Any Boston folks know where David Raines went?

Any Boston folks know where David Raines went? I heard he left Gordon's at the end of March.

Tom T.

[David M. Bueker]

I think he is focusing on importing.

As David said..and he hasnt completely severed ties with Gordon's. I still get fairly regular emails with his name at the bottom.

As David said..and he hasnt completely severed ties with Gordon's. I still get fairly regular emails with his name at the bottom.

Well, Gordon's doesn't agree with that. I spoke to them today.

Sounds like DR is focussing on Vineyard Research.

Tom T.


Vineyard Research was launched in 2004 by Raines, who has a dozen years of experience in the retail end of the business. Raines, 53, concentrates mainly on hillside properties in France and Germany, and his approach to choosing the properties he represents is somewhat unconventional.

He starts with winemakers who have already established solid reputations in their own regions. ``We're not looking for modern wines, but we're not looking for old-fashioned wines either," says the entrepreneur. ``Our growers tend to be people who already have a strong local customer base and sell most of their wine directly to the public."

[David M. Bueker]

Vineyard Research was launched in 2004 by Raines, who has a dozen years of experience in the retail end of the business. Raines, 53, concentrates mainly on hillside properties in France and Germany, and his approach to choosing the properties he represents is somewhat unconventional.

He starts with winemakers who have already established solid reputations in their own regions. ``We're not looking for modern wines, but we're not looking for old-fashioned wines either," says the entrepreneur. ``Our growers tend to be people who already have a strong local customer base and sell most of their wine directly to the public."

So Daniel Vollenweider fits in to this philosophy where? Vollenweider was a total newbie in 2000.

Well, Gordon's doesn't agree with that. I spoke to them today.

They dont agree with what?
Here is the latest Gordons email I received (yesterday). Note the signature...


The Gordon’s Daily Flash: Tuesday May 1, 2007 (weekend tastings listed below)

I made a case for the Domaine Castan Côtes du Rhône Villages – Signargues a few weeks ago based on the geology of the Signargues plateau, which is the closest thing to the La Crau section of Châteauneuf du Pape you’re going to find outside of Châteuaneuf itself.

So now how do I explain Castan’s Côte du Rhône?

Castan’s Côte du Rhône isn’t grown on galets roulets. It comes from the north end of the village, where the land descends in a series of natural south-facing terraces (so far so good) with dusty gray clay soils.

It’s a soil (heavy) and exposition (hot) you would expect to yield robust, rustic reds rather than elegant ones, and that’s what it generally does.

But the equation of soil and slope is recalculated every year according to the weather, and the weather in 2005 recalculated the interplay of these particular soils and slopes in a VERY favorable way.

There have been a LOT of very good vintages in the Rhône lately, but unlike happy families (which Tolstoi wrote were all, unlike unhappy ones, alike), happy vintages are as different from each other as unhappy ones are.

2005 didn’t yield merely RIPE wines in the Vaucluse and the Gard. It didn’t yield merely CLEAN ones, or intense ones, or ageworthy ones.

It did ALL of that, in fact, but it also yielded FINE ones, smooth, polished silken wines without the bumps and bites that normally come with the territory.

Now admittedly a Côte du Rhône’s rough edges in a year like 2001 or 2004 can be part of its charms.

But I think we’d all be willing to trade those kinds of charms for the kind you get in 2005.

So here you go. Grenache and Syrah without all the other 11 stumbling blocks to memory. Silken texture. Rich flavors. Great value.

2005 Domaine Castan Côtes du Rhône reg. $11.99 sale $9.59 NET (on hand)

-David Raines

Bill,

I'm not going to argue with you but I spoke to Gordon's today and they said that DR left at the end of March. Who knows.

Tom T.

I'm not going to argue with you

Well, it's one pound for a five minute argument but only 8 pounds for a set of 10.

[David M. Bueker]

I'm not going to argue with you

Well, it's one pound for a five minute argument but only 8 pounds for a set of 10.

I'm sorry but I can only argue with you if you pay.

That wasnt really five minutes just now was it?

Tom,
Gone from Gordon's amiably, focusing on his importing business Vineyard Research and selling the VR wines to restaurants and stores, including Gordon's. His contributions to their continuing "Daily Flash" are part of that.
At least that's my understanding fron speaking with him and with Rick Gordon at the time of David's departure.
Charles