Dr Vino's wine blog

When I walked into Moore Brothers on a warm and sunny afternoon this week, I was instantly happy. That’s because the entire store is cooled to 56 degrees (or so they say; it actually felt like 65 to me but it was still a relief).

Is cooling the whole store a gimmick? Maybe. But it works.

“Wine is a perishable agricultural product,” writes Greg Moore in the engaging newsletter.

While the Gramercy shop sells only 300 wines from France, Italy, and Germany, I could easily have spent an hour in the shop and my entire monthly wine budget. I followed the polished concrete floors and exposed brick walls to the rear of the spacious store where a staff member was pouring four wines, all under $20, in glasses. Classy.

Because they work with only two distributors, consumers might not immediately recognize many of the wines. But Greg and David Moore know them all because they have visited the regions and worked with the producers for years if not decades.

Can the store deliver quality at a reasonable price? Or does all this Freon make it prohibitively expensive? It’s hard to say if they are price competitive because many of the wines are only available in other restaurants if at all in NYC. But Greg Moore suggests in the newsletter that “it’s self-evident that a bottle of Gianni Piccoli’s Biano di Custoza is much more intrinsically worthwhile than a bottle of Santa Margharita Pinot Grigio, which is much more expensive.” Unknown is distinctive and in this case good. Often very good.

In case you can’t keep up with their 300 wines, each customer has an optional file of purchases on their computer. Loved something and can’t remember the name? Call them and they’ll tell you. Or you can access your account online and track and rate your own purchases. But my bet is they’ll actually remember you in the store.

I’m thrilled that Moore Brothers has finally opened in Manhattan since one of my friends who shops at their Delaware store has been telling me about it for years. This specialty store has leapt to my short list of favorites in New York City and I look forward to going back often. Perhaps the best thing about my experience there happened when I got home and pulled the cork of the wine I bought. It was still chilled. How refreshing.

Where: 33 E. 20th St (see it on the NYC wine store map) Grab a fleece at the door!
When: M-Sa 10 – 8; Sun 12 – 6.
How: 4, 5 to Union Square, 6 to 23rd St.
Call: 866-986-6673
Who: the whole family–there is a playspace for kids
Shelf-talkers: none. Each wine at the tasting table had staff-written one page (!) of tasting notes, producer story, regional history.
Delivery: free delivery in Manhattan for orders over $150; otherwise $12.75 delivery charge. Shipments to New York state and beyond will be available soon.
On the web: site

tags: wine | wine stores | New York City

Pascual Toso, Mendoza, Malbec reserve 2004. $13 find this wine

On my recent trip to Argentina, the jovial Ernesto Toso picked me up in his beat-up sedan and drove me from downtown Mendoza to his family winery in the Barrancas area, about 45 minutes. Overlooking a dry river bed that had channeled into the ground like a miniature Grand Canyon, I tasted the line of wines made at the winery with Paul Hobbs from Sonoma, California as consulting winemaker. The real sweet spot in terms of quality to price was the Malbec reserve with wonderful aromas of dark fruits and a hint of vanilla to complement a luscious mouthfeel and soft tannins. The straight malbec (about $8) is a good approximation but spring for the reserve if your budget permits. Fire up the grill and pull the cork! I also tried the $100 Magdalena 2002 (find this wine), which was no doubt a powerful and serious wine but at that lofty price point I couldn’t help but think about other wines I could have—or even nine bottles of the malbec reserve. Importer: TGIC imports.

tags: wine | tasting notes | malbec

“Bottlerocket believes that buying wine should be as pleasurable as drinking it,” reads the store fact sheet. Who can argue with that! A selection of 365 wines arranged alphabetically by region runs along one wall, the same wines (and a few sakes) are then paired with foods selections on 18 handsome, rolling displays in the rest of the spacious store. The greenmarket display currently grapples with asparagus and suggests some sauvignon blancs and roses. Other displays pair wine with chicken, beef, and select good gift wines. Dial in your take-out thanks to the restaurant menus on the displays–or try to beat the delivery guy home.

The whole philosophy is the next step in drinker friendliness beyond arranging wines by style (a la Best Cellars). As well as food pairings, the shelf talkers offer critics’ scores, if available, and a “Bottlerocket index” out of 5 (mostly 3s and 4s) if not…While many wines are available under $20, the pricing is not the most competitive in town…Bring the kids since there is a playspace next to the spacious reading area at the back of the store.

Delivery: by cart within a radius of a few blocks; otherwise by taxi (you pay the cab fare!)
when: 11 – 8 PM daily, Sunday 12-6 PM
who: Bottlerocket Wine and Spirit
call: 212-929-2323
where: 5 W. 19th St, (just of 5th Ave), Flatiron district
See it on the nyc wine shop map!

tags: wine | wine | New York City

New wine shops are sprouting up within swirl and spitting distance of Union Square! The green pins in the map above are new shops. In the bottom right is Trader Joe’s, which opened a month or so ago, and the two green pins near the top are Bottlerocket and Moore Brothers, which both opened last week. Check out my map of NYC wine stores, updated yesterday!

Reviews forthcoming!

tags: wine | wine shops | NYC

Michael Ruhlman’s new book about the reach of celebrity chefs has just been published (link). I liked his previous book The Soul of a Chef and look forward to throwing this new one in my beach bag this summer.

