With a shared interest in wine I keep thinking that visiting cellar doors with the parents might be a good idea. But how often do the cellar doors miss half the potential business?
It has happened a number of times over the years - admittedly the worst offender was a cheese factory - failing to serve the younger couple with same attention. On a number of occasions we have had the greater disposable income - If it happens badly enough to leave my better half pissed off we are unlikely to be back.
You guessed it, happened again on Saturday - hence the rant - main advantage I didn't spend any money and there are heaps of wines I really want to buy rather than something enjoyed at cellar door. As it happened there were other issues on Saturday to add to it - still they didn't get any business from the youngsters (in their mid 30's!)
Stupid things cellar doors do - a rant
Stupid things cellar doors do - a rant
David J
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake 1Ti 5:23
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake 1Ti 5:23
Smilarly with wineries that host bus tours for tourists (as opposed to wine lovers' bus tours that I myself have been on). We have arrived at wineries to find that attention was being focussed on bus tour party to the fact that we have been totally ignored for up to 10 minutes without any acknowledgment at all and end up walking out. Yet we were the people that probably visited the winery out of choice in the first place.
Now if we intend to visit a winery and see a bus outside we simply drive past.
Lost opportunities.
S.
Now if we intend to visit a winery and see a bus outside we simply drive past.
Lost opportunities.
S.
Despite the attentions, I observed that wineries rarely serves their "good" stuffs to the (bus) tourists.
I suspect that we are difficult customers. Consider the following cases:
1)
Bus Tourist: Can I try that unwooded chardonnay?
Cellar Door Staff: Sure, this is an early drinking style, with good melon and fig characters, perfect for your takeaway fish and chips, sir.
BT (tries the wine): Hmm, yum. I will have a case of that.
(10 minutes later, he tried 5 wines, and brought 4 cases of wines)
CDS: Is there anything else sir?
BT: Not now, thanks for the tasting, I have learnt a lot about wine. Thankyou.
2)
Wine Lover: Can I try all of the wines in your normal and premier range?
CDF: Sure sir, can we start with the unwooded chardonnay?
WL: I normally don't drink that, but why not...
Cellar Door Staff: Sure, this is an early drinking style, with good melon and fig characters, perfect for your takeaway fish and chips, sir.
WL (tries the wine): This is a bit thin for my tasting, I cannot find the fig characters, I think peach is a better word. Also, the acids are everywhere... What is the average temperature of the season, and the yield of the vines? why don't we forget about your normal range and moves to the premier range.
(30 mins later, the wine lover brought 1 bottle)
CDS: Is there anything else sir?
WL: Oh, do you have that special bin reserve on tasting?
CDS: Sorry sir, we don't normally have that open.
WL: How about any past vintages of your Shiraz? My friend told me you opened it for him..
CDS: Oh, let me check with my manager...
(10 mins later, the wine lover brought another bottle)
These are extreme cases, and I am not trying to generalise.
If I am the winemaker, I will surely prefer to serve the second type of customer, but how about the average cellar door staff?
I suspect that we are difficult customers. Consider the following cases:
1)
Bus Tourist: Can I try that unwooded chardonnay?
Cellar Door Staff: Sure, this is an early drinking style, with good melon and fig characters, perfect for your takeaway fish and chips, sir.
BT (tries the wine): Hmm, yum. I will have a case of that.
(10 minutes later, he tried 5 wines, and brought 4 cases of wines)
CDS: Is there anything else sir?
BT: Not now, thanks for the tasting, I have learnt a lot about wine. Thankyou.
2)
Wine Lover: Can I try all of the wines in your normal and premier range?
CDF: Sure sir, can we start with the unwooded chardonnay?
WL: I normally don't drink that, but why not...
Cellar Door Staff: Sure, this is an early drinking style, with good melon and fig characters, perfect for your takeaway fish and chips, sir.
WL (tries the wine): This is a bit thin for my tasting, I cannot find the fig characters, I think peach is a better word. Also, the acids are everywhere... What is the average temperature of the season, and the yield of the vines? why don't we forget about your normal range and moves to the premier range.
(30 mins later, the wine lover brought 1 bottle)
CDS: Is there anything else sir?
WL: Oh, do you have that special bin reserve on tasting?
CDS: Sorry sir, we don't normally have that open.
WL: How about any past vintages of your Shiraz? My friend told me you opened it for him..
CDS: Oh, let me check with my manager...
(10 mins later, the wine lover brought another bottle)
These are extreme cases, and I am not trying to generalise.
If I am the winemaker, I will surely prefer to serve the second type of customer, but how about the average cellar door staff?
Alan,
Interesting scenarios you pose. In the first case, the casual guy may have bought more wine but the chances are he does not consume as much as the wine lover and even if he does, he would probably spend far less $$$ in a year than the wine lover.
The wine lover may be harder to please, but the chances are he spends more than the casual drinker in a year. Both can be profitable, I guess its up to the CD staff to work out which is which.
Interesting scenarios you pose. In the first case, the casual guy may have bought more wine but the chances are he does not consume as much as the wine lover and even if he does, he would probably spend far less $$$ in a year than the wine lover.
The wine lover may be harder to please, but the chances are he spends more than the casual drinker in a year. Both can be profitable, I guess its up to the CD staff to work out which is which.
Re: Stupid things cellar doors do - a rant
I am perpetually the neglected youngster-most dinners/tastings/events, being easily the youngest person in attendance, and i love it- The quickest way to tell the difference between a good cellar door and a shit one is their attitude, its like a litmus test for wine staff.
