Why we try
Since we started out we have always viewed our wine offerings as opportunities. Whether it be the collection in general, our wine club, our weekly wine special called the “Friday Night Flights,” our monthly winemaker dinners and tastings or just selections we pick, we look at them as a chance to have customers try new things. We like to introduce all of you not necessarily to things only we find pleasing, but to find a bottle of wine that expands your wine journey while meeting your expectations for what you like to drink. When we get it right, which we like to think we do more often than not, it is very rewarding.
This past week I received this email from one of our customers, Bob.
“Can’t believe it. I was sitting in the yard and thought 87 degrees felt nice and was drinking WHITE wine. (Actually, Pink Belly). Could it be that I have actually, after 13 years, turned into a real Idaho guy? So, thinking that pink was good, could white be even better? Opened the Huston Chard from the wine club some time back and ‘POW!’ Idaho white that was crisp, refreshing, fruity and tasted like real wine. (I did not mix it with any soda.) So, could you check and see if there are any mule trains coming up here from Garden City and have them throw four more bottles of the Huston Chard on the back of the wagon and I will pick ‘em up?” — Idaho Bob
Wow! How is that for an affirmation of what our mission is here at the dinner party? I would have put the chances at highly unlikely that our good friend Bob would have liked any Chardonnay. The Huston wines are lovely and we continue to carry wine from them in the shop. I would say that Bob is about a 90 percent red wine consumer, with only 10 percent falling into white or rose, and I don’t believe he has ever bought any other Chardonnay from us. As I said though, this is our goal with our wine club- to be introducers. Does every bottle resonate like this with every club member? Of course not. I would say that the vast majority have found new favorites over their time in the club.
It just happens too that we have had a string of modest success in this realm. We recently were asked to pour wine at a local retail shop for an event they were hosting. With the weather being warm and the sun shining we decided to pour Bonny Doon Grenache and Skylark Pinot Blanc. Grenache is a lighter bodied red perfect with food from the grill. The best Pinot Blancs are unoaked with lovely acid and citrus flavors perfect in the warmer weather. The lion’s share of those who attended had never had either varietal. Both were hits resulting in some orders for both bottlings! We couldn’t have been more pleased.
As our area continues to add residents, rapidly it seems, many of them are wine drinkers and need to find a local supplier. We recently received a request to help a new summer resident get some wine for his cellar. He entertains much and while not a big wine drinker, many of his friends and family are wine enthusiasts. He requested a wide selection of different and more unusual things than the typical. We delivered the wine to his new home prior to his arrival. Just last week we received a lovely phone call thanking us for our choices and asking to reload many of them.
This is why we try so many wines and why we would like you to try some new ones too. Not every one will thrill you, and we will never try to talk you out of your favorite varietals or producers. Those are the ones you go to like a comfortable pair of jeans and should remain so. If you find a few here and there though, it will expand your wine journey, and for every wine consumer, that is pleasing. For our part it is what we do and love to do.
If there is a topic you would like to read about or 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 gift shop in Coeur d’Alene by Costco. The dinner party has won the award for best wine shop in North Idaho twice, including for 2018. George is also published in several other publications around the country. After working in wineries in California and judging many wine competitions, he moved to Coeur d’Alene with Mary more than 10 years ago to open the shop. You can also follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.