Wine List at Be Our Guest

[ghtx]

While everyone is hemming and hawing over the fact that beer and wine will be served at MK, I am curious what foodies think of the wine list (and beer list).

Here it is: http://i1.disneyfoodblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Be-Our-Guest-Restaurant-Wine-Menu.jpg

I would have guessed that they would have more really nice (i.e. expensive) options. The Pauillac sounds good. Where are the vintages?

They could have found more than two Belgian beers. I could do without French beers.

 

[karrit2000]

Looks like an interesting mix of choices. Perhaps they will have another wine list with more expensive options for those who want to purchase by the bottle for specific vintages. I don't get the inclusion of many of the CA wines in particular the single grape varieties. The Lasseter one I understand since it is a French style blend.

 

[Pygoplites]

Pretty decent for a very compact wine list and not "dumbed down." The prices for the higher-end selections (VC Champagne, Verget white Burgundy and the Ch. Batailley Bordeaux) aren't even double the average retail price.

 

[RCharnay]

Thanks for posting. Looks good.

 

[JimmyV]

Where are the vintages?

I am sure that they anticipate going through inventory so quickly that keeping up with vintages presents a problem for them. Still, with in-house publishing capabilities, I find that failure to list vintages to be inexcusable. I appreciate their dilemma, but at least provide a range, like 2009/2010.

Looks like an interesting mix of choices.

Looks to me as if they simply moved the inventory over from Bistro de Paris. In fact, I am willing to bet my life on it. Many, many of the same wines. Frankly, I always thought that BdP should have had a better list with some additional upscale options. But now that I see the same wines on a MK list, I am less concerned. I think it seems about right. Still, it is always nice to see a few high end blockbusters instead of having a list made up of wines that can be sourced at Publix. But as I said, at BdP, that bothered me. Here, not so much.

I don't get the inclusion of many of the CA wines in particular the single grape varieties. The Lasseter one I understand since it is a French style blend.

All of the CA wines are classic French varietals. The Flowers is CA's version of a Red Burgundy; and the Freemark Abbey and Simi are from the five Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignion; Cabernet Franc; Merlot; Malbec and Petit Verdot). So they got this right. These are all "French" styled wines, made in CA.

Pretty decent for a very compact wine list and not "dumbed down." The prices for the higher-end selections (VC Champagne, Verget white Burgundy and the Ch. Batailley Bordeaux) aren't even double the average retail price.

Agree. I must say that I am very impressed with the price point of the Clicquot. They could have slapped a $90-$95 price tag on this without blinking. But they will probably sell through so much of this that they will be getting an amazing wholesale price. There was a time when WDW was the largest buyer of wine in the U.S.. That honor now belongs to Costco.

 

[Pygoplites]

There was a time when WDW was the largest buyer of wine in the U.S.. That honor now belongs to Costco.

Interesting, I didn't know that. I'm amazed at some of the stuff that Costco gets. I got some 2005 Ch d'Yquem and Ch Margaux Pavillon Blanc last year.

I do think it is odd not to list the vintages on the BOG wine list, but it will save on their printing.

 

[vicki_c]

Interesting, I didn't know that. I'm amazed at some of the stuff that Costco gets. I got some 2005 Ch d'Yquem and Ch Margaux Pavillon Blanc last year.

I do think it is odd not to list the vintages on the BOG wine list, but it will save on their printing.

MSNBC had a special on Costco and I believe they said they are the #1 wine retailer in the world and highlighted their wine buyers and talked all about the exceptionally high priced wines you can purchase at Costco.

 

[karrit2000]

All of the CA wines are classic French varietals. The Flowers is CA's version of a Red Burgundy; and the Freemark Abbey and Simi are from the five Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignion; Cabernet Franc; Merlot; Malbec and Petit Verdot). So they got this right. These are all "French" styled wines, made in CA.

While they may be varietals of specific grapes that are blended into the French wines I'll stick to the French blends especially considering they are charging more $ for some of the CA ones. I'd rather have a Shiraz from Australia than a Merlot from CA any day or night.

 

[JimmyV]

While they may be varietals of specific grapes that are blended into the French wines I'll stick to the French blends especially considering they are charging more $ for some of the CA ones. I'd rather have a Shiraz from Australia than a Merlot from CA any day or night.

Color me confused. You stated earlier that you were fine with the Lasseter wine, but questioned the other CA wines. They are all made from Bordeaux varietal grapes grown and vinted in California. Why is the Lasseter an understandable choice but the Freemark Abbey is not? And as for the comment about CA Merlot, the Lasseter wine that you seem to be fine with features CA Merlot as its dominant grape.

 

[Mad Hattered]

MSNBC had a special on Costco and I believe they said they are the #1 wine retailer in the world and highlighted their wine buyers and talked all about the exceptionally high priced wines you can purchase at Costco.

Although this has nothing to do with wine it does still have something to do with alcohol. I recently took a tour of the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg and I was amazed at how much Costco bought.

At the end of the tour they take you in a room filled with plaques that state how many single barrels companies (and some rich individuals) have purchased. The cost of a single barrel is between 9 and 12k each. A barrel will produce around 215 individual bottles each.

