Ronga’s Rant

There are many ways to choose a bottle of wine… instead of adding to the confusion, I thought I’d add a tip for those sometimes obscure bottles you see in the wine shop. You might be intrigued but have no idea what the heck the region might be … and forget the grape. It’s no where to be found. Hell, you hardly recognize the handwriting and there are so many words, you might as well pick up Gone With the Wind while you’re at it. So what do you look for…?

If you take a chance and find a bottle of wine you really like, flip it around to see who it’s imported or distributed by. Some importers/distributors choose their wine portfolios very carefully. You might find that they only have ten – 15 wineries in their entire portfolio. You can then go to their website to see the other wines they carry and look for those bottles.

Now sometimes the middleman (that is, the importer and/or distributor) adds very little value. Some of the massive houses simply bring ‘em in and pump ‘em out and the story of the winery is lost. However, this is not always the case. In fact, many middlemen are adding tremendous value, hosting tastings, thus enhancing the story of the smallest of wineries, that otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to tell their stories.

If I like a varietal or region but don’t recognize the producer, I’ll often spin that sucker around… some of my favorite importer/distributors that I get in a frenzy for (no affiliation with by the way): IPO Wines, Michael Skurnik, Frederick Wildman, Kermit Lynch.

So next time you find a bottle you like, try to remember the importer if it’s from abroad or the distributor. It might help you out next time you’re looking at the French or Austrian section in a wine store.

Chilean wines have been like the Anchorman to Wedding Crashers in past years. However, if you delve into these wines, you’ll find some real treasures that will have you annoying your closest friends with all the chatter.

This country was hit by a major earthquake on February 27, 2009 and two aftershocks just recently which all shook the wine industry. As far as wine, 125 million liters were lost – think barrels splitting and bottles breaking. This cost the wineries $250 million in wine but the total amount on the industry is not yet known. And how about the actual vineyards? Chile was well up to structural code but there was some damage to irrigation systems within the wineries and to some of the winery workers’ homes. That being said, the Chilean culture is a prideful one and while the earthquake shook the ground, it didn’t shake their spirit.

Fred Dexheimer, Master Sommelier says they will “pull together against the elements and pull the fruit in with a ‘whatever it takes’ attitude this harvest. Their unity was already quite strong before but I see it being even stronger now.” With the Chilean wine harvest already underway, there is a need for a team like culture more than ever.

“There is so much discovery and diversity going on there, it is impossible to describe it all because it is happening on all cylinders; from extreme terroir hunting in coastal and mountainous regions to much improved vineyard management to many extremely positive changes in the winemaking regiments. It’s pretty exciting and now is a great time to support these amazing wines!” says Fred. A climate that ranges from arid to icy cool, certain grapes can really thrive here. Mountainous peaks and fertile valleys, winemakers are often dependent on the terroir for making a stellar wine. Don’t act like you’re not impressed…

When it comes to Chile, remember the C’s — Carmenere, Cabernet, Chardonnay (although it grows many other varietals as well,) these babies are sure to please the palate, just like Ron Burgundy’s pant pleats. Fun fact? Up until recently, many of the wines branded as and believed to be Merlot are actually Camenere!

At least for now, there should not be an impact on the U.S. market, so drink up peeps. Chilean wines are the new black. And by that I mean … they are the new black. So swipe these quality, value wines while you can get ‘em and help support the Chilean wine industry. And remember, stay classy Chile. We’re behind you.

Well heck. Throughout the last month a handful of winemakers have commented “I read your blog, really great post – I liked the one about xyz”. Me: huh? You read my blog? Ok, so I feel like a schmuck since it’s been a decade from the last post. I assumed it was just my mom on the other end.

Content is a funny thing. I learned through writing HBS essays to cut ever unnecessary word possible otherwise I wouldn’t make the word limit, thus be DQ’d. (disqualified, not win a blizzard from Dairy Queen). That means you actually have to spend time thinking and writing and not slop 1000 words together to try to get your point across. Someone who is great at this is my boss/partner Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s able to do this 2 – 3 minute videos on his vlog. It may look like much time doesn’t go into it. However, my theory is that it is stream of consciousness, much like this post, but that days, weeks, months of experience lead him up to talking about that topic. Something just triggers a neuron where all the pieces suddenly fit together and he does his video about it. What’s great? He doesn’t say a single word more than he needs to. What’s important about this is that it captures the American attention span perfectly…which is indefinitely short. Just face it… we are an I WANT AN OOMPA LOOMPA NOW society.

