Well Free Rangers,
At this point, I’m surprised that I’m surprised.
Our in-store tasting program has become a bottom shelf experience. We apologize for this sorry state of affairs, and have taken direct action to remedy the situation. And by bottom shelf, we don’t mean like our bottom shelf here at the shop, where we’ve tasted three dozen wines to find something that high quality and delicious which we can sell you for fourteen bucks. I’m talking that state store bottom shelf, three stalls down from the DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps and across from the nine dollar plastic jug of Popov. It’s difficult to understate the man hours and effort that go in to making sure that everyone who pours here for our people knows what the hell they’re talking about and/or gives a shit about delicious intoxicants on a personal level. In the last three weeks, we’ve had a well meaning generic marketing cog, an aborted effort due to one of our best distributor reps being unceremoniously released 18 hours before our event (she is such a professional that she offered to honor the appointment, which we respectfully/gratefully declined), and this most recent finish line limper who shall not be named (but you can read about how we used to think of them in the previous e-mail- archive link at the bottom). Once again, we explicitly told a producer we respect that we allow experts only to come pour for our people and they sent someone who was perfectly nice, and was able to faithfully parrot her detailed one liner about the 3 ingredients, but is clearly not an expert in the field, and has no real passion for wine and/or spirits. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, fiddle dee dee.
When you’re lucky enough to spend most of your time around people who genuinely give a shit about what they do, and are engaging about the context in which they do, it becomes acutely apparent when posed with not these things. We said ‘experts only,’ and we received a fairly gregarious human person who was apparently pouring an organic product into a sweetened flavored (union busting) corporate canned mixer. It’s honestly my fault. I noticed the Starbucks Cold Brew cans about 15 minutes into the tasting, and I made the mistake of being nice about it. It wasn’t until about 15 minutes from the end that these tired nearsighted old eyes pulled their closest cover band of focus on the cans of cold coffee which read French Vanilla on one, and Salted Caramel on the other. When I asked if this is how they normally show the product, she gasped and asked if I was disappointed in her. It became fairly uncomfortable very quickly, and it ended with everyone in the room feeling bad about the situation. A win for no-one. I used to love writing a good F-you letter. Many of them contain some of my proudest prose (several immaculate lines of which, I can’t legally share with you [no shit]). But at this point/age/juncture, I’m just disappointed that I still have to, in both them and myself. Mostly in them. This is exactly why we want to have contact with the actual person who is going to pour here at least a week ahead of time. It just didn’t have to go down the way it did, and I assure you, we will not fall for that shit again.
With all that being said, this is when the Free Range Tasting Program returns to its former glory w/ two absolute rock star tastings in two weeks. This week, we have Robert Brittan, Proprietor and winemaker at Brittan Vineyards where he and his wife, Ellen, grow, vinify, and bottle some of our favorite Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Oregon. Given our focus on the category, I hope this carries the weight intended. The land, the intent, the fruit, the farming, and the execution are exemplary, and the wines are delicious and profoundly age worthy. Back when I attended Oregon Pinot Camp (which is just as immersive and nerdy as it sounds), Brittan’s 2014 Pinot Noir(s) were the current release, and I found their line to be some of the deepest and most Burgundian of the many dozens of local bottles we tasted of similar pedigree. Truly revelatory. And I was fairly well schooled in OR Pinot before then.
Brittan Pinot(s) and Chard have been staples here for many moons and the subject of- and source of- several of our most popular sales ever. Tomorrow, Thursday, June 20th (5-7pm), please join us and Robert Brittan himself to enjoy FREE tastes of the current release(s) of Brittan Vineyards Estate Chardonnay 2022, Brittan Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir 2021, and a 3 vintage vertical of Brittan Pinot Noir Basalt Block ’21, ’16, and ’14. While all will be available for FREE tasting, Basalt ’14 and ’16 are only available for purchase in the Brittan Vertical 6-pack that’s available on our website this week only at 30% off the shelf price! All other current release Brittan wines are 10% off, or 20% off 6+ bottles (mix & match). Check ‘em out here:
(!) Click here for Brittan Vineyards sale page (!)
Cheers,
Jack
Proprietor
Free Range Wine & Spirits
P.S. Free Range E-mail Archive
