Betts and Scholl wines and the Great Richard Betts

Betts and Scholl wines and the Great Richard Betts – Episode #194

March 6, 2007

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Links mentioned in todays episode.

Erik K’s Raise The House.

Vlog Hot Semifinals Heat 1.

WLTV Chicago Party forum link

Gary Vaynerchuk and Richard Betts in one room, this should be good!

131 Responses

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November 1, 2009

John J.
qotd when a wine store does $1 over cost days and I scoop up alot of wine at a fraction of the price.

Gary, how about giving us a vin jaune episode?
October 6, 2009

JMG
Chacun Son Métier….
I went to my car today and there was a package left for me. I opened it up and there were several notes detailing the creepy things I have done over the years. Creepy, creepy and creepy. Frankly, they were all true.

One of the major creepy things I am guilty of is begrudging Betts & Scholl their recent four million dollar windfall.

I don’t know the guys and have nothing against them. People make lots of money for doing truly repulsive things that belittle, hurt or kill innocent people and certainly these guys can’t be accused of any such thing.

What I object to is their pretending to be “winemakers” in Australia, California and Hermitage. C’mon….they are two guys with day jobs, one in Aspen and one in Miami. They are not “winemakers” and they are running on hype, pretense and posture. The crazy thing about America is they are being rewarded, rather than condemned, for their efforts.

We just went through an economic blow-up with people selling derivatives of derivatives of derivatives. All with no real product or value. The economy collapsed.

Isn’t it time to call a halt to such lunacy? Wine is rooted, an agricultural product, which was here before and which will be here after credit derivatives come and go. Wine comes from the earth, not a marketeer’s cynical playbook. The key to all great wines is the vines, not a business plan.

Betts & Scholl got the idea to create a label, plop that label on wines, and say they were the “winemakers.” Betts & Scholl then got lots of great reviews (Betts was already a well-known sommelier and had plenty of contacts) for the winemaking they never did. Their wines got critical praise and the next step was to parlay a virtual winery with no facility, no vines, no nothing into the big sale. They didn’t say there were importing wines or selecting wine, Betts & Scholl were winemakers.

This is not winemaking and it is not a négociant model. In principal a négociant buys grapes, must, juice or makes wines and then blends, bottles and then plops their label.

I import wine. None of the wines say Mis en Bouteille par Joe Dressner à East 4th Street, Dubai-sur-le-Bowery.”

For me, what is beautiful in the wine world is the seemingly lost world of growers who work their fields well, bottle their wines and then go out and sell them. Artisan has become a cynical term because everything is now working on an “artisan” basis. Even Aspen and Miami “winemakers.” But there are real artisans out there all over Europe and even here in America we have the beginning of a movement. Artisans who are in tune with nature, not Powerpoint presentations.

For me, what is cynical about Betts & Scholl is that they always knew they were not “winemakers.” Betts is a well known sommelier and no doubt a talented and charismatic guy. I don’t know anything about Scholl other than he is an art collector, seems to have money and has the same last name as the people who make the foot care products. The Betts who picked wines for Little Nell didn’t pick wines based on gimmicks or hype, but insisted on some honesty in the wines presentation and what was in the bottle. He knew what a “winemaker” is and is not.

I received a note today from a wine lover I respect thanking me for Ariana Occhipinti’s wine. I thanked the person, but noted that it is Ariana who deserves the thanks not me. I’m the importer, she does the work in the vines and the cellar.

I firmly believe “chacun son métier.”

Everyone has their craft, everyone has their place.
March 14, 2009

JoeWhitt
Why didn’t Bett get to ask the QOTD? That is why he didn’t remember it in ep. 641!! Best deal has to be my truck, like new, dealer had to move it and offered it to me for less than my offer!! Oh, I also had a few connections with the sales guy’s boss..shhh
March 11, 2009

A dumb Rhine king
Fun show. Too bad you didn’t win the v-log nerdoff

QOTD: I just got an excellent deal the other day when I got basically 3 bottles of wine free because of a great sale.
August 7, 2008

Harry
What a find. Richard really introduced me to the world of “great” wines, and the idea of following and trusting the heart, and Gary, who has been my encouragement and support years later when I decided to follow through and dive into the wine world with all my passion. Great show, and I have to say Betts & School are wines dear to my heart. I gave my Dad their Chronique Grenache for his birthday, and as a lover of Penfolds and big bombastic Aussie shiraz, he was very very pleased, as was I despite my more old-world tuned palate. Thanks to you both!
February 24, 2008

Brian Johnson
Had never heard of Betts & Scholl before until two weeks ago we had dinner at a French Restuarant and ordered a bottle of the Grenache. Not sure on the year, but I recognized the label. Saw a Black Betty at the wine store in town lat weekend, but opted for a $56 bottle of Barossa Valley Descendant Torbreck 2000 which was origninally marked at $89 on the price tag. Can’t pass up that deal can I? May head back there and pick up the Black Betty since you and Richard both loved it. Mainly because I can rarely find wines in Hawaii that you try on the show so when I see one, I like to get the bottle, watch the episode again and taste at the same time.
QOTD: Best Deal – Finding out about WLTV and having it be free
March 20, 2007

