Enjoy Real Chardonnay - Part II

For over a decade, Bob and Jim Varner weren’t just people I bought wine from, they were my neighbors and customers. Those of you who know me from the Bay Area days probably remember the Varner wines well; I was putting a bottle of their Foxglove wines or Varner Santa Cruz Chardonnay into anyone’s hands who would listen. Bob and Jim lived just down the street from the store, and were always a welcome sight to see browsing the aisles. We loved selling their wines with a passion.

COVID has not been kind to a number of boutique winemakers, however—especially high-end niche labels like Varner. Restaurants are a big part of their business, with sommeliers across California doing the heavy lifting. Given that many of these restaurants closed or shuttered during 2020 and into 2021, there was a lot of Varner inventory that didn’t get moved. Not because the wines aren’t simply amazing, but rather because their best customers were out of business.

Flash-forward to this week, when we were able to help ease the pressure on some of that old inventory and put the wines into the hands of our thirsty Mission customers. When I tell you that this is a deal almost too good to be true, I’m not kidding. I was pinching myself all night, thinking these wines might not show up today, but thank goodness they did.

Given that both wines have 5-6 years of bottle age, they're both in a beautiful place as most of the cellaring has been done for you!

2016 Varner El Camino Vineyard Santa Barbara County Chardonnay $16.99 (ELSEWHERE $25+) - Before you dive into the Pinot Noir, it’s important to know this wine has been in the bottle for six years now and is evolving into the secondary state of its existence. For me that’s a HUGE bonus, but if you don’t like older wines, especially Pinot Noir, that flavor profile could come as quite a surprise. The juicy, soft berries are almost just a whisper, replaced by dried leaves, a bit of burnt earth, and a savory sauvage character that I look for in my favorite red Burgundy. I can't get enough of it.

2015 Varner Los Alamos Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir $13.99 (ELSEWHERE $25+) - The Chardonnay is magnificent. It’s everything I want from cold climate California Chardonnay: crisp, clean stone fruit, salinity on the mid-palate, snappy acidity on the back of the palate, minimal to no oak, fresh on the finish. D-E-L-I-S-H! I would happily pay $30 for this, but lucky for me I get it for about half price now.

I’m putting 3 bottles of each away for Thanksgiving now, as there’s no way you’ll find a better pairing for turkey than these wines, and you’ll never get anything this good for this price between now and then. I'm hoping you all enjoy these wines as much as I do!

-David Driscoll

Enjoy Real Chardonnay While You Still Can

Watching the evacuations from Lake Tahoe, reading about mussels and oysters being cooked in the record Pacific Northwest temperatures, and hearing about earlier and earlier harvests from my vineyard-managing friends has me scared about the future of our planet—and wine.

Granted, as my friend Jeff Garneau said to me on the phone this morning: “If things get so bad that we can’t drink real Chardonnay anymore, we’ll probably have more important things to worry about.”

That being said, if we’re headed down the path of climate catastrophe, I’m going out drinking the world’s finest cool climate wines while I still can.

I have enough whiskey in my house to last me the next twenty years, and it’s never going bad, so I’m fine on that front. Crisp, clean, mineral-driven Chardonnay—from blancs de blancs Champagne, to Chablis, to the whites of California’s Central Coast—are another story, however. I always tell myself: “I can grab another bottle from the store when I need one,” but that’s not necessarily going to be the case moving forward.

There’s a reason French Champagne houses are purchasing land in England right now. The soil is composed of the same chalk that runs underneath Champagne, but the temperatures are generally far too chilly to ripen grapes in a significant volume. They’re clearly expecting that to change in the years ahead.

Since turning 41 last year, I’ve come to realize how many bottles I’ve opened, how many whiskies I’ve tasted, and how many experiences I’ve consumed that were completely taken for granted in my mind. When you’re young, you assume you’re going to live forever—that another great experience will always replace the current one.

