New Orleans Hospitality . . . Red Fish Style!

New Orleans is known for being gracious. However, one experience during my recent visit deserves special mention. If you don't have time to read this entire post, here's the bottom line: go eat at the Red Fish Grill on Bourbon Street, just off Canal Street.

Red Fish Grill is one of New Orleans’ many fine restaurants. Red Fish, of course, is worth special note because it is one of Ralph Brennan's establishments—which also include Bacco. My wife, Susan, and I celebrated her birthday at Bacco, while in New Orleans last week. A good number of my colleagues at The Society of Wine Educators also dined at Bacco and Red Fish, during our conference in New Orleans.

But birthdays and Bacco aren't the point. The point is extraordinary guest service! Keep reading. This is one of those rare stories with a happy ending.

Background: A cranky guest (me), who was tired and frustrated for other reasons, arrived for lunch at Red Fish Grill. We were short on time and our meal didn't arrive as quickly as it had on the previous day. There was no chance of finishing our meal and getting to the next conference session for which I was registered. Short version: we complained to the lunchtime floor manager, gave him a business card, and left. Was the problem mine or Red Fish’s? In retrospect, it was at least half mine for being short of time and in a bad mood.

Here's the happy ending: Only an hour later, I received an email from the Red Fish Grill's Assistant General Manager, Leah Magouirk. Her note couldn't have been kinder, despite my crankiness with her staff. She invited us back, assuring us Red Fish would exceed our expectations, and even provided her cell phone number if we wanted to phone her in advance.

Susan and I took Leah up on her offer. Our dinner at Red Fish, the final night of the conference, couldn't have been nicer! Leah greeted us personally, as did Ariel O'Hern. Adam Rahn also stopped by to say hello (since Susan and I had retreated from the heat and humidity earlier in the week, to enjoy margaritas at the Red Fish bar, for which Adam is responsible). Greg and Carey cared for us during dinner, with grace—thank you, Greg—and enthusiasm. Don't miss this team; ask for their section. Carey is 110% energy, knowledge, and smiles. Ask why he salts your drink napkin! And watching Carey crumb a table is like watching an artist.

Congratulations, Red Fish! This kind of guest service is all too rare.

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago on this blog (in a different context), there is a very important sense in which the customer is always right. Any of us who love good food and wine expect that to be the rule when eating out. But when things go wrong, that anxiety we feel in the pit of our stomachs always strikes. It is the anxiety that Harvard professor Shosanna Zuboff calls "the transaction crisis" . . . the fear that we will be snagged on the barbed-wire fence that surrounds too many commercial exchanges. The hotel lost your reservation; will they find you a room? The airline canceled your flight; will they rebook you quickly? Your meal at a restaurant wasn't up to expectations; does anyone care?

Red Fish Grill cares. Kudos to Ralph Brennan and his organization. And a big, big thanks to Leah Magouirk, who was the bright spot of our entire visit to New Orleans!

New Orleans Report #1

Hello again! Sorry the blog has been quiet for a week or so. I’ve been in New Orleans for some serious wine-work.

“Tough job,” some say. Oh, really? Attend a Society of Wine Educators conference. Then tell me what you think.

Conferences are great, of course. They provide an unparalleled opportunity to learn from colleagues, and to taste wines you or I might otherwise never have a chance to try otherwise. But spend eight hours trying to identify the subtle nuances that separate the world’s best wines from the “merely” very good. It’s enough to make your head hurt!

By the way, the headache is not from over consumption. When tasting seriously, wine enthusiasts spit. Yes, that’s right. Wine goes into the mouth, and then right back out again. Seems a shame, doesn’t it? But there is no other way to taste 100 or more wines per day (and survive).

Over the next week or so, I’ll bring you up-to-date on some of the most interesting ideas—and interesting wines!—encountered at the conference. Meanwhile, thanks always for your interest in Vine & Grape.

Wine 411

In our constantly connected world, there aren't very many new ideas—when we can already text each other instantly, Google almost anything we want on the Web, and phone friends overseas for pennies.