Brings me to wine. We purchase to drink not save (talking about the masses…you wine geeks And myself for that matter.) I recently purchased a 2005 Chateau Lynch-Bages. One of my favorites wine verticals and I have not yet had the ‘05. I understand I could lay this sucker down for ten plus years. But I’m excited about, do not have wine storage as I live in a one bedroom apartment and I am not a collector. I am a consumer. So why did I drop $90 on a bottle of wine when I could have picked up 9 bottles of value wine? Well, it’s a good question. There is something about this wine that brings me back to when I tasted the ‘87, the ‘82 and the people I tasted it with. I plan to share this ‘05 because wine is an adventure, a journey and about memories. It’s not always about the best value. It’s about trying new things and having memorable experiences.

Everyone has their opinions and will infer them onto you for as long as you live. Don’t get me wrong, this has its merits. When it comes to wine, however, listen to the experts, but trust your instincts, and do what you please. Because life, just sometimes, has to be about pleasure, doesn’t it? I mean, who wouldn’t want an oompa loompa.

When you’re at a wine store, restaurant, or bar how do you decide which wine to get? You may ask a friend, the waiter or sommelier, or you may even do some research online. Either way, you are looking for a recommendation. As my friend Paul Mabray mentioned, recommendation is the number one influencer for purchasing decisions when it comes to wine. I’ll go out on a limb – don’t quote me here – and say wine isn’t unique to this phenomenon.

What’s fascinating is that there are only a FEW authoritative voices on wine. Whereas in restaurants, movies, books, products, music, etc. people have the luxury of listening to the voice of many. People turn to Yelp, Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, Cnet, iTunes. Now you might argue, well, wine is a luxury good, where I want an expert opinion. Really? What about food or movies? You trust your palate or opinion enough to know what you like and what you don’t… you’ll listen to Yelp or Rotten Tomatoes, and your friends rec over Ebert & Roeper. You don’t go to the old school (or maybe you do, I realize I’m making a major gross assumption here) Zagat hard copy which was written at single point in time to look up a restaurant. If so…then here’s some food for thought. Restaurants have mad turnover in terms of employees, wine pros, chefs, etc. Zagat ranks a resto once per year. So… you go off of a Zagat rating 10 months ago, which by the way is one voice (or at least < 5). Instead you could hit the interwebs, go to good ole Yelp or the resto rating of your choice and see REAL TIME, what peeps are saying. You might get 20 reviews in the last month! This would quell any fears about employee turnover, especially with the cooking staff. Now, these peeps most likely are not foody connoisseurs. However, do you trust them to adequately judge service, ambiance, and quality of food? Maybe not. But at least you can read their reviews to ascertain how sophisticated their analyses may be. Decide for yourself.

In the wine world, people have been turning to a dying industry. Wine Spectator (don’t get me started). Wine Advocate. Wine Enthusiast…magazines! Now what? Robert Parker is an influential figure and, darn it, I respect him for what he done in the biz with scoring wines. Tremendous. But what he is doing is not scalable going forward. Espcially with people consuming info online and turning to consensus reviews. Parker rates wine at a point in time – for you finance nerds it’s like a balance sheet vs. an income statement.

Wine changes… it transforms in the bottle, in the glass, in the moment. Let people decide. Let them tell the story, based on their palates. Let the winemakers tell the story. 100 reviews is much more powerful than one man’s, in my opinion. I believe Cork’d is a sucker that can scale. People, more than ever are consuming information online… But I diverge. The point is, no matter how many influential human beings there are in the wine world, one voice doesn’t do it. It takes many. My palate is totally different than yours. I like smelly arm pit, just came out of the gym, sweat socks, barnyard, funkified, dirty, blue cheesy wine. I’m guessing you want to throw up right now.

So… make your voice heard. Not just in wine. But everywhere. Don’t be shy. You can’t be wrong when it comes to wine, music, food, art, travel. They are subjective and local to your DNA. It is your opinion after all. Embrace it and share it. Influence. Otherwise, how will others know what to buy?