I’m trying to break out of that habit. As a result, I spent most of this past weekend slowly sipping two of the best Chardonnays I’ve tasted this year: the Billecart-Salmon Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs and the 2017 Hilt Estate Chardonnay. Salinity. Pureness of fruit. Distinction in every sip. Grace.

Watching Tahoe burn this morning, the smoke polluting the air for my family members up north, I’m no longer taking anything for granted. Give me the finest white wines our planet’s current climate can still produce, please. I promise I’ll savor every last drop.

-David Driscoll

Do Your Holiday Shopping NOW

As a retailer that often negotiates its own shipping containers, purchasing large quantities of whiskey from abroad and from the other side of the country, we’re quite familiar with how long a delivery can (and should) take.

A container of whisky from Scotland usually takes about a month to dock in California. A truck full of Bourbon from Kentucky takes a little over a week to hit the warehouse.

During the pandemic, those wait times obviously skyrocketed; but what I think few consumers understand about the situation now is: it’s worse than ever.

We may have invented vaccines to combat COVID-19, but we have yet to find a solution to the logistical nightmare that is international shipping during a pandemic. Hence, if you’re expecting online stores and local retailers to be flush with inventory for the upcoming holiday shopping season, think again.

This article from CNN this week pretty much sums it up.

“The vast network of ports, container vessels and trucking companies that moves goods around the world is badly tangled, and the cost of shipping is skyrocketing. That's troubling news for retailers and holiday shoppers.

More than 18 months into the pandemic, the disruption to global supply chains is getting worse, spurring shortages of consumer products and making it more expensive for companies to ship goods where they're needed.”

Yep.

As an example, I ordered 10 cases of Bordeaux to be shipped from the East Coast to California this past June. The supplier told me it should be available for delivery by the first week of July. Tomorrow is September 1st. I’m still waiting.

Another example?

I ordered whisky samples from Scotland that were shipping by Royal Mail on August 1st. One month later, they still haven’t left the country.

Why is this happening, you ask? A number of reasons.

Let’s start with COVID-19 protections and labor shortages. You can’t work as fast as you used to, and you can’t find enough people willing to work. Put those two things together and it spells trouble. I went to get my oil changed yesterday and it took an hour rather than the 15 minutes promised on the outside banner. Why? They were short-staffed.

Now apply that scenario to a logistical warehouse and you can imagine the potential for backlog.

Here I am telling you to buy what you need now due to potential shortages and wait times, and we haven’t even mentioned inflation! The cost of shipping a container of whisky from Scotland right now is double what it normally costs, and it may be triple by the end of summer. That’s going to force an increase in wholesale pricing, and then an even larger spike in retail pricing. Hence, the longer you wait, the more it’s going to cost you.

Plus, the longer you wait, the more you might have to just keep waiting.

-David Driscoll

Reward Is The Key

I have been a huge horror fan for as long as I can remember, as I can’t recall a time in my life when I wasn’t obsessed with zombies. When the video for Michael Jackson’s Thriller came out in the early eighties, I was four years old and I made my parents rent the VHS tape over, and over, and over again from our local video store. As a budding horror fanatic, I was just as obsessed with the documentary afterward about John Landis and Rick Baker, as I was with the video itself.

Zombie culture has ebbed and flowed since George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, never more popular than over the last decade with AMC’s The Walking Dead, but perhaps waning once again due to over-saturation. However, with COVID dominating our lives over the last year and a half, no film has ever been more relevant to my world view right now than the third film in Romero’s zombie canon: the 1985 release of Day of the Dead.

You’ve got a global pandemic, increasing friction between the scientific community and the militaristic right wing over best practices, and a silent majority who just wants to run away and drink somewhere quiet to forget about all the drama. Sound familiar?

