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Restaurant Wine Pricing and a few more quotes

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Restaurant Wine pricing.

 

In our current economy restaurant patrons seek bargains when selecting wines.

“The first step to finding better deals is understanding the formula behind most restaurant wine pricing. The standard restaurant markup is about three times the wholesale cost, or about twice the retail price. In most restaurants, the markup decreases as the wholesale price of the bottle increases. An inexpensive bottle might be priced three to four times its wholesale cost, while a pricy wine may be marked up only 1.5 times. This so-called progressive markup helps sell more expensive wines.” Juliet Chung, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Life & Style, August 15, 2008.

        This is not the formula we use at Elizabeth’s- our wines are more reasonable, however, this is a good quote to consider when comparing restaurant wine lists.

When comparing wine prices consider the additional expense a restaurant must spend to store and properly serve the wine. Wine should be stored in temperature controlled cellars or cool areas of a restaurant and when it is served in expensive glassware, like Riedel, there is a significant breakage expense. There is, for the best restaurants, an expense of training and tasting for servers. The really good restaurants have a serving staff that can perfectly pair a wine to the menu and the restaurant guarantees their recommendations  ( taking back a bottle the guest doesn’t like.)

Becoming familiar with wines at your local wine store, or by trying a wine dinner where food is paired with wine, is a perfect way to begin your training. A few restaurants will have the best examples of varietals on their by the glass program and they will give you a sip to help you in your wine selection. Unfortunately, most restaurants select inexpensive wines to serve by the glass and charge enough to pay for the bottle from the first glass pour. We have never done that. Well, we drink open unsold bottles and we want to only drink really good wine. Life is too short to drink bad wine.

When comparing by the glass wine lists look at the size of the glass pour. If the pour is 4 ounces the restaurant can get 6 glass pours from a bottle, if the pour is 6 ounces, the restaurant can only get 4 pours from a bottle. As an example,  at Elizabeth’s we select the best example of a varietal we can obtain which is often a highly allocated wine, change the glass list daily, serve the wine in appropriate Riedel glasses and use a six ounce pour.

Articles are appearing in Wine and restaurant magazines recommending prix fixe wine dinners as a way to increase wine sales. We, at Elizabeth’s, have been offering prix fixe wine dinners nightly for  almost all of the twenty years we have been open. Look at the wines being offered and compare the price of the wine dinner with the wine list and menu.

       

          When shopping in wine shops try to take advantage of tastings offered by your shop to fine tune your palate and wine knowledge to assist you in selecting wines you like. We offer tastings and flights of wine at our wine bar. You should be able to taste a wine when you are purchasing a quantity.

        Once you have selected your wine for you and your guests you should raise your glasses in a toast.

 

Cultural Toasts
Chinese: Ganbei! (dry your cup)
Dutch: Prost! (health)
English: Cheers!
French: Santé! (health)
German: Prost! (cheers)
Hebrew: Le’chaim! (to life)
Irish: Sláinte! (to your health)
Italian: Per cent’anni! (for one hundred years)
Italian 2: Salute (health)
Japanese: Kanpai! (dry your cup)
Russian: Vashe zdorovie! (to health)
Spanish: Salud! (health)
Welsh: Iechyd da! (health)

 

Americans don’t tend to have a single word toast. They normally toast to something in particular – friendship, love, the person at the event, and so on.  Elizabeth’s By the glass list contains a note: THIS IS NOT A RECESSION it is “A pre-boom”- Celebrate with a glass of Champagne and The Traditional Toast at Elizabeth’s: “May all our Pains be Champagnes”

 

Wine Quotes

In one blog I listed some famous wine quotes. Here are a few more, from Benjamin Franklin.

“Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Long version:
“We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Short version:
“Wine is sure proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Not from Benjamin Franklin but appropriate:

In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it.
Napoleon

Drink a glass of Champagne- not Sparkling wine, but real Champagne. You will be glad you did.

Leonard Logan, Proprietor of Elizabeth’s Cafe & Winery in Duck North Carolina for its entire 20 years , is a wine judge, wine writer and wine consultant. He can be found sipping Champagne or Clark-Claudon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at Elizabeth’s with new and old friends almost nightly. If Leonard sits at your table when he makes his rounds  towards the end of the evening  the chances are you will sip some extraordinary wine. If you have any questions or comments or ideas contact Leonard at elizcafe@charter.net or elizabethscafe.com

 

Posted in Pricing Wine, Wine, Wine Service, Wines By-The-Glass | Comments Off

Wine Tasting- Taste

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Wine Tasting Volume 2 TASTE

By Leonard G. Logan, Jr

This article is a continuation of an Article on wine tasting printed in my recent blog.        There are three essential and different steps to tasting wines – these steps are your evaluation of a wine’s appearance, smell and taste.

            Last blog we directed you to observe the wine’s overall appearance and then smell the wine.

            Now we can begin to actually taste the wine.

            Science has taught us for several hundred years that we taste by our tongue only sweet, sour, salt and bitter flavors. The real taste of a wine and food is obtained from vapors that reach the upper nasal cavity by inhaling or from vapors rising from behind the palate after swallowing.

