Had an hour to kill out on the South side of town, so (against my better judgement) went into TotalWines and walked out (I am such a wuss) with the following wines:
MaisonDenuziere Aphrodite Ad’OP: Condrieu (13%; SarantyImports/Stamford/CT) Condrieu 2014: Med.gold color; slight earthy light/quiet/Viog/pear slight toasty rather simple pleasant nose; soft/fat very light pear/Viog slight toast (not oak) slight earthy utterly vapid/watery flavor; very short soft/fat/porky/no acid very light pear/Viog slight earthy/metallic/tinny watery/vapid finish; an utterly vapid/watery white that speaks Viog only w/ a whisper; would say it’s like a Lodi Viog cropped at 20 tons/acre; SueTipton’s Acquiesence Viog would blow this away at less than half the price; you an actually find this wine at a non-TW shop for $80; a stupid/silly price for such a vapid wine. $53.00 (TW)
Tenuta Cappallotto Famiglia Lanzavecchia PrimeTerre Dd’OC: Piemonte Rosso (12.5%; www.Cappallotto.It; Saranty Imports) Serralunga d’Alba 2015: Med.light color; lightly fragrant/grapey/Dolcetto-like/slight floral/lilacs somewhat earthy/loamy pleasant enough grapey nose; soft slight tangy/metallicsome grapey/Dolcetto-like/fruity bit earthy/loamy rather dilute/watery somewhat insipid flavor w/ light flaccid tannins; med.short soft slight tangy/metallic light earthy/loamy light fruity/grapey/Dolcetto-like rather watery/insipid finish w/ light flaccid tannins; this is how FredFranzia would make BricoAsili if he could; this is supposedly 100% Nebbiolo but speaks more of a lightweight/vapid Dolcetto than Nebbiolo; a pleasant/grapey/simple nose but pretty dull/insipid on the palate; no bargain at $16.00 (TW)
Winzer Krems GrunerVeltliner Kremser Sandgrube (12.5%; SarantyImports) Krems/Donau 2017: Lots of large bubbles & many tiny bubbles along the sides of the glass/dissolved CO2; med.light gold color; pleasant floral/GV/carnations slight spicy/white pepper pleasant/simple GV nose; quite tangy/tart/bit metallic light floral/GV/carnations/white pepper very light bodied slight prickly rather watery/vapid flavor; short bit tart/tangy very light GV/floral/carnations/spicy slight prickly rather watery/insipid flavor w/ quite metallic/tinny aftertaste; a pleasant if simple GV nose but utterly watery/vapid on the palate w/ little GV character; nothing here wants me to take a 2’nd glass; no bargain at $15.00 (TW)
Ch.Miselle Ad’OP: Sauternes GrandVin de Bordeaux (13.5%; SarantyImports) B by Dulong/Landivas 2016: Lots of bubbles that dissipate; med.light gold color; light peachy/apricotty/botrytis bit Semillon/figgy slight earthy rather attractive if simple Sauternes nose; soft light earthy some botrytis/peachy/apricotty bit Semillon/figgy fairly sweet quite pleasant if lightweight Sauternes flavor; med.long soft fairly botrytis/peachy/apricotty light figgy/Semillon fairly sweet pleasant Sauternes finish; reminds a lot of the old Calvet or Mouton-Cadet generic Sauternes; not a great price for a dessert wine but at least not boring as hell. $13.00/hlf (TW)
A wee BP:
SarantyImports: There is not a lot out there about this importing company or the people behind it. As best I can tell, it is simply an importing company that is designed to bring in wines strictly for TotalWines. I’ve not been able to find any other wine shops that carry wine from SarantyImport. Which is all perfectly legal & above-board.
These are wines that carry the shelf-talker “Winery Direct”. My understanding is that these are the highest margin wines that TW carries and that there is extraordinary pressure on the TW “wine associates” to move the “Winery Direct” wines. When I’m bottom feeding at TW, I often try the “Winery Direct” wines because they are labels that I don’t recognize & I can always hope they are a real find. In some cases, the labels appear to be made-up names strictly for TW. All four of these wines refer to wineries which are actual wineries. But I don’t know if these are bottom-of-the line cuvees made up/bttld for Saranty or not.
