PLCB Changes

With the new changes to the wine programs the PLCB has started to get me to think. Here's my analysis of what it all means:

Chairman's Selections: Since new ones must now be rated 87 or higher by a third party, they do not have a qualified tasting panel or purchaser and are going for the best value with decent score.

Premium Value Purchases: These are wines they got a deal on but are unscored. That says it is all about the bottom line.

Yes, I understand this is a business and the PLCB needs to make money, but I guess it would be nice if there is an effort to get quality wines to people who really want them. The wine specialist at the store I go to once a week said last night that he feels the state is saying"we will tell you what's good and what you want." He said there is a meeting next week to decide if purchasing will be taken away from the individual stores and if the PLCB will decide who gets what and when.

The PLCB is taking the fun out of this, I like going to the store and spending an hour or so, talk to the wine specialist, get his opinions on the wines(I was looking at one last night and he told me to put it down, it was a 20% off CS).

Sorry for ranting, I think I'll have a glass of wine now.

-Eric

I think most would agree that the overall quality of the CS wines has dropped off somewhat since Newman left. One thing in Dave DeSimone's article last week that got my attention was this quote:
Short, Jones and Steve Pollack, an experienced PLCB specialty wine buyer, taste all potential Chairman's Selections wines before reaching consensus evaluations.

So it would seem that they are trying to lift the quality of the offerings. (Although consensus isn't always a good thing, since everyone has their own taste and preference.)

I think it will be interesting to see what new wines they bring in in the next couple months, as it will probably say a lot about where the various programs are headed. Also, I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water... I took advantage of the 20% off sale to pick up some Miner Oracle, Quorum, and Ch. de Tracy.

Inspired by ecola's rant...I've lived 42 of my 50 years in PA so I understand the cynicism. A oenophile friend who has contacts at the Sewickley PLCB got a different and slightly more optimistic slant on the changes. His take is that the new regime needs to mark its own territory and is eager to be seen as offering better than Newman did. Let's face it, Newman did great things for PLCB but he was hardly in the process of turning PA into CA! He benefited by comparison to his predecessor just as Stapleton suffers by comparison to Newman.

I've got to admit that when the CS program was at its zenith I picked unknowns using a complex and inexplicable algorythm which analyzed the cost and independent rating anyway (yes, highest rating, lowest price). I guess I look at it like the experience of dating the one really hot woman I knew in college; she dumped me quickly, but I was glad to have had a few dates. To paraphrase Rick in Casablanca "We'll always have 2005."

I agree with jlburd. I just wish that they would change the name from "Chairman's Selection" as this may take away some of the hard feelings and let them get on with the program.

Steve Pollack, the PLCB specialty buyer, was the wine specialist in the Clarks Summit (3516) store for years. He has hosted wine dinners for me and our kid's swim together in the winter months, and his feelings seem to be that we just need to be patient. I think politics and bad feelings are to blame, and only time will solve some of these problems.

I have noticed a significant reduction in inventory in all stores recently, much more than in the past. Usually the stores would run inventory down in Jan/Feb and it would build back up in March. The stock room in some of the Superstores in my market are practically bare! Had to go to 3 different stores today to fill a 100 bottle liquor order.