I'm writing this entry in mid-March of 2008, several months after a festive Christmas season. However, the movie "Miracle on 34th Street" is in the forefront of my mind. You may recall that, in the movie, Kris Kringle (Santa Claus at Macy's Department Store) suggests to a shopper at Macy's that a toy for which she is searching is not available from his employer, but rather at Gimbal's Department Store (a Macy's competitor). The shopper is thrilled that she can find the toy and good will is spread as both Gimbal's and Macy's make the customer's needs and wishes their number one priority.
Several months ago, a customer came into Anytime Wines looking for a wine that we didn't have. I'll admit that I'm not sure why I did it, but I picked up the phone and called our friendly competitor Great Grapes a few miles up Kildaire Farm Road to see if they had the wine for the customer...and they did.
Some time after that incident, Anytime Wines received a call from Great Grapes. They had a customer who was looking for a Torrontes; a varietal not necessarily considered at popular item during winter months. We had a few bottles of Santa Julia Torrontes and our friends at Great Grapes sent the customer down Kildaire Farm Road to Anytime Wines.
There have been a few other instances where we have suggested to our customers that they visit Great Grapes or Wine Merchant or Seaboard, and the amazing thing is that we don't lose those customers forever, but rather they turn into customers who appreciate the service that an independent wine retailer offers.
I saw the owner of Great Grapes at an industry event in Durham recently and we spoke briefly of this type of reciprocal respect. I truly believe that neither of us looks on it as a disingenuous tactic practiced only for the appearance of commercial chivalry. However, we both realize that the teenager bagging your groceries at Harris Teeter can't suggest to you the best wine to pair with salmon with a blood orange sauce; we both realize that the cashier at Trader Joe's can't explain the differences in flavor profiles between a California Pinot Noir, an Oregon Pinot Noir, or a Burgundian Pinot Noir and which one would best satisfy your Holiday dinner guests; we both realize that the cashier at Total Wine can't suggest the best Cabernet to go with your rib-eye steak because he hasn't chosen the wines to go on the shelf, rather those wines are chosen at a corporate office.
It is your independent wine retailer who tastes the wines he brings into his shop. It is your independent wine retailer who choses wines with his customers and his community in mind. It is your independent wine retailer who spends his time educating himself so he can better serve his customers.
Yes, Anytime Wines and Great Grapes are competitors, but both shops are staffed with folks who enjoy wine, enjoy learning about wine, and, most of all, enjoy sharing wine with our customers. By fostering a love and appreciation for fine wines, by offering to our customers interesting and unusual wines, we are happy that we support wineries and wine-makers who carry on centuries-long traditions of creative, expressive, and artistic wine-making.
As anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm not overly humble; I believe Anytime Wines is a great wine shop and we want to earn your loyalty and support. However, if we don't have it, ask us to suggest another wine retailer who'll take good care of you the way we do.
df
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
A Two-Buck-Chuck Rant
As many of you know, Anytime Wines was up for a "Maggy" award this year. The Maggies are sponsored by Cary Magazine, and are an opportunity for Caryites (and anyone else with Web access) to vote for their favorite local businesses. Well, somehow Trader Joe's managed to sneak into--and win--"the best place to shop for wine" category. I wish Cary Magazine would allow only locally owned businesses and not chains to compete in these awards, but that's a topic for another blog entry. In the meantime, I've got Trader Joe's and their lousy wine in my crosshairs.
Are there really people out there who honestly believe that the best place to shop for wine in Western Wake is a chain whose best-known wine is nicknamed "Two Buck Chuck"? This is a wine whose reputation is based on its price, not on its quality or drinkability. When people walk out of Trader Joe's with cartloads of Charles Shaw Wine, are they really stopping to think about what they're serving themselves, let alone their guests? Here's a newsflash: producing, bottling, labeling, corking, packing and shipping a bottle of wine costs more than what Trader Joe's sells this dreck for. They're not making money off of Two-Buck Chuck, they're just using it to lure you in. If you look at the rest of their (somewhat paltry) wine selection, they make up for the loss they're taking on the Charles Shaw by overpricing everything else.
Just in case you're curious, here's a link to an online video review of the whole Two-Buck Chuck lineup: http://tv.winelibrary.com/2007/04/10/2-buck-vaynerchuk-episode-212/ It's worth the 20 minutes out of your day for the sheer entertainment value.