At any rate, of the 15-20 “Winery Direct” wines I’ve tried since TW came to SantaFe, none of been worth going back for a 2’nd btl. I’ve had better luck w/ the sweet wines, but then again not worth going back for more. And the TW markups don’t appear to be particularly low, at least on wines I recognize.
If you’re gonna go bottom feeding, I would suggest your chances are better at TraderJoe’s than TW.
Alas, though, I am such a naive wuss that I have little doubt that I’ll once again, in several months, darken the door of TW and walk out with a few btls that I “must” try. And be disappointed once again.
Tom
Yikes. Sounds like a terminal case of “don’t-give-a-shit-itis” on the part of TW’s wine buyers. Have had much better luck trying bargain wines from K&L and even Whole Foods.
Well, Nick…I’m not sure that’s the case. I just think the buyers at the individual stores are not given much freedom to explore
for good/bargain wines. I think they’re buying habits are pretty much dictated by corporate.
Tom
Corporate indeed. I talked to a former employee and as we already know they are promoting there brands. They do have some good winery direct wines on sale at good prices but the general public buy as you stated their typical buying habits.
And then there’s BevMo. I guess you don’t have them in NM, but they’re the same only worse. Although like TW, they stock a few better-known wines throughout the store so that you question whether the private label wines really are private label.
But they do have these clearance sales from time to time and those deals aren’t really all that bad. I got a few bottles of Brewer Clifton Chardonnay for around fifteen bucks. Not really my style but it’s a typical CA Chardonnay that’s nice when you have a larger gathering because there are lots of people who like it.
Still, it’s rarely worth visiting those stores and you were brave to pay $50 plus for something.
Well, Greg…haven’t been in a BevMo for yrs. We don’t have them in NM, but I see them all over when I’m
out there in Calif. My impression is that they’re mostly a source for commodity wines. When I’m out there,
I have this circle of wine shops I visit & that pretty much takes care of my needs.
I’ve been burnt so often on their “WineryDirect” wines that I was reluctant to pull the trigger on that Condrieu,
but I’ve never had a Condrieu that I didn’t think had something to offer. This Condrieu was easily the poorest
Condrieu that I’ve ever had. Thank you TotalWines&More. Least now I won’t bite on their WineryDirect
Hermitage.
Tom
Thanks for taking one for the team, Tom. The constant pressure to buy “winery direct” or “distillery direct” products is a real turn-off for me at Total Wine. Even if I tell an employee what my preferences are, it’s almost a certainty that they’re going to recommend one of these products amidst a few others. I tried their 18-year Scotch (Grangestone IIRC) and it was wholly forgettable. I haven’t tried a winery-direct wine yet, but your experience helps with my conviction.
Good prices on liquor, good selection of fairly well priced good wines, depending on location. You just have to avoid all of their private label stuff. They make massive margins on the fringes, which enables them to capitalize on low margins and on economies of scale given their size. The result is that some of their high end retail prices are really pretty competitive. Not always, but some good finds. If I recall, they had nice pricing on a good number of barolo, flacianello, and a good supply of 15 rhones. Their selection is seriously varied based on proximity to wealthy clientele, though. Not a surprise, really, but the Dallas “Park Lane” store has way better bottles than the Lewsiville location (a less affluent area to say the least).
I’m in Vancouver but I always visit the total wine near Seattle when Im in town, and have never had any issues, albeit I know what I’m looking for when I’m there.
For another example we just got back from Scottsdale and while there we picked up a few bottles from TW of 2015 VCC at $250 and 14 HB at $369, both behind glass in the wine fridge. Seemed like a good deal to me? They have a big selection and some bargains to be had. Is part of the dislike that they’re a big box store? Just curious as an occasional visitor.
TW are all stocked based on location. They all carry lots of same corporate mandate, probably 90% common, but then each store stocks depending on target audience. In Las Vegas there are 4 stores. Best stock is in one at the Southern point of the Strip, near the airport. Asian tourists stock up on the way out, same as some do in Summerlin store, a 20 minute ride from Strip. See them pick up cases of high end Napa and Bordeaux, you see $10K stacks of cash come out of their pockets, and one time a brown paper bag of all things. Then you go to Henderson location, mostly locals, and they have best beer selection between 4 TWs in town.
