Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2004 9:28 AM
Subject: Orangewood Wines News - 3
To Our Wine Aficionados,
Introduction
In the introduction of OWN #2 we suggested that our
house would be party ready by the end of February. Well, not quite.
We do have our wine cellar in commission, a great relief - we can turn up the
heating in the house now. However, we continue to have a long hit list,
plus we have a visit to England for my mother’s 90th birthday. No excuses
for not attending! We leave on March 10, so our chance to continue the
Mario day tradition takes a hit on its very first anniversary. Ah, well.
Box Score
New
restaurants: 4
New retail
outlets: 1
New sales
people: 0
New
wineries: 0
Contents
Upcoming Events
March
26th Wine Basket,
Sedona
April 7th
Nello’s, Tempe
Event Feedback
Epicurean Wine - Cabernet
Sauvignons
Uptown 713
Red Kangaroo, Scottsdale
Tour De Paso Robles - Westberg
Cellars Wines
AZ Wine, Scottsdale - Sierra
Foothills Wines
New locations
Razz’s
Mancuso’s
Drinkwater’s
Four Peaks, Scottsdale
Calico Cow
Visit to Napa Cellars Winery and
the Sierra Foothills, aka Rambling
Feedback/Corrections
Upcoming Events
March
26th
Wine Basket, Sedona
Every Friday this wine store has a
wine dinner. On this date they will feature wines from Orangewood.
They have room for 25 people and sell out a few days beforehand.
April 7th
Nello’s, Tempe - Zinfandels
We had an internal Zinfandel
tasting last month with Orangewood staff and a few people who heard about
it. We met at Nello’s to compare the Zinfandels we have in our (one page)
catalog, as well as a couple of new candidates. We had altogether too
much fun. (If you are in Napa visiting Frank Family you can ask Scott,
who joined the tasting part way through.) Geno had fun, too, and has
scheduled a repeat for a wider audience. Be there or be disappointed.
Event Feedback
Epicurean Wine - Cabernet
Sauvignon Tasting
Scott Lloyd, the National Sales
guy for both Napa Cellars Winery and Frank Family Vineyards, flew into town to
support this event. It was not a well attended tasting. I think there
were 6 paying guests. We tasted 2000 Napa Cellars, 1998 RustRidge and
three Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignons. The Frank Family wines were the
1999 Napa Valley, 2000 Alexander Valley (the last vintage of this appellation
because the contract to buy Silver Oak’s grapes has run out) and 1999
Rutherford Hill Reserve. It’s a pity you missed this because there is so
little of the Rutherford Hill that you will have to visit the winery to try
it. All the others are available at Epicurean, and the now knowledgeable
staff (John, Sunshine and Scott) can find them for you.
Uptown 713
This was Uptown’s inaugural,
last-Wednesday-of-the-month, monthly wine tasting. Alison and I did a
little scrambling to get things running smoothly - chasing round getting the right
wines cooled, polishing glasses, finding dump buckets and so forth. Phil
and Christina, the owners, also scrambled to get the appetizers in place and
tickets printed. Uptown had over 20 regulars there, and avid newsletter
reader, Robert, brought along his buddy, Hal. We focused on the Napa
Cellars wines, the first time we have exposed them together. The Cabernet
was the standout for this crowd.
Red Kangaroo, Scottsdale
We did the Napa Cellars thing
again at Red Kangaroo. Dyane, Laurie and I entertained and were pleased
to see Karen and Jim, Dyane’s folks and one of her clients in addition to the
modest throng of regulars. The last time we were here the wine of the
night was Young’s Vineyard Barbera, and they put it on their shelf. This
time we took along the other two Young’s wines that we have available - the
2001 Syrah and the 1999 Zinfandel. The Syrah was the winner. Diane
and Gary, the owners, decided to carry the full set of the Young’s wines, and
they may be the only retail outlet beyond Young’s tasting room to do so.
