The Saturday morning didn’t particularly have the feel of a blockbuster day.
The morning of Rosé Fest XII, people were driving a bit more leisurely, slower than usual, which usually predicts a lackluster day at the cash register. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for our annual June 9 event.
On a day that began with our typical southern California June Gloom, just as the sun broke through around 1:15, people began flooding into our compact tasting room—59 by 1:30, then 69, soon to 85 and finally topping out at 115. On our tasting table were 12 thrilling rosés (about ¼ of our total offering this year), and the buzz in the room which began rather quietly, suddenly turned into the din of a great party.
Total rosé sales for the day exceeded 34 cases—410 bottles—which most wine stores our size won’t come close to selling in a year. We’ve written often about the reasons for this unique success, our southern California climate, the earlier time change in March and most important, the tie-in to Mediterranean ingredients like olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs in today's cooking. Our rosé revolution is a food and wine revolution, one that a 100 point scale completely overlooks, and one The Wine Country has understood since our inception nearly 17 years ago.
As usual, at Rosé Fest XII we offered Dale’s roast leg of lamb, roasted potatoes and baby carrots with her home-made aioli, which all together added the Provençal touch that made the crisp pink wines pop—the south of France rosés in particular. Jack Bryans told me, “I thought Dale’s aïoli was a little tamer this year until I sipped a rosé afterward. Wow! The garlic exploded!”
Rosé Fest Best Sellers
In addition to the seven French rosés we offered (including one rare Sancerre rosé), there were rosés from Italy, California, Washington State and Oregon served.
Every one of the rosés we offered found people who loved them enough to buy them. But they were not all the rosé we sold that day. Three wines we didn’t pour sold out, and due to their pre-offer status, I’m not sure we can get them back in the store this year. Don’t fret. We have 49 more to choose from as of today, not including our tasty sparkling wine rosés and classic Champagne rosés.
These rosés became top sellers at Rosé Fest XII because they showed so well that day:
1. 2011 Domaine Dupuy de Lome Bandol rosé $21.99
2. 2011 Domaine de Malavieille Charmille Vin de Pays d’Oc rosé $13.99
3. 2011 Domaine de Fonsainte Corbieres rosé $11.99
3. 2011 Clos Marie Pic Saint Loup rosé $17.99
5. 2011 Domaine de Dragon Côtes de Provence rosé $15.99
1 comment:
Randy,
I just had a feeling the turnout was going to big. I even looked at Ronnie about 15 minutes before the event and said, "You know that calm before the storm phrase? That's what this feels like". It was so freaking still in there, even the phones were silent...then the other shoe dropped. I do think it went fairly smoothly though, considering the mass of people, so many of them at one time and I was once again floored by just how cool and up for a good time our customers are. There was very little grumbling, even with so many bodies packed in there or when the last swipe of garlic-rich homemade mayo was wiped from the bowl. Everyone seemed into it and really there to get an idea what Roses were going to flip their switch. Was a blast!
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