            The tip of the tongue is particularly sensitive to sweetness. If there is any sweetness in the wine you will taste it immediately at the first sip. The sides of the tongue and cheek area identify acidity most commonly apparent in white wines. The back of the tongue most accurately detects bitterness. Tannins are identified in the middle to back of the tongue. Tannins are mostly found in red wines or some white wines aged in wood.

            Tannins can dry the palate to excess if the wines are too young or out of balance. The result is a cottony mouth feel. Fruit and varietal characteristics are tasted in the middle of the tongue.

            In the past twenty years a newly discovered taste was identified by a Japanese scientist as umami – which is responsible for the deliciousness of some Asian foods. Briefly, unami is a savory taste of glutamic acid which occurs naturally in many foods, but is difficult to detect except in ripe tomatoes, parmesan cheese, cured ham, mushrooms, some meat and fish.

            The wine should be tasted at a proper temperature. Generally, most restaurants and people in the United States serve white wines too cold and red wines too warm. Temperature affects our perception of a wine.

            A very cold wine will release few flavor vapors. At 60 to 65 degrees most wines are capable of releasing their full flavor components. As a wine is chilled it tastes crisper, fruiter and drier – but looses fullness and complexity. A wine warmer than 65 degrees releases ethyl alcohol and as the wine warms the alcohol dilutes the flavor components and numbs the nerves.

            Most home refrigerators are chilled to approximately 38 degrees to keep milk icy cold. Only the poorest jug wines should be served directly from a home refrigerator. These wines have little complexity or acidity and cold makes them appear crisp and thirst quenching while at the same time hiding their flaws.

            An outstanding rich and complex Chardonnay will release best flavors between 50 and 60 degrees. For those used to wines served palate numbing directly from the refrigerator, our wines served at Elizabeth’s may appear “warm.” However, each wine has an ideal serving temperature that enhances the complexity of the wine while at the same time maintaining a refreshing tartness. We attempt to serve wines at Elizabeth’s as close as possible to this ideal temperature. Rieslings, Chenin Blancs, and some other white wines are intended to be served colder. We serve these wines and our wines by the glass at a cooler temperature. If these wines are too cold they will reach drinking temperature at your table in a few minutes.

            From the earliest days red wines were served directly from the wine cellar at “room temperature.” However, “room temperature” in days of castles and stone manor houses with wine cellars is not remotely similar to our present day central heat pump homes and restaurants. The term “room temperature” means 60 to 65 degrees to most wine makers. Our wine cellar at Elizabeth’s stores our fine wines at 57 degrees, enabling us to serve red wines at a recommended “room temperature” of 60 to 65 degrees.

Your First Taste

            Take a small sip. To get the wine all over the tongue’s taste buds you should gently swirl the wine around in your mouth. Some people also bring a little air into their mouth after the first sip to help release all the flavors of the wine. (Don’t gargle.) Hold the wine in your mouth for about 10 to 15 seconds and try to identify the following.

            A Bad Wine: is usually immediately apparent. You generally will have discovered a bad wine when you sniffed it in the glass. You may sip a tiny amount of the wine to confirm your nose of the wine that is corked, has become oxidized or materized (all discussed in the previous article), or become vinegary. 

            Body and Mouth Feel is the weight and texture of the wine in your mouth.  Weight -light to heavy and variations in between- an extremely important sensation when we discuss wine and food pairing in subsequent articles. (Think of a glass of skim milk contrasted to a John’s Drive-in Milk Shake.) Mouth feel- Textural impressions – velvet, satin, harsh, (also has an influence on our perception of balance.)

            Taste and flavors: Your sip may confirm or expand your initial discovery of fruit and spices identified when you smelled the wine. Try and identify a few fruit tastes.

            Acidity and tannins: Identify the level of acidity for white wines and the strength of the tannins for red wine. Is the acidity light, too much or just right?  Are the tannins non-existent, strong, astringent, or pleasing for your palate? The identification of acidity and tannins in the wine will become really important when you begin pairing food with wine.

            The Balance is one of the most important elements in a wine. Does every taste and mouth feel seem to be in balance – with nothing predominating when you taste? If so the wine is balanced for your palate. When we later discuss wine and food pairing sometimes a wine that may appear at first sip to be out of balance can create a good pairing with food.

            The Finish – Identifying how long the flavors linger after swallowing.

            Now for the most important decision – did you like the wine? If so, it is a good wine. Check the price to see if it is a wine you would drink often or only on special occasions. A future blog will attempt to assist in wine buying and cellar selection.

            You should purchase a notebook, any size will do, to record your immediate impression of the wines you taste. This will help in later ordering or acquisition of wines you like.

            Many restaurants are now offering wine dinners. Elizabeth’s was one of the first, twenty years ago, and now is one of the few restaurants in the United States to offer  prix fixe wine dinners nightly. Wine dinners are a way for you to taste a number of different wines without having to buy a bottle.