TSchampaert
Yuw, again watching back eps. But this is far better than nothing. Nice ep. heard of the wines over here, but never seen any of them, nor met smby who tasted them. People frown upon wines like this over here; smth like “how can you make wine everywhere anyhow?”. Dunno what to think about that. Will save my comments till I’ve had one.
So, QOTD: best deal. Bought a ring for my girl which cost 1000EUR and only was charged a 100. Smth went wrong at the bank, never heard anything from it though. Lucky hit!
March 12, 2007

Marc Mc
BEST Deal>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Brett Favre…………

GO PACK, GO BUCKY, GO AMERICA
March 10, 2007

GeneV
Great episode and I loved the interaction.

However, what is all this about wine being a grocery, not a luxury, then pricing most of the wines at 70 bones?
March 9, 2007

JayZee
Great episode and guest. Nice new look on the video as well. QOTD: I landed 10 bottles of 1999 Quinault on the Winecommune auction site recently for $24/bottle. Awesome!
March 9, 2007

WINO
Really interesting episode. Seems like a guy I would like to share a bottle of wine with, as long as he was paying for them. Wow, pricey but definitely sounds like something I would give a try. This is what makes WLTV great, introducing us to people and wines that prove that wine is interesting and everything has a story. Keep it up!!!
March 8, 2007

bugbirdfishboy
In 06 I bought a used 2002 Ford Taurus: 40,050 miles, leather, sunroof, pwr seat, remote starter, alloys, etc, etc. for $5,900…Since then and 10k later I haven’t had to put a dime into it other than oil changes.
March 7, 2007

Jeff
Ditto the comment “If ‘wine is a grocery, not a luxery’ why 70 bones a pop. Thatâ€™s pretty expensive groceries.” I might pay that for a special wine but not for my regular groceries.
March 7, 2007

NY Pete
QOD… a few deals from WL but one that sticks out was the 2002 Almaviva I stole from Sam’s in Chicago for $40 a pop
March 7, 2007

NY Pete
A good if not different episode… 70 bucks a pop well…
March 7, 2007

Benji
Hi Gary,

QOTD:

Best deal that I have ever experienced (in relation to wine) was when I worked as a bartender two summers ago at a country club. The bar manager/restaurant director observed my enthusiasm for wine and said that he would give me a great deal on any of the wines in the cellar if I wanted to buy them. Needless to say, I jumped on the offer to buy the 1997 Joseph Phelps Insignia for $60/bottle and the 98′ vintage for the same price. Unfortunately, there were only two bottles of the 97′ left, but surely this is better than any deal you could ever get at a retail wine shop!! (except wine library of course) Great episode.

-Benji
March 7, 2007

gnarlyoak
70 dollars for CA Shiraz too expensive? Not if you are a guhbillionaire who flys your private Jet to Aspen to hang out for the weekend. That is why his buisness model will work. That, and he’s got a selling personality and the knowlege to back it up.

As an aspriring winemaker myself, I’m interested in how he gets this thing to work. Is there a website or somewhere I can go to get more information?

QOTD: Like someone else already said, the best deal I have ever got was my wife.
March 7, 2007

SS Chris
I spend an entire January in Aspen my sophomore year in College with 2 College buddies!! PRETTY AWESOME!!!

Frequented Little Nell’s quite a bit….I think I shared some SHROOMS Mr. Betts.
March 7, 2007

Caren
I was wondering, what is proper bucket protocol for a guest?

“It is what it is…..It’s Cali man!” RB
March 7, 2007

karl satirev
TOTALLY DOOD
March 7, 2007

TheDumbPhase
As has been mentioned, this Betts dude could be Matthew Modine’s twin. Check it out-
http://imdb.com/gallery/granitz/5341/Events/5341/11263692_400.jpg.html?path=pgallery&path_key=Modine,%20Matthew
Good episode, but I hate that these wines are impossible to find.
March 7, 2007

stewart l
Interesting episode. Fun to see a different type of winemaker-the prototype cali dude!
Qod-Won a raffle for a 2 year membership at a local golf club
March 7, 2007

Corrado
Don’t forget to go vote for Gary in his “I want to be the hottest dork in cyberspace” competition.

(link at the top of the page)

You vote once per day (probably per IP address, so vote from as many computers as you can)!
March 7, 2007

flavasauce
Whoa! My Gravatar magically appeared after like a year!!!
March 7, 2007

flavasauce
Gary and Richard were like classic examples of west coast vs east coast guys. Richard is all like ” duuuude voila! and totally!” with his surfer hair and Gary is on steroids and pumped about football.