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mike volker

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Posts posted by mike volker

  1. P.A.'s becoming famous for all the wrong reasons. From another board:

    "Fiscally speaking, maybe the feds should take a lesson from Pennsylvania. They could start by outlawing UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. That would help get the US Postal Service profitable. Then they could put a Hurricane Katrina tax on every parcel to be shipped, maybe 18% of value for starters. Oh, and stamps for email, if we can put a man on the moon, why can't we figure out how to require stamps be purchased for email...."

    If it wasn't so sad this would be funny.

    Best,

    Mike

  2. From one of those other boards:

    "This evening I was provided this description by an employee of Whitehall Lane:

    "The Chairman's Cabernet and Merlot were specially blended by and for

    Chairman Jonathon Newman of Pennsylvania. These 2005 vintage wines are from a separate wine lot and not exactly representative of our branded Whitehall Lane black label wines: Napa Valley Merlot, Napa Valley Cabernet and Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

    The Chairman's Merlot and Cabernet are very young 2005 wines. They

    experienced an abbreviated barrel-aging regime of only about 10 months.

    This youthful wine is a delightful blend in its own right and stands alone

    as a wine well made by the cellar team and with the influence of The

    Chairman."

    RT"

    and then this:

    " Re: Pa Chairman's selections: now with specialty labels!

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ted Erfer

    The Federal Trade Commission has very strict rules on how retailers can advertise "savings." A product must have been sold for a specific price before it can be "reduced" or offered at a "reduced" price.

    I think the "Chairman" should be required to come up with someone who sold his personally crafted wine for the higher price.

    I think the state AG might be interested in how PA consuers are being treated here.

    I went by the store today. Here are posters on how they advertise Chairman's selections. There is little difference in the poster for the WL versus the Burgess (which is not a cuvee Newman). The poster does not indicate that the wine is a cuvee treated differently than normal. The WL says "suggested retail price..."

    When you use the "quoted at...." language, it implies it is a wine available in some standard fashion that has a market value, which logically can't be the case if it is a cuvee treated differently and specially selected only for Penna. The simple fact than an '05 said to be $45 is on the shelves already from a major winery would indicate that there is likely different treatment in how this wine is raised.

    I think the language "quoted at..." has this inference--that the wine has a market value established outside of Penna--- naturally. I see little difference in the use of "suggested retail price..." Certainly, without explanation, it looks like a synonym. Especially when followed by the "NOW $...." which implies it once had that $45 price somewhere.

    On the whole, the advertising for the "cuvee Newman" looks pretty much just like all the other "standard" wines advertised as specials, and it does not make it at all clear what has been done here. It certainly fooled me.

    In reading the back label--something a lot of people won't do, at least not until after purchase---it does say Newman selected the lots for the wine, but in the context of the ads, this creates ambiguity. It still doesn't make it clear that this is something that this has no other market because of that "suggested retail price ...." language.

    You know, giving Newman credit, I doubt he intended for this to be deceptive. But I think that it is.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Last edited by Mark Squires : 10-16-2006 at 03:44 PM. "

    Verrry interesting...

    Best,

    Mike

  3. I'll play!

    Last night several people from our wine tasting group got together at La Dolce Vita in Bridgeport for some fine italian food. The osso bucco was to die for. One of the wines I brought was

    '02 Antica Corte Amarone Della Valpolicella classico

    Decanted 4 hours before dinner this was the hit of the night. This wine is all about dark fruit without any oakiness and it just got bigger the longer it sat in the glass. Thanks to my Italian wine guru Dave Cuneo at Total Wine for this selection $20 in Del.

    Best,

    Mike

    PS Do I get extra points for the double A?

  4. Evan,

    When the '01 Oreno was in, I got to the store about 11:30 and tried to order some. Every time we found a store that had inventory we'd call and find out that someone had just bought all they had. Someone was buying all the inventory across the state. Luckily they missed one of the stores in center city, so I managed to get 5 bottles. Don't know how much we're getting this time so I'd track it down quick if you want any.

    Best,

    Mike

  5. I'm glad I didn"t give up wine like the rest of you must have for new years.

    TN: "02 Achaval-Ferrer Quimera

    Almost an equal split of Malbec, Cab, and Merlot this is all dark fruits with some spice and flowers. Much better the second night as I didn't decant it, and its already throwing some sediment in the glass. For $18 this is a great wine.

    The bad news is that we didn't get very much. Collegeville got one case and I got the last bottle. So, if you didn't see it, its probably gone.

    Best,

    Mike

  6. TN: '99 Red Willow Vineyard Penninsula The Pride

    Blend of Cab, Merlot, and Cab Franc this needs several hours in the decanter before it really starts to show itself. Once it starts to open up it is closer to Bourdeaux than it is to the Napa Valley. My wife likes it alot so you know its got to be pretty good.

    Belated Happy New Year to all the board.

    Best,

    Mike

    PS: I bought some of the Coldisole Brunello that just came in, I'll post as soon as we try it.

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