If you haven’t tasted these wines or seen the packaging, you are missing a
treat. Napa Cellars wines also drank very well are now available
here. Pinnacle Peak Rd at Miller.
Tour De Paso Robles - Westberg
Cellars Wines
This was an event with over 30
Paso Robles wineries represented. It was organized by AJ’s, Scottsdale
Culinary Institute and a small local distributor (not us), with the Boys and
Girls Club of Arizona benefiting. It was a mob scene. Probably 600
people poured through! From our perspective it was primarily a trade
event. We saw many of our existing customers and a few new
prospects. We tasted wines we were familiar with and a couple of new ones
in search of a local distributor. Alison, Dick and I poured the Westberg
Cellars wines - our only wines from Paso Robles. Tom and Peggy had
intended to be here for the event, but too many things were happening for them
to get a weekend off. We were proud to pour their wines, which stood up
well to the competition.
AZ Wine, Scottsdale - Sierra
Foothills Wines
We offered wines from all five of
our wineries in this region, and all of them tasted well. You know how
sometimes a wine tastes great, other times you’re not so sure? This night
the wines and my taste buds reached a chronosynclastic infundibulum (extra
points to those who recognize the reference.) The event was fairly well
attended, which means that Dick, Alison and I had no time to crack jokes in
between pouring and talking about each of the wineries. Well almost no
time!
New Locations
Razz’s Bar and Grill – 10315
North Scottsdale Road
Laurie and I had not eaten at
Razz’s since he changed locations. He is on the square in the SE corner
of Scottsdale and Shea. When we last were there he was on the east side
of the square; now he is on the west side backing onto Scottsdale Rd.
Razz is a major wine enthusiast. He tried a few of our wines and ordered
the Latcham Cabernet Franc for next season (he is closed May - September).
At the next tasting he loved the Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignons and has them
available now. Razz impressed me after I watched him deal with a
vegetarian customer who couldn’t find anything to their liking on the
menu. He knelt beside their table and explained the ingredients that he
had and the kind of vegetarian things he could make for them. They
negotiated an entree that Razz went off and cooked. This is customer
service. Try it.
Mancuso’s Restaurant – 6166 N.
Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale (in the Borgata)
It must be at least 15 years ago
that Laurie and I headed over to Mancuso’s following a terrible Friday in the
corporate world. We were wowed with the service, food and wine to the
point where we had to spend an hour or two at the nearby bookstore recovering
before driving home. Chris is the sommelier and his father-in-law (I
probably shouldn’t be telling you this) is a friend of Susan and Jim from
RustRidge. (Father-in-law calls Chris to “suggest” that he may want to
carry RustRidge wines. Good idea!) RustRidge Zinfandel is now available,
as is Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon.
Drinkwater’s Liquor and Cheese –
10802 N Scottsdale Rd (just North of Shea)
Drinkwater’s lapped up some of the
Frank Family wines to see how they go down with their customers. They
have the Napa Valley Cabernet and Chardonnay.
Four Peaks Grill and Tap - 15730
North Pima Road, Scottsdale
This is a new location for the
familiar Tempe brewery. They feel a need for some wines for the
well-heeled clientele in North Scottsdale. If you have been shopping at
the Costco in Scottsdale this is a great antidote. It’s on the east side
of Hayden, north of Costco, but before you hit Frank Lloyd Wright. They
are starting with one of the Westberg Cellar’s Zinfandels.
Calico Cow - - 8525 North Central
Avenue, Phoenix (at the Canal)
This location has had many
incarnations. All of them have failed. Susan and Kent believe that
reaching out to the local community, rather than enticing big spenders from
elsewhere, is the key. Laurie and I agree and wish they had shown up
sooner. Starting on Tuesday, March 9th, they will have a
liquor license and will be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Alison
was a regular at the Calico Cow’s previous location and had the inside track on
their introductory wine tasting event. Stop by and try this promising
location and look for and try our wines there.