When I was in my late-teens/early twenties, I was convinced that Dawn of the Dead was by far the best of Romero’s films. But as an adult living in modern times, there’s no doubt in my mind that Day of the Dead is the most profound, and timeless masterpiece of the series. Especially listening to Dr. Logan, the head scientist of the remaining human camp, talk about what will be necessary to overcome the zombie hoards: reward.

The human brain is conditioned to understand reward. Heck, even lab rats will do what you want them to if there’s a treat involved at the end. Reward is the only thing that has kept me disciplined since COVID started. I get up, exercise, go to work, knowing full well that when I get home there’s going to be some profound liquid in my glass that makes the day worth doing. In Day of the Dead, Dr. Logan believes a similar formula needs to be discovered with the zombies themselves—some reward that keeps them from wanting to eat humans.

Throughout the recent pandemic, many of us have splurged on our home bars and wine cellars, allowing ourselves to indulge given that restaurants and bars were no longer an option. If we’re going to be stuck at home all day, we might as well have a little reward for the inconvenience, right?

At times, however, there’s a part of my mindset that becomes somewhat fatalistic, given that half of California is on fire, the entire Pacific Northwest is roasting, and ideological divisions have never been deeper between my fellow Americans. That’s the part of my brain that says: “The world is going to end anyway, why not just smoke a ton of cigars, drink a bunch of whiskey, and have a good time before we all go up in flames?”

That mindset is also represented in Day of the Dead, as John and McDermott try to persuade Sarah that finding a solution is a waste of time. They might as well go to an island, get drunk, and spend the rest of their days “soaking up some sunshine.”

George Romero was ahead of his time. When Day of the Dead first opened in 1985 , people wanted it to be more like the wonderful Dawn of the Dead. It was so dark and misunderstood. It came and went. Glad to see it’s finally getting it’s due. Thank you dear George. pic.twitter.com/AgLhNzOryb

— Lori Cardille (@LoriCardille) April 3, 2021

As Lori Cardille, the lead actress from Day of the Dead, tweeted out this past April, the film was never really appreciated upon its release. But given the times we’re living in, the film is being revisited and heralded for its vision and its stunning accuracy surrounding the nature of humanity under duress.

If you want to reward yourself this weekend, get a bottle of something special and watch this film. Reward is the key. You’ll thank me later.

-David Driscoll

Bordeaux Value That Delivers Year After Year

Ever since I’ve been in the wine business, I’ve made a habit of buying subsequent vintages of Château Potensac, keeping a library of the wines on hand to fit any available occasion.

Why load up on a small producer from Bordeaux’s northern Médoc that falls outside the geographical borders of the most prestigious communes?

Because Château Potensac delivers the goods, year in and year out, for a price that’s always in line with my budget—that’s why.

Part of the Domaines Delon portfolio that includes powerhouses Léovilles Las Cases and Clos du Marquis, Potensac’s vineyards extend mainly over hilly mounds with a limestone subsoil covered with clay and gravel outcrops containing a high proportion of gravel. Those limestone soils are very similar to those found in the Saint-Estèphe appellation, giving the wine a similar quality level and style. 

The hamlet of Potensac was even cited in the first edition of Cocks & Féret—the ultimate Bordeaux reference—for its terroir, its unique quality, and the longevity of its wines. In fact, many of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vines planted over 80 years ago still produce perfectly ripe, healthy grapes. 

I have Potensac in my wine collection that goes back to 2001, and I never get tired of drinking it. With a steak, there’s nothing better to sink my teeth into. The richness of the fruit, coupled with the fineness of the tannins and the mineral notes on the finish never cease to thrill me. 

But don’t just take my word for it: read the professional reviews on our product site and see what you think.

You don’t need to spend $100 on Bordeaux to live the high life. You just need to know where to look.

-David Driscoll

Ahead of the Curve

As you probably already know, a lot of folks have been beefing up their home bar selection since the beginning of the pandemic.

What you may not know, but can probably surmise, is that international transit routes and logistical pipelines for imported wines and spirits have continued to worsen since as the pandemic has progressed. 

