Post by Anthony Filippone II

Explaining wine storage to some people can be as daunting as explaining something to a three-year old.  I don’t mean that in a bad way.  Some people have no idea what proper wine storage is, why it is important for the safety of their wine or even that wine storage facilities exist.

My three-year old son asked me recently, “What you do at work Dada?”

I answered without thinking, “I store people’s wine for them.”

He just looked at me with a blank stare, the way most people do when I say that.  It hit me that he doesn’t know what wine is or why it needs proper storage.

Explaining wine storage to a three-year old was going to be tougher than I thought.  At least most people know what wine is and have some idea of how delicate it is.  I felt an unsolicited need to explain further.  I knew I had to start from the beginning.  After returning from the wine cabinet I held up a bottle of wine and said, “This is wine.  Wine is very fragile.  If you drop it the glass will break and there will be a big mess.”

He barely looked up from his toy cars.  I continued anyway, “wine is fragile like the sprouts in our garden that need water, sunlight and air.  Wine also needs things like that.  Wine needs to be protected from certain things too like sunlight and heat that can make it taste bad.  Other factors like vibrations and odors…”

It was obvious I had lost him so I wrapped it up.  “Anyway, I keep people’s wine safe for them and if they want it they can call me and I will deliver it to them or they can come pick it up at the wine vault.”

I drove one of his trucks around so he could visualize the process.  I thought about making a chart or diagram on his easel too but he lost all interest so we continued playing cars.

I suppose explaining wine storage to a three-year old is a bit pointless.  I should stick to explaining it to people who care about wine or at least have some interest in it.  If you are interested in learning more about the proper storage of wine, and you are smarter than a three-year old, click the link to our website and learn how Sentry Wine Vault took the whining out of wine storage.

I always look forward to judging the San Diego International Wine Competition because I always learn something new.  I am always blown away when the winners are revealed.  I am also humbled when I see the wines that I selected as winners and the wines I did not award a medal.  There is always a surprise in the bunch.  Best of all I get a chance to hang out with other wine professionals that I rarely get to see.  Everyone is there to have a good time and there is no pretentiousness.  I guess it is difficult being pretentious when everything we judge is blind.  I really enjoyed judging with Thrace Bromberger from Villa San-Juliet and Mark Lovett a 30 year veteran at the San Diego International Wine Competition.  We had many laughs at our table and for the most part agreed with our choices for winners.

The San Diego International Wine Competition lasts two days in which judges sit at tables of three and judge different categories of wine. Their goal is to award wines a Silver medal, a Gold Medal and a Platinum medal to wines that stand out in their class.  Those that receive a platinum are automatically entered into the Sweepstakes round the following day.  The Sweepstakes round features all the Platinum winners.  They go head to head within their group for best wine in that group, such as best Sauvignon Blanc or best Pinot Noir.  Finally, the judges re-taste the best wines of all categories to select a best sparkling, best white. best rose, best red, best sweet and best fortified.  The wine with the most votes wins the Best in Show award for their group.  The last wines standing are then tasted and voted on one last time for the coveted Wine of the Year Award.

There were 1700 entries this year, a good 700 did not win medals.  This means that as judges we taste a lot of wine…some great, some quaffable and some down right disgusting.  But it is all in a days work and somebody has to do it.

This year we had so many Platinum winners sent to the Sweepstakes round.  It made for a grueling day of judging.  Some wines could have been just fine with a Gold medal, but Platinum!  No way.  Especially these medium sweet reds and sweet roses.  I am not sure what those judges were thinking.  The way I see it a Platinum award is given to a wine that deserves to win Best in Show.  Many of the wines that made it to the Sweepstakes had no business being there.

One of the big surprises was how many box wines made it into the Sweepstakes round. It goes to show that wine is always evolving and changing with the times.  It reminds me of the days when I was traveling through Australia in a van and drinking out of a box wine.  The wines were pretty delicious and fit the occasion as I camped from one town to another.

I went back to check my notes and see which wines I enjoyed but did not make it into the last round.  The first was Benzinger Pinot Noir Bella Luna Vineyard Russian River.  I awarded it Gold, but my fellow judges did not score it, so it received a Silver.  It had funky nose which I thought was interesting, it is what one would expect from a wine that is bio-dynamic.  Our table also sent up a Tempranillo from Lodi from Fields Family Wines.  It was balanced and  for a new world Tempranillo it was true to character.  Another Pinot Noir which received Gold and is worth a mention was Jeff Gordon Cellars “Leo Pinot” Sonoma Coast, I had originally given it the highest score in the Pinot category, unfortunately my other judges thought otherwise.

