Showing posts with label Lombard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lombard. Show all posts

Saturday, October 22, 2016

DOC serves winning casual wine-dine experience

DOC serves winning casual wine-dine experience

Wife Linda often works at Yorktown in Lombard on Friday evenings so we regularly meet there for a casual date night wine and dine encounter at DOC. They regularly feature a selection of wine flights - three different wines of the same style for sharing/comparing. Their menu offers mostly small plates and sides suitable for wine pairing vs an extensive selection of entrees. So it was tonight that we chose the premium Reserve Flight to accompany my selection of sushi grade Ahi Tuna and Linda's pulled pork 'sliders', with a side of our favored polenta fries. All the foods were excellent and the service was attentive, friendly and effective.

The DOC folks actually have nine different locations around Chicagoland, four of those being operated under the DOC brand. 

Note for those so interested, their name is actually D.O.C. and stands for "Denominazione di Origine Controllata" (DOC) ("Controlled Denomination of Origin") which is Italy's equivalent of France's AOC - Appellation  D'Origine Controlee or America's AVA's for American Viticultural Area. The Italian DOC, like the other Appellation designations, are a defined geographic area and its designated production for wines produced from grapes grown in that area and includes specifications for the varieties that can be used, the minimum alcohol content, the maximum yield, and the specifications for aging.

The Reserve wine flight featured three bold expressive concentrated wines at the top of the range of styles from light to big and bold. Two of three of the wines were our favorite and most oft selected wines, Syrah and Cabernet, while the third was a Tempranillo, in which we rarely imbibe.

We've dined there often and tonight's experience rated as the most enjoyable ever. My Ahi tuna was wonderful and the wine flight scored highest over our previous encounters, even with one gaining lower marks. Lastly, during the summer months we will dine outside and always before we dined in the main dining room which tends to be dark. Tonight we dined in their 'Tasting Room' adjacent to the main dining room, behind the bar. This casual setting with the large fireplace and couches, and our table adjacent the large windows was most comfortable and pleasant.

The American centric wine selection is extensive with the actual wine list spanning ten pages - more than twenty each of American Pinot Noirs, California Chardonnays and Cabernets including popular and favored selections Robert Craig, Caymus, Silver Oak, David Arthur Elevation, Keenan, Cakebread, Darioush and Lakoya. They also offer half bottles and an extensive selection of wines BTG - by the glass. The wine prices tend to be a bit expensive, slightly more than 2x retail for bottle selections, and by the glass, and the Wine Flights are too, based on the amount of wine served for the price point. These are price points of elegant fine dining restaurants and one would hope to find more value in a casual bistro wine bar. Never-the-less, it does allow a broad selection of choices, BTG, and a series of wine flights, three different wines for about the cost of one and a half glasses, so its a good choice if one's objective is a tasting experience over a single glass of wine.

Tonight's flight -

For precision and the record, note that since we were pressed for time, I didn't inspect the labels of these featured selections and I know the producer's offer several labels of each of these wines. I did search for the bottles in their display case but didn't see any of these that we selected.

Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

While not a 'premium' label based on the plethora and range of high end Napa cabs these day, the Montelena Napa selection is certainly a legendary highest quality label for the category. Most notably, its rare to find such a quality offering BTG - by the glass, except in the most serious or high end wine bars or wine oriented restaurants. Note there are two different Montelena Napa labels, one 'Estate' and one designated 'Calistoga'. I admit I didn't ask to see the label so I am not certain which one this was but I suspect it is the 'non-estate' label. (The term 'Estate' means that all the grapes in the product were sourced from the producer's property. The lack of the term, allows for grapes purchased from other growers to be included.)

Blend: 85.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 0.5% Petit Verdot.

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, smooth and polished so approachable and ready to drink now for enjoyable casual sipping, almost sophisticated and complex enough for serious dining, black cherry and dark plum fruits with tones of smoke, tobacco, licorice and hint of cedar.


RM 89 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2197970

Basel Cellars Walla Walla Valley Syrah 2013

Once again I didn't ask to see the label (which I normally do) so I am attributing my notes to their estate label. While their winelist and flight card specify Walla Walla, Oregon, I believe this is in error and they mean Walla Walla Valley in Washington. 

Garnet colored, medium bodied, blackberry fruits with tones of leather and cured meat, hints of pepper, smoke, earth and floral.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2166361

Martinez Bujanda Viña Bujanda Crianza Rioja, Spain

Once again, since we were pressed for time, I didn't inspect the label of this feature and I know they offer several labels of this varietal.

Garnet colored, medium bodied, more modest less expressive blackberry fruits with a layer of tobacco, smoke, tar and hints of clove spice.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2494741

http://www.docwinebarchicago.com/lombard/




Friday, August 1, 2014

Orin Swift Red Wine Flight - Unique Labeling - Imaginative Wines

Orin Swift Red Wine Flight - Unique Labeling - Imaginative Wines - A Lesson in Wine Marketing and Branding

For a another casual Friday night wine and cheese plate tasting, we sampled a flight of Orin Swift Napa Reds.  After our Orin Swift Abstract Red Wine Blend tasting last week, DOC in Yorktown Lombard offered a Orin Swift Red special flight. Once again we had the Butcher's Plate with a pairing of cheeses - aged cheddar and Old Amsterdam, with pate and cured salmon. While his wines tend to carry his innumerable style of bold expressive somewhat eclectic blends, his branding is confusing and disjointed.


