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
Friday, October 26, 2007
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
Monday, September 3, 2007
What's in a name?
I’m giving you fair warning…it’s soap box time. It’s time for me to get on my “high horse” (as my dearly sainted mother used to say) and rant.
There’s a word that I’ve never been particularly fond of, but now I hate it. That word is “connoisseur,” and I’ve come to hate that word from a couple of different perspectives.
One dictionary definition I recently read was “a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgements in an art, or in matters of taste.” Now, you and I could argue all day about who has the right to judge truly subjective endeavors such as art; however, I doubt that we’d disagree that the person who proclaims himself a connoisseur is probably the last person on earth we’d want to listen to in matters of artistic criticism. I just can’t get over the pomposity with which someone would want to hang the mantel of “connoisseur” about his shoulders. Not even the respected wine critic Robert Parker uses the word in the title of his publication; rather, he calls it “Wine Advocate.” There are also other publications whose titles humbly describe the efforts of their educated writers and editors: “Wine Enthusiast,” and “Wine Spectator.”
Personally, I would describe myself as a wine enthusiast, spectator, and advocate. I certainly enjoy wine discovery and the artistic expressions from the earth that winemakers endeavor to impart through their wines. However, there’s an interesting fad among those who view as “quirky” our avid appreciation of wines; they like to label us as “connoisseurs” in a derisive tone. Some enjoy making fun of our descriptions of the aromatics of a wine, or they enjoy making fun of our interpretations of the flavor profiles of a wine. Some even enjoy ridiculing our customers who want to spend a few dollars more for their oenological pleasures. It still amazes me how many people refuse to taste a wine on our tasting bar just because it’s a little more expensive than they usually spend. Their usual response to an expensive wine which we’ll have open is something like “I’m not a connoisseur, and no wine is worth (insert dollar amount here).” Well, a wine’s worth (whether it’s $6 or $60) come’s from a person’s enjoyment and appreciation, not from another person’s ill-informed opinion.
I won’t give an opinion about why some enjoy ridiculing the pleasures of others. Maybe I’ll just blame it on the fact that for decades, and even centuries, the appreciation of fine wine has labored under the presumption that it is the hobby of a certain class of people.
IT IS NOT. It is to be enjoyed by everyone. It may be enjoyed on the cursory level, as an easy cocktail to relieve the stress of a hard day. It may be enjoyed at a deeper level, appreciating the expressions of fruit, climate, terroir and winemaking skills.
Let’s none of us presume ourselves to be connoisseurs, and by contrast let’s none of us ridicule someone as a connoisseur if their appreciation goes deeper than ours.
Let’s be wine enthusiasts and wine enjoyers (if that’s a word).
Let’s talk about it over a glass of wine.
df
There’s a word that I’ve never been particularly fond of, but now I hate it. That word is “connoisseur,” and I’ve come to hate that word from a couple of different perspectives.
One dictionary definition I recently read was “a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgements in an art, or in matters of taste.” Now, you and I could argue all day about who has the right to judge truly subjective endeavors such as art; however, I doubt that we’d disagree that the person who proclaims himself a connoisseur is probably the last person on earth we’d want to listen to in matters of artistic criticism. I just can’t get over the pomposity with which someone would want to hang the mantel of “connoisseur” about his shoulders. Not even the respected wine critic Robert Parker uses the word in the title of his publication; rather, he calls it “Wine Advocate.” There are also other publications whose titles humbly describe the efforts of their educated writers and editors: “Wine Enthusiast,” and “Wine Spectator.”
Personally, I would describe myself as a wine enthusiast, spectator, and advocate. I certainly enjoy wine discovery and the artistic expressions from the earth that winemakers endeavor to impart through their wines. However, there’s an interesting fad among those who view as “quirky” our avid appreciation of wines; they like to label us as “connoisseurs” in a derisive tone. Some enjoy making fun of our descriptions of the aromatics of a wine, or they enjoy making fun of our interpretations of the flavor profiles of a wine. Some even enjoy ridiculing our customers who want to spend a few dollars more for their oenological pleasures. It still amazes me how many people refuse to taste a wine on our tasting bar just because it’s a little more expensive than they usually spend. Their usual response to an expensive wine which we’ll have open is something like “I’m not a connoisseur, and no wine is worth (insert dollar amount here).” Well, a wine’s worth (whether it’s $6 or $60) come’s from a person’s enjoyment and appreciation, not from another person’s ill-informed opinion.