As everyone knows you simply cant judge a book by its cover, and the better tasting/cellar door staff will treat everyone with equal respect. How many of us has turned up to a tasting in absolute casual gear, yet carrying the intention to perhaps buy some piss?
In the end, the great wineries will always know that equality is the answer, and there is a certain joy in some foolish goon treating you badly at cellar door, then pointing out all the faults in their wines:)
Junior
As everyone knows you simply cant judge a book by its cover, and the better tasting/cellar door staff will treat everyone with equal respect. How many of us has turned up to a tasting in absolute casual gear, yet carrying the intention to perhaps buy some piss?
In the end, the great wineries will always know that equality is the answer, and there is a certain joy in some foolish goon treating you badly at cellar door, then pointing out all the faults in their wines:)
Junior
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Guest
TORB wrote:Alan,
Interesting scenarios you pose. In the first case, the casual guy may have bought more wine but the chances are he does not consume as much as the wine lover and even if he does, he would probably spend far less $$$ in a year than the wine lover.
The wine lover may be harder to please, but the chances are he spends more than the casual drinker in a year. Both can be profitable, I guess its up to the CD staff to work out which is which.
why does the winemaker care how much money the wine lover spends elsewhere?
the prospects of his own sale are more important.
My Experience...
across the globe - at both cellar doors and fine wine merchants - is as follows:
If you show a genuine interest in the winery and its wines; if you communicate that you know something about the winery and its wines; if you are enthusiastic rather than analytic; and, if you take your time tasting through what it is initially offered, then...
magical things can happen, like the "sudden" appearance of the winery's upper-end offerings, the opportunity to purchase allocated wines (usually sub rosa), and engaging conversations with the proprietors and/or winemaker.
I cannot count the number of times this has happened to me. And every time, it has left me with a lasting, positive impression of the winery.
The key is the CD staff. Given the number of "customers" who simply rush through their pours with little enthusiasm, they usually welcome the friendly, courteous wine lover.
If you show a genuine interest in the winery and its wines; if you communicate that you know something about the winery and its wines; if you are enthusiastic rather than analytic; and, if you take your time tasting through what it is initially offered, then...
magical things can happen, like the "sudden" appearance of the winery's upper-end offerings, the opportunity to purchase allocated wines (usually sub rosa), and engaging conversations with the proprietors and/or winemaker.
I cannot count the number of times this has happened to me. And every time, it has left me with a lasting, positive impression of the winery.
The key is the CD staff. Given the number of "customers" who simply rush through their pours with little enthusiasm, they usually welcome the friendly, courteous wine lover.
Steve
"Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now."
"Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now."
Anonymous wrote:TORB wrote:Alan,
Interesting scenarios you pose. In the first case, the casual guy may have bought more wine but the chances are he does not consume as much as the wine lover and even if he does, he would probably spend far less $$$ in a year than the wine lover.
The wine lover may be harder to please, but the chances are he spends more than the casual drinker in a year. Both can be profitable, I guess its up to the CD staff to work out which is which.
why does the winemaker care how much money the wine lover spends elsewhere?
the prospects of his own sale are more important.
Guest,
I didn't say that the winemaker did care how the winelover spent elsewhere but you can interpret it that way if you want too. The real point is, the winelover does spend more more than the casual drinker and its up to the winery to try and capture as much of those $$$ as they can.
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radioactiveman
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2003 9:38 pm
- Location: canberra
As a relative youngster myself, I find similar attitudes at alot of CDs.
I don't buy alot of wine at CD, but will prefer to join the mailing list if I like the wines and purchase via mail order each year. I think this is what most wine enthusiasts would do, but maybe I'm generalising too much. If I do buy at CD, I will get the wine freighted back to my home address, as I don't want to be carting cases and cases of wine around with me. With the amount of stuff my wife and I normally take with us on trips, we would have no hope of fitting anything else in anyway!
We don't just visit every winery in a region (although one day we will), we go to those that get good reviews from the press, and mostly those that get good reviews from fellow wine enthusiasts. If someone we know says, 'Don't go to XYZ, they gave us attitude, refused to open their premium range, served corked wines, etc', we are less likely to visit this winery ourselves, sometimes despite the great wines they produce. A winery may produce fantastic, award winning wines, but there are many more out there who do also. I can't afford to buy wine from all of them, and treating me or my other wine friends badly, just gives me an excuse to scratch another off my list.
Cheers
Jamie
I don't buy alot of wine at CD, but will prefer to join the mailing list if I like the wines and purchase via mail order each year. I think this is what most wine enthusiasts would do, but maybe I'm generalising too much. If I do buy at CD, I will get the wine freighted back to my home address, as I don't want to be carting cases and cases of wine around with me. With the amount of stuff my wife and I normally take with us on trips, we would have no hope of fitting anything else in anyway!
We don't just visit every winery in a region (although one day we will), we go to those that get good reviews from the press, and mostly those that get good reviews from fellow wine enthusiasts. If someone we know says, 'Don't go to XYZ, they gave us attitude, refused to open their premium range, served corked wines, etc', we are less likely to visit this winery ourselves, sometimes despite the great wines they produce. A winery may produce fantastic, award winning wines, but there are many more out there who do also. I can't afford to buy wine from all of them, and treating me or my other wine friends badly, just gives me an excuse to scratch another off my list.
Cheers
Jamie