As a student and practitioner in marketing, and a wine geek, I'm regularly studying and commenting on wine marketing. After tasting and writing about Orin Swift wines twice last week, it was natural to try this special offer flight. I had no knowledge of the three label names on offer - Orin Swift 'Saldo', 'Machete' Blend and 'Palermo' Napa Valley Red Blend wines. As an avid wine collector, writer and taster, I thought I knew something about Orin Swift wines. While I had no knowledge of any of these labels. after tasting, I asked the server to pull the bottles so I could see their labels and packaging. Only then did I realize I recognized and had seen all the labels, but I never associated them with or knew them to be Orin Swift offerings. Such the essence of a failure in typical or classic branding - or is it unique madness or genius in branding?

Last week, when I wrote about Abstract, I also wrote about a tasting where I took two Orin Swift wines, the 'Prisoner' and 'Papilllon'. While I have seen these three labels before, and recognize these labels, not until tonight's tasting experience did I associate all these labels with being from the same producer, let alone associate them with these other rather well known ones. If I fail to make this connection, with all the attention I pay to wines, a casual or typical consumer is lost on the brand. To complicate or confuse matters further, the Prisoner brand, which has taken on a loyal almost cultish following has been sold and is no longer an Orin Swift offering.

Indeed, on my Rick's WineSite(TM), I have a Wine Label Library that features photos of thousands of wine labels from my collection, tastings and encounters. On the library page, I feature a section on Art & Artist Series Wine Labels and another section on Notable Wine Labels. The former are chosen for their distinctive style and branding affinity. The latter are chose for their notable and memorable branding - both good and bad or certainly uniquely different.

Some of the artist wine label libraries are classics such as perhaps the two most notable, Chateau Mouton Rothschild with its annual label featuring original art from a famous artist, and Marilyn Merlot Series featuring the famous Hollywood starlet.

Orin Swift Palermo Label
Notably, I have featured Orin Swift Palermo (shown left) on the second page as an example of a 'bad' label idea. Yea, tonight when I ordered the wine flight and tasted the wine, I did not associate it with that label until the server presented the bottles afterwards upon my request.

It doesn't help that there is another producer with a similar name with the same penchant for weird, sometimes outrageous wine labels. I now realize I often confuse those wines of Orin Swift with those of Owen Roe!  Such is the ultimate in poor or unique branding.

On my 'bad' wine label page, I show the Orin Swift Palermo label and Owen Roe's 'Sinister Hand'. You need to read the back label on that bottle for the story that explains the ghoulish name. I write on my page, "Another instance of 'what were they thinking?' Easy to confuse Orin Swift (Napa) and Owen Roe (Columbia) (above) - same dark perspective or approach ... Many of the Orin Swift labels have an eery sense about them .. http://www.orinswift.com/."

In the end, its all in the eye of the beholder. You be the judge. In the same way, that wine is just grape juice, the labels are mere marketing and promotion of the bottle and brand. Like the case where bad publicity is better than no publicity, perhaps memorable bad wine labels are better than unmemorable labels. After tasting Orin Swift Palermo, I wanted to see the label. After seeing the label, I am not sure I'd be drawn to taste the wine!

Talk about branding confusion, not until after I write my piece above, do I read the Orin Swift Machete website when I pull down the link below, that says, "**Bottled with 12 Different Labels, you may not receive the one pictured**." It links to a pdf with pictures of twelve labels of various poses of a scantily clad woman and a vintage old Cadillac, brandishing a machete in various poses, plus one totally different label of alpha graphics. See a portfolio of a selection of these labels below. Perhaps there is genius in this label madness if the collection of Machete labels become collectables in their own right. In any event, there is uniqueness and fun, if not weirdness in the selection of shots from the photo shoot. Perhaps it is working since I'm writing about it here, and featuring his selection of labels below, and you are reading about it.



The Wines ...

Orin Swift Palermo Red Wine Blend 2012

A Bordeaux blend of predominant Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. Dark inky purple colored, medium bodied, nicely balanced, moderately complex vibrant expressive black berry, black and sweet red currant fruits, sweet tobacco, hints of vanilla, cedar, oak and touch of cocoa, with a medium firm tannin lingering finish. Bright vibrant fruits almost taste like a Shiraz on the front.

RM 91 points.

 https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1765854

http://www.orinswift.com/2012Palermo

Orin Swift Machete Red Wine Blend 2012

A blend of Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Grenache. I think its the Grenache that takes on the slightly metallic minerality that detracts from the fruit. Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, complex forward slightly disjointed competing flavors of ripe blackberries, black raspberries, toasty oak, dark mocha tones with hint of expresso on a moderate tannin finish. 

RM 89 points.

http://www.orinswift.com/2012Machete



Orin Swift Saldo Zinfandel  Red Wine 2012

Bright garnet colored, medium bodied, rather simple narrow focused flavorful sweet dark berry ripe plum and cola flavor with tones of mocha, vanilla and spice.


RM 88 points.

A blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, and Petite Sirah.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1754889

http://www.orinswift.com/2010Saldo

http://www.docwinebarchicago.com/lombard/

Another examples of Orin Swift unique labeling is their premium label Mercury Head which features an actual American Mercury Head dime coin affixed to the bottle.


Orin Swift Veladora Sauvignon Blanc 2013


Orin Swift Machete Label Library