Phil Ward

Some dear friends and lovers of wines spent the weekend. Perfect time for the above, but after standing it up for 24 hours, extracting the cork slowly and decanting carefully, it was *&$#@ corked. I had been given this by my wife many years ago and she had bought it from a retailer in Brooklyn on release. So much for that bottle. Thankfully, I still have two left but now am concerned. There is no way to get a credit from the retailer, importer, negociant or the winery. I did send a note to Lafite from their web site but am not expecting anything. As an alternative, we did have a very nice bottle of Ch Beauregard 1996. Oh, also had a phenomenal bottle of Leroy Puligny-Montrachet, Les Folatieres, 1993 as an aperitif. Perfect, lovely and still quite youthful. All in all a wonderful snowy weekend in NJ with great friends. Phil

Kim WB, I am jealous of you having attended the dinner at RATs. I sell them wine and actually dropped off the 89 Krug, 1.5 litre, on Friday. As to dessert wines, if you tell me where you live, I can suggest a couple of really good retailers who may be able to help you in your journey. All my best, Phil

Also, These wines do need to get some air. I urge you to decant them for 30 to 60 minutes or pull the cork, decant and then put back in the bottle for awhile. My wife and I opened another bottle last week and had a glass each. The next day my wife poured a glass for lunch on her day off. She called me at the office to rave about how the wine had really opened up to show wonderful aromas and flavors. In the Art of Eating article, M. Joly suggests opening the bottle 24 hours prior to serving. Personally, I think the decanting helps. Phil

Well, to quote WS re the Paloma: "is also an exceptional value at $45". Hmmm... to me an exceptional value is a lot less expensive than that but then it did get their highest rating ever for a CA Merlot. I'm cornfused To me the #7 wine, Beaurenard CdP 2001 with a score of 94 and SRP of $27 and the #21 wine, Ch. de Flaugergues with a score of 92 and a SRP of $13, are exceptional values. That's my idea of two values. As to Eroica, I sell it and I love German Rieslings and to me it is one of the best American Rieslings I have ever put in my mouth. All of the above in IMHO. Thanks, Phil

In NJ wholesale averages about $40-$50 depending on vintage availability. Please avoid the 1997 as there was a problem with Botrytis in the vineyard and the wine is atypical. If anyone subscribes to The Art of Eating, Ed Behr did an extensive article on M. Joly about a year ago. Good luck in your searches for this amazing wine. Phil

I recently bought 6 btls of the 1998 and had one about 10 days ago. Gawd its good stuff! Sorry its so expensive. I am sure it would be less if Paterno did not put their M/U on it but I guess M. Joly needs a National Importer due to his need to be in the vineyards and winery rather than on the road. I have a few customers who appreciate the wine but many have never had the opp to taste nor do they have the customers who would understand these wines. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

As I am a fan of Gigondas and large format bottles, I say buy it depending on how well it is priced. I love them with roasted and grilled meats. In large formats they age gracefully and make quite a conversation piece for dinner parties of 6 + people. If you have a good cellar, this wine should age nicely in this size bottle for 8+ years. IMHO, of course.

Thanks for the web link. I can't wait to send it around to my friends in the fine wine business. I am sure they will get a good laugh. Sadly, though, it is a segment of the market that has made these companies a ton of money and the wines certainly show no aspect of the business I am in. Phil

<> One can also say the same about many of the 1st and 2nd growth Bordeaux Chateau who produce 10,000 ++ (Latour-30K; Mouton - 30K; Lafite-20K; Margaux- 30K; Lynch-Bages- 45K; Pichon-Lalande-35K; all of these are rough estimates) cases annually at now way too high priced wine for my wallet. I am one of the few here who began buying when they were still relatively cheap( I still have a few 61's and 70's in my cellar). After the 1986 vintage, I said no more will I pay the prices they demand. I have found other regions that offer better bang for the buck and as much or more flavor enjoyment for me.

Having discontinued my subscription two years ago due to "I've had enough", it does not surprise me that RP has farmed these regions out as he certainly has way toooo much to do.

