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Wine blog (mine) with a local bias

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Started 4 years ago by Andrew Hall
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Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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Oinos Nervosa
Partly stimulated by a thread here and largely stimulated by numerous discussions with associates, I started up a wine blog.
As I put in the intro, I collect wine and am into all kinds of wine, especially wierd and wild wines. I also work based on this (with absolutely no retail or commercial affliation). And I have lots of trouble recommending wines since I tend to look at them in a different way.
The premise of my blog is simple - once a month or so I will get together with a wine-loving friend who is not a wine geek. Drink some wines with some foods which will challenge and then get our collective take on both the wines and the match. My knowledge will unearth off-the-beaten path wines and is not tied to distributor pushing stock (a big issue) and the alternative opinion will give a less jaded point-of-view.
Reasonable priced wines and all sourced locally, which is why I am giving a sneak preview post here. My intention is to keep it local - there is no useful or not self-serving local wine info.
A.

Posted 4 years ago #
Daz
Tweeting about some totally unimportant event
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VERY nice.
Thanks.

Posted 4 years ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Awesome! :D

Posted 4 years ago #
enzo

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Andrew Hall wrote Oinos Nervosa
Partly stimulated by a thread here and largely stimulated by numerous discussions with associates, I started up a wine blog.
As I put in the intro, I collect wine and am into all kinds of wine, especially wierd and wild wines. I also work based on this (with absolutely no retail or commercial affliation). And I have lots of trouble recommending wines since I tend to look at them in a different way.
The premise of my blog is simple - once a month or so I will get together with a wine-loving friend who is not a wine geek. Drink some wines with some foods which will challenge and then get our collective take on both the wines and the match. My knowledge will unearth off-the-beaten path wines and is not tied to distributor pushing stock (a big issue) and the alternative opinion will give a less jaded point-of-view.
Reasonable priced wines and all sourced locally, which is why I am giving a sneak preview post here. My intention is to keep it local - there is no useful or not self-serving local wine info.
A.
:D Awesome.....sort of like being in San Francisco....super idea. I know it is not local but there was a wine I had while I was out there called St. Clement. It was a Merlot ( I do not normally ever have Merlot...hard core Cab/GSM/Malbec/Barolo Amarone della Valpolicella)...it was really nice. It was a 2003 and I liked it alot. I like going to Alanas and having that super smart Kevin pair things up...if you do not finish the bottle they will gas it and seal it so that you can take it home...love it!!! Sometimes I cannot decide on just 1 bottle....so this feature is great. Plus I think Alana's is the bomb.

Posted 4 years ago #
hazy stars
The Brauhaus
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I think this is a great idea as well. I've actually been talking to some people about creating a "beverage" themed blog in the Columbus area. I study both wine and beer as a hobby. (With the goal of Sommelier certification - for fun). Although, I'm no longer in the "restaurant biz," I still like to play around in the realm of all things consumable.
Last night at the Social Media Cafe meet-up, ideas about collaboration between bloggers and building/ strengthening the blogging community were exchanged.
I'm still thinking of starting my own blog, but more from a amateur point of view - taking people along with me on my journey to learning about wine (and beer) ... from vine to bottle.
There is so much to explore in the world of vino, and I think it's great idea to give people a resource to go to and trust.
I love the idea of monthly wine tastings. Is this something you may open up to your blogs readers?

Posted 4 years ago #
enzo

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There is actually one at Trattoria Roma on Tuesday...$50
"There are still seats availiable for our wine dinner next Tuesday at 7pm. We will serve a four course dinner paired with four wonderful wines from California. The cost per person is $50.00. There are seats, but they are limited so please RSVP. The menu for the tasting is as follows. As an added bonus, C-Magazine will be there to take pictures of the event to put in their March issue.

1st course spicy fried calamari with a cayenne aioli
2nd course orechiette puttanesca
3rd course Spinach and radicchio salad with marinated mushrooms and fresh tomatoes in a creamy pesto dressing
4th course Prime Rib in a natural au jus served with mixed pepper scalloped potatoes

Bonus Dessert: Bananas Foster Zabglione

Print a copy of this email to redeem our carryout special.
Two House Salads, Two Orders of Spaghetti and Meatballs, Tiramisu and Garlic Bread for $22.00
Avaliable for carryout only. Not valid with any other promotion."

Posted 4 years ago #
Mercurius
First Avenue
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Most of my money was spent on wine and women, the rest was wasted. Nice blog Andrew. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll be more than happy to assist! :lol: Oh, I think Second Annual Fancy Beer Party is in the works!

Posted 4 years ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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enzo wrote There is actually one at Trattoria Roma on Tuesday...$50
"There are still seats availiable for our wine dinner next Tuesday at 7pm. We will serve a four course dinner paired with four wonderful wines from California. The cost per person is $50.00. There are seats, but they are limited so please RSVP. The menu for the tasting is as follows. As an added bonus, C-Magazine will be there to take pictures of the event to put in their March issue.

That kind of illustrates my point.
What kind of numbnut would serve a dinner of all California wines at an ...ITALIAN restaurant?
Talk about lazy.
When TR used be to good - as in when it was on Morse Rd - the manager there did very good dinners of ... wait for it ... Italian wines with Italian food.
A.

Posted 4 years ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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hazy stars wrote II love the idea of monthly wine tastings. Is this something you may open up to your blogs readers?
Yes. Down the road, I'd like to.
A.

