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.
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