TN: strange Nepenthe chard, tasty Fronsac

This wouldn't be the Dale Williams who went to Evergreen, would it?

"This wouldn't be the Dale Williams who went to Evergreen, wo?uld it?"

Not unless you mean Henry's Evergreen, the vino-centric Chinese restaurant (now closed) on the Upper East side of Manhattan. Sorry!

But, Dale, as I understand it, retailers don't take responsibility for it in any event. They are able to recoup their losses from the distributor who perhaps can also pass on their loss to the importer (?) I don't know how far back the chain it goes, but retailers have explained this to me as part of the system for dealing with corked wines. The problem with taking back a corked '96 Medoc or '93 Barolo is providing proof of purchase. Who's to say where you got that

10-year-old bottle and why should the retailer go through the hassle of dealing with it (other than being an ethical person)?

Mark Lipton

ah, the hazards of the abbreviated reply. My reason for not returning older bottles is that the retailer might not have recourse to the distributor. I realize that the retailer is seldom "eating" the loss, nor would I ask him/her to.

Dale Williams Wrote

Hi Dale This sounds very much like my notes for the Nepenthe Adelaide Hills Unwooded Chardonnay (no mention of Zoe's on the label, maybe an export only branding) Mangoes, musk sticks & peaches (I actually described it as "A tropical mess on the nose") I didn't like this wine by itself but it was improved by food, the acid structure is good and it helped out a bit. I paid $16 Oz for this wine and have 2 left so mine was an expensive lesson. (Dang, I can't even remember why I bought it, bet I was talked into by a Merchant. :) ) Cheers Andrew

Andrew, probably the same wine- backlabel called it exactly that, only front label said Zoe's. Tropical mess sounds pretty accurate! I probably made a mistake by serving as an apertif.