Drinking to the Silents

[DavidWelling]

I recently came across a good red wine blend with a silent film tie-in. It's called Melodramatic Macabre (10% Damsel, 90% Villain). What's great about it (aside from the drinkability) is the label, which has a reversed-out image of Conrad Veidt from The Man Who Laughs. Not sure who the woman is. Here is a photo of the label as well as an inverted shot. whoever did the graphic design made a good choice in photo reference. Cheers!

[Jim Roots]

We had a fun thread going here on NV many years ago: one movie, one wine, and one cheese. Worth reviving???

Jim

[R Michael Pyle]

We had a fun thread going here on NV many years ago: one movie, one wine, and one cheese. Worth reviving???

Jim

Only if I can have one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer - and drink by myself. Yeah, you know when I drink alone I prefer to be by myself.

[missdupont]

Where does TCM and all the other companies that have wine clubs get the grape leftovers to make their wines from, or are they all really just $2 chuck in upscale labels?

[Scoundrel]

" I don't care what the people are thinkin' .....

I ain't Drunk,

I'm just Drinkin'

[greta de groat]

Speaking of the wine club, my mother is so irritated by the wine club commercial that she changes channels, then doesn't turn back in time for the next film, and when she turns back it's started and she doesn't know what it is or who is in it and just says forget it and changes to something else. So i don't know if she's the only viewer they are driving away.

greta

[R Michael Pyle]

Where does TCM and all the other companies that have wine clubs get the grape leftovers to make their wines from, or are they all really just $2 chuck in upscale labels?

It's not necessarily $2 Chuck. They're made by reputable wine labels, but it's relatively confidential...I spent 46 years in the wine business...

Just for the record, Charles F. Shaw was a reputable wine maker. $2 Chuck is made by Bronco Wine Company, Freddie Franzia and Co. Freddie makes good wine under the label; it's just that one can't tell one red varietal from another. Freddie owns the name Charles F. Shaw now. I know, TMI...

[Rick Lanham]

A friend of mine expressed some interest in the TCM wine club.
I asked him for the empty bottles if he did join, just for the labels.

Rick

[DavidWelling]

FYI Melodramatic Macabre was about $13 -- so it wasn't a $2 Chuck but it wasn't Orin Swift either.

[R Michael Pyle]

FYI Melodramatic Macabre was about $13 -- so it wasn't a $2 Chuck but it wasn't Orin Swift either.

Has anyone figured out who the girl is? She looks like an ad that appeared in the 50's to me on a billboard for a 50's screamer, the name of which I forget. The man is definitely Conrad Veidt in "The Man Who Laughs".

[35MM]

FYI Melodramatic Macabre was about $13 -- so it wasn't a $2 Chuck but it wasn't Orin Swift either.

Has anyone figured out who the girl is? She looks like an ad that appeared in the 50's to me on a billboard for a 50's screamer, the name of which I forget. The man is definitely Conrad Veidt in "The Man Who Laughs".

She looks like Barbara Steele to me.

[missdupont]

It's not necessarily $2 Chuck. They're made by reputable wine labels, but it's relatively confidential...I spent 46 years in the wine business...

So basically the wine clubs are making expensive private label versions of what the grocery stores do in reverse. Whereas grocery stores take someone's leftovers and make the cheaper store label private versions of products, the wine clubs are doing in reverse, with the branding leading to the increased price.

[R Michael Pyle]

It's not necessarily $2 Chuck. They're made by reputable wine labels, but it's relatively confidential...I spent 46 years in the wine business...

So basically the wine clubs are making expensive private label versions of what the grocery stores do in reverse. Whereas grocery stores take someone's leftovers and make the cheaper store label private versions of products, the wine clubs are doing in reverse, with the branding leading to the increased price.

Let me answer that - not cattily - but tactfully: begin by realizing that there are very large numbers of wines at $4.99-$7.99 that are genuinely excellent (no, maybe not 100 points on some Parker-like scale), really excellent; and - there are the same number of wines at $400.00 that I wouldn't give you $10 for, or even $4.99-$7.99. That is the God's-honest truth. It's also an industry fact that if a female shopper can't enjoy a wine label on a shelf at 40 feet distance, she probably won't buy it. Marketing is Deity in the wine business today. First of all, there's far, far too much wine in the world for the number of customers available to buy it; lakes of wine. Bargains can be had everywhere. It depends exclusively on how well it's marketed and by whom. The larger the wholesale base, the better most wines sell. If you're a little guy wholesale wise in the US, you can move the smaller brands better, and you'll have a higher margin, but your net isn't even close, and in some years could actually shut you down.

