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Movin' up in the world!

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  • Movin' up in the world!

    So we've always been sorta on the map, as far as boutique liquor/wine stores go. We've been mentioned in several publications, have a great reputation for talent, skill, and our collection, and most people in the high end of the business are at least aware of us peripherally. We're not on par with a couple of NYC institutions, but we haven't been around nearly as long.

    Our esteem has risen lately, though. Boss had me put together a natural wines tasting for one of the biggest names in the natural wines movement, and he's using my recommendation - everyone is uber-excited about it. Then, today, he handed me a printout from his email, and said "I need you to define these underlined terms, because I'm not familiar with them, and we have to pair."

    The name in the "from" section? A certain chef, well-known for his gourmet Italian restaurants, as well as his (rather large) presence on a certain cooking channel. He's cooking for a fundraising dinner hosted by a friend of Boss, and the friend said we'd do the wine - Mr. Chef said he'd been here before, and that we were "delightful," that he'd be happy to have us do the wine, as long as he had final say.

    So yeah. We're definitely moving up in the world a bit. I'm excited.

  • #2
    oooooooooo Congrats!!!!! Sounds like a lot of fun!!!
    Coffee should be strong, black and chewy! It should strip paint and frighten small children.

    My blog Darkwynd's Musings

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    • #3
      :applause:
      Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

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      • #4
        Awesome!

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        • #5
          Congrats muchly!!

          I'm not big on wine terminology; what's a 'natural wine'? One with no preservatives etc?
          "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

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          • #6
            "Natural wine" is a catchall term for any wine that uses minimal processing in the vineyard and winery. This usually means few or no chemical pesticides, an adherence to the belief that a sterile vineyard makes for flat-tasting wine, no cultured yeasts (many wines don't use the yeast that live naturally on the skins of grapes and in the winery, but rather kill those off and use an artificially-cultivated strain), no colour or flavour additives, no filtering or fining (uses egg whites, rennet, and other animal-based products), and frequently no SO2 (Sulfur Dioxide, or sulfites) for preservation. Sometimes these wines have organic or biodynamic certifications, but not always. Hence the term "natural."

            The opposite to this term would be "supermarket" or "processed." Basically any large-volume winery like Gallo, Yellowtail, Barefoot, Louis Jadot, Jaboulet, Masi, Ruffino, Marques de Caceras, etc, would be considered supermarket wine, and be highly processed, in order to get a consistent product every single vintage, with little variation. The sort of thing you'll find in a supermarket or booze warehouse. Bigger is not better, when it comes to wine.

            /soapbox

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            • #7
              The sad thing for me is most wines taste very bitter to me. (there was one white wine I likes back in the 80's, but it was something my ex brought back from Jamaica in a crock, a German wine-no wine people I ever spoke to and showed the crock to recognized it sadly-no longer have the crock). Even the so called 'sweeter' ice wines taste a little bitter.
              Of course I have also had people tell me broccoli is not bitter and it tastes nasty bitter also. SO I guess it is just my taste buds.

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              • #8
                Quoth Teskeria View Post
                The sad thing for me is most wines taste very bitter to me. (there was one white wine I likes back in the 80's, but it was something my ex brought back from Jamaica in a crock, a German wine-no wine people I ever spoke to and showed the crock to recognized it sadly-no longer have the crock). Even the so called 'sweeter' ice wines taste a little bitter.
                Of course I have also had people tell me broccoli is not bitter and it tastes nasty bitter also. SO I guess it is just my taste buds.
                Hm, other than schnapps, the only thing I know that comes in crockery was lancers, but that was portugese. Hm google-fu leads me to Beameister Liebfraumilch - could that be it? It is a sweet german white wine that tends to be reasonably priced. Not sure if it is still available though.
                EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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                • #9
                  Thanks to the advent of chefs like Thomas Keller and Alice Waters, there is a greater focus on the subtleties good ingredients can bring to any dish, and the way that those subtleties change based on what wine is used, what vintage it is, and how it can change from bottle to bottle.

                  Yes, some chefs, especially those in the restaurant business, are looking for consistency from dish to dish. But there is a clear advantage to using top ingredients in any recipe, and mass-produced plonk is not a top ingredient. It's the equivalent to using pasta sauce from a jar, rather than producing your own from scratch.

                  One should never cook with a wine that one is not willing to drink. And there is so much wonderful in the world of wine, so many amazing inexpensive wines that are well-made and delicious... why would any talented cook want to use something that is merely mediocre?

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Teskeria View Post
                    The sad thing for me is most wines taste very bitter to me. (there was one white wine I likes back in the 80's, but it was something my ex brought back from Jamaica in a crock, a German wine-no wine people I ever spoke to and showed the crock to recognized it sadly-no longer have the crock). Even the so called 'sweeter' ice wines taste a little bitter.
                    Of course I have also had people tell me broccoli is not bitter and it tastes nasty bitter also. SO I guess it is just my taste buds.
                    Aye, I'm not a wine fan either. I appreciate and love the whole idea of a multitude of types of wine, the colours and flavours...but it all tastes like gone-off vinegar to me (Housemate says 'Ironic given that vinegar is just gone-off wine ')

                    I prefer gentler tastes and sometimes sweeter tastes. I love mead - mum and dad have got me some from Lindisfarne that I can't wait to go pick up - and I like liqueur and some schnapps. I also like this particular ginger wine stuff I can't remember the name of; my granny loved it too, so liking it runs in the family. ^^
                    "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

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                    • #11
                      Quoth KiaKat View Post
                      One should never cook with a wine that one is not willing to drink.
                      Then I'm not allowed to cook with wine!

                      I wish I liked wine, though. I'd love to be able to make more choices when it comes to cooking then red or white. I figure if I keep trying it when it comes along I'll eventually find something I like and that will help me figure out the rest of it. That strategy certainly worked with scotch.
                      The High Priest is an Illusion!

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                      • #12
                        Did they change the forum rules when I wasn't looking and they suddenly allowed fratching debates???

                        Kia posted this because she was very excited that her store and her recommendations are being used by a pretty high profile chef.

                        I am wondering at what point that became an open invitation to debate wines and consistency, and dump all over Kia's excitement.

                        She had asked for the thread to be closed, but I think she deserves to get some praise and pats on the back here, so I have just edited out all the fratchy stuff.

                        If it heads off into another debate about wines, it will be closed.
                        Last edited by Ree; 06-22-2012, 11:22 AM.
                        Too tired of living and too tired to end it. What a conundrum.

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                        • #13
                          Hey, congrats on getting singled out by a celebrity chef for the quality of your wines, KiaKat. Will the store get its name mentioned in the credits or any other incidental advertising?

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                          • #14
                            Hanzoku - Presumably, we will, given that it's a fundraiser. Usually the sponsors and suppliers get splashed all over the place at those.

                            More interesting Goings-On: We're supplying the wine for a dying party being held for and by one of the original writers of SNL. Said wine was purchased by someone who has been in the store before, but not for a while... one of the Ghostbusters.

                            Every time I think I'm totally cool with everything that's happening, with the sheer WEIGHT of our customers' roles in life, something like this happens and I turn into a total dork.

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                            • #15
                              I thorry about the wine thing. I think that was my fault. I really didn't mean it like that. I try to be good but I fail sometimes.

                              *gives Kia big hugs and cake*
                              "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

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