But the Spanish firm, Bodega Señorio de Barahonda, offers something that's just plain fun. On the back of the bottle of Nabuko shown at left, they include a phone number: 888 653-8466 (or, 888 OLE-VINO). Dial the toll free number, and then enter extension 131, the number for that particular wine. In return, you get a quick wine briefing on what's in the bottle!

Want to sound like an expert when you're serving wine to your guests? This is a great way to get a briefing.

By the way, Aldo Morales of Advintage Distributing, who showed us this OLE VINO service recently, will be speaking at The Greenville Wine Meetup on July 15th. Click the "July 15th" link, or scroll down and click on the Meetup logo in the right column to learn more.

Update on Upstate Foodie

Last week, Vine & Grape reported on Upstate Foodie, an exciting new publication produced by Community Journals (publisher of The Greenville Journal). Upstate Foodie deserved kudos then. Their response to my original post deserves even higher praise.

In my first post, along with praise for their print publication, I quibbled about a couple of features of their web site. To Upstate Foodie's credit, their response was almost immediate. That response is praiseworthy because it shows that customers matter.

There is a very important sense in which the customer is always right. Any of us who love good food and wine expect that to be the rule when eating out. "Your steak is not properly cooked? Let me correct that, and while you wait, can I bring you a complimentary appetizer?" Or "The wine is not acceptable? No problem. Let's find something better suited to your taste."

Harvard professor, Shoshanna Zuboff, coined a term for that sinking feeling we get in situations like that. She calls it the transaction crisis, the fear that we will "be snagged on the barbed-wire fence that surrounds nearly every commercial exchange." The hotel lost your reservation; will they find you a room? The airline canceled your flight; will they rebook you quickly? The website didn't quite do what you expected; does anyone care?

Congrats, Upstate Foodie and Community Journals for cutting through the barbed wire! Love the publication and can't wait to see the ongoing improvements to your site.

Robert Mondavi Dies

Today is a sad day for all of us who respect the pioneers of California's fine wine industry. Robert Mondavi, founder of the winery that bears his name, died at age 94.

All of us who appreciate America's transition from the jug wines of the 40s and 50s, to the world-renowned wines of California today, owe Bob Mondavi a debt of gratitude.

Robert Mondavi titled his autobiography Harvests of Joy. We can pray that he is reaping such a harvest today.

For more reading, see Harvests of Joy, by Robert Mondavi, with Paul Chutkow. Photo shown here is by photographer Jose Luis Villegas, of The Sacramento Bee, as it appeared in Mike Dunne's wonderfully readable blog, when Bob Mondavi was inducted into The Vintners Hall of Fame at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, CA.

Good Reading

A member of The Greenville Wine Meetup sent me this New York Times link recently. I thought it was sufficiently interesting to point out to Vine and Grape readers. Wine critic Erik Asimov reviews two recent research studies that seek to answer the question, "Are wine consumers easily manipulated by price, pretense, and marketing hype?" Read the article and see what you think.

Only days before, Robin Garr's 30 Second Wine Advisor included this link to a fascinating report titled, "A Glimpse into the Wine World of 2058," prepared by London wine merchants, Berry Bros. & Rudd (BBR). This report's conclusions are even more alarming than the studies Asimov summarizes. By the way, every wine enthusiast should subscribe to Garr's 30 Second Wine Advisor, if you don't already.

After reading BBR's predictions about volume wines, wine as big-brand booze, and world wine wars, I was so discouraged I needed a glass of, umm, wine! On the other hand, most of the negative scenarios suggested by Asimov and BBR can be forestalled by wine education. And wine education needn't be dry or difficult. Come join us at The Greenville Wine Meetup and find out how much fun learning about wine can be!

Upstate Foodie

Community Journals, publisher of The Greenville Journal, released a wonderfully useful publication this weekend: Upstate Foodie.

Regular recipients of The Greenville Journal received this new publication tucked inside their weekly Journal. Presumably, additional copies of the guide are available at pick-up locations around town where The Greenville Journal is normally available.

