09/10/09 - My life as a working Sommelier

Although Thursdays, for me, are the beginning of the work week, I look forward to the end of this official week earnestly. This is historically one of the slowest restaurant weeks of the year- parents spend money on back-to-school stuff, not dining out. The restaurant I work at doesn't feel the crunch of the economy the same way the rest of the restaurants do (more on reasons for this later), but this week is still dismal for us.
I closed the place down tonight and never once had more than 3 tables at a time. I still managed to showcase Willakenzie Estate. I really support this winery, I like that they're OCSW certified sustainable (oh, you didn't know I was green? I won't berate you for your views, just drink good wine and we'll be cool), I think their winemaker is really on top of his game, and they hit some great price points- fairly and accurately. There are so many products that they produce, it's hard to talk about them briefly, but I showcased their intro-level Pinots (both Noir and Gris) to different tables tonight.
Towards the end of the evening I had resigned myself to making no headway towards my deficit in the contest, but my last table asked for a juicy spicy red, and some Yangarra Estates McLaren Vale Shiraz '06 is on the list. Not a huge bottle, but a little bit here and there helps.
Oh yeah- why don't we feel the crunch of the economy? Well, it's not entirely fair to say we don't feel it, we just absorb it better than many. The place I work is a showcase restaurant- we're 30 stories up in the sky for craps sake! Now, for you big city readers, 30 floors might not seem like much. However, those of you here in Portland know that there's only 1 building in town taller than Big Pink, and it doesn't have a restaurant in it... So! We get anniversaries. We get birthdays. We get celebrations of any and all sorts. We get business meetings. We also get tourists- people from all over the world. We still do over 200 covers on a slow night, and that's darn respectable in my eyes.
As always, if you would like more info about any of the wines that I talk about, feel free to shoot me a line or comment, and I'll get back to you.

09/08/09 - My life as a working Sommelier

What a drastically slow evening at the restaurant! I took four tables, and was out of the place by 8:30! A little Sokol Blosser Evolution hit the spot for those seeking something bright and refreshing after the afternoon heat (really?), and a half bottle of the Panther Creek Shea Vnyd to show off Oregon to a visitor from San Diego.

Joy of getting out early was that I was able to stop by Vino Paradiso and talk with Timothy about accommodating the upcoming Wine Wednesday in the Pearl! Look for an evite by the end of the week, it's coming together!

09/06-07/09 - My life as a working Sommelier

Sunday/Monday on a Labor day weekend. Although the restaurant was slammed busy, it never felt overmuch for me. Take into consideration I was in a *tiny* section with a trainee who was taking all the tables. Sadly, I wasn't called upon to do much more than run food for other servers. Sold some juice both nights, made some minor additions to the contest. Beaux Freres Pinot hit hard on Monday- 3 bottles of the WV 06. Some Illahe and Capitello on Sunday, along with some rose of Pinot from Elk Cove and our last bottle of Beringer Private Reserve Chard.
Keeping it super brief, and I feel guilty about it.
I should wax poetical about the '06 Ferrari Carano Sienna we opened up last night. I won't thought- I'll merely say that it's young and tight, and oh so good. We stuffed a couple of NY strip steaks with about 1/2 a pound of blue cheese, seared them off and broiled them to med-rare. yeah.

09/05/09 - My life as a working Sommelier

Saturday is never my favorite day of the week. The restaurant is always busy (it's Saturday, after all), but it's usually full of non-dining clientele. I just don't get people. If you're miserable, stay the hell home, none of the rest of us want to deal with you. Unfortunately, it seems that most people don't seem to get this, and feel that since it's the weekend, they MUST go OUT! OK, you have to go out? Fine- go somewhere that you'll at least be happy. Don't go to a restaurant you can't afford, and then complain that you're spending more than you want to. Go to a cheaper restaurant, have a *good* time!

Getting the drift of how my night went, and the type of people I was waiting on? Wait, it gets better...

I did sell some wine last night, and I also opened up a couple of nice Zins that a table brought in. Shall we discuss the falling star of Zinfandel? Do lets! It's my opinion that Zinfandel (Primitivo) is a waning force. I see less and less demand for it in restaurants. I find fewer labels in the wine-aisle at the grocery store, and less focus from the wholesale reps. Maybe I was just more inundated with the stuff when I was in California, but I think not. *I* think that the people got fed up with it. I was getting used to seeing HUGE fruit and %ABV zins (16%+), and I think we're developing as consumers (on the whole) to the point where that style isn't as desirable. For proofs of this I'll point at every article on Chardonnay in the last 2 years (just about everyone I can think of is pushing for cleaner expression of the grape). This desire for a clean expression isn't relegated to exclusively Chardonnay- the desire for clean juice is the desire for the JUICE to be clean, REGARDLESS of the varietal. As evidence: one of the few Zin producers I still see *regularly* in the market getting tons of appreciation is Ridge, a winery that has always been about great Zin without a crap-ton of over-oak fruit bombing.