            Wines by the glass can offer a chance to taste different varietals however, check the glass list. At Elizabeth’s we try and place the best examples of a varietal on the list and often offer these wines at a less expensive price than one would pay for an equivalent number of glasses from a single bottle of the same wine. We want our guests to have the opportunity to taste a number of incredible wines that will help them discover the wines they like.

            Remember the admonition – Ignore ratings and other people’s opinions about a wine. If you like a wine it is a good wine for your palate – if you don’t like a wine it is not a good wine for you.

We will continue our discussions in the next blog, Santé.

© Leonard G. Logan, Jr.

Posted in tannins, Tasting Notes, temperature, Wine | Comments Off

Wine Tasting- Look and Smell

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

INITIAL WINE TASTING – LOOK and SMELL

 

 

This is probably an appropriate time to discuss “wine tasting” – not throwing back wine shooters, and not listening to some overblown idea of what a wine tastes like – but a tasting that can begin a lifetime of learning.

I begin all of our wine seminars at Elizabeth’s with an admonition and promise – that wine tasting is one of the great courses you can take because “you are the professor and you grade the papers.” Your palate controls and no one should tell you whether you like or should like a wine. The best advice is to ignore all ratings or write-ups about a wine, simply approach wine tasting as a food tasting – After all wine is food.

There are three essential and different steps to tasting wines. Wine tasting is your evaluation of a wine’s appearance, smell and taste.

LOOK AT THE WINE

The first step is to observe the wine’s overall appearance – your first clue to the wine you are about to taste.  Most of the following observations can be accomplished in a few seconds. Don’t spend a lot of time observing the wine. 

Color intensity: This can give a good indication of a wines quality – particularly when comparing similar wines of the same varietal. e.g.: a Pinot Noir with a Pinot Noir. If one of the compared wines has a deeper color the wine was probably made from higher quality grapes and will have more flavor and body. Also, if a red wine has a paler color it can be an indication that the grapes may have been picked before fully ripened or come from an over-planted vineyard.

To determine a wine’s true color hold the stem, tilt the glass at an angle and view the wine against a white background thereby viewing the wine on its side. 

White Wines

Generally, the paler a wine is the less intensity the wine will show.

A pale wine with slight green tints usually indicates a wine from a cool climate and a wine that probably has some noticeable acidity.  

A straw color may indicate a relatively young dry wine.

Yellow gold or “buttercup-yellow” shade can indicate a wine with more powerful, complex or medium aged flavors (3 to 5 years).

A deeper gold color will usually indicate a wine with six or more years of bottle age. A late harvest or a dessert wine such as Chateau d’Yquem can gain an even deeper golden color with long term bottle aging.

Brownish tints to the wine usually indicate excessive aging that may have become oxidized. (A wine exposed to small amounts of oxygen over a long aging which causes deterioration and exhibits a sherry smell – is not good.)

Red Wines

The color of red wine can give significant hints to us about the wine we are about to drink.

Purple: usually indicates a young wine.

Ruby (crimson): Young dry wines with minimal aging.

Red – indicates a wine with several years of bottle age such as a 2 to 5 year old Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon, or a 1 to 3 year old Pinot Noir

Brick-red color occurs when a hint of brown begins to show in a wine and when the red color begins to fade. This color is evident in older Bordeaux and Burgundies.

The brownish color becomes more noticeable as these wines age more towards their maturity.

 A quick note: sometimes while observing a wine’s clarity you will observe little crystal deposits in the wine (tartrate crystals). These crystal deposits do not affect the wines taste. If they are in the bottom of the bottle a slow pouring into the glass will help reduce their appearance in the glass.

Another note: What are legs and are they important? Legs, sometimes referred to as tears, assist in identifying a wine tasted blind. When wine is swirled in the glass the rivulets that are formed on the side of the glass give us an indication of the wine’s alcohol level, or a wines richness. When tasting from a bottle just look at the alcohol percentage on the bottle don’t bother with legs.   

But, you say we are here to taste.

True, but our next step is the most important and must be taken before actual tasting.

SMELL 

First you should avoid the use of perfume or scented after-shave lotion if you are going to be tasting wines or dining in a fine dining wine restaurant. Not only for you but in consideration of others who will be tasting near you.  

You will create your own technique for getting the nose of a wine. Try placing your nose in the glass and taking a gentle sniff. Then swirl the wine in the glass and take another more deeply inhaled sniff. Repeated attempts at smelling the same wine aren’t helpful as your nose will develop fatigue. If you don’t get any discernable nose after the first two sniffs try placing your hand over the top of the wine glass and after lightly swirling take your hand away and immediately sniff from the glass.

The ability to discern different smells of fruit, spices and oak is essential for wine and food pairing.

Our ability to smell is far greater than our ability to taste. Smelling is important because it is the easiest way to reveal a problem wine. One such smell is moldy, wet cardboard or newspapers – an indication of a wine that is corked. White table wines that smell stale and sherry-like with a smell of overripe apples indicates the wine has become oxidized (air exposure) or maderized (baked) which can be an indication of improper warm storage. The term maderized indicates a table wine with Madeira like character – great for a Madeira wine – terrible for a table wine.

