Miscellaneous wines tried from a wine dispensing machine

[wondersofwine]

I was in Raleigh and Durham over the weekend and stopped in at The Wine Merchant in Raleigh to buy some wine and to taste some wines from their dispensing machine.

2007 Domaine Servin Chablis, France
Pale buttercup color with slight green tone. Aromatic with lime, possibly kiwi. Nice acid balance and nice finish. I liked this.

2002 Chateau Haut Batailley, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Cordovan color. Nose evokes red currant, black currant and berries (boysenberry?) Some unresolved tannin but still very enjoyable. Fruits contribute to the flavor in a restrained way with hints of leather perhaps to come with more maturity. Tried two days in a row. Would have purchased a couple bottles at $32 but they were out of stock on the 2002. The 2003 was priced at $41 and I didn't want to spend that much for a wine I hadn't tasted in an atypical year.

2006 Numanthia Termes, Toro, Spain Tempranillo grape. Dark red to red-brown color. Some transparency. Light on the palate but finishes with a hearty kick. Flavors suggest plum, some prune or raisin. (Bottle description also lists plum.) Tannic finish.

The next day I tried the 2007 Domaine Chapelle Pouilly-Fuisse (Chardonnay grape) France. Pleasant sipper, fine for summer but no real notes on it.

2006 Kilikanoon Killerman's Run, Australia (Shiraz/Grenache blend) I didn't enjoy this as much as the Kilikanoon Medley which I've had--a blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre.

I bought one bottle each of a 2007 Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese, Mosel, Germany, a 2006 Monchhof Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Germany, a Hendry Napa Valley Pinot Noir (Calistoga) and a Lucien Crochet Sancerre Pinot Noir Rose' (Loire Valley). They were out of the Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace Rose'(sparkling wine from Alsace) and the Can Blau Montsant from Spain. I will probably try the 2006 and 2007 German wines soon to get an idea about future purchases. 2006 is said to be a more classical vintage and 2007 a riper vintage with more approachable wines that may not age as long.

[andrawes76]

Would love to see what a wine dispensing machine looks like. I take its a pouring machine? Certainly not a "coke machine"... The pouring machines I tend to stay away from as the exact pour is regulated. I like to see what the server thinks I deserve. A little game I play. BTW nice tasting notes. Would have thought the 03 Batailly would perform better than the 02 since that vintage would have had more concentration of fruit. I'm always on the look out for off vintage Bordeaux that outperform.

[winoweenie]

What'll they think of next? A machine that dispenses wine. Does it give you the option to git the whole bottle? Lordy, Lordy! WW

[hotwine]

If it doesn't give you the whole kaboodle.... what good is it?!

[wondersofwine]

It's good for tasting a variety of wines and perhaps making purchasing decisions. I purchased an expensive (for me) Aalto from Spain after tasting it from a wine dispenser in Charlotte. This was too expensive a wine for the shop to offer in free tastings.
You put money on a plastic card and put it in the machine. Then you purchase "tastes" as I did or a half glass or full glass until the money on the plastic is used up. "Tastes" ranged from about $2.40 to over $5.00. (However, you have to watch the charges closely--at one point the machine showed that I had a dollar less on my card than I should have had according to the prices posted on the machine, so I complained and got one more free taste.) The Raleigh shop owner (I think he's the owner) represents the dispenser company and has placed machines in Atlanta and Connecticut and elsewhere. I believe he said it is $1500 per bottle capacity so that would be $15,000 for a ten-bottle machine. I suggested a restaurant in Fayetteville that might be interested.

http://www.napatechnology.com/

The website even suggests a wine station for the home to preserve wines that have been opened (such as for a party where you are offering several different wines to the guests and then have leftovers.)

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 07-02-2009).]

[andrawes76]

Ive seen one of these at Taste in Austin, TX. Its a substantial investment for a restaurant and really takes away from the customer service experience. Not sure how it would be a wise decision for anyone other than a wine store, taste before you buy thing-a-ma-jig. But again, I am not in the restaurant business. How about a gattlin gun style wine tasting shooter. Sounds way more fun.

[Thomas]

Yeah, I saw one in LA and my first thought was that some poor bartender was out of a job and I had no one to talk to while I sipped my tastes...

There's something about dispensing machines that always makes me feel unloved or unimportant.

And who do you yell at when the wine is TCA tainted???

[andrawes76]

Exactly. First the cork goes to screw, then the bartender gets it too. Coming from the service industry, half the fun is seeing how you get treated. Plus I think service is really the difference (to me) between giving something a 94 to a 99 rating.