Alan Kerr?s Vintage?s May 28 Release ? Tasting Notes

As another barrage of Californian wines prepares to hit the shelves, the good news is some of them are very good and a couple are exceptional. However, the bad news is they are not cheap. As always, there are several wines to be found that won?t make the wallet wince so please read on. WINES [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/a44L6rWp70U/vintages-may-28-release-%e2%80%93-tasting-notes

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Google Searches and the Good Grape Archive

I recently took a look at the search terms that people search for in Google that lead them to this site.  In doing so, I suppose it’s a good thing that I don’t pay much attention to the back-end reporting on my web site lest I turn this place into a blog focused on wine accessories and Trader Joe wines.

Below are the top seven archived posts on Good Grape from July based on Google search terms.  It also doubles as a good review of some old chestnuts from the archive, a part of the nearly 1300 posts from the last five and a half years.

Land, Brand or Label

This is a popular post from 2009 about the growth of private label wines.

This Month in Wine Advertising

Apparently, searching for, “Wine advertising campaigns” holds some interest for people.  This post from the spring of 2010 analyzes several ads from popular mainstream media.

The Quixotic Kelly Fleming Cabernet

I don’t do a lot of wine reviews, but when I focus on one wine, winery or personality it’s because I’m keen (really keen) on what they’re doing.  Kelly Fleming, a boutique producer, is an example in this interview from 2009.  A number of people search for, “Kelly Fleming wine” every month.

The Wine Wand isn’t Magic, but it is Pretty Cool!

I was as surprised as the next guy that the $300+ Phillip Stein Wine Wand actually worked in blind testing.  Apparently a lot of other people are curious, as well.  “Wine Wand” is a popular search term in this post from 2008.

2011 Wine Books:  Four to Look Forward to Reading

The last several years have been a great period of time for the wine book reader with enough quality reading to fill up a decade’s worth of poolside reading.  Folks searching for “Best wine books 2011” speaks to the abundance of quality reading available to the wine enthusiast.

Trader Joe’s:  Wine Marauder or Consumer Fraud?

“Trader Joe’s wines” seems to always be a hot topic.  Are the private label wines at TJ’s junk or gem?  I express my opinion in this piece from January, 2010.

Wine Accessory Review:  Wine Shield

Home wine preservation is an evergreen topic with perpetual interest.  I found the Wine Shield to be a great accessory for preserving wines at home for five days at a high level of quality.  Other people must be interested in the Wine Shield as well, “Wine Shield review” yields a lot of search queries.

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/google_searches_and_the_good_grape_archive1/

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Inside the Bread: Whole Foods to Open New Location in Wellesley

Whole Foods Market is set to open its new location in Wellesley on Monday - just one day after closing their 5,900 square foot location at 278 Washington St that's been open since 1980. The new store will offer 26,000 square feet of grocery goodness and perhaps more importantly, over 200 parking spaces.

After touring the new location as finishing touches were being applied this week I have a feeling Whole Foods loyalists will be pleased with the new location. And the store will likely attract shoppers who previously shopped primarily at conventional grocery stores. More on this in a moment, but first a little background about Whole Foods.

Bread & Circus

To understand Whole Foods' presence in the region we need to understand the history of the Bread & Circus chain they acquired in 1992. Whole Foods has grown through a combination of acquisition and organic growth - no pun intended - and Bread & Circus was one of their earliest purchases. Although the brand was retired long ago, stores in the region still pay homage to their Bread & Circus heritage. One of the first things I spotted in the new store was this stencil above the produce area:


The first Bread & Circus opened in Brookline in 1975. The Wellesley location opened in 1980 and over the years a total of six Bread & Circus stores operated in the region. They were somewhat similar to green line T stations in that they were situated in little pockets in neighborhoods as friendly little markets.


CEO: John Mackey

To understand Whole Foods you have to understand John Mackey. To understand Mackey you need to read two articles:

From around 2000 to 2005 I was a Whole Foods shareholder. I liked to invest in companies I was impressed with and each time I visited a Whole Foods location I saw long checkout lines and outstanding overall execution. Kind of like Chipotle these days.

Yahoo! Finance message boards were big at that time and I remember being impressed with the postings of  one the forum's consistent contributors, "rahodeb". Rahodeb would bust out compound annual growth rate statistics (CAGR) and familiarity with Whole Foods expansion plans with incredible clarity and accuracy. Here's an example of a typical posting - someone should really compile these into a book. When someone would question whether Wal-Mart's expansion into organics would threaten Whole Foods, Rahodeb would fire back that it was instead Wal-Mart that should be concerned about Whole Foods. Rahodeb would spar just enough with "liberfar" and "hog152" to make you think they were a regular message board nut job meanwhile planting seeds of doubt if you should be so foolish as to short Whole Foods stock.

It turned out Rahodeb was none other than Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. Rahodeb was an anagram for his wife Deborah. Looking back I'm glad Mackey's identity was revealed. I'd developed an inferiority complex over my inability to delve into the details of a company the way Rahodeb did and it actually made me feel better when I learned it was the CEO posting anonymously.

Still a Good Investment?


The chart above shows the performance of Whole Foods Market stock (WFM) over the past 20 years. Their largest acquisition - of Wild Oats in 2007 - came right before a precipitous dip 2009. But the stock has bounced back remarkably well.

Is it a good time to buy Whole Foods stock? I think it depends on their ability to continue growing - both in terms of same store sales and in terms of new locations. When viewed through this lens it becomes clear why they'd move to this new, larger location. How could they possibly eek any more dollars out of the old location? The place was bursting at the seams and had to be constantly restocked.

