Quartino:

The name of a fabulous restaurant in Chicago!  Also named after a small decanter that holds a quarter liter (hence the name) of wine.  That is equal to 1/3 of a 750 ml. bottle or …a glass and a half.

Why  Quartinos?

Let's start with the customer coming into the wine bar or restaurant.  There are a few scenarios that make the quartino a viable option:

What if you are craving a little peace from the work day with a glass (or a little more) of wine and some alone time to unwind and relax.  Like me, you don't need to have a companion, you are completely content entering a restaurant or wine bar alone and finding your own little space to relax and breathe.  You know you would definitely like a glass of wine and maybe a bit more….2 glasses might be too much.  A quartino is perfectly satisfying because it comes with a glass part full and a quartino for you to finish off at your own pace.

If you are two and you want to try a couple different wines; say a white with the appetizer and a red with dinner; the Quartino is the perfect option once again. 3/4 of a glass of each wine,  and you got to try two different wines for much less than it would cost to have a glass of each per person.  That would be 4 glasses or the equivalent to a bottle and probably a little to much to drink.

Option #3:  You would like to try a fabulous wine that is only offered by the bottle.  Whether you are just one or two people, a whole bottle is  a little much plus  it may seem like an expensive experiment if you don't already know the wine.  Some restaurants will either feature special wines by the quartino or offer any bottle by the quartino because they know they can move it.

Option #4: A party of 4 people or more makes it difficult to agree on one wine, and most likely they are looking at bottle prices and entertaining the idea of spending quite a bit on one wine.  You could get three or four bottles of wine poured as a quartino if the restaurant has all bottles by the quartino.  If not, each person could get a quartino and then a bottle or two to follow.  That way, everyone is happy with the wine decisions and it is still a great value.

RESTAURANTS:

I have talked about the benefits of quartinos for the customer, which also helps the restaurateur but would like to really focus on the benefits for the restaurants now.  You can definately see your options and potential with quartinos now that you see the different ways it can benefit your customer.

But really?  What about you and your bottom line?  In San Francisco, I have introduced the quartino  to a few different restaurants who have been using this program for about a year now.  Ottimista was my very first convert.  There wasn't much conversion to be done, they saw the opportunities in front of them immediately.  Ottimista had just changed wine directors and were revamping the list.  They had a lot of wine in the range of $44 /bottle retail  they needed to move through.  This is not wine by the glass!    They really needed to move through this wine because of storage restrictions. Quartinos are the perfect answer. 

A wine by the glass is between $8-$12 for most places.  If you have some wines that you want to move through  that are slightly over that price point, the quartino is perfect!

Pricing:

The recommended pricing for a Quartino is 1/3 the bottle price plus $1.00.  For Example, if a Barbaresco  is $45/bottle, the quartino price would be $16 ($15+$1).  A great deal!  Trying a $45/bottle for only $16.  A great way to promote a new wine on the list by featuring it by the Quartino.  Also, if you have a new vintage coming in or a new wine to replace another, it's a great tool to move out some inventory.

On the other hand, you could also have a set list of wines by the Quartino just as you have a set list by the glass.  Be creative and have fun!

Other restaurants in San Francisco using Quartinos are A16 and BarBambino.

Visiting NYC?  Check out another Quartino fan, Babbo.

While researching SEO for my own WineBoo-K, I stumbled upon a European designed board game called "Bouquet-The Wine Game", a game designed to have a great time with your friends and provide you a substantial amount of knowledge about wine. Whether you are an amateur or a connoisseur, the game is  ingeniously designed so the two can play against each other on equal terms-"you will be amazed when you see how that is achieved!"

THE STORY

When studying to be a certified sommelier at the Restaurant Academy in Stockholm, Sweden in 1994, Britt-Marie Backe invented the Bouquet  to find a better way to master  all she needed in order to get her certificate and  to have more fun doing it.

"My techniques of studying have never been very brilliant, and this led to that I had to construct small tests on every subject for myself.  I am sure I made up more than 100 questions on every single district we covered."

AN IDEA POPS UP:

"It was during this period; the idea of a wine game came to me.  There must be a way to learn all these facts in an easier and more fun way, instead of having to read all these indigestible books.  In 1996, I finally took the decision to pursue my idea.  I resigned from my position as director of marketing at the Grythyttans Gastgivaregard,-a beautiful inn in the south-central part of Sweden, and started working actively with the game."

The game pieces are hand painted wine corks which Britt hand painted herself to start and then found another (secret, undisclosed) technique for painting the corks.  She has painted over 62,000 corks herself.  That is only the beginning of what she did herself to get the game rolling. 

