Delille Tasting Tonight!

Come and taste great wine with us at 106 Pine!

Meet the Producer: De Lille Cellars
Thursday April 29th from 5-7p.m.

DeLILLE CELLARS is a small winery located in Woodinville, Washington founded in 1992 which currently produces five Bordeaux-styled wines: Grand Ciel, Chaleur Estate Red, D2, Harrison Hill, and Chaleur Estate Blanc. Also produced are the Doyenne wines, which include a classic northern Rhône-style Syrah, awarded as one of the great 15 Syrahs of the world; a Roussanne; Métier a Southern Rhône-styled red wine; Métier Blanc, a Provençe-style white, Aix, a Provençe-style red, and our latest addition, a Provençe/Bandol-style Rosé.

All wines from DeLILLE are made with the highest “hand-crafted” standards. Only grapes from the oldest and best vineyards in Washington State are acquired. They are hand picked and double hand sorted at crush, insuring that only the finest berry clusters enter fermentation. Our wines are aged in 100% new French Oak barrels each and every year and are never filtered.

Cheers!
106 Pine

www.106pine.com

Follow us on Facebook & Twitter and watch for special promotional deals!

Finally!! We’re done!!

Well, we’ve still got some normal tweaking to do, but, after SIX MONTHS, last night, at our Family & Friends event, I could say “Thanks!” when the compliments poured over me from the guests. Previously, my response had been “Thanks, but we’ve got some very critical visual things to do before we’re done.”

Terri Lynn and crew did it again! We transformed an awful looking space into a world-class environment for enjoying wine. The process was oddly frustrating, but the results are jaw droppingly good. And the issue of “wine bar versus retail store” is solving itself as most visitors see us as a great place to relax rather than shop. I can live with that. This summer will be the real test. Stay tuned.

Our Family & Friends event was perfect. We were able to showcase our food platters while tasting enough wine to make sure everyone was happy. We somehow left a bunch of our closest friends off the invite list! Oy! So I felt odd that some very important people in our life weren’t there. But after canceling this event dozens of times due to creative delays, it was very cool to see it take place and formally launch our journey.

So now I can stop bitching about my frustrations over the birth process and devote this blogging to my journey through the wine (cheese) world. Stay tuned for a novice’s education in the word of Washington/Oregon wines and gourmet food.

Some Big Questions!

One of the interesting things about a new concept is how your branding evolves right away. You start out well in advance of the carpenters and designers with one idea. Then, as you add more people to the team, the brand begins to evolve. Almost like trying to paint a masterpiece with several competent people having a brush. As you can imagine, it can get real tricky … especially when your market expects you to have a clear idea of what you want to represent in their marketplace.

Valerie and I (my wife, for the uninitiated!) wanted our concept to be about the pairing of wine with wonderful gourmet foods, like cheese, cured meats, and chocolates …. and only wines from around here, Washington and a little of Oregon, etc. But the name “Pairings” wasn’t available, so we came up with 106 Pine and a tag line that was supposed to explain the concept perfectly in a few words. Thus came “Fresh Finds and Local Wines”. And now I’m beginning to wonder if that tag line really screams what we are. In other words, if you had never read any of the above history, would you know INSTANTLY what that means. I’m having my doubts.

The designers and Shannon want me to wait until the window display piece, a giant “and” symbol, gets here (assuming it exists after all these months!!). Then the tag line will be seen along with the “and” symbol and everyone will get it immediately. I think they’re wrong, but I agreed to wait for the window plan to be implemented before coming up with a different plan. You’d think, after 40 years and a few wins that I’d trust my instincts more. But I don’t want to be heavy handed. But the wait continues …..

Let The Learning Begin!!

Everyone who comes into our space is absolutely FLIPPED OUT with the design and ambiance! But we’re still figuring out how much of our concept is “wine bar” and how much is retail. Not an easy questions, especially for people like Shannon and her team who don’t have retail in their DNA. But this is the part I love! And our customers will guide us. Patience, Michel!
I’m being very patient and not giving in to the urge to market our new baby until Terri Lynn and crew get some critical visuals done. They always seem to have something in the way of getting it done. That frustration is still there, but when you look at their creativity in this space, you’ll understand why I can live with their problems for another week or so …. hopefully!!