Our table also sent up to the Sweepstakes several ringers. For example, in the Cabernet Category we sent up a Cabernet From Malibu, Rosenthal “The Malibu Estate”.  It only makes sense that the first place to start growing Cabernet in California is still making worthy Cabs.  We also sent up a Gruner Veltliner from Zocker in Edna Valley.  It went on to win best Gruner Veltliner.  Although we did not agree on all the wines, we actaully agreed on 90% of them.  It made for an easy judging session, thanks Mark and Thrace.

Another wine which stood out, was Cougar Crest Winery from Walla Walla which won best Merlot.  The wine was very good. Their other wines also won a slew of awards.  Another winner which always seems to pull it off is Korbel.  They always do well at these competitions.  This time the Korbel Blanc de Noirs won best sparkling wine.

In the end I think we gave out good awards.  The wines which won best in their class really did deserve it.  You can see the complete list of the winners here.  I love that the wine which won Wine of the Year was a $9 Riesling from Wollersheim Vineyards in Wisconsin.  Last year their wines were the big surprise.  I love it when a $9 wine can beat out a Napa Cab which retails for over $100.  Right on!

The wine that I thought was absolutely delicious and personally voted for best wine of the year was the Rancho de Philo Cream Sherry from Rancho Cucamonga.  You can see that their Yelp page has 5 stars and the wine too deserves 5 stars.  This wine could have come from any of the best sherry producers from Jerez, Spain.

The sheer volume of wine at this competition is overwhelming.  What really baffles me is how the organizer Robert Whitley, chief judge Michael Franz and their team run like clock work.  I guess after 30 years of hosting the SDIWC, Robert knows what he is doing.  What he does is he surrounds himself with the best volunteers.  We are talking about people who are excited, passionate and work hard all day so that the judging goes smoothly.  They wash and polish thousands of glasses, watch over all the tables and make sure that the wines are delivered in the right order and bring us water and roast beef when we need it. A big applaud to all those that helped make this competition a great success.  I look forward to doing it again next year.

Growing up, I never in a million years thought that I would be a sommelier.  I don’t know if there are any 10 or 11-year-old boys or girls that dream about being a sommelier.  In fact I don’t know if there are any kids that know that the job even exists.  So how did I ever get here?  To me, wine always seemed as something for the rich and élite.  Now here I am, writing about wine, teaching and recommending wines to people with a higher income than myself.  What I am going to state is merely a personal observation of myself and some other sommeliers I know.  In no way do I want to generalize and assume that all sommliers feel the same way.

Growing up I had always felt like an outsider looking in. Although I was born in San Diego, my parents raised me in a small town in Mexico; Jerez, Zacatecas.  My father was building a hotel when I was born and we lived in the partly built building.  Times were tough.  We did not have doors nor windows, electricity was sparse and showers meant bathing in the river next to the hotel.  When my father’s business plan took a turn for the worse, my mother decided to bring us back to the US to live with her mom and start school.  We arrived to downtown San Diego and lived in a 1 bedroom apartment with a shared bathroom by the entire floor.

I started school and I immediately realized that I was different.  All the kids spoke English and many of them had blonde hair and blue eyes.  Although I am fair-skinned and visually easily fit in, I was still an outsider.  My family was very religious and we kept to ourselves.  I remember not understanding the conversations the other kids were having.  It was not so much the language, but it was the concepts.  They spoke about TV shows, cartoons and sports.  At that time we did not have a TV, I did not watch cartoons and did not play sports yet.  I knew that I was an outsider, but I insisted on fitting in.  I soon found ways to connect with other kids.  I made up stories and created a false reality which I shared with my classmates.  So much, that one day the teacher told my mother that I was a liar.  I guess she did not understand creativity.

The reason I mention my first few years of school is because it was something I would have to revisit the rest of my life.  I immediately learned to adapt to the new culture, my peers and surroundings.  I started by insisting that we only speak English at home, something I regret to this day.  After high school I realized that I enjoyed being an outsider.  So I decided to travel.  I really enjoyed being on the outside and looking in.  In order to support my travel habits, I worked in restaurants.  It only made sense.  I would work 9 months, save money and travel for 3.  The whole time I treated it as part of my education, getting to know the world.  The funny thing was that my true education was during those months that I worked.  While working as a server, I learned and took a great interest in wine.  All of a sudden, the traveling became less frequent and I immersed myself in wine.  One thing led to another, and here I am today.

