de Sorbée, a rosé made from the smaller bunches of vines closest to the rootstock.
Next year the offer will likely be 180 bottles of Fidele Blanc de Noirs, 90 bottles of Blanc d'Argile (BdB) and 30 bottles of the saignee, all 2007 vintage. The BdN is likely to be around $120, the BdB about $150 and the rose should squeak in under $200. He will keep pushing the release date back until the wine is a full year older than it is on release now.
So, onto the tasting. We examined nine samples in the cuverie, from barrels of different sizes. The new crop from 2008 hadn't yet gone through their malolactic fermentation so were understandably acidic, showing plenty of grapefruit flavour and crisp minerality. The first was a pinot noir from Sorbée and Bertrand thought it a little heavy. The nose was very generous and I thought the palate elegant enough. But the second sample, from the "daughter" vineyard, Biaune, was leaner, showing more finesse and yet still citrus flavours. Bertrand explained that it was a cooler area, getting less sun exposure and facing the forest rather than the village. It was thought by others to be the worst plot but he feels it is fantastic. It is hard to argue. The third sample came from a tiny warmer vineyard and was noticeably softer and mellow. All three were from Kimmeridgian soil, the same in Chablis and the Cote Chalonnaise, where another Eurocentric producer, Stephane Aladame, crafts his subtle chardonnays.
The fourth sample was more chalky, coming from Portlandien soil, with green apples, some yellow fruit, oak spice and touches of cream. The fifth was an experiment with a yeast selection to see if he could get away with using less sulphur dioxide. Bertrand isn't happy with the result, so he will pursue the same goal through less oxidative winemaking techniques.
The sixth, the saignée, was a pretty soft pink, fragrant but showing less flavour at this stage, and was made using a brief carbonic maceration in a style that hails from Bertrand's childhood. He is looking for tannin here to help preserve the wine.
The chardonnay vineyard planted by his father produced the seventh sample, very floral and slightly creamy, while the eighth was from young vines and seemed tightly wound but at the same time remarkably complex.
We then tapped into one of his soleras - a huge oak vat of reserve wine that he adds to and draws off each year. Eventually he will have one each of pinot noir and chardonnay. This blend though was simply awesome, showing plenty of oak influence but great richness of fruit and length on the palate.
At last it was time to crack a bottle. This hadn't been a standard domaine visit: there's the winery, here's the wine, let's run through them. No, we had spent two hours in the vines, studying the soil and plants - in between throwing sticks for his indefatigable dog Chops - and then an hour in the cuverie before the first bottle was even produced.
It was a 2006 Blanc d'Argile, which seemed a contradiction: a very fine mousse, elegant, classy, delicate in a way, but packed with flavour and yet not heavy. Bertrand doesn't use much sugar for the secondary ferment and there is no filtration, so he explained that the wine would run out of fizz quite quickly, but I suspect the liquid will run out before the bubbles do.
The second bottle was still on lees, and Bertrand hand-disgorged it for us. There was no need for a dosage - none of his wines have one added - but it was still rich. The oak was prominent but not offensive, like a Krug on steroids, with cream, caramel, butter and popcorn flavours, and a soft, lingering finish. It was from his second vintage, a 2002 Fidele.
The man certainly can make wine but I sense he knows there is still much to be learned. His neighbours think he is crazy but all he cares about is the love of his family, the respect of his peers and spending time communing with his small corner of God's nature.
I promise to return soon, to talk more and to perhaps go for a motorbike ride together. He has three bikes - a Moto Guzzi, a trials bike and an enduro bike - so he insists I don't need to bring one. He likes to go wild though, he warns. "I must be strict in winemaking, so riding is my release, my chance to let the adrenaline flow." I get the feeling it never actually stops.
Vouette et Sorbee website
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Take note: How to dine alone in style
I went to dinner last night at one of my secret restaurants in Europe that sells great wine at great prices, and kept a running commentary:
FAMILIAR faces greet me at this gastronomic delight in the middle of nowhere. The maitre d' doesn't recognise me but the sommelier does -- I've been stalking her for a year now. When she saw me at ProWein I think she ran for cover, remembering my lame pickup attempts at two previous visits to this restaurant in 2008.
