Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2003 7:28 AM
Subject: Wine at Orangewood Consulting - 34
To our Wine Aficionados,
Introduction
One of the goals for
this month’s newsletter is to be shorter than last month’s. Stand by for
brevity. Already March is looking like a good month for us. New
stores, new outlets, potential new sales associates and a potential new
delivery guy.
Summary (Box Score)
Event Notifications
Friday
April 4th 6:00 - 7:30 Red Kangaroo - Scottsdale
Friday
April 18th 3:00 - 6:00 Red Kangaroo - Chandler
Saturday
April 19th 3:00 - 6:00 Red Kangaroo - Chandler
New Outlets - The 3 Red Kangaroo
stores
New Outlet - AJ’s at Thompson Peak
New Restaurant - Basis - New
American Cuisine
Content
Outline for the remainder of this
newsletter
Event Notifications
Event Feedback – Mario Day –
Chateau Benoit introduction
White Zinfandel Detox
New restaurant - Basis
New retail outlets - Red Kangaroos
New retail outlet at AJ’s at
Thompson Peak
The Wine Glut – Part 2
Wine Tasting - Three-Buck Chuck
Feedback
Event - Friday April 4th 6:00 - 7:30 Red Kangaroo -
Scottsdale
Address: 7609 East Pinnacle Peak Rd
What: I
will be introducing the Marinda Park wines - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and the
newly arrived Sauvignon Blanc. Diane and Gary will also have 2 or 3 other
wines from down under for you to try.
What else: Food will be served
Cost: $10 per person
Event - Friday/Saturday April 18th/19th 3:00 - 7:30 Red
Kangaroo - Chandler
Address: 3305 W. Chandler
Boulevard
What: Each
of the two afternoons - evenings Dick and/or I will be there to introduce the
Marinda Park wines - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and the newly arrived Sauvignon
Blanc.
What else: Cheese and crackers
will be served
Cost: Free
Event Feedback – Mario Day – Chateau Benoit introduction
We had a good turnout for this event - thank you to all attendees and also to
all for letting us know that you were coming. Laurie was right - RSVP is
the way to go. Everyone else, thank you for figuring out that regrets
were unnecessary. The four wines from Chateau Benoit were tried.
The Muller Thurgau was the most popular, followed by the White Riesling.
Popularity was determined by quantity consumed! “Muller Thurgau” should
have an umlaut (those two little dots) over the “u” of Muller - but it seems
some people had trouble with their emails when I included it last time.
Nonetheless, it is pronounced “Mew-ler Tur-gow” in true Germanic style.
This is a white wine made from a grape that is a hybrid Riesling and Swiss
grape. The result is a light, refreshing wine with a floral nose and
delicate taste. How did the food turn out? I think I’m better
suited to unwrapping cheese, but we did manage to cook some egg rolls, Chinese
dumplings and blue cheese/mushroom bruschetta. I think everyone enjoyed
watching me have too much Chinese mustard on an egg roll! Perhaps that’s
why we drank so much of the Muller Thurgau – a perfect accompaniment to Asian
cuisine.
White Zinfandel Detox
When I deliver to a restaurant I
usually get to check out a delivery entrance. Typically it leads through
the kitchen where the prep work is going on. At Nello’s in Ahwatukee
there is a sign directed at the wait staff that says “If someone orders a white
Zinfandel please give them a sample of the Noceto Frivolo - it’s so much
better.” For those of you despairing of some of your White Zinfandel
drinking friends, this is a possible alternative to finding new friends.
New Restaurant - Basis - New American Cuisine
Looking at the Arizona Liquor
Board website, and at the recently issued liquor licenses, I occasionally find
something that looks appealing. Basis was one such place. It’s at
410 East Thunderbird Road. I first showed up when the carpenters were there -
not much sales potential. Next time I went it was after I saw an article
in the Arizona Republic. I was heading for the door when the owner, Steve,
waved me down and suggested that I avoid the freshly done sidewalk. The
Republic had been premature with the announcement of opening. I went
around to the back to find that they were opening in two days. Steve was
relieved when I offered to come back the following week. Six weeks later,
Basis now carries Vino Noceto Sangiovese. In the meantime I had an email
conversation with Frank about Basis. He said: “We had dinner at Basis last
night. Excellent!!! Staff was excellent, atmosphere new and well
done, food EXCELLENT … they have a big wine bar with maybe 24 bottles on tap.
There were 6 of us there and we paid $30 each for an entree and 2 glasses of
wine. Recommend it.” Frank, thanks for the input.
New Outlets - Red Kangaroo
I know that I reported having trouble at the Red Kangaroo when I went there
last year. However, with Mark Rodman’s help we now have the Marinda Park
wines at all three locations of the store - Phoenix at Tatum and Shea and the
Scottsdale and Chandler stores - addresses in the event notifications.
