For Your Table.

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 Charlotte Boxler reviews vintage notes with her father, October 2022.

A Letter to You, from Jim, the catalogue writer.

  Two and a half years ago, when the pandemic was in full swing, I was sitting in my car on Crocker Ave looking down on to South Quaker. ‘This is stupid,’ I thought to myself. ‘There isn’t even a help wanted sign on the door. I’m not just go walk in there and ask for a job.’ I was about to take a left and speed on down the road but for some reason I was compelled to rebel against my anxiety-fueled gut feeling. I was less than six months out of college and facing the most challenging point of my life square in the face. An aimless 22-year-old with a journalism degree half-heartedly applying to reporter positions and hearing nothing back, I needed some part time work to hold me over until I got a “real job.” My mother had told me about this wine store in town. The owner used to be a lawyer. She was told it’s a good place to work, something at the very least dignified before moving on “to bigger and brighter things.” I knew nothing about wine, and was completely unsure what level of knowledge was required for employment. Nevertheless, I walked in, bought the cheapest thing on the shelf that appeared sophisticated (a 200 ml bottle of St. George Gin for $10.99) and asked the man standing in the middle of the shop floor for a job. A few days later I got a call from an animated sounding manager named Thomas, and in I went for a day of training.

  My obsession with wine started not long after I joined the crew. At first, I simply wanted to do anything other than stocking shelves and sweeping floors so I tried to learn a little about a few wines. I used my sparse knowledge to try and help out whoever was daring enough to let me suggest a Bordeaux for their steak dinner. Before I knew it, I awake at 1 a.m. watching Wine Folly YouTube videos in bed and buying a couple of grab n’ go bottles each week to try to tell the difference between Argentinean and French Malbec, or French and American Pinot Noir. The more I worked, the more I learned, the more at home I felt in the shop, the less “real job” applications I filled out. It all came to a head one day around the end of 2020, Jacob walked up to me and handed me a copy of the Kermit Lynch Wine Catalogue. He wanted to create something and he wanted me to write it. After almost a year of aimless anxiety, I had a little purpose.

  I still remember my first catalogue wine tasting. I stood in the snow, distanced from the rest of the group. We were trying new Bordeaux for the inaugural catalogue six pack, and I was tasked with supplying the tasting notes. I felt like a child that conned his way into the adult’s party. I was still trying to figure out the differences between a Schiava and a Tempranillo yet here I was looking for the minutia in six different wines from pretty much the same place with pretty much the same grape makeup. While everyone else at the meeting, tenured industry professionals, were chatting away, I was in the corner scribbling down notes on a sheet of paper, completely unsure if what I was writing was accurate or made any sense. Luckily for me, we have an excellent group of customers. You all were incredibly receptive to the work I put in, and your interest and excitement about the catalogue motivated me to keep going, it made me feel like I belonged in the wine world. This is, incredibly, the third winter catalogue. In that time my job has grown from stocking shelves, running deliveries and doing the occasional sales pitch to doing wine tastings, teaching classes, buying wine for the store, training new employees, and I’ve been able to turn this catalogue into my own project, and this part time job into my career. I feel like I’ve grown up here at this point, and in many ways I have. But, it’s time for me to move on. Unfortunately, this catalogue will be my last as an employee of The Wise Old Dog.

  Before I go I just wanted to thank you. Everyone who listened to me spout vague half truths about wine before I knew anything. Everyone who told me they enjoyed the wine I recommended to them. Everyone who picked up a catalogue and read my stories about biodynamic farmers or my pleas to get you to drink weird wines you’ve never heard of like Friulano and Teroldego. Everyone who attended a masterclass. Everyone who showed up to Friday tastings. Everyone who drove 50 minutes to visit our new store. You all helped me find a purpose in this weird thing called adult life, you all filled my heart with your friendly and consistent presence, and you all helped me find the light at the end of a pandemic fueled tunnel. You all mean so much to me, and your absence from my daily life will be a tough adjustment.

  After my college experience ended abruptly in March of 2020, on my drive back to Connecticut from Pennsylvania, I remember telling myself I wouldn’t do a single thing to keep me in my hometown. I was going to get through this pandemic and then swiftly find a home elsewhere. Almost three years later, I’m sitting in the very same house where I made that declaration; how wonderfully wrong it was. Thank you. Not a goodbye, but a see you later… -Jim

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Contents.

 ‘STAR BRIGHT’ Domaine Dupasquier, Savoie

 ‘DAILY DELIGHT’ Domaine Florence et Fraincois Bachelier, Chablis

‘FRESH TREASURE’ Domaine Charlotte et Justin Boxler, Alsace

‘THE SIX PACK’ Krueger Selection

‘GULP’ Domaine les Terres Promises, Provence

‘BRAISE’ Domaine Jean-Francois Jacoutin, St. Joseph

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ATTENTION LITCHFIELD COUNTY RESIDENTS: ALL CATALOGUE ITEMS ARE AVAILABLE FOR IN-STORE PURCHASE IN MORRIS. IF YOU'D LIKE TO ORDER ONLINE BELOW, AT CHECKOUT, PLEASE MARK YOUR PURCHASE FOR "CURBSIDE PICKUP" (NOT DELIVERY) AND YOUR ORDER WILL BE READY FOR PICKUP NEXT-DAY IN MORRIS.