There's a big difference between wine that is cheap and wine that is a good value. For some, perhaps Charles Shaw is a great value, but I hope that more of you stop and think about the quality, flavor and price before you make your purchase decision.
Have you tried Two Buck Chuck? Post your own review here...I'm dying to hear all about it.
Jennifer
Are there really people out there who honestly believe that the best place to shop for wine in Western Wake is a chain whose best-known wine is nicknamed "Two Buck Chuck"? This is a wine whose reputation is based on its price, not on its quality or drinkability. When people walk out of Trader Joe's with cartloads of Charles Shaw Wine, are they really stopping to think about what they're serving themselves, let alone their guests? Here's a newsflash: producing, bottling, labeling, corking, packing and shipping a bottle of wine costs more than what Trader Joe's sells this dreck for. They're not making money off of Two-Buck Chuck, they're just using it to lure you in. If you look at the rest of their (somewhat paltry) wine selection, they make up for the loss they're taking on the Charles Shaw by overpricing everything else.
Just in case you're curious, here's a link to an online video review of the whole Two-Buck Chuck lineup: http://tv.winelibrary.com/2007/04/10/2-buck-vaynerchuk-episode-212/ It's worth the 20 minutes out of your day for the sheer entertainment value.
There's a big difference between wine that is cheap and wine that is a good value. For some, perhaps Charles Shaw is a great value, but I hope that more of you stop and think about the quality, flavor and price before you make your purchase decision.
Have you tried Two Buck Chuck? Post your own review here...I'm dying to hear all about it.
Jennifer
Friday, January 4, 2008
New Year....New You...New Wines
My apologies to those of you who've come into the shop and asked why I haven't posted anything on the blog for a while. As you can imagine, the holidays are beyond hectic and busy...sometimes it gets downright chaotic. My New Year's Resolution is to be more diligent about posting my verbal froth on this humble blog spot.
With New Year's resolutions in mind, now is a good time to mention this weekend's tasting of organic wines. For many years organic wines were not very highly regarded; they were wines whose producers were primarily concerned with organic and sustainable farming rather than producing quality wines of expressive depth and character. More recently, however, producers of fine wines around the world have discovered the necessity and usefulness to their land, and to our world as a whole, of organic farming, as well as organic farming's utility in crop quality. By not using synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, they find that not just the vineyard life is improved but also the land around the vineyard is healthier, and that what surrounds the vineyard is just as important as what's in the vineyard.
Many European vineyards have been practicing organic and sustainable farming before there was any such label, and of course we'll present some examples of fine organic farming in the form of a German Riesling from the Hirschhof winery, a Pinot Bianco from Italian producer Alois Lageder, and a Cotes du Luberon from France. We'll also present two spectacular organic wines from the New World; a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon which received an 88 point review/score from Robert Parker, and the elegant and lush Alma Rosa Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills of California.
Great wines coming from great farming methods. I hope you'll join us.
With New Year's resolutions in mind, now is a good time to mention this weekend's tasting of organic wines. For many years organic wines were not very highly regarded; they were wines whose producers were primarily concerned with organic and sustainable farming rather than producing quality wines of expressive depth and character. More recently, however, producers of fine wines around the world have discovered the necessity and usefulness to their land, and to our world as a whole, of organic farming, as well as organic farming's utility in crop quality. By not using synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, they find that not just the vineyard life is improved but also the land around the vineyard is healthier, and that what surrounds the vineyard is just as important as what's in the vineyard.
Many European vineyards have been practicing organic and sustainable farming before there was any such label, and of course we'll present some examples of fine organic farming in the form of a German Riesling from the Hirschhof winery, a Pinot Bianco from Italian producer Alois Lageder, and a Cotes du Luberon from France. We'll also present two spectacular organic wines from the New World; a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon which received an 88 point review/score from Robert Parker, and the elegant and lush Alma Rosa Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills of California.
Great wines coming from great farming methods. I hope you'll join us.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Customer, or Participant
Several weeks ago I was ringing up a customer's order of two cases of wine. When I told this very regular and loyal customer his total, he hesitated a moment and said that the total sounded too LOW...he was expecting it to be much more. I happily told him that the total was correct and that we don't overcharge any of our customers. He looked at me with a little grin and followed with this remark: "Well, I'm not a customer...I'm a participant."