The Foodie guide is nicely sized for its purpose (I'll keep one in my car's glove compartment). The "Soup to Nuts" charts at the back of the guide is a great quick reference. And because wine and food go together, the guide also includes two pages on tasting techniques—one by Northampton's Richard deBondt, and a second page taken from Wine.com.

The publication has a website: http://www.upstatefoodie.com/. The above photos by T.J. Getz are only two of dozens from the rich visual parade that marches past when you connect to the site. The site is searchable and offers the opportunity to rate/review restaurants.

A couple of user interface annoyances mar an otherwise fine start: the site doesn't resize to fit your browser's width. If you don't routinely work with your browser maximized (occupying all of your screen real estate), the search box may be hidden. Worse still, "Become a Foodie" and the login link at far right completely disappear. Thankfully, once you've reached a restaurant page, although the same problem exists onscreen, the content will print properly on 8.5" x 11" paper, portrait orientation.

The search feature is the other oddity. When you type a restaurant name and hit return, a dialog box appears—requiring you to choose from Restaurants, Cuisines, or Locations. For a cuisine search (e.g., Asian), which might return multiple restaurants, the dialog box makes sense. But when seeking details for a specific restaurant, this step is confusing the first time and an annoyance afterward. Finally, be aware the search feature is rigidly literal—no helpful fuzzy search like Google, to suggest options if you don't spell something perfectly. Misspell Soby's without the apostrophe and you'll get a message, "No results found." Misspell Azia as Asia, and you'll get a list of Asian restaurants, but not the restaurant you were looking for.

Drink Local

Winter is a wonderful time to visit wineries. Tourist traffic is lighter. In the East, it's too cold to be in the vineyards. In the West, it's too rainy. The staff has more time to talk, so a lot can be learned while wandering around inside and tasting their wines!

You see a picture of fermentation tanks, at left. These tanks are at Shelton Winery, in Dobson, NC. Shelton is only a three-hour drive from Greenville. Shelton's tours make the visit well worth your time. Even closer to home is Victoria Valley Vineyards, near Table Rock, about forty-five minutes from Greenville. Ask for a tour of their barrel wine and "drink in" the wonderful aromas of wine aging in oak! Then go back on a warm Spring afternoon and sit on the terrace, drinking in the views. It's the next best thing to being in Tuscany.

In the 21st century, it's easy to buy wine from California, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. But for centuries, wine was made locally and consumed locally. The notion of a wine business was unimaginable. Wine was something your family, or your neighbor's family, made so that everyone could enjoy it with meals.

So, go visit these "neighbors" this winter. Wander around with a glass of wine in your hand. Ask lots of questions. Drink local . . . and enjoy!

Lucky Thirteen

Most of us aren't superstitious about the number thirteen. But even if you are, chances are you'd have overcome any fears to join Danny Baker tasting thirteen years of Napa Valley history—history that was "read" through the lens of Heitz's Napa "Trailside Vineyard." And if you had reservations about thirteen wines on the table, you could simply add your welcome wine (the classically-styled Heitz Chardonnay) to thirteen Cabs and count the total as fourteen.

Danny opened the evening with a conference call with David Heitz, winemaker since 1974 and son of the famed founder Joe Heitz. Southern Wine & Spirits representative, Bill Berry, interviewed David about the thirteen vintages, learning that the 1989 and much of the 1990 fruit was from pre-phylloxera vines—before the vineyards were ripped out and replanted.

Then the real fun began: tasting! It's impossible to report on thirteen years of seriously made Cab in a post of any reasonable length, but here are highlights from the vintages about which the tasters were mostly in agreement:

• 1989: Starting to show maturity, but opened up remarkably in the glass over two hours, showing more structure and complexity after two hours than upon opening.
• 1990: Gorgeous fruit in the nose. Some rated this #1 of the tasting after the first pass through the flight; a few continued to feel it was best after two hours.
• 1991: Huge, upon opening. It fell behind other vintages after being in the glass for some time, but some tasters believed this will continue to improve with age.
• 1993: Remarkable elegance and balance. Some maturity showing, but even after two hours this wine was a standout in the glass.
• 1995: Best of the night! This wine was almost universally acclaimed as the star of the evening and Heitz's own tasting notes call it "one of the best to date from Trailside."
• 1996: Ready now. With lots of silky mouthfeel and lusicious fruit, this vintage appears to be at its optimum drinkability.
• 1997: A strong contender for best of the night. Many tasters simply sighed, "Gorgeous," and kept this glass aside to compare to all the rest.
• 1999: With the 1995 and 1997, all were stellar wines. Hold the 1999. The tannins, while not overwhelming, give this Cab at least a decade more to improve.
• 2001: The "sleeper" over the evening—and this vintage is still available! Some ranked the 2001 in their top three overall. Rich chocolate overtones distinguished it from other vintages. Don't hesitate to drink now, but patient cellaring should be rewarded.

Tasting Napa's History

If you missed the Heitz Vertical Tasting on June 11, you missed the opportunity to taste an incredible slice of Napa history from 1989 to 2001. Vine & Grape knew this event would be a remarkable tasting. See this April 6, 2007, Vine & Grape post announcing the Heitz tasting.

Certified Sommelier Danny Baker opened The Loft at Soby's to ten very privileged guests—all of whom were immediately attracted to thirteen glasses at each place setting, along with a full-color package describing the Heitz family's 45 year history in Napa. Heitz lapel pins and corkscrews were among the additional gifts guests received.

As guests gathered, they chose from among Chef Rodney Friedank's carefully chosen starters (including three artisan cheeses perfectly matched to the crisp, very lightly-oaked Heitz Chardonnay). And most in attendance could hardly wait to try the venison tenderloin—the flavor and tenderness of which proved to be a showstopper.

But the main attraction at an event like this is inevitably the wine... and what wines these were: every vintage of Heitz "Trailside Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon from 1989-2001! See the post "Lucky Thirteen," if interested in tasting notes. And if you just can't bear to read about what you missed, see this post for upcoming events you won't want to miss!

Wine is Fun

Who says touring the world and tasting wines can't be fun? If further proof is necessary, we offer this photo of Danny Baker, Soby's long-time sommelier, taking a break with a friendly kangaroo during a tasting trip to Australia.

This long-sought photo was recently forwarded by a friend (well, at least it has been long-sought by those of us who had heard they story of Danny relaxing with a kangaroo!). Couldn't resist sharing it with readers of Vine & Grape.

Paso Picks

If you're a fan of Rhone blends, then Paso is your place. The absolute hit of the trip was SummerWood's GSM 2004 (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre blend). If you can find it, you won't be disappointed if you like rich, velvet-textured wines. Fabulous balance, despite deep extraction and 15%+ alcohol.

SummerWood's website isn't up-to-date, so the label you are seeing is not for the 2004 GSM. But here's a link so that you will have basic info on the winery.

I'm not generally a fan of the new overly ripe, high-alcohol wines. Attaining good balance is extraordinarily difficult. Manipulation is often necessary (e.g., acidification to get the wine back into balance). But the SummerWood 2004 GSM showed absolutely no flaws. Nothing stuck out; there was no alcohol on the nose, and nothing on the palate that would have indicated the wine was 15%+.

Other producers worth watching: Adelaida Cellars, Denner, Stolpman, and Saxum. And when in Paso, or at your favorite wine store, don't pass up the wines of Robert Haas and the Perrin Family (Chateau de Beaucastel). Their story is too long to tell here, but this link will take you to their site.

Paso Report

The gorgeous photo is some of the newest vineyard land in the Paso Robles area, belonging to a friend of mine. This vineyard sits west of Highway 101 in the hills, as you can see. Look at the stony soil, visible particularly around the posts for the trellis system. These vines are just reaching early maturity and I'm looking forward to trying some of the Cab produced here.

You may have read recently that a group of vintners submitted a proposal to divide the Paso Robles AVA into eleven new American Viticultural Areas. That's a good thing for all of us who love the area. The current Paso AVA is so large as to be almost meaningless. The climate and topography is different east and west of Highway 101, but also from north to south. See the comments in this excellent article in WineBusiness.com, if interested. The Westside (where this photo was made) has terroir suited to produce outstanding wines. But don't make the mistake of automatically ruling out flatter Eastside properties, where a lot of serious winemakers are doing a good job with appropriate varietals and vinification.

