Putting Aside Wine's Ego

by Joe Astukewicz, Wine Manager- Y. S. Sturbridge

(This article was originally published in an email sent out to our Email Alerts subscriber in June 2008) An overblown ego: it's something that can be all too common in the world of fine wine. Pretention and smugness are never fun for customers to deal with when they're buying wine, no matter what the reputation of the retailer. At best snobbishness makes people feel intimidated by the enormity of a wine shop's selection (especially at a store like Yankee Spirits); at worst, it results in the loss of valuable customers for good. If you're the buyer at a successful wine shop it's all too easy to get a big head regarding your wine savvy, talent and tasting ability. If a wine professional is doing things right, sales increase. And when things are going well, increased success can lead to an overblown ego.
 

As someone who prides himself on finding interesting,well made, characterful wines for his customers, I have sometimes had to take a step back, and remind myself that in the end, it is you, the wine consumer that will ultimately decide whether I've made a good choice for the store (and for your table or cellar) when deciding to bring in any new wines for my already crowded shelves. We wine professionals seldom like to admit we've had help from one of our competitors (and there are many for Yankee) in finding a great new wine. Take David Raines for example, who, until recently, was the wine buyer at a very well known chain of shops in Massachusetts. David hasn't worked at that chain for a while now, focusing instead on an importing venture he calls Vineyard Research. Mr. Raines came to me for the first time about five months ago hoping we'd have room for his ecclectic portfolio of European wines at Yankee Spirits.

At first, the idea of having one of my former competitors sell me wine was of no interest (the old ego was working overtime.) Further, I had absolutely no need to take on yet another portfolio of obscure French wines for my shelves. But David persisted, coming in once every few weeks to sample his wines with me so I could see what Vineyard Research was all about.

After many months of unrewarded efforts, David finally hit pay dirt with a wine from the Northern Rhone Valley- a 2006 Crozes Hermitage from Domaine les Bruyeres; which, after tasting it, I exclaimed "this is a Slam Dunk. I'll take all you have!" Both John Hannum and I agreed that, not only was this a superior bottle of Syrah for the money, but, as with most exceptional wines, it
had a great story behind it.

Swallowing my pride, I agreed to let him tell the story of this wine, in his own words, to the customers on my email subscribtion list. Maybe some of you already know him, and that's fine. I finally realized, "who cares if David was a former competitior with his own loyal fan base of fine wine consumers? This is a great wine, and I want my customers to be able to enjoy it."

If you're interested in purchasing this wine, we still have a bit as of the publishing date of this article. It retails for $29.99, and is quite special.

-Joe Astukewicz, Wine Manager, YS- Sturbridge