Posted 4 years ago #
enzo

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Guess what? I was in Trader Joes in San Fran and an Italian wine that I normally pay $23.99 per bottle was selling for $14.99 there!! The competition is crazy so Italian wines are so ultra affordable. Andrew call them up and tell them to get with the program!!! I used to go to the Refectory for wine events but I could never really pay attention and understand because there was too much hustle bustle. I wish you would let people come sit with you while you do this tasting blog...sort of like a lesson or why don't you head up a CU wine tasting club!!!

Posted 4 years ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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enzo wrote Guess what? I was in Trader Joes in San Fran and an Italian wine that I normally pay $23.99 per bottle was selling for $14.99 there!! The competition is crazy so Italian wines are so ultra affordable. Andrew call them up and tell them to get with the program!!!
It is not TJ's fault.
The pricing structure is strictly controlled by the state which mandates a minimum markup at each of the three levels. For example, "Two-Buck Chuck" is 50% more here than 2$. Your wine has the same issue, worse if it is brought in by a distributor who already had in Ohio. Other parts of the law get even more arcane and less consumer-friendly.
The system is rigged in favor of the distributors to screw the consumers and they use the state government to keep their monopolies. This is one of the larger issues I would like to tackle, but is obviously going to wait.
A.

Posted 4 years ago #
Cyclist
Peach District (State of Mind)
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Make a wine and chese radio show!

Posted 4 years ago #
Mercurius
First Avenue
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Andrew Hall wrote It is not TJ's fault.
The pricing structure is strictly controlled by the state which mandates a minimum markup at each of the three levels. For example, "Two-Buck Chuck" is 50% more here than 2$. Your wine has the same issue, worse if it is brought in by a distributor who already had in Ohio. Other parts of the law get even more arcane and less consumer-friendly.
The system is rigged in favor of the distributors to screw the consumers and they use the state government to keep their monopolies. This is one of the larger issues I would like to tackle, but is obviously going to wait.
A.
I have a meeting with the Wholesale Beer and Wine Association today. Anything in particular I should bring up other than the outrageous ban on small producers? http://www.commoncause.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=810365&content_id={70E289D0-310E-4E9B-B1E8-98B9FD26C906}¬oc=1

Posted 4 years ago #
enzo

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Yes, please figure out a way that I can call a winery and have it shipped to my home rather than going to a wine shop.

Posted 4 years ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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enzo wrote Yes, please figure out a way that I can call a winery and have it shipped to my home rather than going to a wine shop.
You can. There are some hoops and some tangles, but in general you can w/ a permit.
That is not legal advice, btw, just a quick opinion.
PM me.
A.

Posted 4 years ago #
joshua
Columbus
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Ohio is almost but not quite as bad as Pennsylvania. Old laws , old ideas makes me wanna live in California again.

Posted 4 years ago #
Mercurius
First Avenue
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What do people think of this?
http://www.fairwinelaws.org/facts.html

Posted 4 years ago #
gramarye
In Exile
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Why am I not surprised?
I wonder how this works with direct mail-order wines. There have been a couple of tempting offers on Wine.Woot over the years (1 offer per week), but I have yet to give them a try. Occasionally a couple of other wine-of-the-month clubs will send me offers, too. Haven't bit yet, though looking forward to it when I have a little more money to burn and a little bit of a group to share it with.

Posted 4 years ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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Mercurius wrote What do people think of this?
http://www.fairwinelaws.org/facts.html
That group is sponsored by Glazer et al.
It is not a simple issue. This stuff has been voted down twice before.
Glazer wants to eliminate franchise laws because they want to be able to poach large-selling brands from other distributors. Small distributors rely on large brands for restaurant placements and pallet sales which enables them to have a portfolio of small production, high-quality wines. Take away their rainmakers and they will go under. That is the position of the smaller distributors and off the non-chain retailers. IMO, Glazer has no interested in repping small wines and does an awful, awful job of doing so currently.
OTOH, the franchise laws are majorly fucked up and anti-competitive. The only reason they don't get struck down is the special place alcohol has in commerce laws which gives states almost free rein on how to control it. It is absolutely asinine that wines available in Cleveland aren't here and are sold by seperate people, for example. If large companies like Glazer have too much internal competition between their low-level brands, then there will be a strong incentive for the small players to work hard to rep the brand well and get loyalty. Market will work. That is somewhat my opinion and certainly what Glazer wants you to believe. It is also pretty naive when you look at the ground level economics of the biz. *
Neither the small or large distributors or the retails have any consumer interest at heart. Period. Unequivocable.
There's more, but I don't feel like typing it.
A.
* I set up a business plan and seriously looked into starting a distributorship and/or importer here. The economics were well-stacked against it, so I didn't. That is how I know a fair amount.

Posted 4 years ago #
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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And I didn't address one particularly troublesome aspect of those guys - pricing.
They want to eliminate the mandate 33.3% mark-up from wholesaler-to-retailer. And claim it will reduce prices. It sort of will.
Problem is there is a mandate 50% markup from retailer to you. That 15$ bottle of wine cost the retail 10$. The wholesaler acquisition cost was 7.50.
The big wholesalers want to be able to move massive volumes of low-end product with lower markups than smaller competitors. So they make it available at 8.00$ to the retailer. It becomes 12$ to you. Not bad.
If they really wanted to help consumers, eliminate the 50% markup at retail. Or at least eliminate the silly rules. Allow a retailer to discount an older vintage to free up shelf space and inventory (taxed, btw) to bring in new. Level the playing field there as well. Which will let the big chains who will benefit most from lower costs offered to them by the distributors compete with other retailers who will be allowed to be flexible in their own pricing.
Any way this gets discussed, it is for th benefit of anyone but consumers. It is just a matter of which interest you (legislatively) want to suckle at.
IMO, strick down the whole mess of laws and make it like any other commodity save the age restriction.
A.

Posted 4 years ago #