The rubbish that some wine merchants say to people

[Linda_Baehr]

@David Strange

Another example was when I picked up a bottle of oldish wine in a London wine merchant to check its level. The wine merchant came up to me and said, “Don’t pick up the wines, you’ll bruise them.” The level was fine but I couldn’t bring myself to buy it from such an arse.

I guess they’ll remain on the shelf forever, then!

[David_Strange]

@Linda Baehr

@David Strange

Another example was when I picked up a bottle of oldish wine in a London wine merchant to check its level. The wine merchant came up to me and said, “Don’t pick up the wines, you’ll bruise them.” The level was fine but I couldn’t bring myself to buy it from such an arse.

I guess they’ll remain on the shelf forever, then!

Hi Linda,

It was a really asinine thing to say. Was I supposed to think that the wine made it onto his shelves on a cushion of air which didn’t ‘bruise’ the wine at all? How was I supposed to get this fragile drink home without doing it any more damage? That moronic, rancid fool’s comment has made me avoid his shop, so his loss for talking drivel.

Cheers,
David.

[john_holdredge]

@Bob Wood

I’ve told this story before, but there was a wholesaler rep pouring Italian wines in the supermarket. He poured me one that I liked and I read the back label. “It says this wine is made from Primitivo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Negroamaro. Interesting blend.”

“Yes,” he said. “What you have there is BURGUNDY, which requires at least three grapes.”

I left.

Oh shit… here we go again… another “Is there Syrah in Pinot” thread…

[Stu_Fishler]

@Doug Schulman

At a trade tasting…What an ass.

This was up there in Maine, right???

[G_D_y_e_r]

At a local shop where tastings are held, the rep for a distributor has on several occasions said Chinon is in southwest France during the course of a tasting. He’s not being snooty about it, though, so it’s not a big deal.

At another shop I visit much less frequently a staff member approached to ask if I needed help. When I said I was just browsing, he went off in a huff and muttered something like “but you’re looking all over!” True, I was bouncing around every section, but I was mainly pricing out different options. I can understand his thinking, but the snarky comment was unnecessary. If your customer wants to look at everything in the store, that’s his prerogative!

[Richard_T_r_i_m_p_i]

@G. D y e r

At a local shop where tastings are held, the rep for a distributor has on several occasions said Chinon is in southwest France during the course of a tasting.

St. Chinian, Chinon…there’s a learning curve.

RT

[Ray_Walker]

Merchant: ‘you should enjoy this Ca Pinot noir, it I’d very elegant, low in alcohol and an excellent value at $70.’

me: why would I choose this over say a Burgundy?

Merchant: ‘to start off, Burgundy only makes Cabernet and they are usually oaky.’

me: hmm, I will grab a Burgundy. I’ve always enjoyed can, thanks.

[David_Strange]

@Ray Walker

Merchant: ‘you should enjoy this Ca Pinot noir, it I’d very elegant, low in alcohol and an excellent value at $70.’

me: why would I choose this over say a Burgundy?

Merchant: ‘to start off, Burgundy only makes Cabernet and they are usually oaky.’

me: hmm, I will grab a Burgundy. I’ve always enjoyed can, thanks.

Ray,

By arse, if someone said that to me I wouldn’t be sure whether to laugh or cry. Certainly there would be a strong urge to reprogram the merchant’s wine knowledge centres with a blunt instrument. As I said in an earlier post, staff in wine shops must be knowledgeable, otherwise they will be unable to serve their customers as they should.

Cheers,
David.

[Andrew_Hall]

@Ray Walker

Merchant: ‘you should enjoy this Ca Pinot noir, it I’d very elegant, low in alcohol and an excellent value at $70.’

me: why would I choose this over say a Burgundy?

Merchant: ‘to start off, Burgundy only makes Cabernet and they are usually oaky.’

me: hmm, I will grab a Burgundy. I’ve always enjoyed can, thanks.

I should think the correct response would be to bet that merchant over the contents of that bottle of Burgundy, with the stakes being that bottle.


A.

[Ray_Walker]

David
I actually had a quick thought of it. I figured this one was well past reprogramming figured someone else might come along and do the work.

Andrew,
now that’s an idea. Oddly enough, I just wanted to walk away. Would have been nice to engage in the bet though.

[Guillaume_Deschamps]

@G. D y e r

At a local shop where tastings are held, the rep for a distributor has on several occasions said Chinon is in southwest France during the course of a tasting. He’s not being snooty about it, though, so it’s not a big deal.

Well… it’s southwest of Paris, so it’s in Southwest France… very roughly speaking

[Rick_Tyler]

@David Strange

On a related note, I share a story told to me by a few of my favourite Burgundy producers. They say one question regularly asked of them when showing people around their wineries and giving tastings is, “What blend of grapes do you use in your red wine?” The polite reply to this, I’m told, is to say that only Pinot Noir is used, but there are different clones of it in the vineyards each of which brings a different character to the final wine. The more general result of asking such a question is a curtailed tasting with none of the top stuff being shown. If I were tasting for the first time at a place like, for example, Roumier in Chambolle where his most basic wine is priced (direct) at €30 (~$42), I’d find out a bit more about them before visiting so I could ask pertinent questions and not make an arse of myself.