This time, however, she seems pleased to see me and leads me to a table big enough for four in the main dining room. This is the room that went into shocked silence a year ago when I walked in with Gav, Gen and Michel. We're not sure what we did but perhaps it was the sight of a little Eurasian girl in the company of three hulking studs ;-)
That time we discovered a 1992 Leflaive Montrachet (the greatest wine wine I've ever had) and a 1978 Rousseau Chambertin, before slipping horrendously with a brett 1993 Rousseau Clos de la Roche and some sickly 1976 German sweet wine.
On the second visit, Danny, Alex and I were ushered to a dingy table next to a sour couple with a stinky dog. The sommelier -- in fact most of the staff -- ignored us, so we went for the jugular with a 95 Matrot Meursault, a 93 DRC La Tache and another 78 Rousseau Chambertin. That showed them :-)
So here I am alone, with a great view of the dining room. The car park was packed with BMWs, Mercedes (all a bit bigger than "mine") and Audis -- the Hummers were obviously around the back -- and the number plates show French and Swiss origins. Word is getting around.
On my left are two tables of retirement-age couples, top left there is a table with two older couples, straight ahead a couple aged around 50, in the top corner is mum, dad, son and maybe grandma. To my right and front there is mum, dad and their steamy librarian daughter, probably 25 at most. And to my right, obscured behind the door, two older chaps sharing one woman.
The waitresses are decked out in traditional hausfrau outfits (OK, I don't know what sort of outfits they are, but they are meant to look like peasant servants). Mine speaks English well but is nervous if asked to repeat anything. The younger one we terrorised a year ago is still here and obviously drew the long straw, not having to serve me.
I ignore the menus and ask for the wine list. It's not massive, but they have Bordeaux dating back to 1901. There aren't many half bottles but the sommelier tells me I can have a half of something so long as it's not Latour or similar -- she'll either sell the other half or drink it herself, she says.
The red choice is obvious: 1993 Rousseau Chambertin for 195 euros. I'm tempted by a 64 Lafite and a 75 Lafleur Petrus, but I'm a burgnut, and I'd like to see how the Rousseau is travelling since I have only one in my cellar. The sommelier says it is perfect. I want a half bottle of champagne but there aren't any. A glass of 1996 Legras Blanc de Blancs is offered but I decide I'd rather have a half of white Burgundy. The sommelier offers a Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne and says the 01 is very fresh, the 98 and 00 more developed and richer. I go for the 98, having had the 00 not so long ago. It's a pale gold colours and delicious even cold and straight after pouring.
For the first time I don't go for a degustation here -- the "gastronomic" menu is heavy on seafood and the sole red dish is pigeon in Sptaburgunder (pinot) sauce. I like the look of a calf fillet in black perigord truffle sauce, and ask if it would be too heavy for the Rousseau. The sommelier thinks it will be perfect. I go for the cod with a lime-celery sauce for entree, but they start me with an oxtail in aspic appetiser. It's lovely and flavoursome, not heavy or too spicy, and the BdM is easily up to the challenge.
I've got time to survey the room some more, trying to stretch out my drinking time since I've committed to a bottle and a half. The librarian is tall and looking closer to 30 now. Maybe she's the secretary. The waitress is hot and will no doubt look hotter as the wine goggles come on. She's got gorgeous eyes and a knowing smile, is blonde, quite tall and no shrinking violet. In fact, she's fairly sturdily built without being too solid, a bit like this Bonneau du Martray.
The restaurant host and hostess have independently done the rounds with their "guten abend" greeting, her hardly pausing for acknowledgement. I pick up bits of German by context and am able to respond to most greetings and basic questions. When the host comes around he does a double take on the wines on my side table. "Oh, very nice wines," he says. "Yes, I try, thank you for cellaring them for me," I respond.
The entree arrives. It's poached cod on a bed of lime and celery puree. It is quite pungent but tastes mostly of the lime. I'm not a saltist, but this could do with some.