When you combine a spike in demand with a shortage in labor and logistical fulfillment services, you get shortages. Long ones. Devastatingly long shortages. 

Not only did I see this coming more than a year ago, I prepared Mission accordingly from the moment I walked in the door last November, purchasing HUGE supplies of small production spirits to ensure I would have the supply I needed when I needed it, then storing it away for a rainy day. 

Example? 

Back vintages of Armagnac from one of the best value-to-quality producers in France. If you’re a Bourbon drinker and you’ve never tried Château Pellehaut, you’re truly missing out on one of the great experiences in all of spirits. With their big, sweet, woody character and high ABVs, there’s no spirit that brings this much age and satisfaction for this type of price anywhere.

Since Mission is now one of the only retailers in America with any inventory on these old vintages, I figured now was the time to tell you about them before we sell out. 

Over the weekend, we sold more than $2000 of Pellehaut with zero marketing, which means customers from all over are realizing we have the only supply available.

2001 Château Pellehaut 19 Year Old Folle Blanche Armagnac $79.99 - The 2001 is made from 100% Folle Blanche and was bottled in 2020 at 49.3% ABV with a 19 year old age statement. Pellehaut's younger brandies (a la the 2001) have less of that raisined fruit note, showcasing more of the bold spice from the oak; the Folle Blanche distillates in particular. The 2001 is a Bourbon lover's dream, brimming with vanilla and baking spices, before diving deeper into dark chocolate notes and an herbaceous finish.

1994 Château Pellehaut 26 Year Old Folle Blanche Armagnac $99.99 - The 1994 is made from 100% Folle Blanche and was bottled in 2020 at 48% ABV with a 26 year old age statement. The spiciness from the Folle Blanche has completely integrated with the richness of almost three decades in oak, and the brandy shares a number of similarities with an older Bourbon. Lots of vanilla, spice, char, and rich oak flavors coat the palate from start to finish.

1988 Château Pellehaut 32 Year Old Ugni Blanc Armagnac $109.99 - The 1988 is made from 100% Ugni Blanc and was bottled in 2020 at 50% ABV with a 32 year old age statement. Imagine drinking an ancient Cognac, aged for more than 30 years in oak, but bottled at full proof and with more new oak influence. That's what the 1988 Pellehaut offers for the bargain price of $109.99, with loads of power and gobs of richness.

1987 Château Pellehaut 33 Year Old Ugni Blanc Armagnac $109.99 - One of my all time favorite vintages of Pellehaut! This was also one of the first I ever bought for K&L back in 2011. The 1987 is made from 100% Ugni Blanc and was bottled in 2020 at 48.6% ABV with a 33 year old age statement. Like a Cognac (also distilled from Ugni Blanc), there's a lot of ripe, round fruit on the mouthfeel, but like a Bourbon there's a ton of new oak, baking spices, and bold richness. It's the best of both worlds.

1983 Château Pellehaut 37 Year Old Ugni Blanc Armagnac $114.99 - The 1983 is made from 100% Ugni Blanc and was bottled in 2020 at 47% ABV with a 37 year old age statement. Being that it's made from the same grape as Cognac, the 83 Pellehaut is very much like an older Cognac, aged in new oak, and bottled at full proof. There's a lot of rum raisin on the palate, completely coated in burnt oak and bold spices.

So how do you drink Armagnac? Pretty easy. Pour it in a glass.

How do you do it right, however?

You drink three bottles of wine, have an incredibly heavy dinner full of duck fat and bread, then you guzzle huge snifters of it until late into the evening.

At least that’s what I did between 2011 and 2018 when I was traveling to France multiple times a year for K&L. Remind me to tell you about the time I didn’t go to the bathroom for almost four days.

I completely understand there are guys out there who like Bourbon, and only want Bourbon, and that’s fine. But I’m not that guy, and I know many of you are hungry for a new adventure as well. 