Roger and Injy at the Chandler store had a great write-up in the AZ Republic
this week. You can still see it at: http://www.azcentral.com/home/wine/articles/0326foodpeople26.html
New Outlet - AJ’s at Thompson Peak
I got a call from Jerry, formerly a wine steward at AJ’s on Central Avenue, but
now at this new AJ’s. He had been the sole attendee at one of the wine
tastings we held last year - he enjoyed it and appreciated it. So when a
customer asked him for some Noceto Frivolo he knew whom to call. This
AJ’s is so new, its address isn’t in the phone book yet, but I knew where
Thompson Peak was - off to the east of Scottsdale Road as you head north.
Problem is that piece of Thompson Peak Road does not connect to the piece with
the new AJ’s on it. It’s actually best to reach it by heading north from
Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard. They also have the Sangiovese there now.
Wine Glut - Part 2
How does this affect our wineries
and wines? They are, of course, wineries and are not really trying to
sell grapes, nor do they sell wine in bulk as their primary revenue
generator. They make their wine primarily from grapes that they grow
themselves, which has always been an attraction to me because it allows them to
provide a consistent product year after year. All our wineries supply
consistency and high quality wines at reasonable prices. With practice -
and believe me Laurie and I are practicing hard at this - it is possible to
recognize the distinctive colors, aromas and tastes of our wines.
Separately, some of those same people who started wineries based on their
winnings from the dot.com boom are now owners of unprofitable wineries.
This moves them out of the buyers market for high-end wines. Similarly,
investment bankers are no longer buying cases upon cases of Opus One to
celebrate a merger or acquisition. This is why you see quite a bit of
Opus One for sale - even at Costco. This is causing some price reduction
at the high end (Opus One was $150 a bottle a year ago), which in turn puts
pressure on the wines priced at $90 and so on. Our wines are priced
retail from $11 to $50 with most in $20 - $25 range. This seems to be out
of the Two Buck Chuck battles at the low end and below the Opus One/Dot.com
reductions.
Feedback from RustRidge is that
Napa Valley is the only place where grape prices have gone up. Good
news. Guess where RustRidge is located? They also warned me that
their 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon is coming soon. I can’t wait; I should dash
over for a preview. (Mike, when are you available?)
Three-Buck Chuck tasting
While we had Mark Rodman, owner of the Marinda Park winery, here last month we
bought all 4 varietals that Trader Joe’s offers under the Charles Shaw
label. In California these wines are $2, but with all the shipping, etc.,
they are $3 in Arizona. The four varietals are Chardonnay, Sauvignon
Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. As I was buying the wines I talked
to someone who had already bought and tried the Chardonnay. She said it
was acceptable. Laurie, Mark and I did not linger very long over these
wines. We tasted some, sniffed some but decided not to taste, and poured
the rest down the sink. We had some thoughts about a scientific
assessment, but it wasn’t worth it. The color of the wines was fine in
all cases, the nose however was offensive for two of the wines and the taste
and finish was unacceptable for all of them. So, OK, they were only $3,
but in order to be called wine, I do think that it should at least be
drinkable. Amongst all the rumors of these being expensive wines being
dumped, I heard one that suggested these were box wines packaged in
bottles. That is much closer to my opinion. I have tried box wines
that are superior to these (courtesy of Bill, thanks Bill). Feel free to
try these wines, although we won’t try them again. Maybe they are
inconsistent and we were just unlucky.
Noceto Frivolo Recipe
Last month I mentioned that Kay had a recipe that paired well with the
Frivolo. Here’s the recipe. Thanks, Kay.
Pastry Crust
1½ c. flour
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp. sugar
½ c. cold butter, cut into small
pieces
¼ c. ice water
Pastry Cream
¾ c. plus 2 tbsp. milk
Pinch of salt
½ c. sugar
1/3 c. flour
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 tbsp. dark rum
1 tsp vanilla extract
Topping
3 golden delicious apples
¼ c. sugar
1 egg
3 ½ tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 c. raw almonds chopped
Encoding
Pastry crust: Place the flour, salt
sugar and butter in a bowl, and mix to a fine-crumbed texture. Gradually mix in
the ice water. The dough should hold together, but not be sticky. Wrap in
plastic; refrigerate for a least a half- hour. (Note: this will make more
crust than you need)
Pastry Cream: Bring the milk and
salt to a boil in a medium sauce pan.
Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together
the sugar, flour, egg yolks and whole egg, and gradually add the hot milk.
Return the mixture to the sauce pan and heat to boiling, stirring constantly.
When 2 or 3 bubbles appear remove from the heat. Add the rum and vanilla, and
pour into a bowl to cool.
Preheat oven to 450 F. On a floured
board, roll dough into a circle. Line a 9- inch pan with the dough and prick
the bottom with a fork.
Topping: Pare and core the apples.
Cut them into thin slices. Spread the pastry cream over the crust and top with
the apples. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 400 F. and bake
for 30 minutes. Mix together the sugar, egg and butter. Pour over the apples
and sprinkle with the almonds and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the tart
is well browned. Serves 8.
Feedback
Uptown 713
Howard Seftel, restaurant critic for the Arizona Republic, gave an excellent
review of this restaurant. You can read it at: http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dining/articles/0319uptown19a.html
Cin-cin, alla salute!
Richard and Laurie