Sourcing Wine

People often ask me: how do you select the wines for Legal Sea Foods? In a previous Grapevine (October 2008) I outlined the benefits of the Blind Tasting process we conduct twice annually. This is how we choose the heart of our wine list: competitively and anonymously. All the hundreds of bottles that make it into our tastings are good, but that’s not good enough; we invest the time because we’re looking for greatness. Over the years this technique has helped the panel of tasters I assemble discover scores of outstanding value wines from throughout the world. But there’s also another route, one that involves going directly to the source.

 

Especially with the economic difficulties over the past year, we’re turning more to this method. It’s one of the bright spots that have enabled us to discover and acquire wines at better prices than we often can from the more traditional sources of the supply chain. Here’s how it works: when demand is rising, a winery interested in expanding plants additional vines. However, there’s generally a four or five year time lag between this decision and the vineyard’s capability of producing premium wine. If during the interim an overall economic contraction actually shrinks demand, the producer’s left with only one choice: lower prices.

 

Since fine wines are marketed largely on image, this is not an easy decision. In past recessions many producers permanently damaged the quality perception they had spent years cultivating by having to substantially lower their selling price. Most found it impossible to rebuild their quality image later. But there’s another way around this dilemma: find a restaurant group that has the wherewithal to purchase enough wine at a sharp price to solve any short term oversupply, but bottle it under a separate label that does not diminish the winemaker’s super premium image. Enter Legal Sea Foods.

 

In coming months, many of our restaurants are going to offer wines by the glass from Faux Pas Winery (a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley that is ripe, creamy and layered with spice), and Mockingbird Hill (an amazingly rich peppery Petite Sirah also from Napa), that come to us in just this manner. World class value from ultra high quality wineries that are bottling under another name to protect their exclusive image.  These and several others are wines either bottled specifically for us, or ones we’ve selected, from famous wineries facing oversupply issues during the current economy. We’re passing both the high level of quality and the savings along.

 

There’s another side to direct sourcing. Every wine on our lists has a story, and increasingly the stories involve personal and direct involvement locating previously ignored, overlooked, or otherwise unknown producers that we now import or otherwise purchase from sources outside the traditional channels. The Loire Valley has been a rich source of seafood-friendly white wines from small producers who we are currently featuring based on trips to the region: Muscadet producer Serge Saupin (whose briny, apple and lemon-accented white wine we picked out of a massive blind tasting near the city of Nantes last year), Domaine de Chevaunet (a Touraine Sauvignon Blanc with grapefruit and mineral accents we describe as a “baby Sancerre,” at a fraction of the price), and Les Andides (a mellow, pear and honey scented dry Chenin Blanc from Saumur).

 

I’ve written about South America here before (January 2009), and the amazing values we continue to find, but a recent stint as a wine judge at Chile’s annual blind tasting competition yielded a number of winners that we are going to be using, including what was judged the country’s finest Chardonnay, Vina Errazuriz “Wild Ferment” 2007 from the Casablanca Valley. We will be featuring this richly textured natural-yeast fermented Chardonnay in a few months as a glass pour in most of our restaurants, along with another winner in the competition, the Marques de Casa Concha Merlot 2006 from the Rapel Valley, a succulent wine with dark plum fruit and impeccable balance.

 

Sometimes a recession reminds us that we can do things better and sometimes we’re smart or lucky enough to not only change what we’re doing but absorb the lesson for the long term. We’re not going to turn back from direct sourcing as a part of the Legal Sea Foods beverage game plan, which remains to find the best quality wines for you in the world at the best prices.

 

 

Sandy Block, Master of Wine