Back to the wine of the night- I only moved one bottle that was part of the mini-contest. The other guy? Oh yeah, he killed it. This evening was incredibly demoralizing for me in the contest, and if it had happened in another week or two, it would be the nail in the coffin for the contest. As it stands, I will have an incredibly hard time coming back from this deficit, not for lack of sales-ability, simply from lack of wine left worth enough! He moved our last magnum of Pine Ridge Stag's Leap District '01 Cab, (3) bottles of the '04 Cardinale, and our last Cuvaison Cab. Should I go cry in the corner? Hell no. Part of it is obviously table placement- getting people in your section willing to drink wine and be open to suggestions. A big part of it is his salesmanship- he really did an amazing job last night, and praise should be heaped on for it. Alright, I won't throw the towel in yet...

09/04/09 - My life as a working Sommelier

Closing the restaurant is rarely my bag. Closing on a Friday or Saturday (when the restaurant is open until 1AM) is even less my bag. Closing on a Friday that happens to be my girlfriend's birthday? Uber lame.

So! Make the best of a bad situation, sling some vino, have a good time! Moved some beautiful bubbles (99 Brut Rose from Veuve Clicquot), a stunning Seven Springs vnyd Pinot from Penner-Ash, and a flinty Kabinett Riesling from Markus Molitor. THAT was a happy 6 top!

Our mini-competition gets more difficult as we sell out of bottles, and last night I only moved 1 (the Chalone 05 Estate Pinot). It's ok- the other guy only moved 1 as well, and I continue to gain ground on him.

09/01-03/09 - My life as a working Sommelier

Lazy lazy man. Tuesday the 1st was my Friday night, had Wednesday off, and Thursday was the beginning of my new week. A quick recap of sales: Tues night Yangarra Shiraz (was actually a very minor upsell, but FAR more suited to the menu for the couple) and King Estate Pinot Gris (when a table says it's their fave, you don't argue); Thurs lunch half bottle Willakenzie Pinot Gris, Thurs dinner Illahe Pinot (big upsell from Louis Jadot Beau Villages).

Both (ok, all three) shifts at work were frustrating to me. We'll leave it at that, with a serious undertone.

Other server has pulled ahead by a buck-60 in our mini contest. We go til the end of the month, and that's a pretty piddly-wink lead.

08/31/09 - My life as a working Sommelier

End of the month! I ended August on a high note, went to a great tasting at the Gerding Theater- Yamhill/Carlton AVA wineries, and had a really nice (mellow) evening at the restaurant.

I attended the trade portion of the tasting, earlier in the day than the public event. I read a really great piece on trade tastings not too long ago: http://vindulge.typepad.com/vindulge/2009/07/zap-tasting-and-my-thoughts-on-trade-events.html {sorry, I'm not nearly as saavy at this blogging thing as I might hope, so you must [I command you] copy and paste into a new browser tab, thank you}

My feelings are very similar- I, personally, am not a buyer, but I sell an awful lot of these wines on the dining room floor, and it's important that I know what the heck is in the bottle. Having said that, there were some really standout wines showcased!

There were 24 wineries showing over 50 different bottlings. Having to work after the tasting, I had to decline a few here and there- I only tasted through 16 of the wineries. Quick shout-out to the GIII Gewurzt blend from Resonance; Soter's 05 Brut Rose; Bishop Creek's 06 Pinot and Reserve Pinot; and the 08 Pinot Gris Roots Vineyard from Roots. These were just a *few* of the standouts for me, just about everything I tasted I enjoyed for some purpose or another.

The restaurant was a little slow; I only waited on two tables for the night. Both of the tables were having a great time, out enjoying the evening, and well inclined to "dine." Both tables ended up leaving wine selection to me- pairing against 3 different dishes for each table. I went with Pinot for both- Willakenzie's 06 Kiana and Chalone Estate's 05. I know it's heresy to sell California Pinot here in Oregon, but (contrary to previous catcalls from the peanut gallery) I'm pretty evenhanded in my recommendations globally. The table that had the Chalone were all locals, and didn't need to be wowed by what we all know we have here at home. They were interested in seeing something from afar, but not too different. Oh yeah, stellar deal was offered too.

Both of those Pinots counted towards the recently begun sell-off contest between me and another server at the restaurant. Good thing too: after two nights of $0 in wine sales, those two (and him having the night off) allowed me to gain a little ground. He's still got the lead, but within striking distance with one fine bottle...