Selling Wine in L.A., Volume I

March 4, 2008 at 7:38 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Just a quick post before I hit the road.  After a month of random illnesses that were sucking the life out of half of wine country, I feel great and have hit the road to introduce Iridesse Wines to L.A.  I flew the blessedly fast and easy flight from Sonoma Co. airport to LAX (Yea, Horizon!) and got my car and drove to my first pitch over in Orange.  I had forgotten how insane it is to get around.  My Mapquest and Hertz directions eventually got me there – several different freeways later and a side trip to genuflect at the altar of Mr. Disney. 

I had also forgotten how inane wine sales cattle calls are.  I arrived at the Wine Exchange in Orange and put my name at the bottom of a very long list of wine sales guys who got there before me.  I am glad I had time to wait because this store was great!  Their selection of Bordeaux and Burgundies alone kept me busy for most of the time I was there…and I’m not even really a French wine geek.  I finally got to my turn and I had the pleasure of pouring for Kyle – a really great guy and he liked what we were doing.  I hope to hear from him soon so that the good people who live behind the Orange Curtain can get some Iridesse!

I capped off the day with dinner at El Cholo.  This restaurant is one of the classic establishments in the hamlet legally known as “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula.”  We call it L.A.  I have memories of El Cholo going back as long as I remember.  Since it is March and the gorgeous Green Corn Tamales are served only from May to September, I had another classic dish Sonora-Style Enchilada (layered corn tortillas, savory chicken simmered in a tomato, onion, cilantro broth, & cheese, topped with olives and a fried egg) served at El Cholo since 1923.  While I would have loved this dish with a nice rhone white,  I decided that my roots needed to show more and I had the Gran Tradicional Margarita – Cuervo Tradicional, Herradura Silver, Cointreau and a float of Cuervo Reserva de la Familia!  Yum.

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