"When constructing games, one might think ordering game boards, dice,playing cards and boxes is as simple as booking a round trip tour. However, that was not the case for me." When ready to present her game to the press at her first press release, she had a big surprise and a lot of work ahead of her with only two days to spare." It all came from different places and loaded on pallets in a complete mess.  The 1,100 game boards came flat, meaning she had to fold each and every one of them herself.  The question cards came unsorted on 22 pallets with 49 stacks of cards on each pallet.  Again, having to sort all of them herself.  The storage of her 1,000 games was in her and her fiances apartment, where her career of sorting and folding over 4,500 games began until she finally found a company in Estonia who would  print, assort,fold, pack and deliver the final product for half the cost.  She received shipment of 1,000 to 2,000 games at a time (each weighing 5 lbs.) and carried each of them  up to her apartment.

Her passion for this board game and the business became almost obsessive, even choosing it over her boyfriend who was fed up.

The press showing went very well and she had major coverage in many newspapers.

It turned out so well, she decided to commercialize it in Scandinavia as wine was rapidly becoming more popular there.  It didn't take Britt long to produce and sell more than 10,000 games of her own design.  Since  2004 she has adapted the game to fit the American market and brought it to the United States where her Bouquet is trademarked and very successful.  You will find Bouquet-The Wine Game in online wine clubs, bookstores, wine shops, magazines, amazon and beyond.  San Francisco, Oregon and Washington were here first markets in the United States.

Bouquet-The Wine Game can be viewed and purchased through the website retailing for just under $45.  You can also get an online sample by trying a hand of Bouquet or have a question sent to your email on a daily basis.

Check it out:  www.bouquetthewinegame.com

Today my boyfriend and I met at Piccino for lunch.  It was such a beautiful day, we wanted to sit outside and have a light meal.  He ordered the Moroccan soup and I ordered the artichoke salad with potatoes. We opted to share a pizza (their gourmet pizzas are fabulous and orginal).  We ate our soup and salad and then the pizza came, looking fabulously delicious!  I believe it was one of the owners serving us and she apologized for the burnt pizza and said it was not up to their standards. She went on to say there was another one in the oven for us and it was "on the house".  She gave us the option of eating or not eating the first pizza, but having the second pizza to either wait for and eat or to take home.  Fabulous customer service!  We were hungry and the pizza didn't look burnt to us.  We ate the whole thing and when the second one came, we thought we would just eat a piece each and then take it home.  We ended up eating the whole of the second pizza as well!

My point, besides being a piggy?  Great customer service and pride in what they set out to do.  Piccino takes great pride in their product and their delivery.  They take pride in customer satisfaction.  They don't take a risk of someone complaining.  They take preventative measures themselves, when they feel they have not lived up to their own expectations and business model.

Even though we would've been satisfied with our initial pizza,  it was great to see the pride and quality taken in their own expectations of themselves.  It was such a great feeling to have such great customer service and pride.  We knew from that moment that whenever we come to Piccino, we will get the best possible service and quality of food.

Piccino is located in the Dog Patch area.  Great wine, coffee, pizza, atmosphere and culture!  A place for locals to meet.

Upon reading the previous post about Sfuso style wine, you must have had a glimmer of an idea of how much glass the sfuso style saves,whether it be economically or environmentally,  the ramifications of both are tremendous. 

The next thought , however would have been trying to imagine Americans making this adjustment and the time commitment to do so…. Yeah right!  Imagine packing your huge glass demijohns in your car, driving to your favorite winery in Napa or Sonoma, filling up your demijohns and driving back home to then spend another 3 hours transferring the wine to your used wine bottles and recorking them for your cellar to last possibly another 3 months.  This idea just doesn't go with our constant need for efficiency and convenience.

A romantic idea and something to experience the next time you go to Italy, but in our real day to day life,we would rather spend more on gas, glass, packaging and shipping so we can conveniently pick it up at our favorite retailer, or better yet, order online and have it delivered to us….

Modern day Sfuso:  BIB (Bag In Box)

You think you know boxed wine….you have seen it before, back in the 80's with really cheap wine.  Get that out of your mind!  This is new and innovative and "not even close"  to what you are thinking! 

Most of what I am about to tell you comes from information on  a website I just discovered:  www.betterwinesbetterworld.com.   Please check them out yourself after getting an overview from me.

BIB produces less than half the carbon footprint of  glass packages as they require far less energy to produce and transport.  In the US alone, this could save 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year.  An equivalent of a quarter million cars off the road.  SUBSTANTIAL!

85% less packaging waste than glass bottles, illuminating heavy glass, capsules, neck bands, corks, front and back labels and the cardboard used for shipping.

What else?

~No more corked bottles!

~$5 billion saved in shipping because of the weight of glass alone!

