QOTD: I’m down with the negociant style. On a Tuesday or Wednesday, I want something in the value category to fill my grapejuice urge. On a Friday or Saturday, I might splurge and get into the Reserves and single-vineyard action. The other days I’m in-between. When you drink eight days a week, you gotta find a budget. I’ll be looking for the Pizza wines. Nice show, good appearance though I’m a little disapointed Gary – you didn’t plug the guy well, who was he?

Gary, I’m an old time Vaniac and I have to say I was VERY disapointed with this show. I really don’t understand why you had this guy on. I mean, you’re all about doing what you’re passionate about and the only thing this guy is passionate about is making money. Funny, but whenever I see labels like this I assume the wine sucks otherwise why would the labels be so gimicky, guess my prejudice is right sometimes.

I’ve never seen you so unenthusiastic and non-interupting of a guest so I’m thinking you felt similarly to me non?

QOTD: I want to drink wine made and sold by people who are passionate about it and want to share that passion.

hahahahahahahahahahahahah…

Once Bitten Arrple 9.99
Pizza Vino Pinot Noir 7.99
Gary’s face when he tried the Riesling… Priceless!!!

Gary, we all love you too, and its funny that after so many episodes I bet most of us can read whats happening.. It is nice to see someone trying to “sell” his wine, but lets be honest, I would say most of us here won’t be running out to try these.. I don’t think these guys need you to sugar coat it though, even bad press is press.. and maybe some young drinkers will try it out and see… For me, I’m sticking with New Jersey!! No Ohio here.

“It’s tasting better than it smells… for sure” Classic..

QOTD: First QOTD that I can’t answer.. Sorry wish I had more here to share

Believe you had to be an American to fully appreciate this shown – not my favourite..sorry

Tough episode, obviously not a usual suspect for the guest thunder seat.

QOTD: I’m all about any wine made from well-farmed fruit and smartly tended to in the winery as long as those growing the fruit, selling the fruit/juice, and “making” the wine believe in the product and have a passion for producing something with a SOUL. Passion of the people behind the project and personality in the wine make for a wine that I am interested in, regardless of whether all of the grapes were grown on a plot of land owned by the same person… but of course I will always have a soft spot for single vineyard wines and those that convey the unique character of that specific place and those specific vines and that particular winery team.

Bobby Bo and Flavasauce: Right on fellas, you hit it on the nose.

As most wine snobs I know, aren’t snobs because of taste, but they are by price. They feel if it’s not expensive, it can’t be good. In these tough economic times, people are rediscovering the value wines. I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy these offerings from JZ and they all provide great quality and taste; especially while enjoying the mid week pizza. Gary grilled him pretty good, but I though Joe represented himself, and his offerings, well.

Gary,

I think this guy represents a portion of the market. But at the same time, I have a hard time believing that in having him on the show you’ve shown an understanding of your own niche in the wine world. I tune in every day. I’m the guy who is sad when there’s not a new episode posted. And this sort of thing just depresses me. Look, this guy exists, and can make wine like this, precisely because he’s parasitic on the world of wine. If the wine world was this guy, it would a lame world to inhabit. The wine world is NOT this guy, but it allows him to produce a product, essentially riding the coat-tails of the part of that world that is a good place to inhabit. As a person, this guy seems honest and straightforward. But sometimes even honest and straightforward guys make bad decisions – despite the fact that in making those bad decisions they manage to make a boat load of money. But aren’t YOU ALWAYS SAYING, “IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY???”

Wow that was uncomfortable, and I’m a Clevelander as well. Lots of shifting in the seat next to you GV. The difference in pace was painfully clear as well – pair a slow and deliberate midwesterner with a high-energy east-coaster, and you have the perfect makings for a train wreck.

QOTD: Just show me the flavor, OK? Negotiant versus Estate doesn’t mean a frickin’ thing to me until you get to the level of Nicolas Joly and all that goes into that. I’d buy an 83-point Joly all day before I’d buy an 89-point anything-else.

Good show. From the comments i’ve read, it seems that the cab PV is very drinkeable. This show, although it is obviously not going to be in the top 10 zanyness, raises some interesting questions.

Do we want to change the wine world by having people trying really unique terroir based wines wich might not appeal to the average Joe who drinks wine just for pleasure and wants it to just taste good with pizza, so he is already drinking very average wine? That’s kinda missing the point as to what this show is all about. Or do we want to bring more people to wine that don’t drink wine at all or very little by having them try decent tasting wines with pizza instead of beer at the same price, wich is boring? And don’t get me wrong i like beer!