I love telling that little story, and here at Anytime Wines I love calling our many regular customers "participants." Of course it goes without saying that any customer who buys wine makes this a successful independent wine retailer, but there is something deeper than mere purchasing which makes you all "participants."
After the last "Mega-tasting" in September, a number of our distributors mentioned how many folks at the tasting were truly excited about the overall exploration of various wines and wine styles, the history of certain wines, their growing regions, the terroir, etc. This, of course, confirmed what Jennifer and I already knew: that Anytime Wines customers/participants appreciate the many-faceted aspects of wine...an agricultural product; the perfect companion for meals; an elixir which brings together both friend and foe in convivial harmony; an artisitic expression of the earth; something that tastes good. All of the above, and many more, are the reasons our participants explore wines.
Another interesting dynamic we observe in our shop is the interaction between our customers during our wine tastings. It's amazing how many new customers tell us how "at home" they feel in our shop, how comfortable and inviting Anytime Wines can be. Of course, Jennifer, Dani, Susan, Bernadette, Denise and I would like to think that we have something to do with that, but in reality I think most of it is because our customers/participants enjoy meeting new people, and of course a good bottle of wine is always a good ice-breaker and conversation starter.
The last thing I want to mention in reference to our participants is a fund-raising event we had here recently for ARC of Wake County. At that event we had a representative from Anderson's Conn Valley pouring and discussing their fine wines. Two of our good-hearted customers/participants offered to donate, from their personal wine collections, large format bottles of Anderson's Conn Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to be used as auction items in Arc of Wake's upcoming Gala on November 3rd. If you've been in the shop recently, these bottles are on display, and I'm always proud to point to those bottles as two examples of how amazingly generous our "participants" are.
As always we thank you for your patronage and your participation in support of our community, and in exploring wines with your independent wine retailer, Anytime Wines.
df
I love telling that little story, and here at Anytime Wines I love calling our many regular customers "participants." Of course it goes without saying that any customer who buys wine makes this a successful independent wine retailer, but there is something deeper than mere purchasing which makes you all "participants."
After the last "Mega-tasting" in September, a number of our distributors mentioned how many folks at the tasting were truly excited about the overall exploration of various wines and wine styles, the history of certain wines, their growing regions, the terroir, etc. This, of course, confirmed what Jennifer and I already knew: that Anytime Wines customers/participants appreciate the many-faceted aspects of wine...an agricultural product; the perfect companion for meals; an elixir which brings together both friend and foe in convivial harmony; an artisitic expression of the earth; something that tastes good. All of the above, and many more, are the reasons our participants explore wines.
Another interesting dynamic we observe in our shop is the interaction between our customers during our wine tastings. It's amazing how many new customers tell us how "at home" they feel in our shop, how comfortable and inviting Anytime Wines can be. Of course, Jennifer, Dani, Susan, Bernadette, Denise and I would like to think that we have something to do with that, but in reality I think most of it is because our customers/participants enjoy meeting new people, and of course a good bottle of wine is always a good ice-breaker and conversation starter.
The last thing I want to mention in reference to our participants is a fund-raising event we had here recently for ARC of Wake County. At that event we had a representative from Anderson's Conn Valley pouring and discussing their fine wines. Two of our good-hearted customers/participants offered to donate, from their personal wine collections, large format bottles of Anderson's Conn Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to be used as auction items in Arc of Wake's upcoming Gala on November 3rd. If you've been in the shop recently, these bottles are on display, and I'm always proud to point to those bottles as two examples of how amazingly generous our "participants" are.
As always we thank you for your patronage and your participation in support of our community, and in exploring wines with your independent wine retailer, Anytime Wines.
df
Monday, October 1, 2007
Our latest wine dinner
Friends,
This past Friday night (9/28) 34 folks gathered at the Capital City Club in Raleigh to enjoy our latest wine dinner. You may think that my use of the word "enjoy" is a bit boastful since we (Anytime Wines) were the hosts of the wine dinner. However, I know folks were having a good time because I am happy to say that whenever Jennifer and I needed to give our talk on the wines we had a hard time quelling the laughter and jovial conversation around the dinner tables. All of the free-flowing conversation and laughter were music to my ears. It just goes to show what good food and good wine will do to foster good feelings and fun times in people. Actually describing the food and the wine is almost an anticlimactic exercise after experiencing such a fun and delightful evening. Yes, wine was discussed, the chef came out and answered questions about his food, and the food presentations were a work of art, but none of it compares to the joys of making new friends.