Now we can begin to taste.

Our tongue can taste salt, sour, sweet and bitter (considerably less than the thousands of smells we can remember and identify.)

Remember the admonition – if you like a wine it is a good wine for your palate – if you don’t like a wine it is not a good wine for you.

We will fully discuss actual tasting in the next blog

 

© Leonard G. Logan, Jr.

Posted in Nose, Taste, Tasting Notes, Wine | Comments Off

The Sideways Effect

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

I post this because of Michael’s posted comment. Thank you Michael. Originally published in Leonard’s Column in the North Beach Sun Summer 2005 

 

SIDEWAYS – A different direction for Pinot Noir Sales

 By Leonard Logan

Owner of Elizabeth’s Café & Wine Gallery at Scarborough Faire in Duck is a Wine writer, lecturer, National Wine Panel participant, National and Regional Food and wine judge and creator of Elizabeth’s famous wine dinners. Leonard conducts wine and food pairing and wine tasting seminars at Elizabeth’s and throughout the Eastern United States.

 

The movie “Sideways” didn’t win the Oscar Best Picture Award but that movie may have been the awakening bell in the introduction of Pinot Noir to the newly emerging American Wine Drinker. Pinot Noir consumption in the United States has increased over 16 percent since the film opened. The sensual description of Pinot Noir in the film has been known to all who have enjoyed this great varietal. Pinot Noir has silky textures, is supple with erotic earthy aromas. When tasted Pinot Noir displays wonderful fruit often cherries, plums, black fruit, earth, leather, mushrooms, cedar, chocolate, smokiness, violets, ,  among other tastes. The tannins in these wines are usually in check making Pinot Noir approachable when young. However, some Pinot Noir’s with sufficient tannins and acidity are good candidates for aging.

        These wines are much less tannic than cabernet sauvignon, merlot or zinfandel. Because Pinot Noir is lighter in color and body a new wine drinker may assume these wines have less complexity which is not the case.

        Pinot Noir is a notoriously difficult grape to grow and make into wine. It is highly sensitive to vineyard terroir (soil, altitude, and position relative to the sun, angle of the slopes, weather and moisture.)  It is unstable during wine making and requires incredibly limited. Complex techniques have been developed to aid the wine maker including gravity feeds to eliminate pumping, gentle crushing, limiting pumping over (pumping juice over the cap during fermentation to expedite color, flavor and tannin extraction) – everything that avoids excess handling.

        The result can be one of the great wine experiences for a wine drinker. Pinot Noir needs a cool climate for optimum production of quality grapes. The premier growing area of Pinot Noir is Burgundy. There some of the best and most expensive red wines in the world are produced. All of the red wines in Burgundy, with the exception of Beaujolais, are Pinot Noir. The wines are produced in very limited quantities and are highly allocated. This means that the best wines are generally unavailable. We have featured the impossible to obtain Burgundy wines at Elizabeth’s and in the wine shop since opening the restaurant 16 years ago. The wines are food friendly and pair much better than more tannic Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux wines. 

Other very good Pinot Noir wines are being made from cool climate areas in the United States, particularly Oregon, and certain areas in California, including Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley in central-southern valley, and in Carneros, Anderson Valley, Sonoma Coast, and the Russian River Valley in the north.  The film Sideways featured wines from Santa Barbara in California. We have been offering at least 100 different American Pinot Noir’s at Elizabeth’s since opening,  together with a like amount of Burgundy wines and at least a dozen by-the-glass selections. We have provided free wines tastes in the shop and served it at the wine bar in season.

We have considered Pinot Noir as the most versatile wine paired with food and have featured that wine on our two prix fixe nightly wine dinners. Because of these selections Santé Magazine recognized Elizabeth’s as the best fine dining restaurant in the United States – even admitting us into their Hall of Fame along with only one other restaurant in the United States. At our very first Wine Dinner Dave Adelsheim, a producer of great Pinot Noir in Oregon, was asked

Why people should drink Pinot Noir rather than Cabernet Sauvignon, David Adelsheim responded that Cabs are okay, but “people aren’t eating much bear meat anymore.” 

 .    My friend George Wackenheim, who writes a wine column in New Jersey and is a frequent guest at Elizabeth’s, told me he asked Laurent Drouhin (of the negotiant firm Joseph Drouhin) if Burgundy was a better pairing with lamb than the traditional Bordeaux. He agreed, and then added that he wasn’t aware of any food that really paired well with Bordeaux!

        When asked by a guest one night why Elizabeth’s doesn’t have an extensive selection of Bordeaux wines, I responded as follows:

Pretend you have just won the big lottery and now you have more money than God. You go into an automobile dealership and announce that you want to buy the best automobile with the greatest ride ever made. The dealer responds that he has the perfect automobile. A Rolls Royce limited edition Silver Phantom. But there was only one little problem – The wheels were square and the initial ride would be bumpy. However, if one were to put the car up on blocks in a climate controlled garage the wheels would become round in about twenty years and then the ride would be incredible.

We don’t buy many square wheeled wines at Elizabeth’s.