I am familiar with the organization of wineries. To me it seems like quite an honor to be invited as a passport member. I have no clue what it gets you but invitations are never a bad thing. As far as how to act: professional, courteous, grateful..... all of things we learned in school when being invited into someone's house/place of business. These are all family owned businesses and they should be respected for their history and dedication. Just my $.02. Phil

< >> Craig, personally, as I buy wholesale most of the time, I find it is beyond my budget to pay more than $100 for a single bottle of wine at retail. As I tell all of my friends, I can find at least 2 bottles of wine that would probably be equally as good or better than that $100 bottle. There are just too many darn very good to excellent wines out there in the $50 and under range. Now this having been written, there are also some way overpriced $50 wines out there as well. I won't get into namimg names but think CA Chard, Cab, Merlot, etc. By the way, a great subject.

And the good news is that many of those, including Newton, that were skewed towards On Premise, have now begun to be seen more at the Off Premise level.

Mark, Now that is FUNNY!

And I would recommend the producers from the Valckenberg portfolio highly! I love the wines of Dr. Loosen, Heyl, Johannishof, Saarstein, Maximin Grunhauser, Von Kesselstatt, etc.

Yes, the changing of distributors can lead to a "dump" and we are also seeing great pricing on wines from DeLoach and also Fife (filed Chapter 11 as well.) This could be due to too much dist. inventory, too much winery inventory or a possible change in marketing strategy. I know many fine wine retailers and restauranteurs who have taken advantage of the pricing on these wines as well as others (Matanzas in '02 had serious price drops on Chard and Merlot for On premise accts. According to the story, Mr. Jackson wanted to rid himself of the last of the old regime wines and re-align pricing and style for his "own" wines.)

One of my favs is Marimar Torres' Chard from Green Valley/RR. Although I no longer sell them I still have a few bottles left in the cellar. The beauty is they AGE, unlike many of the wines mentioned above. I have tried many of the Big Guns mentioned above and they don't seem to have the balance I search for in a Chard. IMHO, of course.

We began distributing these wines in NJ as well as NY at the beginning of the month. We received a very positive reaction to them, although there was some fear, at our Grand Tasting in NJ in Sept. Our marketing ideas are for beach resorts, golf club bev carts, picnics, etc. I tasted the wines back in the summer and I was as sceptical as any fine wine lover would be. They are all sound, not thrilling and anything we can do to bring new wine consumers on board is a positive. There is no tinny taste as the cans are lined. We have also introed Two Tone Farms (screw cap) this month and will intro Black Box (premium bag in the box) wines in Nov. I hope all of these wines will help bring more wine consumers to our business as well as to the world of wine.

"Hermitage Blanc "Chante Alouette" 1997, list price $48 a bottle at wholesale offered at $8.50 a bottle. " Mark, Be careful of bottle variation. We closed this out almost two years ago and there were some great bottles as well as not so great. Phil

20 for 20 with no studying. Damn I must know my French wines and regions. No life I guess. Phil

I agree with most of these posts. I recommend WOW Wine Course. Kevin added a section this year to the new revison. It guides the consumer through the retail wine buying experience. Kevin sent me the rough draft and it reads well. I have always recommended this book as a great way to start down the road to wine knowledge.

"What percentage of bottles opened in restaurants are bad? " On a regular basis, many studies have found that from 3-10% of all wines are "corked", hence the move to alternative closures from producers throughout the wine world. As for my home consumption, I would say the numbers are about 5 or 6% of all the wines we drink have been affected by cork taint. Phil

I am sure that many of us have alternatives to this great producer but I still have a 70 that I will open some day and hopefully revel in with some good friends. The wines can be profound. Phil

Generally speaking, I find most Alsace PNs to be fun and light. I have had a few where the fruit was masked by an oaked experiment. I prefer the cleaner style of no oak. On a side not, re Spatburgunder, I have had a few while in Germany that were quite delicious. Most of the best producers only make enough for themselves and their in country clients. Phil