Frustrated

[jsolomon]

I love college students. I really do. But...

I was in my local wine importer last night. Alas, there are only three in my town who are worthy of note. And, then only barely. But, I digress. I got some champagne (Bellefon) and was perusing their wines when I went to the attendant and I said "I would like something quirky and red".

So, he went and got "Menage a trois" Here is some info on it.

Am I expecting too much that when I say "quirky" I don't want something labeled quasi-scandalously? Marketing psycho-crap just turns my stomach and makes me wonder what kind of profit-margin-driven product will be inside.

What is my problem? Should I go to the wine shop at a different time? Should I mention to the manager that he's hired a dolt who needs retrained? Should I go to the other shops that I know is absolutely unhelpful (but has nearly as decent of a selection)?

Some time, I think I'm going to go to the shops with a list of grapes and have several struck through. I will then tell the attendant/proprietor that if I get one of those struck through grapes suggested to me, I will promptly break a bottle of wine over their heads! I want to try new wine, but my wine shop is holding me back. Help me!!!!! What should I do?

[Brad Ballinger]

Well, I'd begin with a look in the mirror. Telling an employee that you'd like something "quirky and red" leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

But a good employee would've responded with something like, "What do you mean? Say more. What wines have you had in the past that would fit that description?" You know what I mean. Going forward, if the next employee doesn't know to ask those questions, you can still provide him or her with the information needed to recommend a wine (and not a label) that satisfies your need.

If it were me, going solely on your word choice and nothing more, I would recommend the following types of wines if the shop had them in stock: Chinon, Austrian blaufrankisch, Minervois, Nero d'Avola, Lacrima di Morro d'Alba, Spanish monastrell. But I don't know if those would pass muster or not.

[JohnL]

As an aside--I went to K and L website and had a lot of difficulty determining where they were--state, town, city etc-I have found this with many wine retailer websites--it is a pain in the ....

Anyway, if you read their description--their perception (obviously not just that of the salesperson you dealt with) is that this is indeed an "interesting" (read quirky wine),

certainly knowing the blend of varietals (zin,cab and merlot) the use of zin in the blend is IMOP "quirky."

I think the problem was "a failure to communicate!"

Really--you and the salesperson probably needed to have a tad more dialog as to what you believe to be attributes of a "quirky" wine. The salesperson probably should have initiated that dialog--I am sure the salesperson was following the store's belief that this is what constiturtes quirky.--that's what he recommended.

One man's quirky is another's.....

[fifithewinecat]

I'm afraid if I was at the counter and you asked for a wine that was "quirky and red", I probably would say, "whoa, hoss, what do you mean by that?" Hopefully some dialog would ensue. Since it apparently did not, then it would be imcumbent on YOU to add to your initial words, "I mean, kinda like xxxxxxxxx wine that I had a while back." Hopefully this would get to somewhere else than the result you got.

BTW, did you ever try the suggested wine??? Sounds interesting.

[jsolomon]

I didn't purchase the initially proferred wine. I got another one that looked more promising. I'll post what it is when I get off work tonight and post my tasting notes in this thread... either that or I'll start a WTN thread for bottles < $15 US