A great example of getaway exploring

We just returned from a weekend in Montana. We used Whitefish as our “base camp” for a great hike in Glacier National Park. This is one of our favorite annual fall “getaways.” The summer crowds have lessened and while you miss out on some of the park services which close around the end of September, it is a beautiful time of year in a spectacular place.

We had not been to Whitefish in a long time, we tend to change up where we stay, we think it has probably been 6 or 7 years since we last stayed in this lovely small town. Like so many places in the Northwest including our own towns in Kootenai County Whitefish has grown. We were thrilled though that a restaurant we discovered on our first trip there was still going strong. Tupelo Grill right in downtown Whitefish has wonderful food, great service and boasts a wine list that not only covers all the bases but leaves you thinking “how did they get that wine here in Northwestern Montana?”

The list at Tupelo Grill is a great example of two parts of the wine industry. It shows the importance of a really good group of distributors supported by smart state laws. I suspect that like Idaho Montana businesses must buy their wine from state licensed distributors. By keeping this part of liquor law on the books it provides a basis for distributors to stay in business. Distributors like they have in Montana and our great ones here in Idaho provide a vital service giving access to wine made by smaller producers all over the globe to small businesses in our communities. Without their work we would be faced with grim choices when shopping for wine. We would be limited to the less than interesting choices we see in grocery and big box stores, the all too familiar group of “animal” labels from Australia and the “under card” names from the huge producers in California. All we need do is look next door to Washington to see the havoc wreaked by proposition 1183. It was all supposed to be great but all it did was restrict access to smaller non Washington wineries, and it has been devastating for small liquor and wine shops. It favors the big box stores that push their private label, poorly constructed wines over those made by winemakers we know by name.

The second great example of what Tupelo Grill and other restaurants like it do is taking full advantage of the distributor network as it exists. We see too many restaurants in all areas including ours who fail to use all of the distributors and all they have to offer. We frequently hear of restaurants contacting a distributor and having them “write” their wine list for them. The result is a list of the same old names that we see all throughout the industry. Similarly, for retailers if you fail to work with all the providers you end up with the same names that are seen everywhere.

As we frequently write we taste a lot of wine. I’m guessing the folks at Tupelo Grill and like-minded restaurants here in North Idaho taste a lot of wine too, from every distributor, every importer and every winemaker that comes calling. It is fun, and it is our job. That is the way you find the cool stuff. That is the way you end up with a list like they have at Tupelo Grill or Bluebird or Fleur de Sel and it is how you serve wine consumers.

Here in North Idaho we have access to 15 different wine distributors and while they each have weaknesses they also each have strengths. Strengths in all segments of the wine business, strengths in one region over another, strength in price points, strengths in breadth of offerings and others with strengths in great focus on a certain part of the wine world. It is only by working with all of them that the aforementioned “cool stuff” ends up on our shelves and shows up on the best examples of well-constructed wine lists at our favorite restaurants.

We were thrilled that Whitefish is thriving and that our friends at Tupelo Grill are still going strong. We had a blast exploring their lovely list and applaud their work at putting it together. For their group of distributors and our own here in North Idaho we express our great appreciation for giving us access to such great wines.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d’Alene Press.

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George Balling is co-owner (with his wife Mary Lancaster) of the dinner party, a wine and table top décor shop located by Costco in Coeur d’Alene. George worked as a judge in many wine competitions, and his articles are published around the country. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. Be sure and check out our weekly blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com/home/blog-2 You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.