Late Summer “Corked” Local Roadshow Diary

Saturday, July 23, The Weinery, Scituate, MA: I, Dave-less due to a long-standing art gig, was outside, but it was not as insanely hot it had been the previous few days. Plus I was under a tent, with plenty of water. I felt bad for the retailer, as the two Massachusetts wine wholesalers also booked for this event did not show…Besides wine, there was fruit, cheese, veggies, dip, and baked goods available, photography for sale, including a book of photos of Ted Williams I had never seen, jewelry and ladies accessories for the guests to peruse. I was surprised at the amount of people visiting metro Boston's South Shore from California - I met groups from Berkeley & Monterey. Both in-stock "Corked" wines sold briskly for the retailer.

Saturday, August 13, Elli's Wine Cellar, Weymouth, MA: This is probably the most beautiful wine shop we've ever visited, and that is even before you factor in the charm of the staff. If there were stuffed chairs in Elli's, no one would ever want to leave. Here we unveiled the new 08 Tough Dame Cab for Massachusetts. Elli's provided grapes, cheese, calzone and sausages with the wines, water and soda for the "Corked" schlepps. Attendance by my Weymouth neighbors did me proud. Rick Lowell and Laura O'Meara of Portland, Maine's ultra-cool Casablanca Comics, stopped by for a taste, as did old compadre Eleanor Seigneur. The "Corked" audience delivered plenty of new-to-the-shop traffic, in addition to Elli's regular customers, yielding plenty of wine sold. Local attendees told us the shop does a great job 

getting the "Corked" message out. We left them a giant, mounted Tough Dame Cab label, signed by the both of us, and scored our body weights in pizza, sausages, beer (for our obligatory post-tasting libation!) and calzone to go.

Tuesday, August 23, Plymouth Garden Club, Plymouth, MA: This was a beautiful venue, on a deck overlooking the beach - the sunset alone was worth the price of admission. We met a good crowd, about 180 wine-tasting guests, but, unusual for this size group, only one person tried to help themselves, so they comprehended the concept of a tasting versus a drinking. Richard Hassan, whose wife Geraldine ran this fundraiser, helped pour, as did old friend and picture-of-elegance Kathleen Cumming. The surprise for us was that of the three Sur de Los Andes Argentine wines we also poured - Torrontes, Bonarda and Malbec- the Malbec was the one least talked about...We aimed the guests to our local "Corked" the comic retailer, Pilgrim Wine & Spirits, who was pleasantly prepared with business cards, sell sheets and abig ice bucket for the whites.

Our insanely busy Memorial Day weekend of  Friday, September 2 & Saturday, September 3: Gypsy Kitchen, Quincy, MA - Mira Luna Crusher & Stemmer Red and 09 Tough Day Carneros Chardonnay got poured. The Weinery, North Scituate, MA poured the entire "Corked" line. Long-time-supporter Verona, in Rockland, MA once again poured 09 Mira Luna, Tough Day Chardonnay for their guests.

And last-but-not-least, Ralph's Derby Street Wine & Spirits, Hingham, MA: I poured the entire line, plus a few selections by proprietor Ralph Hersom, including his recently bottled, quite delicious Central Coast Pinot Noir. As a wine producer, I like doing tastings for Ralph - he is one of the best tasters in the nation. And events there with Ralph, chef Kim Savage and beer buyer Ryan O'Malley are almost party-like. Dave drew New England Comic's Doreen Greeley, one of our earliest supporters, as Honey West - a very cool choice - when she dropped by Ralph's to taste the new 08 Tough Dame.