Oh, there's a comedy act by two of the waiters, unintentional I'm sure. The short, young one fits under the flailing arms of his senior colleague, so the passing of plates in a ceremonial fashion passes with barely an elbow to the face. The short waiter has dark brown hair with a yellow-blond patch on top, so maybe the tall guys rubs lemon sauce on him from time to time.
The wine choices of fellow diners at these fabulous restaurants I'm going to this weekend never cease to amaze me. Most people here are drinking the house wine. Maybe that's what they came for. Actually, I can see 10 bottles of house wine and just a bottle and a half of others.
The hot waitress stops for a chat. She has been working here for three years but has "three" days off a week -- Tuesday and Wednesday -- when the restaurant is closed. The librarian seems to be more interested now, perhaps envious of the attention. Actually her group must be foreigners: they have a bottle of chardonnay but I can't tell what it is, and a half bottle of what looks like Bordeaux.
There's not much difference in price from entree to main here, by the way. My entree is 32 euros and the main 38 euros, and cheese to follow is 11e. Tap water wasn't an option, and a 375ml of still water is 3e. So the food bill is going to be 81 euros, while the degustation options were 54e, 68e and 89e for eight courses.
Oh, the librarian is drinking Bonneau du Martray too -- it's a sign.
This restaurant is located 4.5km from my hotel. The police are off at the Nato summit near Strasbourg so I needn't worry about random breath tests, and if I really get carried away I can always sleep in the car for a few hours.
More random thoughts: it's hard to pick the wedding ring situation in Europe. Many people wear their rings on the right hand, but my waitress has what looks like an engagement ring on the right hand and a wedding ring on her left. Turns out they are neither, but the ring on the right hand is a friendship ring. She's embarrassed but flattered by the attention. I think.
I ask for my main meal to be brought out as late as possible, but they've already set the cutlery: a beautiful Laguiole en Aubrac steak knife. Reminds me to buy more fakes at the market in Chablis.
No, it's not Bonneau du Martray. Must be Olivier Leflaive.
This is not a great BdM. It's not getting that creamy, rich, round finish of a great year but thankfully it also doesn't have the resiny paint aromas of too much new oak. It has a lemon edge, the fruit not quite emerging as expected. It's not tart, but it's not as generous as BdM can be.
OK, I'm convinced she is the daughter again, and maybe 23. So hard to tell. I'm guessing the waitress is 28, the sommelier 37 and in danger of never being kissed -- the ultimate ice maiden.
If Mark AS (www.winestar.com.au/forum) thought the 1991 Rousseau Chambertin I opened a couple of weeks back was the greatest Burgundy he had drunk, he would absolutely have wet his pants over this 1993. Storage is everything I guess, and this bottle was cold and dusty and probably hadn't been moved since purchase 14 years ago.
The nose is sensational and the colours rich, with a hint of browning on the rim. The palate is packed with power -- soft and supple at first, with hints of tea, brown sugar, rose petals, soy sauce, but then comes this rush of force, a punch to the mid-palate. Would you want that to soften? The sommelier tells me they don't have so many 93s and only a couple of 78s left. It's possible to see the family traits from the 78 to this one, but I'm enjoying this right now to consider I might have cut it short.
The main dish of calf meat is pinned down by equal parts warm foie gras, and the side vegetables are five potato fingers, sliced white asparagus and that Japanese kind of mushroom, the name of which escapes me.
My request to delay the main as long as possible and to decant only half the bottle of Rousseau and pour the rest into a half bottle have been ignored. It's OK, I'm hungry, I didn't have lunch and it's 9.15pm. Mind you, I've had almost a bottle of wine in 1hr 45min, and I was hoping to spread a bottle and a half over five hours.
The second glass of Rousseau is better than the first. It's getting a bit more assertive, showing a little oak and its firm structure. Maybe it would benefit from another five years.
The food is pretty rich. I can't taste the truffle much but the foie gras is powerful. The mushrooms have a lovely delicate flavour but the asparagus is fairly flavourless.
I call for the cork for the BdM. No one else is going to drink that so I wonder if I'll be charged for a half or the whole.
