Oh October!

The Back Label

October is a very important month in the wine industry both here in New Orleans and around the globe.  Many wine regions are harvesting grapes or are preparing to begin soon.  Who knows?  2009 could be the third vintage of the millennium!  Locally we are coming out of the dismal summer months in which retailers, restaurants and hotels see business slow down considerably.  The people I buy wine from seem so used to being told “no” all summer that every time I said “yes” they seem surprised.

All that changes in October, as restaurant, retail and hotel business picks up so does the business of those who supply us with wine.  Each company tries to remind buyers of their products by hosting large portfolio tastings with people from the wineries in to greet buyers and help push through sales.  I will see a sharp increase in the quantity and price of the sample that I taste through each week.  It is a great chance to be reminded of who has what and start thinking about new wines for the wine lists.

We will sell more wine at the restaurants and so we will buy more wine.  It is not however an open invitation to spend too freely because I have orders I placed in the summer soon to arrive.  Presale orders, orders made well in advance of the arrival of the wine, are common place with the wines of Burgundy.  I usually buy about a quarter of the Burgundy for the restaurants in this manner.  Some wines I may have tasted in barrel during a visit to a producer, while the majorities are from trusted vineyards from producers who have earned my trust by making consistently good wines no matter the vintage.

Buying wine can be a balancing act.  I must always balance between the need for new wines, the amount of storage I have for the new wines and what wines I have already purchased and how many days or weeks until I need to take delivery of them.  The new wines need to be explained to the wait staff, tastings need to be scheduled and on top of that we are finally busy again.  There is nothing worse than the slow summer months and we are all happy to see the business return.  I’m off to another tasting...Back Label Out!

Comments (1)

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written by Mike Olvera, October 09, 2009

I used to work in restaurants years ago and I always understood the importance of wine, both from the business as well as the pleasure aspects. I will be there soon and would like to know more about these restaurants and the local wines purchased.

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