Thanks to all who participated in this great evening. I hope others will join us at future wine dinners to experience fine wines, fine dining and fun times.
df
This past Friday night (9/28) 34 folks gathered at the Capital City Club in Raleigh to enjoy our latest wine dinner. You may think that my use of the word "enjoy" is a bit boastful since we (Anytime Wines) were the hosts of the wine dinner. However, I know folks were having a good time because I am happy to say that whenever Jennifer and I needed to give our talk on the wines we had a hard time quelling the laughter and jovial conversation around the dinner tables. All of the free-flowing conversation and laughter were music to my ears. It just goes to show what good food and good wine will do to foster good feelings and fun times in people. Actually describing the food and the wine is almost an anticlimactic exercise after experiencing such a fun and delightful evening. Yes, wine was discussed, the chef came out and answered questions about his food, and the food presentations were a work of art, but none of it compares to the joys of making new friends.
Thanks to all who participated in this great evening. I hope others will join us at future wine dinners to experience fine wines, fine dining and fun times.
df
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Wine Education
I've been out of town (in Washington, DC) for a while on some non wine related business and I have to say I really miss North Carolina. Even though I enjoy visiting friends, family, colleagues, and old haunts in DC, I remember why Jennifer and I moved to Cary...which is probably the same reason many of you moved to Cary, too.
Be that as it may, I've made a couple of visits to my friends at The Curious Grape, the wine shop where we used to buy all of our wines. I've been reminded about how active they are in wine education and wine classes for their customers, and how well they present their classes; not at all condescending or self-promotional, but very friendly and very informative...and a lot of fun.
We've been asked by many people about having basic "wine appreciation" classes, and it's something that we are researching and trying to develop. However, we could use your assistance. Let us know if you have any ideas on what type of topics you'd like to see covered in such a class/classes. Let us know if there are certain wine-growing regions you'd like to explore. Let us know if there are particular varietals you'd like to know better. Let us know if there's a particular weekday evening when such a class could be fit into your busy schedule.
Drop us an e-mail (or post your comments here) and give us some ideas, and of course we'll keep you posted through our newsletter and through this blog.
david
Be that as it may, I've made a couple of visits to my friends at The Curious Grape, the wine shop where we used to buy all of our wines. I've been reminded about how active they are in wine education and wine classes for their customers, and how well they present their classes; not at all condescending or self-promotional, but very friendly and very informative...and a lot of fun.
We've been asked by many people about having basic "wine appreciation" classes, and it's something that we are researching and trying to develop. However, we could use your assistance. Let us know if you have any ideas on what type of topics you'd like to see covered in such a class/classes. Let us know if there are certain wine-growing regions you'd like to explore. Let us know if there are particular varietals you'd like to know better. Let us know if there's a particular weekday evening when such a class could be fit into your busy schedule.
Drop us an e-mail (or post your comments here) and give us some ideas, and of course we'll keep you posted through our newsletter and through this blog.
david
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Thank You
Jennifer here...filling in for David, who is out of town.
I wanted to post a giant thank-you to all of our wonderful customers this evening. We had a fantastic mega-tasting today, with 21 wines open, all being poured by four wine experts. We were amazed by the number of people who came in to enjoy this event, and our four experts all agreed about what a pleasant crowd it was. Everyone was interested in hearing about the wines, and nobody came in just to taste a bunch of free wine. There was genuine love for wine going on today, and it makes us feel so good to have such a fine group of customers coming into this shop and supporting us. Thank you all again. Today was a great day.
Jennifer
I wanted to post a giant thank-you to all of our wonderful customers this evening. We had a fantastic mega-tasting today, with 21 wines open, all being poured by four wine experts. We were amazed by the number of people who came in to enjoy this event, and our four experts all agreed about what a pleasant crowd it was. Everyone was interested in hearing about the wines, and nobody came in just to taste a bunch of free wine. There was genuine love for wine going on today, and it makes us feel so good to have such a fine group of customers coming into this shop and supporting us. Thank you all again. Today was a great day.
Jennifer
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