Competition

When Wellesley-based Roche Bros moved to its snazzy new location across Linden Street, it demonstrated that a modern supermarket could indeed be shoehorned into landlocked Wellesley. I doubt Roche Bros had much direct impact on Whole Foods, but the disparity in spaciousness between the two stores become glaringly obvious. One would have to think Whole Foods real estate management had this in mind when the opportunity to move into the site formerly inhabited by Star Market presented itself.

Star Market's departure was mostly unlamented (the situation with Tian Fu kicked up far more controversy) and by displacing another store there is one less grocery store in town. But I've always felt like Whole Foods main national competitor is Trader Joe's. With locations in Needham and Framingham Trader Joe's would make a lot of people happy by opening in the space Whole Foods will vacate. I've heard rumblings it may be just as likely to become a Panera Bread.

Perhaps the real competitor hasn't arrived yet. Rochester New York-based Wegman's regularly appears near the top of Fortune's Best Places to Work list and is planning to open in Northborough, MA in October with rumors of additional stores in Westwood and Burlington over the next couple years.

I've always felt Whole Foods was uniquely positioned. Yes they have a lot of organic and natural foods but they sell food that's flat out delicious while maintaining standards I haven't seen other grocery stores come near matching. They've always said "It's about Whole Foods, not Holy Foods" (link).

Some might say it's more like "Whole Paycheck" but in my experience if you like the product assortment at Whole Foods their prices are as good or better than other stores.

New Wellesley Store Photo Tour

The main store entrance places you squarely in front of the produce section. It was 5 days before store opening so perishable items hadn't been stocked yet:


Just behind the produce is the seafood section - soon to be stocked with fresh catches from Pigeon Cove.

Behind Seafood is the Butcher Shop. I learned that the unique signage you see in Whole Foods locations are custom made for each location.

The location mixes rough-sawn signage with polished concrete floors. Very cool.

Dry aged steaks make their first appearance at a Whole Foods in Wellesley.

The cheese section is large as a percentage of the square footage of the store. It offers a combination of pre-packaged and hand-cut gourmet cheeses in an alcove similar to one at their Dedham location.

Baked breads are available as well as fresh-made pizzas available by the slice or whole pie to take out.

Coffee - just one part of one tiny aisle in the old location - finally gets respectable treatment:

A special feature near the adjacent little league fields is a take-out counter offering refreshments, gelato and coffee. Taking advantage of the store's adjacent to the ballfield location. Nice.

Here's what the take-out counter will look like from the outside:

Next to the take-out counter is a community room where cooking demonstrations will take place:

Whole Foods are starting to become more like restaurants than grocery stores. The prepared foods section is massive as a percentage of the store. I'm particularly looking forward to the burritos made to order...and the free Wi-Fi.


The salad bar/hot foods section looks to be as large as those found in larger Whole Foods locations.

Will The Old Location be Missed?

I have a feeling we'll look back on the old location much like we do the Bread & Circus brand: With nostalgia. But overall we'll be pleased with the changes. It was sometimes nice to be able to buzz through the tiny store and pick up things in a hurry. But when the store was crowded it was nearly impossible to navigate. Parking was challenging. Feast your eyes on all this beautiful free parking:


Although the new location isn't huge (26,000 square feet compared to around 60,000 at their Dedham location) the aisles are relatively wide. Kiddie carts are set to be available - another Wellesley Whole Foods first:


A small kids play area is near the registers and, I presume, where some tables are soon going to be for shoppers to eat prepared foods.


Conclusion

The opening of the Wellesley Whole Foods Market has been highly anticipated. I think people are really going to like it. If you haven't shopped at Whole Foods in the past I'd encourage you to give it a try. As I toured the store I got the sense I'll enjoy shopping here with my family for years to come. It's a nice space they've created and I'm looking forward to seeing the store with its shelves fully stocked and staffed.

The store is offering a sneak preview this Friday, August 19th, 2011 from 8 am to 6 pm. Click here for more information.

They're also holding a "bread breaking" ceremony at 7:30 am right before their 8:00 am grand opening on Monday August 22nd, 2011. The first 500 shoppers get a reusable Whole Foods shopping bag. More info on their website.

Wellesley doesn't allow wine to be sold at retail. Even if the town did allow it, the state currently allows a maximum three liquor licenses per retailer. Check here for a list of grocery stores in MA that do sell wine. 

Check 'em Out:
Whole Foods Market Wellesley
442 Washington Street
Wellesley, MA
Hours: 7 am - 10 pm daily (except holidays)
@wfmwellesley
On Facebook

Further Reading from Casa Dwyer:
A Fresh Look at Wellesley's Whole Foods Market


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/AL1gfxfRK4o/inside-bread-whole-foods-to-open-new.html

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SIPPED: diary of a wine rep

Just stumbled on this fictitious (or not?!?) diary of a wine sales rep. Some LOLz for you whether you are in the wine trade or a wine geek who has ever wondered what it might be like selling the wines you love. The entry on the Languedoc gets two-and-a-half stars. Er, wait, they have wine [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/cAhE7ElhKvg/

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Summer Hill Country Photos

  About a year ago I started a Facebook group with the same name as my Blog.  I posted a few photos from our summer vacation down in the beautiful Texas Hill Country.  I will be posting more here soon and on my Flickr photo page.  If your on Facebook would love to have you […]

Source: http://thegrapesaroundtexas.com/2011/07/10/summer-hill-country-photos/

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A TCA Mystery

We?ve had a very odd, but interesting experience this week. The telling takes a few turns, but stick with me here, it?ll all makes sense at the end, or will it?? During the course having new water pipes installed in our basement, I had to empty out all the wine that we keep in our [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/u9xrmwarYd4/tca-mystery

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