I won’t give an opinion about why some enjoy ridiculing the pleasures of others. Maybe I’ll just blame it on the fact that for decades, and even centuries, the appreciation of fine wine has labored under the presumption that it is the hobby of a certain class of people.
IT IS NOT. It is to be enjoyed by everyone. It may be enjoyed on the cursory level, as an easy cocktail to relieve the stress of a hard day. It may be enjoyed at a deeper level, appreciating the expressions of fruit, climate, terroir and winemaking skills.
Let’s none of us presume ourselves to be connoisseurs, and by contrast let’s none of us ridicule someone as a connoisseur if their appreciation goes deeper than ours.
Let’s be wine enthusiasts and wine enjoyers (if that’s a word).
Let’s talk about it over a glass of wine.
df
Thursday, August 30, 2007
New Cabernet and new Sauvignon Blanc
Late last week I re-tasted some wines from Hall Winery. This is a Napa, CA winery founded by Craig and Kathryn Hall opened several years ago after Mrs. Hall's successful career as the US Ambassador to Austria. We brought in the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2004 Napa Cabernet, both of which "out-perform" in relation to their prices (the Sauvignon Blanc is $15.99 and the Cabernet is $24.99). I'm sure you won't be disappointed if you give these wine a chance...and in fact you'll have a chance to try the Sauvignon Blanc because it's one of the featured wines on our tasting bar for Labor Day weekend (August 31st and September 1st).
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Guilt-free wine tasting
Even though we don't have a written mission statement for Anytime Wines, Jennifer and I always feel that finding the wine that makes you happy is our mission. In the process of that mission we also open up and share with you some of our favorite wines.
We had a young lady come in the other day during our tasting. She seemed interested in trying the wines, but at the same time she was hesitant and declined to taste. She then came out with this distressing statement: "I've been told that I have an uneducated palate." My first reaction was that I hoped no one at Anytime Wines had ever said that to her. I then encouraged her to enjoy some of our wines by quoting our friend Chef Randy Wilder who says, "the best bottle of wine in the world is the one that you're enjoying right now."
As I mentioned earlier, we enjoy sharing some of our favorite wines during our tastings; however, we never want to give you the impression that these are wines you should enjoy...just wines we hope you will enjoy.
df
We had a young lady come in the other day during our tasting. She seemed interested in trying the wines, but at the same time she was hesitant and declined to taste. She then came out with this distressing statement: "I've been told that I have an uneducated palate." My first reaction was that I hoped no one at Anytime Wines had ever said that to her. I then encouraged her to enjoy some of our wines by quoting our friend Chef Randy Wilder who says, "the best bottle of wine in the world is the one that you're enjoying right now."
As I mentioned earlier, we enjoy sharing some of our favorite wines during our tastings; however, we never want to give you the impression that these are wines you should enjoy...just wines we hope you will enjoy.
df
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Tasting wine for charity
Friends,
Just a reminder that we'll be co-hosting a wine tasting fundraiser with our friend Charlie Fortune for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The event will be Thursday evening, September 23rd from 7 to 9pm. They'll be collecting $20 at the door in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, we'll be opening 6 or 7 wines, and Anytime Wines will give a portion of our sales proceeds to the Society.
Join us!
david
Just a reminder that we'll be co-hosting a wine tasting fundraiser with our friend Charlie Fortune for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The event will be Thursday evening, September 23rd from 7 to 9pm. They'll be collecting $20 at the door in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, we'll be opening 6 or 7 wines, and Anytime Wines will give a portion of our sales proceeds to the Society.
Join us!
david
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Our community
We all know that wine brings people together; we share a bottle of wine, we share a meal, we share a lot of fun. Well, since its inception Anytime Wines has shared its services, its shop, its wine with several charities in the area. The original owner of Anytime Wines, Bill O'Neal, was quite active in helping to raise money for different charitable organizations. Jennifer and I have tried to carry on that service by allowing a few needy charities to hold fund-raising events in the shop. We are happy to help out in any way we can, but these events are only successful if all of us participate...if all of us pull ourselves away from our television sets to come to the shop to support these charities and to have a good time meeting some fun people and drinking fine wine. Some of the charities we've helped are the Duke Brain Tumor Center, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Meals on Wheels, Wake County Women's Shelter, and Pawfect Match Dog Adoption/Rescue.