So, the cute waitress would like to move on. She lives alone, two villages away, her family in Dresden. She'd like to work in Austria or England but she's "waiting to see what happens". There is a problem, she says. Maybe she means the GFC. You can feel the other diners straining to hear what we're talking about, so I let her go back to her work.
I like this place because it takes Diners and it'll probably be my last chance to use it. There wouldn't be enough credit on any of the other cards anyway. I hope it works!
"We make a little break?" the waitress asks. I'd love to, but there are still a couple of glasses of Rousseau to drink.
The table in the far right corner could be son, dad, wife and ex-wife, and they speak English. People move stealthily here. I notice Librarian Girl go to the bathroom but I didn't see the middle-aged couple leave. I was probably lost in the Chambertin. I couldn't miss the cheese cart being wheeled to the table next to me though, with its own pungent cloud trailing along behind it.
People are intrigued by me writing at the table. They probably think I am a restaurant critic. Or they think I am writing them into a play. Maybe I am. The woman at the table to my right decides it should be a comedy, and starts laughing. People do seem more animated here than last year, when it was quite stuffy. The people at the top left table are even having their photo taken together now, and some diners don't have a jacket and tie on: shock, horror.
Librarian Girl is taking an awfully long time in the bathroom but I'm pinned in by the cheese cart so I can't go to trigger an international incident. Just then she floats back into the room, noticeably preened. Very cute.
The host is back. "So, what is happening down under?" he asks. He has a scar that runs from his left eye to the corner of his mouth. Maybe the hostess glassed him one drunken night. He inquires again about the wine and says Charles Rousseau is a friend of his. Charlers's daughter Corinne is said to be helping run things at the domaine now and is a divorcee. I decide it'd be rude not to call in and pay my respects next week.
Two more tables of diners leave. There are still 23 people up the other end of the restaurant, I'm told. The restaurant is usually busy -- full most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, lunch and dinner, but Thursday and Monday are quieter. The wait staff work from 10am to 2 or 3pm, then return at 6.30pm for the night shift.
10.02pm, the top right table leaves. The "ex-wife" bails up the son while the others head for the exit. She was definitely traded in for a younger, slimmer model.
The note-taking has kept me amused, I imagine I will give my hotel name and room number to the cute waitress and she will show it to the others and giggle at my expense. Or maybe she will send someone to rough me up. Maybe that's what happened to the host. I'll ask what sort of wine she likes. She'll probably say she has to be back at work at 10am, but I have a tasting at 10.30am and it's a 45-minute drive away, so I'm no better off. I do have the afternoon free, though. And another dinner tomorrow night, subject to how good their wine list is.
Did I tell you I think I broke my elbow? When I hit my funny bone trying to reach my mobile phone while on the toilet at home in Sydney no less. Either that or I have a torn ligament from lifting cases in the cellar. I have very little strength in my left arm but there is no swelling.
My last glass of Bonneau du Martray, which the sommelier suggested I keep for the cheese, smells like french vanilla yoghurt now. Yum.
Service has tailed off to the point that I've been able to drain my glass for the first time. Something is "verboten" at the table next to me. Maybe it's me chatting up waitresses. They've paid their bill, so go home already.
Unbelievable. The waitress's name is Claudia. I was just saying the other day that I have a predisposition towards girls named Claudia. She doesn't believe me but I explain why and she seems pleased.
The cheese trolley comes back and she chooses one cow's milk one for me to match the Rousseau. I also take a gruyere, a heavily mouldy blue and another cow's milk cheese. They are all gorgeous. And there was no limit ... but I figured they would repeat on me if I took more.
I notice the candles still burning on the tables of departed guests. Maybe it's to ensure they get home safely.
Ah, I thought I was feeling good for 1.5 bottles of wine: there's about a third of a bottle of Rousseau left. I have another glass and offer to keep the rest for the cute waitress if she would care to join me at the hotel. She says she knows where it is and she might come around after work.