I’m not turned on by rare whiskey. I’m turned on by guys like Ernest Hemingway, who spent years drinking his way through Paris, having experiences that forever changed the way he lived.

Experience is what life is about. For me personally, Armagnac is one of the last experiences out there for budding spirits enthusiasts that’s still ridiculously accessible and within reach of the common man.

I’m hoping more people take advantage of it while it lasts.

-David Driscoll

Discovering More of the Central Coast

I was all over the place this past weekend.

I drove east into the mountains to visit Lake Arrowhead on Saturday. Then I drove west towards the coast to see a few vineyards on Sunday. The great thing about living in Los Angeles is that you’re only an hour or so away from a number of wildly different nature experiences: beaches, rolling hills, extreme deserts, alpine lakes at 6,000 feet!

And wine country, of course.

Most people think of Napa when they imagine California wine country, but I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the most exciting wines in CA right now are coming out of the Central Coast, particularly around Santa Barbara and the Santa Rita Hills AVA.

I drank a lot of wine over the weekend as well, and the one bottle that has me coming back time and time again is The Hilt Estate Chardonnay, a wine that marries fruit from multiple vineyards, but from one in particular called Radian that has really captured my imagination. This sea breeze-battered site produces fruit with electricity, and of a wild, unbridled character. The Pinot Noir is brambly and savage. The Chardonnay almost like vibrant Chablis.

Check out The Hilt website for fantastic videos like the one above that go deep into the soil and topography, giving you a better insight into why the wines are so fantastic. Personally, I’ll be doing a deeper dive this week into the Jonata wines as well, as I’m really catching the bug once again.

-David Driscoll

Dead Weight

There’s always so much frustration, disillusion, and utter despair when it comes to the pricing and availability of rare whiskies, primarily Bourbon because wholesale costs have remained incredibly low relative to demand.

A Bourbon that may only cost the retailer $40 per bottle can end up selling for $400 or more, which makes bottle hunters furious.

The problem for retailers, however, is that the $40 cost of the bottle often comes with a $10,000 minimum purchase for other products from the distributor.

For those of you who hate bundles, and don’t want to purchase the regular Elijah Craig Bourbon and rye whiskey just to get a bottle of Barrel Proof, I have four words for you: welcome to the club.

As a retailer, that’s what we’re forced to do. Bundle. Every single day. Either buy the rest of the book, or kiss your allocations goodbye.

There is no allocated whiskey purchase without a minimum commitment to carrying other items from that supplier. Normally that’s not an issue, so long as customers keep buying those other core products. Yet, as of late, there’s been a tremendous slowdown in basic Bourbon consumption because more and more customers are narrowing their focus to the latest rare allocation.

As much as I try to explain the nature of this relationship to customers, there are always those guys who complain. “But mature, cask strength Bourbon is what I really like! I don’t want to have to buy a bunch of other stuff that I don’t want!!”

Wouldn’t that be nice? I’d like to drink DRC Burgundy all day long, but unfortunately that’s not an option anymore either. We’re in a new era. If you’re not pulling your weight across the portfolio (both as a retailer and a customer), then you’re dead weight.

I was speaking to a friend in the business earlier this week who’s in charge of wine allocations for a supplier. Every now and again, you find a small boutique wine shop that only carries fancy wine, and doesn’t bother with the everyday stuff.

He was telling me that one particular store was asking for an allocation of his rarest wines, but didn’t want to purchase anything else from that particular producer. My friend responded by saying: “I can’t give you an allocation unless you support these other brands.”

The store buyer laughed and said: “But we only sell high-end wine! We don’t sell $20 bottles in our shop.”

To which my friend replied: “Well then I guess you won’t be getting an allocation.”

When you’re a retailer used to getting your way without putting in the effort, I can imagine it’s a bit shocking to be told something like that by a vendor.

But, like I said, this is a new era. I can imagine customers feel the same way.

-David Driscoll