Le Monde Refosco 2014

The best and worst thing about working in wine sales is dealing with the customers. Experience and a bit of psychology have taught me to gauge how people will treat my offer of help when they’re looking for wine, though sometimes they still manage to surprise me (but not often). Possibly my favorite interaction in the last year was a middle-aged guy who was looking for Napa Cabernet and questioned every single thing I told him about the wines I suggested in an almost combative manner. It turned out he’d lost his sense of smell and that’s why he was so adamant about questioning my descriptors on every wine I suggested. It was both intimidating and galvanizing because his questions made me really delve deep into my memories about certain wines so I could give him a more complete idea about the wines I suggested rather than the half-assed BS that I sometimes spout when I can tell people won’t care. I wound up talking him into a 2012 Heitz Napa Valley Cabernet and it turned out to be a new favorite for him. When I next encountered him, he had two bottles of the same wine in his hands and actually apologized for, in his words, being rather unpleasant before (to which I assured him I’d actually really enjoyed talking to him and he’d been my favorite customer in a while).

Anyway, what I’m getting at is that even though I might deal with several unpleasant people in an eight hour shift, all it takes is one awesome interaction to make it all worth it. If I can make just one customer trust that I won’t steer them wrong and buy what they might view as a potentially weird wine that they know nothing about, then my night is made. Lately that “weird” wine has been 2014 Le Monde Refosco from Fruili.

Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso is a red grape indigenous to Northern Italy. The wines it produced were praised by the Roman writer Pliny the Elde and though he never got to try this particular wine, I’m sure it would have lived up to his standards. I’d had bottles with this grape blended with other varietals, like Merlot, but this was the first time I’d tried a wine that was 100% Refosco. It was full-bodied with rich notes of baked raspberry, blackberry and black olives. Bold tannins and a hint of acidity led to medium, yet satisfying finish. It was fun wine for under $20 and one I was glad I’d taken home.