We have a couple of upcoming fund-raisers which I'll post in tomorrow's blog, so please keep your eyes open for these fun wine-tasting opportunities to help folks in our community.
david
We have a couple of upcoming fund-raisers which I'll post in tomorrow's blog, so please keep your eyes open for these fun wine-tasting opportunities to help folks in our community.
david
Friday, August 17, 2007
a big bottle of Bob
Jennifer and I were walking through an un-named grocery store the other day when I spotted a 1.5Litre bottle of Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon and immediately flashed back to our early days together...what some call the "salad days," but what we called the "pasta days"...when we'd pick up one of these mass-produced marvels of viticulture to last us over several days. Because it was part of the massive Robert Mondavi corporation we called it "a big bottle of Bob." It was sturdy, it was red, and for the most part it was varietally correct.
While standing around the tasting bar I hear a lot of people talk about their first experiences with wine, the changes in their palates, and the new wine discoveries they've made. I know that my palate has changed, not because there's something wrong with "a big bottle of Bob," but because I'm always eager to try new wines, and I've come to realize that just because something is popular, that doesn't mean it's always the best.
So, I raise a glass to toast the path of wine discovery that Jennifer and I have been on for close to 20 years, all because of "a big bottle of Bob."
David
david@anytimewines.com
While standing around the tasting bar I hear a lot of people talk about their first experiences with wine, the changes in their palates, and the new wine discoveries they've made. I know that my palate has changed, not because there's something wrong with "a big bottle of Bob," but because I'm always eager to try new wines, and I've come to realize that just because something is popular, that doesn't mean it's always the best.
So, I raise a glass to toast the path of wine discovery that Jennifer and I have been on for close to 20 years, all because of "a big bottle of Bob."
David
david@anytimewines.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
A great tasting bar
Friends,
Tonight's (Wed 8/15) Flight Night tasting reminded me what a great tasting bar we have at Anytime Wines. We've got to give a big thanks to Bill and Paula O'Neill (the original owners of Anytime Wines) for their imaginative and welcoming design of the tasting bar. It's a lot of fun to see folks saddle up to the bar for one of our tastings, then they meet a fellow oenophile, strike up a conversation, and all of a sudden new friendships are made over a glass of wine.
It's a great tasting bar and we truly look forward to sharing with you, our friends, a lot of great wines.
David
david@anytimewines.com
Tonight's (Wed 8/15) Flight Night tasting reminded me what a great tasting bar we have at Anytime Wines. We've got to give a big thanks to Bill and Paula O'Neill (the original owners of Anytime Wines) for their imaginative and welcoming design of the tasting bar. It's a lot of fun to see folks saddle up to the bar for one of our tastings, then they meet a fellow oenophile, strike up a conversation, and all of a sudden new friendships are made over a glass of wine.
It's a great tasting bar and we truly look forward to sharing with you, our friends, a lot of great wines.
David
david@anytimewines.com
Monday, August 13, 2007
A bone to pick with the N&O
Friends,
I was perusing the Raleigh News and Observer this morning (8/13/07) and the "Life, etc." featured article was on men's summer fashions. The writer of the article made a few suggestions of garments men should consider wearing to be more fashionable. Now, let me explain that I have no problems with anyone trying to look their best, or trying to be fashionable, or enjoying the finer things in life. My problem with the N&O article is that for every garment the writer suggested, she only suggested on-line shopping possibilities as places to purchase those garments (landsend.com, jcrew.com, bananarepublic.com, gap.com, etc.). The writer and her editor seem to forget that there are retail clothing businesses both small and large in the Triangle area that employ people who would be very happy to help you find the correct size, help you choose the right color for you, allow you to try on garments before you purchase...in other words, offer a service that a shopper can't get by going on line.
What, you may ask, does this have to do with wine?
Well, it's the overall trend that many of us would much rather deal with our computer than deal with a human being.
Can a computer allow you to taste a wine before you buy it? Can a computer talk with you about your dinner party to determine the best wine to pair with your foods? Can a computer discuss your holiday party and suggest some inexpensive options for a large crowd? Can a computer remember the types of wines you like and steer you toward similar wines? Can a computer allow you to return a "corked," or tainted, bottle of wine? Can a computer open its portals to local charities to help raise money for needy causes?