I think this is sort of a catch 22 play. I’ll give a very interesting comparison with a totally different product and marketing strategies: We have in Montreal, in the summer time, probably the biggest jazz festival in the world, probably with Montreux, in Switzerland, and maybe Jacksonville, fla. There tons of free jazz concerts outdoors and huge expensive indoor shows with great world renowned artists. People who are hard jazz fans (kinda like the terroir driven, single vineyard wine geeks) don’t approve the shows that aren’t really jazz(ex: Aretha Franklin, Prince) I agree it’s not jazz but if, by any chance, these millions of people who come to the festival from all around the world, happen to see a small jazz quartet that’s really playing jazz and delivering the thunder, that might be their first jazz record that they’ll buy and might be a change in their lives and they will start to listen to a larger palette (or palate) of music. I’m as passionnate about music as i am for wine, and to me, this really sums up this show.

Gary, if you read this on your show, i promise that if you come and visit Montreal during the festival,
i will personally give you a free french class on how to pronounce all these french words on all these great french wines that i love. And this is a beautiful city in the summer time. Heck, you could do a show from the french wine bistro that they set up on the festival’s site.

Merci Gary!

Gotta say, I have been in that side of the industry. I have been in a lot of sides of the wine industry. I am now in the distribution side and have the opportunity to taste top notch wines every day of the week. I respect the guys commitment to having the entrpreneurial spirit. But on the other side, I don’t like how this kind of stuff brings down the rest of the wine industry in America.
I’m sure he’s good at heart, but if you’re represent on the show, you better be bringing the thunder!

“So, I tell them, give me the best Cab you can for X amount…”

“5 cents a case.”

Gary you rock. What’s the over under that this guy will be selling sham-wows next. Two weeks?

Certainly his debut on WLTV was a miscalculation on his part. Did he even watch the show, ever?

Keep up the good work and please put this episode on the Hall of Fame list.

Does five cents a case mean $50 a case wholesale? I’m guessing it does.

I liked this show a lot. Perfect combination of you being straightforward about the wine itself, and not just boosting your guest’s brand (talk-show style), and at the same time helping this guy to give a picture of where he’s coming from and why he makes his particular kind of wine. And if he has done his homework, I’m sure he went into this knowing how low you score a lot of wines that he is competing with.

For those who are wondering why I would dare come on. I have already been contacted by distributors and brokers in a few new markets. Reaching out to Gary, was without a doubt, one of the smartest business decisions that I have made.

As I said during the show, Pizza Vino has been around for more than three years. My total case sales for Pizza Vino will exceed 10,000 cases by years end. That is hardly enough to lump me in with Gallo or Bud light as some people have…but it’s not fly by night material either. When I started Pizza Vino bulk wine prices were very low. There was a wine glut and many of your favorite boutique wineries were walking away from their long term fruit contracts leaving farmers out to dry. When I visited Baywood cellars for the first time, the winemaker/farmer/vineyard owner brought me in his house to meet his family. The first thing his wife said to me was, “I want to thank you for what you have done for my family”.

By Gary’s ratings, the Pizza Cabernet bested most every wine that I consider my competition; Hahn, Hess Select, Sterling Vintner’s Collection,Castle Rock and Rex Goliath. It also outperformed Beringer Napa ($30) and Eden ($30). For the record, Wine Spectator has given the “Best Buy” distinction to 84 point rated $8 wines in the past.

Gary, I thank you once again for the opportunity. I know that you know, that you did me a favor by allowing me to show my market (the silent majority) my products.

Forget about the quality of the wine for a second, I don’t think GV decided to have him as a guest because he was anticipating him bringing the thunder. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think GV thought it was an exceptional marketing idea. What food pictures will we see next as labels? Pasta and meatballs, Chinese takeout container…strawberries on a sparkling..thoughts?

Upon further review…

I guess the negative reactions, Joe, come from people like me that have come to rely on Gary’s show for educational content about wine.

Discussing your demographic driven business that involves wine is not the same as listening to Gary’s take on a certain style of wine, or watching an interview with a vineyard owner.

I admire your business decision to jump into The Thunder Show and I take back the sham-wow comment. If you make wine that helps farmers then I thank you. Farmers rock. If the appearance helps promote your brand then that’s cool and the same people, like me, that jumped the wrong way on the episode were/ are wrong. I apologize for that, too.

Have a great weekend and thank you for posting your thoughts on the episode. I wish more guests did that.

Big Bill

I get the feeling Gary is trying so hard not to hammer these wines. GV you still did good and spoke honestly. Well done. I would have told him they were 88 point wines for fear of insulting him.
QOTD: I am kind of confused by the question. But it was a good episode none the less.

I’ve been watching forever and mostly lurking, but I’m finally commenting. I commend the guest for hustling and for being extremely honest about what his biz is and what it is not. Major props to Gary for bringing him on. You had to know that some hard core wine fans would disapprove. The way I see it, he’s still selling wine that somebody is drinking and enjoying. And some of those folks will become more serious wine drinkers. Have you seen the crap alcoholic beverages being marketed hard to the mass consumer? Hate on the big companies selling the likes of “hard lemonade” not the little guy busting his ass to make a living selling wine.

