Have you ever wondered what wine sales reps. do all day? Below is a series of e-mails between some very busy employees of a distinguished New York distributor.
Little John:
I have been infatuated with the 2001 Suduiraut ever since I had a bottle a year ago. It is undoubtedly one of the greatest wines I have ever had. I have searched out this wine, but have not been comfortable paying $75+/$130+ for the wine plus expensive shipping, considering I have no idea about provenance.
I have found the "Holy Grail." A store near my house has the 2001 Suduiraut for $55/375ml, $100/750ml. Suprisingly reasonable considering 98WA + 98WS, and from a hall-of-fame vintage. I am breaking a serious buying freeze to get on this. Although I am no master, I have had a couple vintages of d'Yquem, and some other good Sauternes, and this blows them all away. Not even close. I can't believe that wine can get much better then this. If anybody wants some, I can buy it for you and bring it the to the following sales meeting.
Bobo:
I have also had the 2001 Suduiraut and it is truly a great wine. Excluding the best vintages of d'Yquem and Climens, the '01's from Suduiraut and Rieussec might be the two most profound Sauternes produced in the last 40 years. This wine is worth buying for anyone who wants to see what Sauternes is all about.
The Kaiser:
Frankly, Sauternes is flamboyantly oaked, high in alcohol, and twice the price of a great Auslese. I'm tired of putting more money into the landscaping budget of multimillionaires' estates in Bordeaux.
Bobo:
Kaiser, your point on pricing is not correct. The 2005 Rieussec is available in 375's at Morrell for $40.95. This same store is also selling Weil's Kiedricher, Grafenberg, Auslese in 375's for $74.95. Rieussec and Weil are both regarded as top producers in their respective regions. '
Secondly, outside of d'Yquem, most producers in Sauternes are struggling to survive. Some estates do supplement thier production by making a dry white and a second label from late harvest, but 80-90% of their income is derived from a single late harvest bottling. It is not easy to make a living solely on this type of product.
Lastly, a mature bottle of a good Sauternes does not show any noticeable signs of oak. In the name of self education, you should buy a bottle of the Suduiraut.
Town Crier:
WINE FIGHT! WINE FIGHT!
Spartacus:
You think they might show some skin?
Little John:
Screw our basketball game. Let's make The Kaiser and Bobo wrestle it out in a kiddie pool full of Sauternes. Then you will get your skin, my friend.
The Kaiser:
Oh, sorry for the slow response. I was busy...umm...WORKING at my JOB.
Yeah, Sauternes is hard to make. It's still expensive, oaked and 13% alc minimum by law, no matter how you slice it. It's one sip and "that's nice, what else is there?" for this career alcoholic.
And don't come crying poverty to me. The guys live in castles in France and all they ever talk about eating is foie gras on toast points. I had steamtable Chinese for lunch and a hard slap in the face from Bertha. Ouch! Whatever dude. Drink what you like. Spartacus is getting too hot and bothered for us to have this conversation publicly.
Bobo:
Yeah, I should start selling wine, but this is too important. I fear that I am alone in defending the honor of France. You are right regarding Spartacus. We should really stop teasing him, but first I have to resond to your description of Sauternes taste.
When young, a typical Sauternes tastes sweet and shows some new oak, but these flavors mellow with time. A mature (15-20 years after the vintage) example is only off-dry and does not show any signs of oak. What is wrong with 13% alcohol? I can not recall ever tasting a Sauternes that showed its alcohol on the palate.
I find most BA and TBA wines to be too sweet when young and hard to drink. I know that these wines also become dried with time, but they will always be sweeter than a Sauternes of the same age. Do not get me wrong, I like these wines, but I feel that they are best served by themselves in small doses. Part of the charm of Sauternes is that they are food wines. A mature Sauternes is a great partner for cheese. I feel that you would not be so critical of Sauternes if you to were to taste an older example.
Sir Lancelot:
I just want to say that this is my favorite email thread since joining the company. For the record the amount of great BA's and TBA's I've tasted outweigh the amount of great Sauternes. Of course my sales people never brought me samples to taste when I was a buyer. I say drink what you dig. Also, I'm sure the Germans with the top estates aren't begging in the street. Anyway, who am I kidding, I don't have the coin to drink all this rotten wine anyway. Peace.
The Fair Maiden:
I don't understand why you guys love all these moldy wines. So they're sweet. La ti da. Mold is only good for antibiotics, otherwise it should be attacked with a good dose of Tilex or something.
Gimme a nice beautiful Shiraz anyday. That's all the sweet that I need.
Sales Manager:
I have to give a shout out to the Tokaji we sell since sweet wines are on the table. Please get this wine out of the warehouse now and stop e-mailing.
The Kaiser:
Yes, yes, drink what you like. Always. Perhaps that's my point. I've spent so many years scratching my head over ink spilled by wine scribes who take it as gospel that white Burgundy and Sauternes are the be-all and end-all of the white wine experience, when in fact, ya know what? They're just not. Not for everyone anyway, and my life and career have forthwith been spent trying to subvert the dominant paradigm. Truth is, I can drink Meursault with about four foods: chicken, chicken, chicken, and salmon. And I'd still rather have something else, like a Vouvray or good Sancerre. It's Chardonnay, people: get over it. Sauternes? Yes, it goes with Roquefort and foie gras. Have you ever, EVER seen seen any wine writer try to pair it with anything else? Perhaps they can....they don't. Tradition weighs heavy on the backs of those who praise wine. They lack imagination, or fear to use it.
But German wine. Ah! The taste of freedom! Name your cuisine, I will give you a German wine to match it. Name your desired sweetness and I will pinpoint it with perfect percision. Name your goofy vineyard, and I will give you a goofier one! (Winkeler Hasensprung! I mean wacka wacka wacka, right?)
But I am not anti-French, as you know. Quite the opposite. I spread the gospel of any and all European wines wherever I travel in this great, sprawling, wine-starved country of ours. For Loire Chenin Blanc in all its shapes, sizes and colors, my praises know no bounds. The greatest dry white comeuppance of our generation? Muscadet. The sexiest red with the mouthfeel of your most fervent young lover? Cotes du Roussillon. The wine that strikes joy into my crusty, splintered , world-weary heart like no other. Beaujolais.
But Sauternes leaves me cold. And Bordeaux is too much money. And white Burgundy is a lovely, lovely way to intrigue my cerebrum - but leaves my lower extremities untouched. That's just me (I promise to still sell them).
And so I refer back to Sir Lancelot's humble email, which pleased me by its personal nature and lacked the didactic, scolding tone of Mr. Bobo's, who assumed I somehow had never tried a mature Sauternes in my 15+ years of service in this industry. To whom I say only that the perfectly stored jeroboam of 1990 d'Yquem that I tasted five or so years ago with naive, childlike anticipation left me so disappointed that I wiped my tears dry and I swore off that over-priced, over-reviewed, mega-monster of the wine world forever. Unless someone buys me a glass, in which case I will accept enthusiastically, and drink it with honest appreciation and gratitude. Because I know what it meant to them to part with it.
Bobo:
Little John, I think The Kaiser is in for two bottles of the Suduiraut.
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