By all means, they should go ahead and snub potential customers. This will result in additional sales for other producers who appreciate the benefits of educating their clientele, and reward snob-free wine makers. At least in the US, there is minimal correlation between free cash flow and wine knowledge, and I assume that about 95% of wine makers in the world stay up nights trying to figure out how to best match their product with sources of cash. What’s wrong with politely educating potential customers instead of mistreating them?

For what it’s worth, I doubt the average Burgundy producer could ask pertinent questions about my industry, and would shortly make an arse of themselves trying. The difference is, I suppose, that I’d rather build a loyal customer than show off my superior knowledge.

[Roberto_Rogness]

“An employee in an un-named PA state store said that Cristal tastes like Mountain Dew.”

I would say it’s more like Nesbitt’s Cream Soda.

[G_D_y_e_r]

@Guillaume Deschamps

@G. D y e r

At a local shop where tastings are held, the rep for a distributor has on several occasions said Chinon is in southwest France during the course of a tasting. He’s not being snooty about it, though, so it’s not a big deal.

Well… it’s southwest of Paris, so it’s in Southwest France… very roughly speaking

Maybe that’s actually how he intended it, now that I think about it. Since Bdx is often the reference point, though, usually it seems the Southwest is defined by regions like Madiran and Cahors.

[G_D_y_e_r]

@Rick Tyler

By all means, they should go ahead and snub potential customers. This will result in additional sales for other producers who appreciate the benefits of educating their clientele, and reward snob-free wine makers. At least in the US, there is minimal correlation between free cash flow and wine knowledge, and I assume that about 95% of wine makers in the world stay up nights trying to figure out how to best match their product with sources of cash. What’s wrong with politely educating potential customers instead of mistreating them?

For what it’s worth, I doubt the average Burgundy producer could ask pertinent questions about my industry, and would shortly make an arse of themselves trying. The difference is, I suppose, that I’d rather build a loyal customer than show off my superior knowledge.

Yeah, but this is Burgundy, they can sell out their wines from name vineyards at $100+ per 750 mL ten times over. The snob appeal of tiny cuvees from tiny producers is a feature, not a flaw, and it’s no doubt important for them to cultivate this image because this is where their $$$ is at. This business model doesn’t appeal to me personally as a customer, but if that’s how they want to run things, more power to them.

[Howard_Cooper]

@Ray Walker

Merchant: ‘you should enjoy this Ca Pinot noir, it I’d very elegant, low in alcohol and an excellent value at $70.’

me: why would I choose this over say a Burgundy?

Merchant: ‘to start off, Burgundy only makes Cabernet and they are usually oaky.’

me: hmm, I will grab a Burgundy. I’ve always enjoyed can, thanks.

Ray,

You mean that your Burgundies are not made from Cabernet? Have you been deceiving me?

[RyanC]

Being young on the spectrum of wine purchasers, I seem to attract especially annoying and condescending know-nothing retail salespeople. A favorite recent episode was where I had a retailer tell me that because they blend grapes in France, it was difficult or impossible to know the precise blend of grape varieties used to make Meursault… ugh.

[Rick_Tyler]

@G. D y e r

@Rick Tyler

By all means, they should go ahead and snub potential customers. This will result in additional sales for other producers who appreciate the benefits of educating their clientele, and reward snob-free wine makers. At least in the US, there is minimal correlation between free cash flow and wine knowledge, and I assume that about 95% of wine makers in the world stay up nights trying to figure out how to best match their product with sources of cash. What’s wrong with politely educating potential customers instead of mistreating them?

For what it’s worth, I doubt the average Burgundy producer could ask pertinent questions about my industry, and would shortly make an arse of themselves trying. The difference is, I suppose, that I’d rather build a loyal customer than show off my superior knowledge.

Yeah, but this is Burgundy, they can sell out their wines from name vineyards at $100+ per 750 mL ten times over. The snob appeal of tiny cuvees from tiny producers is a feature, not a flaw, and it’s no doubt important for them to cultivate this image because this is where their $$$ is at. This business model doesn’t appeal to me personally as a customer, but if that’s how they want to run things, more power to them.

I am a huge fan of economic motivation, and if that’s their business model, more power to them. The worst thing a business can do is sort of mush along not knowing who they are or what they provide. At least “I don’t care if you buy anything from me or not” is a clear strategy.

[alan_weinberg]

couldn’t find the Burgundies in a new large store (Total Wine), so I asked the manager. I was standing among some Bordeaux wines at the time. “Burgundy?” he said, “Right here, Burgundy is in Bordeaux.” I couldn’t bring myself to respond.

alan

[Mike_Reff]

@alan weinberg

couldn’t find the Burgundies in a new large store (Total Wine), so I asked the manager. I was standing among some Bordeaux wines at the time. “Burgundy?” he said, “Right here, Burgundy is in Bordeaux.” I couldn’t bring myself to respond.

alan

Alab in olden times that employee would have been taken out back and shot!