Inside the Wine World: Wine Blog as a Work in Progress
Friday, August 21st, 2009Frankly My Dear, August 12 - The Giant Sucking Sound
For anyone curious about the inside scoop on the trials and tribulations of being a wineshop owner, you could A. Date a wine shop owner (like me) or B. Read Frankly My Dear, by Frankly Wines owner Christy Frank. This readable and entertaining post concerns the inevitable influence of an article like Eric Asimov’s New York Times piece on classic Rioja:
Sometimes, I already have one of the wines being mentioned [in an article like Asimov's]. And this can be a bad thing. Sure, it’s nice to get the quick and easy sales that come when a wine is suddenly sought out by lots of customers. But that bad thing is the giant sucking sound. The sudden demand can pull all of the wine out of the system within a day or two. I either have to buy more - and I can never buy as much as the big guys that make a living at this game. Or I have to come to terms with a favorite wine’s impending unavailability and find a replacement. And that sucks. Literally. Or figuratively.
Frankly My Dear, August 16 - The Semi-Loud Gurgle
A nice examples of wine blogging being something of a work in progress—how the forum allows us writers to work out our ideas over time. Here the same blogger as”The Giant Sucking Sound” (above), takes a slightly different tack, while simultaneously adding more nuance to the picture.
“I was probably being a little overly dramatic,” she writes,
To start, a mention in the New York Times will certainly raise consumer interest and increase sales, but it won’t cause a nationwide feeding frenzy, as when a wine is crowned, say, the Wine Spectator’s “Wine of the Year.” And while old-school Rioja is easily one of the best values in fine, age-worthy wine, it’s still not inexpensive - and in this economy, even the big stores are watching their inventory levels and working capital expenses.
After she discusses the distribution quirks of fine aged Rioja, she talks a little about the genre, before pulling back a bit:
These are wines that seem to age endlessly, gaining a leathery, tea-leafy complexity as the primary notes fade into a haunting whiff of exotic spices and ghostly fruits. I could go on, but you might start to laugh. These are wines best drunk slowly and quietly, because you can sound a little silly if try to describe them.
