wine rants: brooklyn grows a grape

it was just a matter of time before the ubiquitous brooklyn brand of young hip affluence  found  itself onto a  wine label. the guys down on 5th avenue at red, white and bubbly have thrown their always savvy wine prowess behind their first bottles of goodness private-labeled under the 'Brooklyn Wine Co.' brand.

from the the brooklyn paper:

Adam Goldstein and partner Darrin Siegfried, co-owners of the wine store Red, White and Bubbly, at 211 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope, toasted their new Brooklyn Wine Co. by cracking open a few bottles of their “Feliz White” and “Feliz Red” varieties. The May 11 party drew the borough’s glitterati, including District Attorney Charles Hynes.

The borough’s top lawman celebrated the launch of Brooklyn’s first wine label by partaking of a little red, by the way. The wine (admittedly made in California) was crafted from a recipe cooked up by Goldstein and Siegfried, who wanted their wine to be high-quality, yet affordable “everyday” vino. And though it’s bottled in the so-called Golden State, everything else — from the bold flavors to the bridge on the label to artist Ryan Seslow, who drew the logo — is pure Brooklyn.

we haven't grabbed ourselves a bottle of either the red (Feliz Red / Zinfandel 60% Barbera 30% Syrah 10% / $13.95) or white (Feliz White / Verdelho 3% Sauvignon Blanc 66% Colombard 31% /$11.95) yet so we can't vouch for the quality or taste? There also seems to be a meritage in the works (Grand Army Meritage / not for sale yet)

hmm...made with california grapes. I personally would have looked a bit closer for grapes to make a wine representative of the east coast and new york's best borough. How about the north fork or fingerlakes or even bensonhurst?

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Red White and Bubbly
www.redwhiteandbubbly.com
211 5th Avenue / Union St. [map]
Brooklyn,  NY 11217
718-636-WINE

Comments

[Michele]

Ak -- grapes from California (or more likely wine made in California and shipped to NY for bottling) passed off as "Brooklyn" wine. Have they no shame?!?!?! I hear this is a much more common practice than the wine drinking public knows, the wine industry's "dirty little secret." You think you're buying local, but really you're buying CA wine with a local label. Humph!

[jfgjfg]

a byproduct of overplanting in the 'good' years...the juice gotta go somewhere and i'm sure they don't want to ship it to Welch's.

[donc]

Actually, quite the contrary is true. The manufacturer, creator, company and owner are all from Brooklyn. At this point, they're only available in Brooklyn (www.redwhiteandbubbly.com) and they're created uniquely for Brooklyn. This blend (Feliz) doesn't exist anywhere else, so it's signature of Brooklyn. Brooklyn's mayor even proclaimed it as the official wine of Brooklyn.

I don't believe the origin of the materials makes a product less signature for Brooklyn. Consider that the universal symbol of NYC (the Statue of Liberty) was created in France. Does that make it any less about New York?

[Michele]

Good point, but can wine made from grapes grown in CA, from varietals that probably wouldn't ripen in NY, really express Brooklyn's terrior? Not that there is any vineyard land available in Brooklyn. Still, why not make it from NY grapes? Support the Long Island growers?

[Darrin]

Anyone who knows me through my many years as a Sommelier, Education Director of the Sommelier Society of America or as co-owner of Red White & Bubbly knows that there are few bigger supporters of North Fork wines. That I chose to work with Clark Smith to create two delicious yet value driven wines using California grapes does not, and never will, take that away from me. Both Feliz White and Red are made from grapes grown in California, vinified in California and bottled in California. The label on our wine makes that clear. The fact that we are called Brooklyn Wine Company comes from our being a couple of Brooklyn guys who love their borough and are proud to do business here. Nothing more, nothing less.

What we are doing is not something that we created out of thin air. There are more than a few wines that I know of on the market that are created by a negociant working with wine makers in different appellations, all bottled with the name of the negociant's company. Rather than an effort to mislead, this is a way of putting an assurance on the bottle, using the negociant's good name and reputation to stand by the wine.

We actually do have a North Fork wine in the works... along with a Champagne, a Sonoma/Lodi Meritage and a Sake. Our purpose is to work with wine makers whom we respect to create wines that our customers will like, and to bring these wines to our customers a fair price, tasting at least as good as wines that cost more money. If that's something that we should be ashamed of, I truly can't understand why. Whenever someone tells me how much they enjoyed a bottle, I feel pretty proud.

I feel sorry for anyone whose prejudice will get in the way of their enjoyment, and will keep them from trying our wines. Their unwillingness to trust their own palate marks them as the kind of wine drinker that only buys wines that some critic or reviewer gives high scores to.

[Tom]

I used to shop regularly at Red, White and Bubbly and found the staff very friendly and helpful. Recently, though, it seems like every time I try to go into the shop the owner is sitting in the back office smoking a pipe and the smoke spreads out through the entire shop making it feel stinky, dirty, and unsafe. It's hard for me to understand why, with so much competition from other wine shops in Park Slope, they would do something that turns so many customers off and makes us want to shop somewhere else.

[Tom]

I used to shop regularly at Red, White and Bubbly and found the staff very friendly and helpful. Recently, though, it seems like every time I try to go into the shop the owner is sitting in the back office smoking a pipe and the smoke spreads out through the entire shop making it feel stinky, dirty, and unsafe. It's hard for me to understand why, with so much competition from other wine shops in Park Slope, they would do something that turns so many customers off and makes us want to shop somewhere else.