        One little aside about the Sideways film. A comment is made concerning “Merlot” and Cabernet Franc ( I can’t put the quote in a family newspaper)  – however, Château Petrus, considered by some wine writers as the finest red wine in the world, is made entirely from Merlot. We have the largest vertical of this wine in the Eastern United Sates aging in our cellar. The film also identifies a very special bottle of 1961 Cheval-Blanc collected and held by Miles as his trophy wine. Few film reviewers have commented that Cheval Blanc is a wine from St.-Emillon, Bordeaux – and is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. This just goes to say what some Burgundy wine makers have told me – that if you hold a Bordeaux wine long enough it will taste like a Burgundy when you drink it.

 

Posted in Newsletter, Publications, Wine | 1 Comment »

Is Wine a Good Investment

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

Article NBS March 2009

THE WINE GUY- IS WINE A GOOD INVESTMENT?

During these difficult economic times investment gurus are discussing in economic and trade magazines different ways to make money and recommending wise investments. One direction they are pointing is investing in fine wine.

For the past twenty years I have been asked if acquiring Wine is a good investment. The economic magazines are now beginning to write about the advantages of investing in wine explaining their interest  with statistics that wine has appreciated more than almost anything- – fine art, stocks, bonds,, precious metals,. Decanter.com has reported that fine wine has outperformed stock indexes in Britain and the United States.   

It is apparent this would be a perfect time to explore wine as an investment.

I certainly have invested in wine for my restaurant, Elizabeth’s Café & Winery in Duck.  Our wine list has garnered the most awards of any restaurant in the South East.  However, my investment is for our restaurant wine cellar to give guests a plethora of one of a kind world class wine selections to accompany their dinner.

Decanter, an English Wine Publication reports “In the last 20 years fine wine has also outperformed a number of equity and fixed income indices including the FTSE 1000. For long term investors (as opposed to shorter term speculators) a well chosen and balanced wine portfolio should provide annualized returns of 10-12% per annum. Wine is less volatile than stocks and shares, making it a less risky investment.” Felixsalmon.com quoting Decanter’s wine investment guide. See also, Dave Sokolin’s book INVESTING IN LIQUID ASSETS and the book by Evelyn   Resnick,  WINE BRANDS

PLUSES FOR INVESTMENT

Arguments may certainly be made favoring investment in wine, by citing historic examples of significant appreciation of wine purchases. An example described in www.wineeducation.com  as a best case scenario is the 1961 Chateau Latour, a French wine from Bordeaux. “On release in 1961 dollars, it cost $3.00 to purchase. Currently it is selling at auction for approximately $500… This is a return on investment of just over 15% annually for 35 years!” This is an unusual example. The author uses another example of a Chateau Latour from the 1975 vintage. Released at $20 it would only garner $75 at auction. A ROI of 6.5%.

Last May the London Financial Times featured a special section on Wine Investment. It seems the Chinese in Hong Kong have begun to invest heavily in wine and wine futures. Wine futures involve the purchase of un-released wines based primarily on reviews by wine writers scoring wines based mostly on tasting barrel samples. The Financial Times claimed there had not been a five year period in the past 20 years where fine wine would have yielded a negative return. The Chinese were attempting to corner the fine wine market to artificially increase demand.

Example

Salon 1996 was essentially cornered by “Big Boy” Bob Rosania which artificially increased the price to record levels. A normally very difficult to obtain allocated wine it became almost impossible to obtain. Elizabeth’s always had a sizeable allocation but the price increase was so great that I refused to purchase all my allocated wines. I do have some but the price is obscene- although the Champagne may be the best Salon ever and after awhile the price will catch up to auction prices that people are willing to pay to have the pleasure of drinking this exceptional wine, it was still over-priced at release..

“It is understandable that those who have a passion for wine turn cold at the thought of wine investment, an activity driven by very different values. But even they should reflect on the ever-present need for the financing of long term wines as they mature. A century ago it was the Bordeaux merchants who bought barrels of young wine and aged them in quay-side warehouses to mature, and of course to acquire value. Forty years ago the baton passed t importing merchants to hold large stocks over many years, and to reap the rewards from so doing. In the last two decades individuals have had greater access to fine wines in their youth, in large part because producers choose not to finance the stock themselves. Whether you buy two and sell one, or buy ten and sell ten, you are contributing to this process.”

“The complaint is frequently heard that fine wines are consumed too young. Making mature wine available in the market place is the final outcome of the investment process,”  Hugo Rose Master of Wine Decanter .com

Many became “accidental” wine investors. Those consumers who bought more wine than they planned to consume, with the intention of selling the remaining bottles to help finance their wine purchase.