Just the concept of the book got me thinking about celebrity chefs and wine. What if Emeril started singing the praises of Sancerre? Bam! Sales would rocket! Or if Rachel Ray said “cru Beaujolais, yes way!”

That would certainly reinvigorate sales of French wine in the US. Look what the movie Sideways did for pinot noir in America as evidence of what TV/movies can do for wine sales.

Or what if celebrities (forget the chef part) bought up vineyard land in a region? Brangelina was rumored to be poking around Serralunga, Italy looking for vineyard land. But it’s not as if Piedmont is exactly undiscovered.

But what if Brangelina bought vineyard land in Mendoza, Argentina? That would really put it on the map.

Clearly the star power of celebrities has not escaped wine marketers. Even the downtrodden Georgian wine producers recently tried (and failed) to recruit J-Lo to sing their praises.

But getting back to the celebrity chefs…I’d like to see–either in print or on TV–a showdown, be it an Iron Chef challenge or an American Idol, between Robert Parker and Emeril. Parker can bring his points; Emeril can bring his panache. We’ll see which wines consumers would buy. Or they could even call in their votes!

* * *
Michael Ruhlman will be doing a book signing tonight at Borders in the Time Warner Center, 7PM, for The Reach of a Chef.

tags: wine | books | chefs | stars

“WE HAVE been sozzled but now we may be saturated. After a spectacular 25 years of rising wine consumption in Britain, sales have now gone into decline.”

So runs the lede to an important story in yesterday’s Scotsman about the decline in wine sales in the UK.

Traditionally a country that fueled weekends and even some weeknights with beer and spirits, Britons discovered the fruits of the vine starting in the 1980s. But in the first four months of this year, wine sales declined 1.5 percent in volume, a first during the long bull run. It will probably turn out to be only a minor dip on the way to greater heights (bull markets don’t always go straight up after all) but it no doubt makes winemakers around the world draw a collective short, sharp breath.

The implications for wine producers would be serious if the British reverted to beer and booze since the UK imports the largest amount of wine in the world. With wine being distilled into ethanol in France, a crisis in Australia, and a bountiful harvest in California in 2005, consumers can but hope that the extremely competitive wine market will continue to deliver great values.

The US still remains a growing market for wine consumption, forecast to be the world’s largest by 2008. But Americans can’t drink it all so if the Brits slow down, producers are going to have to look to other outlets (like Hungarian monkeys).

tags: wine | wine consumption | UK

I was so intimidated when I first got the 450-page tome that is North American Pinot Noir that I pulled a trick from teaching undergrads out of my hat: I scheduled a class where I would have to read it. Having taught the class I can let you know that you don’t have to take such extreme measures to enjoy the book on your own.

Pinotfiles around the world–not just in North America–should welcome the book by John Winthrop Haeger. While it’s not something you’ll want to tote along to the beach this summer, it is an essential reference for pinotfiles–and pinotphobes, I might add, since it may help remove some of the fear of this grape whose followers seems so fanatical.

Haeger has a very readable history of the grape both in Burgundy and in America. Despite the title of the book there are a lot of comparisons between America and Burgundy, as well as among the US regions (mainly CA and OR).

The detailed producer profiles in the second half are a huge asset to collectors and casual consumers. Certainly not all notable producers of pinot are included–no Dehlinger, no Marcassin, no Loring–but what he lacks in breadth he makes up for in depth. Many of the old guard receive extensive and thoughtful including Calera, Rochioli, Merry Edwards, Williams-Selyem, Eyrie, Panther Creek, and many more. Most importantly, Haeger writes thoughtful tasting notes completely devoid of numerical scores for various wines of each producer profiled.

The book was a great guide for my class and I will find it useful in selecting pinots for the Dr. Vino cave. Stimulating the mind and the palate–now that’s something I can drink to!

tags: wine | wine books | wine

“Whitehead would market his red strangler by taking it and a dozen bikini-clad women to clubs via his band’s tour bus.” Sure wine needs marketing but would this be a winning approach? Michael Whitehead, rocker, hopes his approach will get him cast in the new PBS reality wine show set to start filming this September in Paso Robles. [Bloomberg]

The Economist discovers the joys of Walla Walla wines: “Yet they are also elegant; unlike California’s wines, they do not overwhelm. Mr [Serge] Laville smiles. ‘“We all try to put the French touch in our wine,’” he says, ‘but not too much! Because we make wine for the American market.’ [Economist]

Helicoptere volant? Randall Grahm scopes out vineyard land from above–in England! [Decanter]

“No bottle of wine is worth more than $10, in my opinion.” Which California wine maker said this–and more!–at a press conference last week? Click to find out [SF Gate]

Georgian wine banned in Russia–except in the Kremlin cafeteria! [Daily Telegraph; background]

Hungarian monkeys drink almost 14 gallons of red wine a year–more than the per capita consumption rate in the US! Heck, it rivals France! I’ll have to add that to my cross-national tables…[CNN]

Moore Brothers opens in New York City! My full report soon…33 East 20th Street near Gramercy Park. See it on the nyc wine shop map.

tags: wine | wine news | monkeys