Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen!

Our Wine List is more to us than some catalogue of products we sell.  In its complete form it is a finished piece of art that evolves and changes subtly over time. The individual bottles of wine are the various colors of paint that go into the finished piece and create its vibrancy and character.  Now what exactly does that mean to me when I say it? It means that we go out of our way to present unique wines made by individuals with passion and integrity that are inspired by a natural and healthy respect for the vine. Some guests that frequent Niche ask us why we don’t carry Silver Oak’s, Chimney Rock, Cakebread, and the infamous Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio.  Well, we are also students of wine and as students we have learned quite a bit about the wine business. Let us use the example of Markham Merlot.  Some folks might absolutely love the taste of Markham Merlot. It is a fairly consistent wine, easy on the palate and very food friendly. Also it consistently is one of the top selling wines in the restaurant industry as a whole in this country which places it just about everywhere. In fact, you can even get it in Jewel or Dominick’s which makes it convenient to grab while you are out running errands or just in a hurry.

So why not carry Markham Merlot? It almost doesn’t make sense not to. Until you consider the fact that every year it goes up a little more in cost until it can’t anymore. Once the pricing peak occurs, the vineyard decides to start using a lower quality grape to fulfill the ever increasing need from demand of its product by our magical free market. So the price goes up, the quality goes down and the market is saturated with a now mediocre product. So as students of wine we move away from the wines that follow this pattern and spend our time finding better wines that are better values while being true expressions of wine, not corporate cut outs.

Now, you might be thinking that my argument may have merit in regards to Markham Merlot and Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, but “Silver Oak’s is hard to find in retail stores and rocks my head off!” (Not literally mind you…) But if you take a good look at the scores of the wine over the past ten years a different story begins to take shape. Let me give credit where credit is due. Silver Oak’s Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is somewhat of a classic California Cab with once cult wine status. From 1984 till 1997 their Napa Cabernet Sauvignon consistently scored in the low 90’s which showed consistency and quality. Since then they have kicked around the mid to high 80’s with its scores yet continue to produce more and more cases of wine every year in concert with raising the price. Restaurants are selling Silver Oak Cab for $250. While the tradional methodology of collecting wine and building cellars was based on the reputation of the labels, vintages and vineyards, those of us today who are passionate and dedicated to the pursuit of wine have begun to shift our focus to the winemakers. Consider the fact that a great wine maker will find creative and innovative ways to turn mediocre vintages into phenomenal wines. They see their wines as creative expressions of themselves which promises character and demands quality.

So if you looking to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a great bottle of Cabernet just ask us.  We will get you a better wine for less money. But if you are determined to spend the big money I promise to blow your freaking palate away for $250!

Tags: cabernet, grapes, merlot, wine, wine list