The other day I was reflecting on my job and looking back at how I got here.  That little boy eating adobe from the walls of the rundown hotel in Mexico is now recommending which Grand Cru Burgundy Mr. Smith should drink with his Colorado lamb rack.  It was like, “what am I doing here?”  15 years ago, while I was beginning to learn about wine, I thought it was so foreign and I felt overwhelmed by the subject.  I would serve guests and recommend wines, but not really know what it was like to truly understand wine.  Again, I felt like an outsider looking in.  True to my nature, I continued to perceiver.  I studied, I tasted and learned all I could about wine.  All of a sudden, I am teaching waiters about wine.  Then I am giving wine seminars to the public.  Guests are coming into the restaurant and seeking me out to help them pick their wines for dinner and other special occasions.  At my wine sales, people spend thousands of dollars in one day purchasing bottles that I recommend.  Not until I sit down and think about it does it seem strange.

The sommelier is a professional who people trust will guide them in making wise decisions.  Most people assume that the sommeiler has an extensive cellar and only drinks the top wines of the world.  I guess that is the image sommeliers like to portray.  Speaking for myself, that is so far from the truth.  Yes, I do get to taste great wines.  But it is rare that I own them.  These wines are outside of my budget.  The best part about being a sommelier is coming across many different types of wine and finding those great buys that fit within my budget.  Although I do have clients who want to spend money on expensive wines and seek my advice, I most treasure when I recommend a delicious inexpensive wine to a regular Joe.

Today, I no longer feel like an outsider looking in.  Instead I feel like an outsider living on the inside.  I know wine.  I love wine. I can’t afford wine.  So I stay the outsider, but I fit right in.  I bet there are many other sommeliers out there that feel the same way.  They love wine, but unless they get a sample from a vendor, they are limited by their budget.  I have about three cases of wine in my cellar, these wines I do not touch.  Esoteric value driven wines is what I drink day-to-day.  If ever interested in hearing some suggestions, drop me a line.  I would be happy to open the door to my wine world.  Which is a world where I am comfortable to be an outsider living on the inside with a delicious cheap bottle of wine.

All I ever needed to know about how to drink wine I learned in kindergarten.  As many of you know, I try to make wine fun and easy to understand.  Wine is super complex and wrapping your head around it is frustrating.  As adults we have a knack of making things more difficult.  I am not sure what is the psychological reasoning behind this statement, but I know it is true.  My children are in preschool and first grade.  Each and every day I learn something new.  Sometimes I learn something I already knew but in a new way.

I am not sure if I inspire them or if they just copy Sponge Bob.  For sometime now, they have played restaurant.  Each of them have their own restaurants.  My daughter played along with my son’s ideas and created her own restaurant, Cold-y.  Of course they serve cold spaghetti and cold soups.  My son, the instigator, started his restaurant long before.  He called his restaurant the Hot Pumpkin.  As one would guess, he serves pumpkins, right?  Nope.  At  the Hot Pumpkin he serves Hot Dogs.  It only makes sense.

My son has gone on to create elaborate menus, recipes, signs and training manuals for the staff.  He has even gone so far as to create a competing restaurant, and it is not Cold-y.  The Free Pumpkin is his rival which only makes perfect sense.  He hates beans, frijoles.  The Free Pumpkin serves frijoles and is his mortal competitor.

This has been going on for months.  Everyday when he wakes up he goes to the front door and turns the sign hanging on the door handle to “Open”.  When he goes to bed, he turns the sign to “Closed”.  This morning I was looking through the menus he has plastered all over the windows and walls of the house and noticed that not only does he serve water and juice, but also wine.  This did not come from Sponge Bob!  Glad to know I still matter.

I curiously asked him, “how do you drink wine?”  He went on and began to explain by writing a “How to Book” on how to drink wine.  Just like his 10 item secret recipe for his hot dogs he began to write his 10 steps on how to drink wine.  Once again I re-learned something I knew in a way that makes perfect sense.  Wow, it is that easy!  All this time I am I have done it wrong.  I have wasted money on finding the perfect wine glass.  I have wasted time swirling it and analyzing it.  I have forgotten to say AHHH!  Worst of all, I have forgotten step number 10 way too many times.

Well here it is!  How to drink wine via a 6-year-old.  Simple, straightforward and gratifying.

After 8 months of coming up with a new wine concept every week, I am finally finished.  It is a sad feeling knowing that the work is done.  Will I start it over again?  No way Jose!  There is only 1 Wine-Phabet and it cannot be re-done.   I hope that you have all enjoyed reading it.  Please share with your friends.  You can now see the entire Wine-Phabet on my home page.  The Whimsical Wine Glossary.

THE WINE-PHABET: A WHIMSICAL WINE GLOSSARY