See also: “Wine as a medium term investment vehicle” Walter C. Labys and Bruce C. Cohen West Virginia University Oxford Journals And, WINE INVESTMENT FOR PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION: HOW COLLECTING FINE WINES CAN YIELD GREATER RETURNS THAN STOCKS AND BONDS by Mahesh Kumar Hardcover July 2005. Professor Kumar asserts that wine prices aren’t influenced by the same sort risks that affect stocks and bonds, recession, inflation, etc., and are far less volatile

I had been a proponent of investing heavily in a chosen wine discovered at a private tasting. I would often buy the entire North Carolina and Virginia allocation of an exceptional limited availability wine. When the selected wine was ready to drink I would make it available to our guests who understood they were drinking a wine generally unavailable in their local wine market.  My investing has changed because of price fluctuations and the variable maturity time for certain wines. We are now seeking reasonably priced wines that are forward and drinkable when placed on our wine list.

We have sufficient investment level wines in our cellar for the serious wine collector or guest. Most guests are like me. When I look at a restaurant wine list I want a reasonably priced wine that will be an excellent example of the varietal. For a very special occasion I want the best wine I can afford at the time.

PROBLEMS

Wine may not increase in value- remember, it is only worth as much as someone is will to buy it from you.

The wine collectibles market is not easy to understand. Who or what is causing a wines value to go up or down.

Wine is for drinking- this is a given.

American Wines are not necessarily priced by value but by the demand for the wine. Demand can be created by high ratings by wine reviewers.

It often takes up to 10 years to determine if a wine is truly exceptional.

There are rules prohibiting the sale of wine by unlicensed individuals.

Currency fluctuations, market conditions and other economic conditions affect the wine price.

There is a sizable cost to properly store and preserve wines.

A FALLING MARKET

On January 15, 2009 The Wine Spectator reported that wine value estimates have been reduced by 30 to 40 percent in the aftermath of the world-wide financial crisis. James Suckling wrote on his Wine Spectator Blog December 19, 2008 how the Bernard Madoff scandal could hit the wine investment industry.  There is tremendous speculation on the 2005 Bordeaux, considered the finest vintage in recent history.  There are wine funds in the United Kingdom that have invested tens of millions of dollars in top Bordeaux wines. There are supposed to be thousands of cases representing the investments. There have been some fraud cases but what if all those wine owners decide to sell their wine back to the French negociants because of the decline of the pound against the euro. Does that wine really exist?   I would rather know I can hold the bottle of wine I purchase and can display it for a guest at Elizabeth’s than be told it is being held for me in Europe

It is now apparent Hong Kong investors now own 15 to 20 percent of the world’s total of fine wines. But did their attempt to corner a share of the worlds market help or hurt wine prices?  Wine prices may not be immune to the world’s financial health as we had been led to believe. In October 0f 2008, Bordeaux took a 25 percent drop on the Liv-ex , the leading fine wine exchange, followed by a 5.5 percent drop in November. However, this was a small drop compared to the 43 percent drop for the Nikkei 225 and the 60 percent drop for the Hang Seng, Hong Kong’s benchmark index.

PROBLEMS AND ADDITIONAL COSTS

Professionally managed storage is of paramount importance for bottles intended for investment, whether the wine is owned by a wine fund or an individual collector. Bottles cellared in a personal storage space may lose potential market value, because verifying their provenance becomes more difficult.  Paul Sullivan, Food and Wine, October 2008.

Other problems:

Counterfeit bottles and labels is an increasing problem. The best most expensive wines are targeted. The Wine Spectator’s article on counterfeit wines featured Chateau Petrus- the most expensive of red wines and almost impossible to obtain. WE buy our Chateau Petrus directly from Christian Moiex, the owner and wine maker.

Corked wine- All bottles that are sealed with corks can be susceptible to corking. Usually that cannot be discovered until the bottle is opened.

Cooked wine- Wine that has been exposed to excessive heat is a continuing problem. Especially when wine restaurants are failing and their improperly stored wine become available on distributors lists or wine shop shelves.

Oxidation- caused by faulty wine making or bad cork- oxygen comes into contact with the wine. Can’t be discovered until the bottle is opened.

No sediment- in older vintages is a clue that the bottle may have been refilled with a lesser wine.

IS WINE a GOOD INVESTMENT- NO if you are purchasing it for re-sale. YES, if you are going to eventually drink it.

IN MY OPINION- although wines that are carefully selected for purchase have a good chance of increasing in value, wines should be purchased for eventual consumption.  Just be happy that you are able to drink a great wine that you purchased at a reasonable cost even if that wine has increased in value. A fifty dollar bottle of wine that has increased in value to two hundred dollars is still, for you, a fifty dollar bottle of wine. Enjoy it and tell your friends who are sharing the wine with you – your story of how astute you were to select that wine and how lucky you all are to be able to drink the two hundred dollar bottle of wine together.

A good goal might be the motto of The Croaker Wine Society, organized by some friends of Elizabeth Café, “I will die with no good wines in my cellar”  Drink up.

THE WINE GUY is Leonard G. Logan, Jr. The proprietor of Elizabeth’s Café & Winery of Duck

Elizabethscafe.com;  elizcafe@charter.net; 

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Wines on Wine Dinner 4/08/09

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Wines Mel and I enjoyed for our wine dinner at Elizabeth’s, April 8, 2009.