We’re open!! We’re open!!

Well, we’re open, but we’ve still got some very important visual elements that need to be installed. Hopefully by week’s end. Hopefully.
I probably irritated the team by insisting on opening before we had our “best foot forward”, but everyone … and I mean EVERYONE … who comes into the space, even in its incomplete condition, LOVES the brand … LOVES the design … LOVES the look.
And now the hard work begins.

I’ve always said that I’m anxious to get open so we can start to learn. Terri Lynn and her crew have done a wonderful and masterful job of creating a very cool and cozy context. Now it’s up to all of us to figure out what is right and what needs tweaking. Now it’s time to listen and watch and react. It’s a daunting challenge. But it’s what I do best, and I’m looking forward to raising our new “child” from this very cool beginning!

Surprise!

Just when you think everything’s under control, BAM, life brings you another surprise to make your job more interesting. Matthew, the general manager of Chocolate Box and who was going to be our creative director for 106 Pine, has decided to move on. So now we have no choice but to sit back, take a deep breath -  and move forward. As the days pass, I’m realizing it’s not really a problem for the future of the wine shop since the work is now in the more-than-able hands of Shannon and the team she had already started to put together. She says she feels lucky to have found three amazing new hires – Heather Mercier has been working in Seattle restaurants, such as Cafe Presse and Le Pichet for years and knows her wine; Another person, (who hasn’t given her notice yet!) is a Shakespearean actor and has worked  wine bars – she will be leading some of the tours, both the Tour de Chocolat and the Urban Wine Tour. And Julia Wayne writes a column for Edible Seattle magazine about cheese; she will be our pairing guru. These ladies have a unique combination of talents that we hope will make 106 a great place to come to learn about and taste local wines, cheeses, etc., and have a great time. More on that later.

But Matthew’s departure was a short-term pain in the ass for Chocolate Box because we didn’t have someone to step into his role there. So I started talking with strangers about coming to work for me in a very critical position. Not my favorite thing to do. But within a week we found J.D., a young, energetic woman who’s calmness under stress is immediately apparent. She is the scoring star on a local women’s soccer team and has carried many of her teams to victory – so much so that her latest team will be competing in the Gay Games next year! We’re lucky to have her come on board. We’re moving full-speed ahead!

Good News/Bad News

The bad news is that every time I see progress, work suddenly stops. It’s like that nightmare you have when you keep trying to call someone on your cell phone and keep dialing the wrong number … very, VERY frustrating!! I feel trapped. I can’t do anything to get us across the finish line faster. Look at the date! Ouch! I don’t think I’ve seen a project of this size take this long. Thank God it’s January and the volume we’re missing isn’t the same as the summer. Nonetheless, this really hurts at a time of year when cash is so precious….

But the good news is really, really good! The store is coming to life and it’s going to be a very, very cool concept. Terri Lynn and her team have created another context for us to do great things. Matthew and Shannon will have a stage like no other in town to do their thing. It’s going to be a perfect stage to tell the Washington wine story … and to be selling locally made food. If we execute the plan well, only good things can happen.

And the other good news is that we had our second Urban Wine Tour, complete with paying customers and vastly improved work by the guides and our wine makers. We’re still working out the script and timing.This tour will actually rival the chocolate tour for fun and education! In fact, it’s even more educational than its sister chocolate tour, a fact not lost on our guests last Saturday. After one stop, I thanked one of our guests for coming on our “beta” tour and he responded that this tour “has been much more worthwhile than the tours he’d experienced in Napa, Walla Walla, or Woodinville”. Now THAT’S really good news!! Now we have to just figure out how to get the word out to the rest of the world.

The Urban Wine Tour Begins!

I actually think I can see the finish line! We’re praying that the electricians and carpenters all show up this week and get 106 Pine to the point that we can get our final inspections and begin to bring in the wines and start putting things on the shelves! Yes, I know, we didn’t make the New Year’s Eve deadline for opening the story. My ploy didn’t work with our subs. Maybe I should have tried plain old cash!!