My work here is done. I try to pay by Diners and they no longer accept it. Gulp. Somehow, the Amex comes to the rescue again, although I'm sure I'm over the limit. Back to the hotel, I linger in the foyer using their wifi on my laptop, then wait outside in the fresh air for a while. It's almost 1am. I doubt she is coming. The last quarter of a bottle of 1993 Chambertin goes to waste.
And now? It's time for dinner again ;-)
Monday, March 30, 2009
More exciting routes than a trimmed map of Tassie
Pardon the coarse headline but I couldn't help it. I'm talking about my GPS here in Germany. Well, it's a she, and she has a penchant for sending me down narrow country lanes and setting a cracking pace. Some non-wine background on the trip so far: After four hours' sleep, I spent Tuesday frantically making phone calls, packing, and looking for bits and pieces such as GPS map chips for my phone and plug adaptors for my laptop. I also had to go to the post office, meet a colleague to give her some wine samples, and make a delivery, so as usual I cut the trip to the airport a little fine but arrived about 80 minutes before departure.
Another rarity: I was under the 23kg limit for luggage (Virgin Atlantic). I had time to wolf down some lunch and wander to the gate, and was still making sales calls and chasing a disastrous delivery by Mainfreight (late and lots of breakages: way not to win a contract at the first attempt) while seated on the plane. I pulled off another one of my patented moves -- falling asleep before takeoff -- and woke ready to eat and watch movies. I had ordered gluten-free meals to see what they were like and to enjoy priority service (!), then I watched Changeling with Angelina Jolie and Slumdog Mill-a-nare (as the quiz show hosts says), then an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm and one of Flight of the Conchords. I dozed off and on even though the seat was unbelievable uncomfortable, and arrived in Hong Kong reasonable fresh for a 90-minute pitstop.
Back in the same seat, with cushion and blanked repositioned, I managed to sleep a lot between HK and London (flight time 12hr 54min), although waking often and watching another movie (Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and another episode of Flight of the Conchords. Arrived in London before 5am in good shape, but didn't muck around as I had to reclaim my bags and move from T3 to T2 (via internal walkways) for a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt at 6.25am. I made it with ages to spare. Plane left late but it was a comfy leather seat at the back of the plane and I managed to power nap again, despite the dude next to me snoring something chronic. Oh joy, arrived in Frankfurt to see it was snowing and I hadn't packed much more than a pair of gloves and a light jacket in terms of suitable clothing.
Got picked up by a shuttle after standing outside in the 1C chill for 15 minutes, and headed out to the Thrifty depot, where they had a Merc A150 for me but haggled over the prebooked GPS. I knew it was a good deal -- $1800 for 34 days -- but I wasn't going to pay extra. All cleared, first destination programmed in very simply (start with the postcode) and away I went. I was soon on the motorway and decided the car's model number meant the speed it was meant to be driven, but then I decided 150km/h was a bit slow and I was late for my first tasting.
Despite the rain and snow still falling, I touched on 170 now and then, scurried around the back lanes and country roads and rolled into the village of Wiltingen about 1pm. After a comprehensive chat and tour with Van Volxem owner Roman Niewodniczanski, I rolled down the road to Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken a touch on 2hrs and 30 minutes late! Roman assured me everyone was used to overseas visitors being hours late and in fact it was mostly his fault ... we had a long, slow lunch at a local restaurant, took a drive through the vineyards, and he manages to get interrupted by work everywhere he goes.
So, a great tasting at FGZ, then dinner with winemaker Hanno Zilliken in the village of Saarburg before I hit the wall. I let them twist my arm for a nightcap of 1983 Auslese, then drove 100m up the road to settle into my hotel room. I slept from 10pm until close to 6.30am and figured my bodyclock had checked into European time in good style. Day two involved tastings at Dr Carl von Schubert's Maximin Grunhaus in Mertesdorf on the Ruwer, in Erden with Andreas Schmitges, and at Schloss Lieser with Thomas Haag, who is just a great guy and always so warm and friendly. Schubert showed me his 2008s from cask samples, then we toured the cellars and vineyards. One of the amazing things here is the constant battle against wild boars. They tear the place apart, and the Schuberts killed 100 of them during harvest, including 11 in a night by one shooter. The boars come out of the forest when there aren't any acorns around, and are so brazen that they don't take flight even when one of their pack is killed. They even charged the electric fences together and take the jolt to get through! We had lunch in the house, a lovely chicken and vegetable stew, with other vegetables and a 1990 Herrenberg Kabinett.
