Wine Line: Something to celebrate

Here it is, the day before Thanksgiving and I remember that this column turned 8 in September. The Navigator and I usually pop open a bubbly to celebrate, but not this year. I guess we’re just too busy in retirement. After I finish this column and put in my final “Cheers!” a bottle of Domaine Chandon awaits.

The objective of my column is to be consumer-friendly. And that’s how I pitched it to the editor in 2007. He liked the idea and here I am, 196 columns later. The wine industry has exploded in the past 10 years. Just look at the size of the wine wall in your local market. Are you overwhelmed? Most are. That’s why Wine Line focuses on you, the consumer, with a simple common sense approach to wine.

As much as I enjoy wine, the wine world is not perfect. Here are a few changes I would like to see happen.

Restaurants: Offer a decent house red and white wine for a reasonable price. Sell it by the glass, half carafe and full carafe. Order the wine in kegs. Many wineries are offering excellent wines with no hassles with bottles or waste. If you have an extensive wine list, have decent stemware and keep your markups reasonable. Corkage of $10 to $15 is fair but should be waived if the party orders a bottle off the wine list. Employ someone who loves wine, knows wine, has a positive attitude and is willing to help diners choose a wine.

Supermarkets: Whoever works the wine aisle should have some basic wine knowledge. The ideal is to have a wine steward available a few hours a day/week who can build a relationship with consumers. Wine education is the key. Retail markups of wine should be competitive and discounts given with multiple bottles purchased. The retailer that sets the standard is Obrien’s Market in Modesto.

Wine tasters: Those tasters with gobs of perfume should be banished. Tasters who are not aware that the tasting room is full and there are people six deep waiting for a taste should be sent to a neutral corner. Bachelorette parties in limos should pay a toll of $100 to enter the tasting room and another $300 for the bathroom key. Any taster talking in a loud voice spewing out things like TCA, brix, Parker, tertiary aromas and malolactic this-and-that should be given a free glass of dump bucket red. Did I leave anyone out?

Thanks for reading Wine Line. I hope you enjoy the column as much as I enjoy writing it. Here’s to year nine. The Domaine Chandon is waiting. Cheers!

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Wine Line: Something to celebrate."