And you should see (new) Costco Henderson 2 liquor section. Up to $30K bottles of whisky and Cognac, its like a museum. Way higher end than even Summerlin location (local royalty /s), wines as well as liquor. Each store dials in beyond the corporate mandate.
Well, Jordan…I don’t think it’s because it’s a BigBox store. I shop BigBox stores (Costco/Sam’sClub/Target/Smiths/etc) all the time for
stuff I need. No problem w/ the size and the prices are usually (not always) cheaper.
But I seldom find myself in need of a K-J Reserve Chard/TrincheroEstateCab/SutterHome Peach White Zin or a $100+ btl behind the glass wall.
When I wine shop local, it’s usually to buy something I’m interested in trying…a new producer…a new variety…a new region…etc.
When TW opened in SantaFe, I was pretty excited because there was a lot of wineries, mostly European, that I didn’t recognize.
Mostly they said “Winery Direct”. Mostly said SarantyImports on the back label. So I started trying them. Of the 15-20 SarantyImports
I’ve tried, not one would I buy again. They’re not “bad” wines…they’re just bland/boring/insipid, by & large. The Condrieu, at $53/btl.
How “bad” could that be for that price? I found out…bland/dull as all get out. Poorest Condrieu or Viognier I’ve ever had.
But hope springs eternal…and I’ll probably buy another WineryDirect when I go in there again. Stupid me.
Tom
Not entirely true. Most of their classed growth bdx are “winery direct.” These are unlikely to be among their highest margin wines and I doubt their associates are pushing Grand Puy Lacoste.
A winery owner/winemaker friend had a long conference call a couple of weeks ago with the regional buyer and several dozen Whole Foods store wine managers. After the call with lots of winemaking details and their questions answered, the initial order tripled to three pallets.
Sometimes you can catch a deal @ Total Wine. Walked out with a couple bottles of ‘09 Rinaldi for under 125 a couple months ago and Bilicart Salmon Rose with the right coupon can be had for ~70 bucks.
Been doing some more digging around.
Not been able to find out much about Saranty. There seems to be some association w/ William Deutsch Imports,
both located in White Plains, but I can’t determine that connection. Saranty was founded in 1994, about the time TW was starting to expand aggressively.
But it is privately held & can’t find the people behind. My guess is that the Trone bros are involved in it and it’s a sham importer set up to
import wines for TW at a very low markup.
Here in NM, there is a wine distributor that imports the Saranty wines for TW. They cannot, by law, be owned by TW, but probably another sham distributorship
that TW has set up. I’ve heard stories that these big trucks pull up into the warehouse parking lot briefly, then journey on to the two NM TW’s. Not legal, as best I am told.
By NM law, the distributorship must also sell to other wine retailers. But the issue has never been pressed by any NM retailers that I know of. And, of course,
no wine reps from this distributorship make calls on any of the other retailers. If any retailer would force the issue, trying to buy the Saranty wines, I suspect they
would be given a bogus wholesale price list that would make them not competitive w/ the TW shelf prices. But, given that the Saranty wines are mostly
crap wines, I can’t imagine why a NM retailer would seek to do this.
You can, of course, get some European estates at TW for very attractive prices. That is because these estates can go thru multiple importers. When those estates
sell to Saranty, I’m sure the markup Saranty takes is bare bones. But I’m sure that there are some estates that don’t sell to Saranty. But this is probably how TW has
developed a reputation for being a source of low cost wines. But price comparisons I’ve made on a number of Calif wines, they are not particularly bargains compared
to other NM retailers. These are wines that go thru the other, non-sham, distributorships.
All of this is perfectly legal & above board and an example of the Trones manipulating the system aggressively to their advantage. And in view of the ethics/principals
that you see in today’s business world and back in Wash, or dismal lack thereof, this is all pretty small potatoes.
Tom
I think it’s extremely likely that their margins are very high on those wines. Total is probably buying directly in Bordeaux at the lowest prices possible and then sending the wines through importer/distributor channels that take very little margin out. If Total didn’t have relatively large margins on those wines, I am pretty sure they wouldn’t call them “Winery Direct”. Their associates aren’t pushing those wines because most customers aren’t looking for them, and most of their employees know so little about wine that they probably wouldn’t be comfortable trying to sell classed growth Bordeaux.