Anytime Wines is proud to be part of the Triangle community, and we're proud of the many other merchants (large and small) who employ people in our community, who pay taxes to our local government, and who support the needs of the community.
In response to the News & Observer, maybe I'd suggest that members of this community can get their local news, national news, sports news, etc. at outlets such as USAToday.com, WashingtonPost.com, NYTimes.com....you get the point.
If you're a customer of Anytime Wines, thank you for your patronage. If we haven't yet had the opportunity to serve your wine needs, we'd love to hear from you.
David Faircloth
david@anytimewines.com
I was perusing the Raleigh News and Observer this morning (8/13/07) and the "Life, etc." featured article was on men's summer fashions. The writer of the article made a few suggestions of garments men should consider wearing to be more fashionable. Now, let me explain that I have no problems with anyone trying to look their best, or trying to be fashionable, or enjoying the finer things in life. My problem with the N&O article is that for every garment the writer suggested, she only suggested on-line shopping possibilities as places to purchase those garments (landsend.com, jcrew.com, bananarepublic.com, gap.com, etc.). The writer and her editor seem to forget that there are retail clothing businesses both small and large in the Triangle area that employ people who would be very happy to help you find the correct size, help you choose the right color for you, allow you to try on garments before you purchase...in other words, offer a service that a shopper can't get by going on line.
What, you may ask, does this have to do with wine?
Well, it's the overall trend that many of us would much rather deal with our computer than deal with a human being.
Can a computer allow you to taste a wine before you buy it? Can a computer talk with you about your dinner party to determine the best wine to pair with your foods? Can a computer discuss your holiday party and suggest some inexpensive options for a large crowd? Can a computer remember the types of wines you like and steer you toward similar wines? Can a computer allow you to return a "corked," or tainted, bottle of wine? Can a computer open its portals to local charities to help raise money for needy causes?
Anytime Wines is proud to be part of the Triangle community, and we're proud of the many other merchants (large and small) who employ people in our community, who pay taxes to our local government, and who support the needs of the community.
In response to the News & Observer, maybe I'd suggest that members of this community can get their local news, national news, sports news, etc. at outlets such as USAToday.com, WashingtonPost.com, NYTimes.com....you get the point.
If you're a customer of Anytime Wines, thank you for your patronage. If we haven't yet had the opportunity to serve your wine needs, we'd love to hear from you.
David Faircloth
david@anytimewines.com
Saturday, August 11, 2007
It's in the bag...
So we're thinking about switching from the brown paper bags we've been using since early last year to plastic "frosted" bags with cardboard reinforcement in the bottom. Main reason? The plastic bags cost less and are more easily re-used (for our many customers who like to return them for recycling).
Anyone out there have a preference?
Anyone out there have a preference?
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Wine Dinner anyone?
Hey Friends
Yesterday I had a good meeting and tasting with Chef Michael Lustig of the Capital City Club in downtown Raleigh. He's excited about some wines we've chosen for an upcoming wine dinner and he's come up with some great ideas for a menu. We'll have a finalized menu and cost for the wine dinner on the web site soon, but in the meantime let me just mention one wine we plan on using: Domaine Serene "Evenstad" Pinot Noir. It's silky, lush, multi-layered and almost chocolatey after it has been open for a while. Chef Lustig's first idea to pair with this wine was a parmesan encrusted lamb with smoked tomato coulis and white truffle. If that sounds as good to you as it does to me, then keep an eye on our e-mails and on the web site for information about the wine dinner in September.
David
Yesterday I had a good meeting and tasting with Chef Michael Lustig of the Capital City Club in downtown Raleigh. He's excited about some wines we've chosen for an upcoming wine dinner and he's come up with some great ideas for a menu. We'll have a finalized menu and cost for the wine dinner on the web site soon, but in the meantime let me just mention one wine we plan on using: Domaine Serene "Evenstad" Pinot Noir. It's silky, lush, multi-layered and almost chocolatey after it has been open for a while. Chef Lustig's first idea to pair with this wine was a parmesan encrusted lamb with smoked tomato coulis and white truffle. If that sounds as good to you as it does to me, then keep an eye on our e-mails and on the web site for information about the wine dinner in September.
David
The Anytime Wines Blog Begins!
We are hatching a blog here at Anytime Wines as a way to talk to our customers and get their feedback...what do you think? Good idea? Lousy idea? Any bets on how long we can keep this up?
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