Brandy, Mistelle Offered; Report Analyzes Marketing Opportunities

Germain-Robin Fine Alambic Brandy, the premium California brandy producer based in Ukiah, has released its Lot 5 brandy as well as a new dessert wine, a mistelle.

The Lot 5 brandy has an elegant, rich, faintly nut-like aroma with the accent on fruit. The finish is creamy and elegant. It retails for $28 and compares very favorably with Cognacs that sell for $15 more.

The Mistelle of Cabernet Sauvignon is a grape-like drink that is made by adding brandy to unfermented Cabernet Sauvignon grape juice. The taste is fairly sweet, but the alcohol is modest, only 17%. Price is $13 a half bottle. Only 140 cases were produced.

Also, Germain-Robin has released special barrel lots acquired by retail accounts and made to their specifications. Among the accounts receiving cask lots were the Brentwood Bar and Grill, Wally’s in Westwood, the Duke of Bourbon in Canoga Park, and the St. James Club in West Hollywood.

Innovative Wine Marketing, a Southern California-based retail wine research and consulting company, has released the first of five specialty reports on the restaurant trade.

The reports, entitled “Scorecard Restaurant Survey,” sell for $250. The first report, on the restaurants of La Jolla and north San Diego County, analyzes the wine market by restaurant, including the price posted at each for each wine and has statistical charts to determine what each of the various restaurants is charging for a specific product.

For information on the Scorecard reports, call Dan Wilson at (714) 960-1369.

The American Institute for Wine and Food will stage its first International Wine Auction this Saturday at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Included in the evening will be a Champagne reception, a supper prepared by chefs from some of Los Angeles’ greatest restaurants, a silent auction of 190 lots of wine, and the live auction. Dennis Foley of the San Francisco auction house Butterfield and Butterfield will act as auctioneer.

One of the more prestigious lots to be auctioned is a collection of 51 bottles and six half-bottles of Meritage wine--wines conforming to the new Bordeaux-oriented standard from wineries belonging to the new Meritage Assn.

Admission to the event is $250 per person, and proceeds go to the AIWF.

For details contact the AIWF office at (800) 274-2493 or (415) 255-3000.