The Hype Thread

[Jeff Grossman]

A thread for over-blown verbiage selling wine.

I supposed there'll be a lot of entries for Fass and Theise, but there should be no shortage.

I'll start. Someone local to me selling Vincent Gaudry (who?):

"Over the last several decades, the name Sancerre has become practically synonymous with premium dry white wine, making it the safe choice for consumers with no other requirements. As such, it's become one of wine's greatest hits, a wine region with nearly unparalleled brand recognition and customer devotion. This is fair, as virtually any Sancerre is almost always taut and articulate, and of reliably good quality."

Gosh, synonymous. I suppose I should hear "Sancerre" at least three times a week at the in-house espresso machine.

Gak.

 

[robert ames]

verbiage indeed. if it were free verse it would be doggerel.

on another note (and some may be consider a character flaw), i enjoy reading therry theise.

 

[Keith Levenberg]

That's not exactly HYPE, though (and not even all that wrong - Sancerre is probably right behind chardonnay and pinot grigio as the generic dry white BTG order). Hype is when you have a Rimmermanesque figure pitching the Screaming Eagle of Sancerre.

 

[Oswaldo Costa]

Seems actually rather restrained compared to other hyper bowls one c's a round.

 

[Christian Miller (CMM)]

originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Seems actually rather restrained compared to other hyper bowls one c's a round.

Indeed. I think the North Berkeley Imports mailings set the standard in our neighborhood.

 

[Peter Creasey]

Christian, long ago I used to buy a good bit of wine from N Berkeley Imports (David?) and was always pleased.

I haven't heard any bad things about them since that time.

. . . . Pete

 

[mark e]

originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Christian, long ago I used to buy a good bit of wine from N Berkeley Imports (David?) and was always pleased.

I haven't heard any bad things about them since that time.

. . . . Pete

Don't think CMM said anything about the wines. But a quick tour around their website (under 30 seconds), and I found:

"We just retasted Rocca di Montegrossi’s stupendous 2014 Chianti Classico and agree with everything Vinous says: this gorgeous Sangiovese from the “best area of Chianti Classico” (Antonio Galloni) is without question the wine of the vintage!"

 

[Jayson Cohen]

At the risk of thread drift (is that a thing on WD?), let’s talk about the wines. There’s the whole NBI Cuvée Unique experiment / disaster. I know - old rabbit hole.

 

[Peter Creasey]

Jayson, I don't participate on the other boards so I'm not aware of whatever experiment/disaster you're referring to with respect to North Berkeley.

My experience, albeit long ago, with North Berkeley service and products was productive. I still give David (?) thankful credit for lining me up with Maurice Ecard's wonderful Savigny les Beaunes from the late '80s forward...great value and drinking beautifully these days.

. . . . Pete

 

[BJ]

NBI sucks. Arrogant Americans!

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Jayson, I don't participate on the other boards so I'm not aware of whatever experiment/disaster you're referring to with respect to North Berkeley.

My experience, albeit long ago, with North Berkeley service and products was productive. I still give David (?) thankful credit for lining me up with Maurice Ecard's wonderful Savigny les Beaunes from the late '80s forward...great value and drinking beautifully these days.

. . . . Pete

Pete, at the risk of stating the obvious, NBI’s “Cuvée Unique” was a designation for wines they imported that had been aged in new French oak (to their specifications). The wines were/are offputtingly oaky. I recall entering their store on Milvia and emerging with a few of Ecard’s SlB’s. Delicious wines.

Mark Lipton

 

[robert ames]

yes, a long time ago, i quit having interest in anything from nbi that was 'cuvee unique'. oak tea is not 'unique'. it is oak tea.

they do have some gems that aren't turned in to oak tea and therefore not 'cuvee unique', such as the mas de gourgonnier les baux de provence, for instance. a sturdy (and even swarthy) yeoman i have been enjoying for decades.

 

[mark e]

originally posted by MLipton:

originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Jayson, I don't participate on the other boards so I'm not aware of whatever experiment/disaster you're referring to with respect to North Berkeley.

My experience, albeit long ago, with North Berkeley service and products was productive. I still give David (?) thankful credit for lining me up with Maurice Ecard's wonderful Savigny les Beaunes from the late '80s forward...great value and drinking beautifully these days.

. . . . Pete

The wines were/are offputtingly oaky.

As the Firesign Theater's Nick Danger said, "Then it all came rushing back to me like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist."

Yuck. Alas, I do remember now . . .

 

[Pavel Tchichikov]

originally posted by Jayson Cohen:
At the risk of thread drift (is that a thing on WD?), let’s talk about the wines. There’s the whole NBI Cuvée Unique experiment / disaster. I know - old rabbit hole.

I may still have a bottle of their version of Ecard's 93 - if someone has the regular cuvee, this could be fun.

 

[Peter Creasey]

originally posted by MLipton: I recall entering their store on Milvia and emerging with a few of Ecard’s SlB’s. Delicious wines.

Mark, agreed...and holding up nicely. I had the '90 Narbantons the other night with some folks and everyone, including me, loved it.

. . . . Pete

 

[Yixin]

Give Vincent Gaudry a try.

 

[maureen]

NBI also used to be a reliable source for Mugneret-Gibourg.

 

[Christian Miller (CMM)]

originally posted by mark e:

originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Christian, long ago I used to buy a good bit of wine from N Berkeley Imports (David?) and was always pleased.

I haven't heard any bad things about them since that time.

. . . . Pete

Don't think CMM said anything about the wines. But a quick tour around their website (under 30 seconds), and I found:

"We just retasted Rocca di Montegrossi’s stupendous 2014 Chianti Classico and agree with everything Vinous says: this gorgeous Sangiovese from the “best area of Chianti Classico” (Antonio Galloni) is without question the wine of the vintage!"

Indeed, it was the purple prose that I was referring to. I've had wines I liked and wines that were "eh" from NBI. But when I was on the mailing list in the 90s-early 2000s, each vintage or cuvee or new producer was more dazzling, profound, breathtaking, once in a century, etc. After nearly a decade of prose inflation, reading through the catalog was getting fatiguing.

 

[kirk wallace]

originally posted by Yixin:
Give Vincent Gaudry a try.

Why are there not emojis on WD?.

 

[Peter Creasey]

Don't want to compromise the charm of WD.