Thank You, Greenville!

Thank you, Greenville, for your wonderful support of the First Annual Southern Exposure!

Right now, as I write this on Sunday afternoon, the Jazz Brunch is about to close. We'll do a longer report later in the week, when more photos are available. But everyone who participated in Southern Exposure agrees this event offered three special days of food, wine, and music.

Since Vine and Grape focuses on the "wine" part of "food, wine, and music," we want to send a special thanks to our wine partners, Master Sommeliers Robert Bath and Laura Williamson, and most of all, to everyone who attended a seminar, a wine dinner, or Saturday's Grand Tasting.

More soon . . . but if you took part in any of the events this weekend, be proud of yourself—and pleased!—that you were part of the very first Southern Exposure. And thanks! We look forward to seeing you again next year for the South's premier food, wine, and music event.

Wine Lovers

Wine lovers . . . you and I have a fantastic opportunity coming, so mark your calendars.

Monday September 25, and Tuesday September 26, Master Sommeliers (MS) Bob Bath and Laura Williamson will be in Greenville to teach the introductory level MS course. As mentioned in this post, this class has never been offered in Greenville and only occasionally is conducted in Charleston. You'd normally have to go to New York, Washington DC, or San Francisco, etc.

That's why I wanted to be sure to highlight this opportunity. If you have any serious interest in wine, you cannot afford to miss this seminar. No, you do not have to be part of the wine or hospitality industry (nor do you need to have plans to become a sommelier!).

But if you complete this two-day course, you'll find your confidence in tasting and discussing wine will reach an all-time high. And which of us hasn't wanted to be more comfortable discussing what we're tasting? Wanted the right vocabulary to describe the bouquet we're smelling? Wanted to be comfortable choosing wines we aren't entirely familiar with?

Click this email link and I'll gladly answer questions or provide more details. But mark your calendars now!

Where in the World is Danny Baker?

Where is Danny Baker? Well, if he's not quite home yet, he's at least on the way home from almost three weeks in Australia!

Danny had the opportunity to tour Australian Wine Country, ranging from the historic Barossa Valley to the hottest new wine regions in Victoria and New South Wales.

So if you've missed Danny (and we all have!), just wait until he gets back with his great stories and fabulous wine ideas from Down Under.

Welcome home, Danny! And we can't wait to hear what wine ideas you've brought us.

Why Don't We Drink More Whites?

The lovely white wine in this photo was sitting beside our pool in Tuscany, waiting for lunch to arrive (more on Italian whites in another post).

Ignore the Pinot/Burgundy bowls. We didn't purchase every glass shape for the villa where we stayed. But in the warm dry weather, we also quickly moved toward 8-ounce thrist quenching servings of our whites. That meant the 20-ounce Pinot bowls were just fine for spill-free swirling!

But that leads to today's question: why don't we drink more whites, especially during summer in the South? Low-alcohol Italian whites are an especially refreshing way to make any meal special.

Click the "comments" link below and voice your opinion on summer whites, and why we don't drink more of them? And see you again soon with some suggested Italian whites, for those eager to try!

Greenville's Southern Exposure

A gorgeous park, a stunning footbridge across the Reedy River Falls, fabulous food, fantastic wines--and all in your hometown!

If you haven't already secured your tickets for Southern Exposure, click the underlined link and then head for the Peace Center ticket office.

And a special bonus for wine lovers (not on the Southern Exposure site) is that Bob Bath and Laura Williamson—both Master Sommeliers—will be offering the Introductory Level Master Sommelier class and exam on Monday, September 25, and Tuesday, September 26, at the Westin Poinsett Hotel. This class has never been offered in the Upstate and only occasionally in Charleston. You'd often have to go to New York, Washington, or San Francisco.

Email us for more information. We don't mean to sound like every "limited time offer." But none of us will have this opportunity again in the Upstate for a while. If you want to learn tasting and wine identification skills, the major wine regions of the world, and have a great time while doing so, register now.