On to Erden, where I did a fairly rapid tasting with Andreas Schmitges, who is a very sharp thinker and always trying to make the most of what he has, which is some great vineyard holdings and now a dazzling tasting facility. The wines are very smart too... I got back onto schedule and charged into Lieser just a couple of minutes late for a tasting with Thomas Haag. The 08 rieslings were sensational, and were followed by more and more back vintages, starting with Thomas's first there in 1992.
It was 8pm (four hours later) when we finished the tasting and set off for another big meal in a small country restaurant. By the time I got back to my own car and hit the road to find my digs, which I had stupidly booked in a village 40 minutes away, it was about 10.15pm and I hadn't checked in yet. The GPS had been a hoot to this point -- it chooses back roads and shortcuts at every opportunity, and it gives an ETA that is hard to beat! I mean, I can be barrelling down a motorway and only take a minute or two off what it had predicted, so it obviously is tuned in to the speed limit everywhere (which is mostly 130 on the open road). But this time she left me stranded. "Your destination is here on the right" just didn't cut it when I couldn't find the hotel or any street numbers. With some prompting from a service station attendant I found it 400m away, looking nothing like the online brochure. It was 11.10pm and check-in was meant to be before 11pm. I rang the doorbell and could hear it ringing, but no one came. Back to the service station to ring the hotel but it went to an answering machine. I started to think about sleeping in the car, but the servo had another idea and got a hotelier out of bed to come and get me.
Turns out a lot of hotel staff don't even stay in the hotel. This place was locked up for the night but the boss gave me a key and left me to my own devices on the front desk computer! Had a good sleep and breakfast and then found out the room was 65 euros -- a bit of a slap after booking a room for 35e. I went back to that hotel to make sure they weren't going to charge me as a no-show, and picked up the key for that night in case the same was to happen again. Friday's schedule involved the 40-minute drive back to the middle Mosel main towns for a tasting in Graach at Weingut Willi Schaefer, and for the first time lunch wasn't offered afterwards. Suitably shocked, I decided I had time to visit Dirk Richter at Weingut Max Ferd Richter as he had promised me some 1964s from his cellar (my birth year).
I caught him outside the winery and he claimed no knowledge of my request, but he said he would have a look and take it to the trade show in Dusseldorf for me. I then picked up a gorgeous loaf of pumpernickel bread and a snail from a bakery and set off for my second appointment, at Reinhold Haart in Piesport. It was a fairly limited tasting as the 08s hadn't finished fermenting, but cellarmaster Johannes Haart found some other old goodies for us to sample, as well as producing a bottle of 1964 Piesporter Spaltese for me to take as a gift. Another vineyard tour (in freezing winds) ensued, then just as I was about to leave came the welcome invitation for another hearty dinner.
We went to a pricey restaurant with a great mini degustation and enjoyed a lovely local beer, bottles of 1998 Clerc Milon and 2007 Clusseruth Trittenheimer Apotheke Feinherb, as well as some more of the earlier samples. I hit the wall again and actually probably talked in my sleep, cos late in the dinner I caught myself mid-jibber and didn't know how to save the conversation! I struggled back out to the hotel and had another good night's sleep.
There was no rush to move on Saturday morning so I caught up on emails and then hit the road for Winningen. I'd previously only got there via a blast on the motorway, but the GPS decided I should take the scenic back road that follows the Mosel. It was tough work at times but I managed to knock a few minutes off its estimated arrival time. You can see in the picture here an amazing house that spanned the road -- I drove right through it at a decent speed!