The plaques listed Costco as one of the highest, if not the highest number of single barrel purchasers. They had purchased over 50 single barrels and distributed them throughout the country. Sam's Club had purchased about half as much.

 

[JimmyV]

The plaques listed Costco as one of the highest, if not the highest number of single barrel purchasers. They had purchased over 50 single barrels and distributed them throughout the country.

This actually sounds very low (though I am not questioning what you say). 50 barrels is only one per state. Can you imagine California only selling through 215 bottles of Jack in a year? Sounds more like the amount one single store would go through in the month of December alone, let alone every store in the state.

 

[bwang123]

Although this has nothing to do with wine it does still have something to do with alcohol. I recently took a tour of the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg and I was amazed at how much Costco bought.

At the end of the tour they take you in a room filled with plaques that state how many single barrels companies (and some rich individuals) have purchased. The cost of a single barrel is between 9 and 12k each. A barrel will produce around 215 individual bottles each.

The plaques listed Costco as one of the highest, if not the highest number of single barrel purchasers. They had purchased over 50 single barrels and distributed them throughout the country. Sam's Club had purchased about half as much.

i bet they are buying the single barrels and associated bottles as gifts for company parties, etc. those aren't really for retail sale because you get the actual barrel with all of the bottles that come from it on a single palate. i took the tour a while back too and didn't notice companies, just celebrities but it seemed more like a bragging item than something you would turn around and sell the individual bottles in a store.

 

[karrit2000]

Color me confused. You stated earlier that you were fine with the Lasseter wine, but questioned the other CA wines. They are all made from Bordeaux varietal grapes grown and vinted in California. Why is the Lasseter an understandable choice but the Freemark Abbey is not? And as for the comment about CA Merlot, the Lasseter wine that you seem to be fine with features CA Merlot as its dominant grape.

The Lasseter wine is a "blend" in the French Style. Most French wines are blends that one may or may not know what actual grapes are used unless one remembers the make-up of every blended wine ever produced. I don't but I do know that I wouldn't try to order a French wine by asking for a Merlot or a Cab. While I enjoy many blended wines that have Merlot in them I have yet to taste a wine labeled as a Merlot that I care for enough to want to buy whether it be from CA, NY, WA or any Country that produces wine. I'm not trying to start an argument here. They could have chosen wines using Bordeaux varietals that are from states other than CA too but they only picked CA wines which considering all they wines they serve on Disney property seems a bit off to me.

 

[JimmyV]

The Lasseter wine is a "blend" in the French Style. Most French wines are blends that one may or may not know what actual grapes are used unless one remembers the make-up of every blended wine ever produced. And herein lies the fallacy. Many, many French wines have the same varietal composition as American wines that are labelled as if they were a single varietal. The vast majority of CA wines labelled as "Cabernet Sauvignon" are blended every bit as much as French wines are blended. The composition of a Pauillac, for instance, is going took almost indistinguishable from a CA wine labelled as a Cabernet. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that French=blend and CA=single varietal. A typical Cabernet is rarely more than 75%-80% Cabernet. It is a blend. It just isn't marketed that way. And many French wines, while not listing the composition, are as heavily loaded with a single varietal as CA wines. If you order a Petrus, you are getting Merlot. (Or, certatinly, mostly Merlot). And if you order a Lafite Rothschild, you are getting mostly Cabernet. I don't but I do know that I wouldn't try to order a French wine by asking for a Merlot or a Cab. But you could. If you were confronted by an all French wine list and wanted a wine that leaned most heavily toward Cabernet or Merlot, you could ask the sommelier to point you to which ones on the list featured those grapes. It is not as if French wines are 40%, 30%, 25%, 15% blends. Some are, to be sure. But just as many, if not more, are 80%, 15%, 3%, 2% blends with one varietal being heavily dominant. This is exactly what you will find in CA Cabernets (or Merlot, or Cab Francs). The differences between CA and France are more in the marketing than in the composition of the wine. While I enjoy many blended wines that have Merlot in them I have yet to taste a wine labeled as a Merlot that I care for enough to want to buy whether it be from CA, NY, WA or any Country that produces wine. I'm not trying to start an argument here. Me neither. Just trying to clear up some common misperceptions over the differences between Bordeaux and CA "single varietals" which, in reality, are anything but They could have chosen wines using Bordeaux varietals that are from states other than CA too but they only picked CA wines which considering all they wines they serve on Disney property seems a bit off to me. I suspect, without really knowing, that the reason they did not include Bordeaux blends from, say WA or Long Island, is that they know what sells best to their clientele.

See above. All that being said, in the end, the Lasseter is the most broadly diverse domestic Bordeaux varietal on the list. If you are looking for a wine that is not heavily dominated by one grape, this would be your choice over the Simi or Freemark Abbey, which, if memory serves, is something like (depending on the vintage): 75%-80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 12-%-15% Merlot; 5%-8% Petit Verdot; and the rest Malbec and Cabernet Franc in 0%-2% amounts.