Learning to Hate West Ridge Road Liquor

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rochester-NY/West-Ridge-Liquor/106039763651

I have always bought my wine from West Ridge Liquor- I was crushed when Century closed up shop and swore not to bring my business to them. When West Ridge Liquor opened up (it was written up in the D&C) I was excited. The first couple of weeks it was open I dropped several hundred dollars there- replenishing the supplies- but also to let them know they were welcome back in the community.

That's changed. They've changed- and not for the better.

The last few times I've been in there the staff is as helpful as ... well, I can't really describe it properly. Let's relate an incident- I was looking for a wine "Casa", Cab Sauv, which I had bought a week earlier. It wasn't anywhere near the Cabs (where it was supposed to be).

The clerk was useless- he said "I've never heard of that" and went back to doing his IM or texting. The next one said there were 20 bottles in the store, but couldn't say where. Eventually I found them on the wrong shelf- and when I brought one to the clerk he said "Oh, CASA" with the tone that implied had I just said it again he would have known exactly where it was.

Which is why it was hilarious he spent 15 minutes trying to find the unopened case that I bought.

I then spent 2 weeks waiting for the rebate that was supposed to go with the wine. When it did finally show, they kindly included the Cline Winery rebate- but the wrong dates. Several back and forth conversations with various clerks, trying to demand my rebate form to get my 30$ back. All this did was waste air time. Their final comment was "Well, I'm sorry the distributor is out of rebate forms. Sometimes they do this to limit the responses". WTF- you advertised it on your shelf... and you won't make good on your promise?

I even tried to return the wine, but they refused stating there was no returns on wine. It's a great scam, really- offer a huge rebate, 'lose the form', and then tell the customer they're stuck with their purchase.

I passed on the option to charge back the entire amount of the purchase- over 200$- as tempting as it was I was on the road too much for work with not enough time to do the paperwork and chase down managers (none of which ever seemed to be in).

Having written a letter and received no response my next step is to send one off with a return receipt. Jimmy Ren, are you listening?

Because I'm a PITA, I'm also going to use one of the contacts I have at the ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) to see if there is anything that can be done for false advertising of prices. I'm sure I read about that somewhere.

These two incidents show a marked decline in the quality of the folks working at West Ridge Road Liquor.Thus, I can no longer recommend them as a source... and I'll probably switch to Marketview Liquor. A little further, a little pricier- but saving that 30 cents a bottle doesn't mean much when you get screwed out of 50$.

2008 Cline Ancient Vine Zinfandel

Recently there has been run a rebate of 30$ on Cline wines. The 2008 and the 2007 bottles were intermixed at my store- I mistakenly grabbed a few 2008s.

Bad.

Very bad.

The first time I got a 2008 Ancient Vine Zinfandel from Cline I remarked that it tasted like the smell of dryer lint. I know that sounds odd, but there really was no way to characterize the bottle. I tried leaving it out in the air, corked, and it still didn't improve.

I aerated it. No dice.

I finally fed it to some plants.

DO NOT BUY THE 2008 ANCIENT VINE ZINFANDEL. Buy the 2007 instead.

Cline Ancient Vine Mourvedre Zinfandel - 2007

A note about vintages- each year, each winery strives to create a product that can sell based on the previous years' advantages. Each year the winery will do whatever it takes to create a seller- otherwise they've ended up with nothing but slop.

The 2007 Cline Ancient Vine Zinfandel is an excellent, delicious, smooth, tannin laden wine with blackberry and a nose so rich you'll wish to inhale it rather than sip.

Right now there is a 30$ rebate for this wine- at 12.99 a bottle it is very well priced.

BUT ONLY GET THE 2007 VINTAGE!

The 2008 is quite awful- it reeks and tastes of, for lack of a better term, dryer lint.

Jacob's Creek 2006 Shiraz (not reserve)

This wine was not to my liking. I'm not sure what was wrong with it- oh the flavors were there, but it was very harsh and just did not drink well. I ended up wasting 3/4 of the bottle. I did let it age overnight (corked) after pouring the first glasses, and the second day it was still not any better.

Interesting to note, it was $7.99 a bottle to the reserve's price of $6.99.

Skip it.

Altos Del CUCO Syrah / Temperance

I found this wine online- here
http://www.bourbonstreetwineandspirits.com/r/products/altos-del-cuco-monastrell-syrah-tempranillo-2007

Another good wine, priced at 7.99$- didn't match my steak so much, but it did actually go well with charred vegetables on the grill. Speaking of which I'll have to pick up another case or so.

ATTECA Old Vines Zinfandel 2007

ATTECA Old Vines Zin 2007

I've grown to love Zinfandel - strong flavor, heavy on the palate- sometimes overpowering, but usually worth the taste. This bottle was labeled as a deal and so I grabbed it. It was excellent- I'd rate it up with Cline Old Growth Zin- and it was 2$ cheaper too at $10.99.

Cotes Du Rhone par Kermit Lynch 2007

Cotes Du Rhone par Kermit Lynch 2007

Every time I hit the wine store I try to pick up a bottle from France- a special bottle, or one with a wine spectator review- or a name or place I recognize from my travels. I don't tend to cellar much wine (although I did find a case I forgot about- as soon as my wife allows me to have some that is) so most of the wines I grab are for immediate consumption.

This bottle was excellent. Best of all- and I don't typically do this- I finished the whole bottle in one evening. Better than that? No hangover. I don't know if it was the low sulfites or just luck, but this was an excellent wine and it went down oh-so-smooth.

I'll have to pick up a few bottles to keep around for folks that don't like reds- or are sensitive to them. In fact, I'll follow up after MAO tries some to see if she could drink it.

Priced at $7.99 - excellent value.