An amazing sweet-wine tasting here, another big lunch (wild boar at last!), another vineyard tour (this time in the frighteningly steep vineyards of the lower Mosel) and I was off at high speed looking for a 90-minute trip to Dusseldorf. I tramped along at 180 for a while and was left in the dust of a BMW 630 at one point. I passed him back at the next set of roadworks ;-)
The GPS navigated me with one or two errors to my house for the next three days, and now GPS and car rest while I walk to the Prowein exhibition at the nearby Messeplatz.
That's all probably too much information ... will work on that! Next post might be on some of the amazing wines I have had so far, to save having to bring the notes back with me!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Europe, here I come
In about 48 hours I will make my way to Sydney Airport to start another adventure in the world of wine. That means I should be there three hours before takeoff, because I doubt my heart could take a repeat of last year's two big trips. In September I arrived at the check-in counter half an hour before the flight was due to leave because of a variety of circumstances, capped by a taxi not showing up, Friday peak-hour traffic on a drizzly Sydney evening, and an accident on the route I chose to drive to the airport. On the February trip I arrived early enough, but I was heading to Paris via LA and New York, and NY was under snow so the connecting flight was cancelled. Rather than leave my fellow travellers stranded, a negotiated a rerouting through Dallas and arrived in Paris earlier than originally scheduled.
I'm no more prepared this time than I was for 2008's month-long trips; probably much less so. I've been flat out trying to spend more time on the sales side of the wine importing business, for obvious reasons! All buying and no selling makes Eurocentric a very stretched business!
However, I now have a very capable sales ally in Sydney and a popular and well-connected sales rep in Melbourne, and with the number of contacts I have made I am more confident of the business ticking over while I'm away.
Adelaide and Perth are still a concern, and I would jump on anyone who put their hand up as a passionate wine enthusiast with a love for European style wine and an ability to get the message across to a conservative trade.
Right, so the plan is to fly Virgin to London, with a brief window to make my connecting flight to Frankfurt on Lufthansa. I looked at the cheap flight alternatives to little airports such as Hahn, but they give you such a small luggage allowance (typically 15kg) and then charge exorbitant penalties for excess. EasyJet got me for 200 euros this way out of Paris once. The car rental deals are also much worse at the little airports.
So, it's in to Frankfurt, grab my rental car hopefully equipped with GPS (thus saving me hours of printing Google maps -- often to the wrong destination -- and getting lost, or trying to figure out which way my phone wants me to go) and head straight down to the Saar region.
I've got appointments with Roman Niewodniczanski at Van Volxem and with Hanno and Dorothee Zilliken at Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken. Roman (pictured above) is the heir to a Czech beer empire and has shaken up the Mosel wine world with his slightly left-field take on riesling, while the Zillikens have been famous for a long time but have had an injection of energy and focus since Dorothee returned from her studies and winemaking internships in the Pfalz, Nahe, Rheingau and Alsace. I haven't yet decided whether I will import Van Volxem but the first shipment of Zillikens -- 93s and 07s -- are on the way.
Lunch with Roman, dinner with the Zillikens ... I better sleep on the plane!
The next day includes tasting the 08 rieslings with Dr Carl von Schubert at Maximin Grunhaus in Mertesdorf near Trier, Andreas Schmitges at Erden, and Thomas Haag at Schloss Lieser in the middle Mosel. I have a large order of Grunhaus packed and ready to come (just waiting for me to pay for it!) and a small but stunning collection of Schmitges that will land in Australia in May. The 07 Schloss Liesers have been wowing buyers, and I will get an even better crack at the 08s since I am trying them all before they are sold out!
I'm going to stay at a cute lodge in a village called Zell an der Mosel, just because I liked the look of it on the net and because I haven't been down that end of the riesling strip before.
Friday's schedule includes tastings at Willi Schaefer and Reinhold Haart, then on Saturday I head up near Koblenz to taste Beate Knebel's latest nectar (including an 07 TBA I hope!) Then I will drive to Dusseldorf to settle in for three days of chaos at the Prowein trade fair.
Hopefully by then I will have a chance to update you on my progress. Otherwise, keep an eye on www.twitter.com/eurocentric or the Eurocentric Wine Imports group on Facebook.
Cheers!
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