Visit to Napa Cellars Winery
Dick and I take a trip to the Napa Valley. The
Captains of Industry, as Dick calls us, have to check the frontlines to gather
local color. Our first stop is Napa Cellars in Oakville. Driving
north from Napa on Route 29 we pass the Brix restaurant, followed by the
Mustards restaurant. Napa Cellars is a neighbor to Mustards. A large
barrel (I mean, HUGE barrel) is the sign for the winery. This barrel, we
later learn, came from Leland Stanford’s old farm. Leland was the
governor who partnered with 3 businessmen to build the Central Pacific railroad
and then founded a little college with his name on it. (See PBS’s summary here:
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/stanford.htm).
Napa Cellars has a couple more of these barrels and are loath to throw them
out, what with all the history they are steeped in. If anyone has a good
idea for them… We drive into the parking lot beside the geodesic domed tasting
room and picnic area. If we had kept going north we would have reached
the Oakville grocery where we could have loaded up with bread, cheese and pâté
for a picnic lunch; but it’s mid afternoon and there is wine to
taste. Scott welcomes us - he is here, he is there, he is
everywhere - together with Holly and Kerri, two of the three regular tasting
staff. (Ken, the third member of this crew, is not working this
afternoon.) Like Frank Family Vineyards, Napa Cellars has been owned by
Rich Frank and Koerner Rombauer for several years. Until last year all
the wine was sold at the tasting room. Their aggressive growth plan now
has them selling in 20 states. One of the things we have on our agenda is
to review the Merlot. (We were originally unenthusiastic about the 2001
Merlot they sent us, so we didn’t order any. Then they mistakenly sent us
samples of the 2000, which is delicious.) The 2001 Merlot has developed
tremendously since our original tasting and we now think that it will meet or
exceed the 2000. So much for our ability to predict this stuff. By
way of rubbing our noses in it, they also have us taste the Reserve Merlot,
which is really special. (In fact, this wine is later pronounced “best
wine in a lifetime” by Debby, who got to share in a bottle in exchange for
putting up with us for a night. (Thank you Debby, Mike, Toby and
Calvin!) The Napa Cellars wine room is definitely worth a visit.
Buy yourself a bottle of that Reserve Merlot, too.
Sierra Foothills
The following day is Amador County day. We visit Vino
Noceto, Young’s Vineyard, Latcham Vineyards and Granite Springs Winery.
We primarily want to strengthen the relationship aspects of dealing with these
wineries. We pick up a couple of samples from Noceto and Granite that we
will be tasting with some of our customers to decide whether to expand coverage
of each winery’s offering. Jim and Suzy Gullett at Noceto taste us on
their latest Rosato. Despite our misgivings, this wine could have a rosy
future. We’ll be sampling it for the summer season. Stell Young
suggests that we take wine along for dinner - ouch! Twist my arm. After a
perilous journey across the canyon, with only a brief visit to the Coloma Club
to fortify us, we have dinner and spend the night at Dick’s sister-in-law’s
home in Auburn. (Thank you, Heidi and Bud!)
Our last day is primarily for
barrel tasting with Neal Baumbach at Hyatt-Baumbach’s historic and mighty cold
Auburn winery. (Neal had connected with Dick in Tucson to preview some of
the wines at restaurants there and at his alma mater, so we already know this
is good stuff.) By way of education we taste two components of the Zinfandel:
one in French Oak barrels, the other in American Oak. Other than the
barreling, the grapes were sourced and processed identically. Both tastes
are wonderful, but markedly different. The blend is different yet
again. After talking about pH and sugar and Brix and stuff, I ask whether
they blend based on chemistry or flavor or both. Flavor is the
answer. Ron and Neal are able to predict how the wine components will
turn out and which blending will allow them to achieve their intended result.
Amazing. There’s a lot to learn.
Feedback/Corrections
In last month’s newsletter I mentioned that Arcadia Wines is
on the west side of Scottsdale Road. If you are still looking, I
apologize. 4251 N Brown Ave is on the east side.
Cin-cin, alla salute!
Richard and Laurie