Perrier Jouët Grand Brut Champagne

Chalone 2004 Chenin Blanc-Wonderful nose with refreshing acidity – perfect balance- pear notes . Served with Pecan crusted Sweet Onion torte drizzled with an aged balsamic reduction

 Joseph Drouhin 1993 Beaune Blanc Les Clos des Mouches  -Hard to believe this wine is 16 years ago. Refreshing youthful acidity married to an earthy Burgundian style wine.  Honey and lemon drop flavors with spice, stone, and honeysuckle aromas. A wonderful treat.  Unfortunately, this is our last bottle and may well be the last bottle in the United States. Served with Grilled smoked mozzarella roasted red pepper ravioli in a white truffle sauce

Halleck 2005 Pinot Noir – The tannins frame ripe flavors of cherry jam, cola, rhubarb pie, mocha, new oak and Asian spice, and the texture is pure silk and satin.” Deliciously gentle, it’s a wine that changes in the glass as it airs and warms.” — S.H. (6/1/2007)THE WINE ENTHUSIAST.  Served with Pan seared sesame crusted sushi grade Tuna with a soy ginger beurre blanc and an Asian Seaweed salad

 

Lewis 2005 Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – Smooth and intense- wonderfully balanced. Toasty, smoky oak spices, chocolate, clove and caramel aromas ,  black currant and Turkish coffee flavors. This wine is a treat. Served with Belgian chocolate buttons and cheese tray – A new Mel  favorite.

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Notes from Elizabeth’s Tasting Table

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

NOTES FROM ELIZABETH’S TASTING TABLE

2009 TASTING NOTES

                Prepared with the assistance of the entire Elizabeth’s Serving staff, Alice, Brad and Leonard.

Tasting March 18, 2009

Emp998-997 Hess 2007 Lake County Sauvignon Blanc

                                                            Under $20.00

Two different clones from a vineyard of 1700 feet. An American Sauvignon Blanc clone providing stone fruit and peach notes and a  Musque clone bringing in grapefruit notes.  Made in stainless steel and aged in French oak barrels.

This is a pale yellow pleasant and powerful wine. Notes of tangerine, pineapple, nectarine, stone fruits, white peach, spice and almond- not overblown with grassy flavors. Dry and medium body with refreshing acidity.

Pare with our grilled shrimp and mango chutney. 

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

We loved this.

 

Emp998-997 Peter Lehmann 2006 Semillion

                                                            Under $25.00

  A green gold floral wine with a butterscotch, honey nose and a honey, lemon,  floral finish. A dry crispy tart acidic light to medium bodied wine with a medium finish. A perfect wine for our Scallop and brie soup. 

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

 

Emp4721-999 Peter Lehmann 2008 Adelaide Layers

                                                            Under $25.00

  A blend of Semillion, gewürztraminer, chardonnay, muscat and pinot gris from Barossa in Australia. A pale yellow pleasant floral and fruity wine with lemon, apricot, peach and melon flavors. Nice acidity, lively- supple, medium body with a round finish. An interesting wine with enough acidity to stand up to some heavier foods.

Perfect wine for our Scallop and brie soup.

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

 

Emp998-579 Colome’ 2007 Torrontes Argentina

                                                            Under $12.00

Grapefruit, peach, rose and lavender notes.

Good wine for the price but merely OK

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

 

 

Dee9961-9921 Lolonis 2006 Redwood Valley Chardonnay

                                                Under $34.00

A certified organic wine- 145 year old vines- “Old world heritage, new world style.” Crystal clear pale wine with a pleasant nose of tropical notes- a short pleasant finish..

Lemon, pineapple, honey, butterscotch, vanilla and toasty balanced medium bodied wine. Nice acidity- a food friendly wine. Consider a scallops dish.

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

 

 Dee9922-9981 Pezzi King 2005 Russian River Valley Chardonnay

                                                Under $40.00

A brilliant pale yellow wine showing banana and dried fruit. Green olive notes on the nose that do not confuse the palate. This light medium wine is pleasant.  Ripe bananas. Not a Leonard fav.

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

X  NO- not a staff favorite.

 

Emp2491-9921 Su’Skol 2006 Chardonnay

                                                            Under $30.00

Su’skol is an old Indian name. Made in 100 % French Oak Barrels. A pale yellow pleasant wine showing mango and papaya and melon notes with subdued oak -  A balanced fresh bright wine with lots of complexity. We will consider offering this wine with our scallop and brie bisque. 

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

 

Dee9981- 9931 Lolonis 2005 Redwood Valley Zinfandel

                                                Under $30.00

A certified organic wine- 40 year old vines- Aged in French and American Oak.

A pleasant ruby colored wine with fruity character. Black cherry, blackberry, plum, spicy pepper, vanilla, charred flavors, leather, dirt, red licorice,

A dry, smooth, balanced medium full-bodied wine with a wonderfully long finish.

A staff favorite.  Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

                Pair with Duck or Pork.

Emp9473-0062 Hess Collection 2005 Mount Veeder Napa Valley Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon

                                                            Under $80.00

From the best vineyard land on Mt. Veeder from an elevation up to 1120 feet.. Hand harvested made in French Oak barrels with thin staves to soften the wine. 