Let's talk about the wine: 

This is as important as many of the other issues because if the wine is compromised, BIB is not even an option for many of us (consumers as well as producers).

~BIB preserves the wine flavor and freshness like no bottle can begin to do!

~Vacuum Sealed Bags: for at least 6 weeks the wine can remain fresh because as you   pour the wine, the bag collapses on itself without allowing air in. 

~Specially designed Spigot:  prevents air from contact with wine until the wine is poured.

OK, I have given you my two cents on modern day sfuso style and some great reasons why it works for the wine, the consumer, producer, the environment and economy.  Please take a look at www.betterwinesbetterworld.com for more info. as well as fantastic videos showing the product and how it is so great.

It takes a lot of courage to step out with a product and marketing plan that challenges a system that has been in place for years.  More importantly, it challenges our belief systems and our openness to support something that goes against the grain, but supports a revolution of our environment and our economy.  It is time to look at changing the face of America and the way we do things.  It is manifesting in politics, economics, the way we consume and the way we enjoy wine.

Sfuso: Loose Wine

Sfuso was and is still a popular way for Italian,  (particularly Tuscany)  families to restock their wine supply without using bottles. 

Many Italians don't drink bottled wine on an everyday basis; either they make their own, they know someone who does, or they buy sfuso.  Many vineyards produce a house wine for themselves, their friends and local customers.    In preparation, they wash out their enormous glass demijohn and/or stainless steel container with a red spigot (an innovation that threatens to replace the traditional demijohns).

To Protect wine from air after the demijohn is filled, they pour a splash of olive oil on top, forming a seal. them jam in the fist-sized cork.

On the newer stainless steel container, there is a flat lid that floats on top of the wine.  A drizzle of oil is poured around the tiny space between the lid and the side of the canister.  A second tight lid then goes on top. As you open the spigot at the bottom and pour your wine into a pitcher, the lid and sealing oil lower, keeping the seal intact.

The demijohns are stored in a cool room, called a cantina.  They uncork them, hoist them on a table and tip it, filling old wine bottles through a funnel and sealed with olive oil. 

Not only is it a romantic tradition but also, from an Americanized perspective, a fabulous way to cut costs on mass producing bottles, labels, corks; cost of resellers, packaging, shipping etc!  It is obviously time consuming and involves some work.  Something Italians were never concerned with (time and effort). 

If you have an opportunity to visit Italy and experience staying with a family who gets their wine sfuso, I highly recommend it.  A fun and endearing experience, similar to going to the farmers market for all your food.

The Tre Bicchieri event presents many fabulous Italian Wines that are runner up for the greatest wine award possible in Italy.  The event in San Francisco, held at Fort Mason on March 5th was a spectacular event!  The Best of the Best producers along with the industries greatest wine critics, sommeliers and restauranteurs to give their input.  This event is only open to the press and trade. 

Some restauranteurs would argue that the responsibility of educating the consumer on Italian wines falls solely on them.  Some believe the event should be open to the public as a tool to educate and excite the consumers in the bay area.  I think this is a valid argument.  If the consumers could come to this event and learn for themselves by meeting the producers and tasting the best wines of Italy in one forum, it may contribute to the education and sales of these Italian greats. 

There is definitely a market for Italian wines in northern California, but education is crucial, especially since the wines of California are drastically different from the Italian wines.  The California pallet is conditioned to the California wine making process which makes it difficult to appreciate the differences between Italy and California without understanding why those differences occur.

We must learn to appreciate each other's wines for what they represent rather than comparing them to each other.  They are truly two different animals for historical reasons.  Appreciation without  judgement is the goal.  Wine is diverse as the American population.

 There are factors of the grape, the landscape and climate and well as the culture.  For example, the greatest cultural difference between the United States and Europe is the way wine is consumed.  In the United States, we drink wine by itself without food.  In Europe, they make and drink wine to go with food.  They wouldn't think of opening a wine bar so consumers could come have a glass of wine after work without food. 

How does this make for different tasting wines?  California makes its wines much heavier with fruit and oak.  It tastes great all by itself when made correctly.  Europe makes its wines much lighter without a lot of oak.  Their goal is to present to the consumer a reflection of the land and climate it grows in, therefore making it compatible with the food grown in that area.  To drink the wine by itself is not always the most pleasant experience.  To drink it with compatible food is an amazing dining experience!! 

I would love to hear the Bay area feedback about making the Tre Bicchieri open to the public…what do you think?

 Favorite whites, reds, sparkling and why? What stood out?

 The obvious cons:

 ~the public is not familiar with the idea of tasting/spitting

  Why not? Every other major wine event opens it up to the public….

 What do you think?

 JJC