This was a terrific, thought-provoking episode. On one hand I do give this guy props for his business acumen. On the other… I’ve never liked attempts to simplify and pander (I’m sorry that I can’t come up with a better word) in creative enterprises to make money. But that’s just because I’m an artist myself trying to make money creating the best and most challenging work I can; I find it very hard to respect people who create with the idea of selling it FIRST, and not of what their creation is.

When this guy said he had the label for his apple wine before he even had the actual wine, that really bothered me. He thought a picture of an apple would be good for the label and “luckily” the wine tasted like apples? Are you kidding me?

He kind of reminds me of those mega-star producers who pumped out boy bands using algorithms and demographics, etc. They rake in the dough and that’s their goal. I’m not a fan of this practice.

But I do admire his entrepreneurial spirit and his cajones for appearing on WLTV. It was a gamble that seems to have paid off for him! I can always cheer (even a little bit) for anybody with the guts to work for themselves.

Been busy – late to the party again. This comment section was quite a page turner.

When Joe’s wine was brought to us, late 2005, it was with a distributor whom I’d already had no great love for, and I watched their every move warily. My coleague, on the other hand, loved them, and was always ready to do them any favor asked – a recipe for potential clash. We saw adequate fruit in the Cab, and accepted the Pinot, cause on the coat tails of Sideways, people were drinking piss water if you called it Pinot around that time. All this on the business-oriented premise of how the packaging (pretty picture of a pizza to work on sheepish minds) would work for the public. As a wine lover, I had internal qualms about this BS end of business – but the initial purchase – maybe 8 cases, went quickly. But then again, it was the holiday season, and people were spending. We kept buying a case/week for the cheese dept., or the deli dept., and left it a that. It was accepted as ok, but definately not anywhee near the world of wine I drink, or love. i just happened to work in a place that was large enough to give a little guy like this an even break. I hope he and his friends keep their eyes peeled on market trends, because the quality demands are on the rise per what people will spend. (Ohio unemloyment was just announced at 9.7%.) As much as a better situation, I want blood from those Wall Street AND Banker fucks who got me into this.

Joe it’s NAH-hay. (Nahe)

I don’t understand the QPR statement for wines like this. There is no Q in there- just alcohol and sugar water. QPR relates to how cheap a person can get drunk.

QOTD … life is tooooooooo short to drink bad wine.

QOTD: No. As long as it’s well-made and tasty I’m fine with a negociant wine. I’m more interested in producing practices. If it’s a complete factory it doesn’t matter how the wine is offered.

That was a really great episode. Glad to see the spirit alive.

As for the QotD – This conversation didn’t even scratch the surface of the world of true Wine Negociants vs. Estate Growers, whose European origins are the foundation of a number historical and highly respected names and operations, many of whom have reached a global scale (Mommesin, B&G, Cordier, Moueix, Sichel, Louis Latour, Jadot,Maison Nicolas, etc.). In Champagne alone, the stratification and nomenclature becomes quite complex (see Champagne (wine) at Wiki.
I think Joe’s operation, with it’s proprietary product focused-orientation, would be called more a broker-negociant, serving a far different interest than those historical entities named.
Estate grown wine, also, has all encompassing broadness in the spectrum of offerings, and often, the Mega-corps will exploit the public’s ignorance over such distinctions. A fine wine like Sterling Three-Palms Merlot couldn’t be (proverbially) further from the drek that is the Sterling Collection, but they purposely choose to make the labels similar, which many find disingenious, to say the least.
Responsible and competent families abound, making estate-grown wine, generaly implying that the product in the bottle has been under much greater control as to where, and to what critical demands those grapes were grown (Hahn, Peirano, etc.) (Rex Goliath, before being sold off, was Hahn’s bulk- puchase wine division). Much greater, still, are the small production, craft, and boutique wineries who make ultra – premium wines from their own grapes, to ridiculously high standards of quality (Kamen, Marcassin,etc.)
But all of this cannot answer to the absolute truth of one type of grape source being ‘better’ than the other. Until recently, most all of Manfred Krankl’s Sine Qua Non (multiple 100pt Parker scores) wines were from purchased grapes.(But Oh! – the names of THOSE growers!!!) This kind of fantastic exception notwithstanding, we can safely say that most of the world’s greatest wines clearly come from estate-grown fruit, though negs. can and do produce amounts of good, and even very good wines, with some inconsistency.

I’ll vote for estate-grown.

I’ll vote for Estate- grown.

Thanks Matlock, but I’m not a “fellow.” 😉