A violet tinted powerful wine with blueberry, raspberry and chocolate notes. A full bodied balanced wine that is smooth with soft tannins. An average finish.

We are comparing this to our previously offered by-the-glass cabernet sauvignon wines.  Will place it on our list but considering adding to by-the-glass list. It is not as big as Cedar Knoll the staff’s favorite offered on our glass list.

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

 

Emp9381 Artezin 2006 Dry Creek Valley, California Zinfandel

                                                            Under $40.00

From 100 year old vines.  A garnet red pleasant fruity wine with blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, dark cherry, raisin, prune fig – Port like  with vanilla, leather, barnyard, black pepper, red licorice, chocolate and nut meg flavors.  A feast of wonderful flavors that are integrated in a dry, velvety smooth, fresh, medium-full bodied wine with a long satisfying finish.. 

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

 

Emp0591-0521 Colome’ 2006 Malbec vino tinto de Gran Altura Argentina

                                                            Under $40.00

Made from 90 to 150 year old grapes grown in a biodynamic high altitude vineyard. 10,000 feet makes this one of the highest vineyards in the world.  The grape skins are thicker to protect against UV rays. The grapes are French from pre-phylloxera vines. 85% Malbec, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Tannat.

The Wine Spectator selected this wine as the number 38 wine for the year.

This staff favorite is a garnet red wine with strong nose and flavors of cherries, blackberries, blue berries, white pepper, cocoa, pomegranate and violets.  It is like an incredible natural blueberry/blackberry pie without all the sugar. A dry lightly dusty full bodied rich wine with a long finish. Staff comment “Sexy”

Staff Tasting March 18, 2009

 

Tasting Notes 09 0318

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Wine Labeling & Varietals

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

Varietals and Varietal Character is sometime a confusing term for new wine drinkers. It really is interchangeable with “variety” or the single type of grape within a species with distinct characteristics.  Common varietals most have tasted include Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Riesling among many others. There are thousands of varieties of grapes – Italy alone has over 1,000 varietals and France has about 150 varietals. Not all wine producing countries list varieties on their labels leading to some confusion for the wine buyers.

In the United States, since 1983, at least 75 percent of a varietal must be in a wine labeled as a varietal wine. This means some wine producers can designate their wine “Chardonnay” although it may include 25 percent other varieties. Most reputable Chardonnay producers (higher end wines) produce wines with 100 percent Chardonnay.
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Wine in Movies

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

NORTH BEACH SUN

At Elizabeth’s we don’t pronounce the “H”  word (referring to the storms that breeze into the Outer Banks) unless it is in an historical sense for an “H” that has already occurred. In July 12 -14, 1996 we scheduled the “First Elizabeth’s  Wine Festival”. We rented tents, brought in over 75 wines from around the world (mostly French for Bastille Day July 14) for an incredible tasting with Jazz music. The first “H” in July in a long time, Hurricane Bertha, with a subsequent mandatory evacuation  ended the ” First Festival” and led to the decision not to have a second Festival.   However, a tradition was born.  After the evacuation was announced we drank Bollinger Grand Anne Champagne as we dismantled the festival and waited for the big blow. Champagne is a fragile drink. If it is chilled and power is lost a quick warming of the bottle can ruin an otherwise spectacular beverage. We considered it a duty to drink Champagne in case power was lost and the wine was warmed.

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Burgundy – From ice age to the bunny rabbit to now

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

Two hundred million years ago a tropical sea covered the area now known as Burgundy. Tiny animals and shell fish were the inhabitants and their bodies sank to the sea bed creating layers upon layers of sediment and eventually chalky deposits and limestone layers interspersed with layers of silt and dirt.  As time moved forward about 30 million years ago the sea retreated and upheavals in the earth’s crust formed the Alps and also the much smaller hills of the Côte d’ Or. About 20 thousand years ago an ice age began lasting about 10 thousand years. The glacial ice pushed the land into valleys and hills and an upheaval continued in Burgundy. The layers of sediment and crustaceous limestone were turned upright with the edges of the layers comprising the newly formed earth crust. Picture a stack of plates on a table that are lifted up and turned until the edges faced up. The edges of the plates are the crustaceous and lime deposits and the space in between is sediment

The land we know as Burgundy warmed and became a giant forest near the town of Beaune.  Imagine a bunny rabbit making her quick way along a path on the lookout for fox and other predators. The bunny, like the forest creatures before her, had made a path on the sedimentary layers, eschewing the rocky and sharp coral-like limestone. The track started by the rabbit and enlarged by other animals was later expanded by Roman Legions who trampled the path and made a road giving access to the forest for lumber removal and eventually the creation of vineyards. The planting in these new vineyards was difficult as the soil was rocky and inhospitable for agriculture. Grapes were not grown on the dirt trails that became lanes adjacent to the vineyards.    But the vines were hearty and grew and the yield was a grape of distinctive flavor. It was eventually discovered that grapes grown on vines that were stressed, that had to work to produce their fruit,  produced wine of exceptional quality.
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