This past Saturday afternoon from 2:00 to 5:00, we had our first “dry run” of our Urban Wine Tour. Just a few of us went on the tour, along with wine blogger Clive Pursehouse of The Oregon Wine Blog who was extremely helpful with his feedback. The tour is naturally still rough … the winemaker partners are great and have a lot of energy, but we all have a bit of work to do with our presentations and we still need to script the content to reflect our mission: pairing wine and food. But the essence of the tour is very, very cool … and when word gets out (somehow)—“Katie bar the door!”

The moment during the tour when I tasted some fresh Rollingstone  goat cheese (I normally don’t like goat cheese) along with a glass sparkling white wine from Masquerade Wine Company in Kennewick, the entire reason for our store’s concept and this tour exploded into my brain!  I liked the cheese! The combination of the wine and the goat cheese created an entirely different experience. Wow! I think we’re on to something.

Now I’ve got to figure out a way to get the word out without spending the arm and leg we don’t have. Thus is the frustration of the under-capitalized entrepreneur! The Tour de Chocolat’s exposure on Evening Magazine was a direct result of spending tons of dough with our PR firm. Can I take that chance with 106 and the wine tour? You tell me.

Michel Brotman

Fermenting Good Ideas

One of the coolest things about opening a new venture in the retail world … probably in any business world for that matter … is the learning. I’ve been opening retail ventures for many decades and the story remains the same: I think I see an opportunity, a need in the marketplace. Then I go about setting up what turns out to be the framework for learning. That’s right. I don’t try to set up a “temple” for my thinking and creativity. Rather, I like to create a cool and receptive environment that jump starts the conversation with our customers and my employees.

It’s a process. No matter how good your entrance, the venture needs to begin to grow from day one. The good ideas become instant winners, and the bad ideas sit and stare at you like children feeling sorry for themselves, sulking in the corner! The key to success is embracing the winners and eliminating the losers as fast as possible. I’ve often called this approach the “shotgun” formula: Blast a lot of seemingly good ideas onto your “canvas” (also known as a retail space) and sit back and see what’s resonating with people (also known as ringing the cash register!).

All of the above takes an ego that’s fully in check! Because, trust me, everyone you know is suddenly an “expert” in your new field. And that truth is magnified by 10 when it comes to passionate foods like wine and chocolate … foods that are fermented. Friends and total strangers are quick to turn me on to the PERFECT item for my new venture. They’ve got the scoop on a wine that will make us famous! Don’t get me wrong. I love the fact that people are so passionate about our world. I just find it entertaining that so many people think that I went into this business without enough information. Brace yourself, Shannon!!

Delays and Planning a new Urban Wine Tour

We moved our quiet opening back again. Still no plumber or electrician. Ouch! Everything is here … the lights, the furniture, even the dishes!! Frustrating is an understatement. I know Shannon and Matthew can’t believe their eyes. But it’s too late for second guessing. I’ve got to believe we’ll be open to our friends and vendors by New Year’s Eve. There. I said it. I gave us a deadline. I think that was missing previously and allowed us to accept delay more easily. There’s that hindsight thing again!!

So now we can launch our much anticipated wine tour. I hope we can launch it on the 2nd. We finally sat and drilled down on the details and I hope people like the idea of a weekend tour rather than a weekday. I can’t imagine local people wanting to fight their way into downtown Seattle in the middle of the day for most anything. We can probably get away with a weekday tour during the summer. Tourists will love it!

Now we need the cooperation of our wine makers. We’ve learned from our chocolate tour that there are a lot of pieces to this tour business and we have to make sure everyone is on board on every decision. Theory is so much easier! But I love the concept: A tour with wine, learning, and fresh food from The Market. Nothing like it that I’m aware of. It’ll be interesting to see if Shannon can juggle being a tour guide and wine bar principal at the same time!

The tours are great for our business. We’ve experienced that at Chocolate Box. It positions us as an expert in our market and is great branding for our vendors. We can literally launch a new vendor into the market in a way they couldn’t do on their own. I hope the wine people see that opportunity and use us as a “partner” in their marketing plans. Time will tell. Talk is cheap.