There. It's no different from most commodities; it's just that we've glamorized the product over the centuries to the point that there's a culture around wine that is so false it's embarrassing. But I loved it when I was in the business and I still do. I've been retired now going on seven years, and I'm also glad of that...but, here's to you, Mary! A good glass of Epicuro aglianico from Puglia - $4.99 at Trader Joe's! It's fabulous!

[missdupont]

Basically it's like buying clothes or makeup: all made out of the exact same things, but the brand name on the packaging is what you're paying for. You can pay $5 for a tube of lipstick or $25 because it has a celebrity name on it.

[DavidWelling]

FYI Melodramatic Macabre was about $13 -- so it wasn't a $2 Chuck but it wasn't Orin Swift either.

Has anyone figured out who the girl is? She looks like an ad that appeared in the 50's to me on a billboard for a 50's screamer, the name of which I forget. The man is definitely Conrad Veidt in "The Man Who Laughs".

She looks like Barbara Steele to me.

You may very well be right, and it makes sense. Barbara Steele is an icon in the horror genre, and I think she's great in Black Sunday. The opening sequence still gives me shivers.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

It's not necessarily $2 Chuck. They're made by reputable wine labels, but it's relatively confidential...I spent 46 years in the wine business...

So basically the wine clubs are making expensive private label versions of what the grocery stores do in reverse. Whereas grocery stores take someone's leftovers and make the cheaper store label private versions of products, the wine clubs are doing in reverse, with the branding leading to the increased price.

Let me answer that - not cattily - but tactfully: begin by realizing that there are very large numbers of wines at $4.99-$7.99 that are genuinely excellent (no, maybe not 100 points on some Parker-like scale), really excellent; and - there are the same number of wines at $400.00 that I wouldn't give you $10 for, or even $4.99-$7.99. That is the God's-honest truth. It's also an industry fact that if a female shopper can't enjoy a wine label on a shelf at 40 feet distance, she probably won't buy it. Marketing is Deity in the wine business today. First of all, there's far, far too much wine in the world for the number of customers available to buy it; lakes of wine. Bargains can be had everywhere. It depends exclusively on how well it's marketed and by whom. The larger the wholesale base, the better most wines sell. If you're a little guy wholesale wise in the US, you can move the smaller brands better, and you'll have a higher margin, but your net isn't even close, and in some years could actually shut you down.

There. It's no different from most commodities; it's just that we've glamorized the product over the centuries to the point that there's a culture around wine that is so false it's embarrassing. But I loved it when I was in the business and I still do. I've been retired now going on seven years, and I'm also glad of that...but, here's to you, Mary! A good glass of Epicuro aglianico from Puglia - $4.99 at Trader Joe's! It's fabulous!

'Far too much wine' could be a bit of an exaggeration. Some folk will buy in regularly, others of us have to budget, even when we're talking £4.00-£7.00 ($5.55-$9.72) a throw, which is about my range...

A bit like some of my local charity shops who would discard books because they 'couldn't sell them', forgetting they might be asking more than folk are willing or able to pay.

Luckily I do have a bottle* in, but only because it was a 'thank-you' gift for a couple of books....

*'Yellow Tail' Merlot, if you must know...

[R Michael Pyle]

'Far too much wine' could be a bit of an exaggeration.

No, I'm quite serious. For example, nearly twenty years ago now the "lakes of wine" (overproduction without any place to put it) became such an issue in Australia that a famous producer went before their parliament to complain that that margins on higher priced wine had dropped almost 50% because of the necessity to have massive sales to get rid of the wine due to backing up of newer vintages for release. What had happened was that the lower priced wines had literally flooded the market(s) all over the world and had de-focused the emphasis on the top quality good stuffs. What was also true at one time (just about 20 years ago) in Australia was the fact that a new winery was opening there every 24 hours!!!! The parliamentary incident was a world-wide phenomenon leading to a lot of news in the wine world. Most customers, of course, were delighted, not realizing the business consequences to the better producers - and, frankly, to the lesser producers. Since then a couple of things have happened. First, there are far MORE producers today ALL OVER THE WORLD who are in the game, and there has been a MASSIVE increase in interest in what are known as "craft" beers and liquors and liqueurs. The trend back to the hard stuff has created a huge shift in emphasis from wine to other alcoholic beverages, just when a wine apotheosis was occurring. Fine wines have kept on a slight rising trail over these years, but the lesser stuff has seen a massive change in type available and sales. What used to be called generic wines, Chablis, Burgundy, Rhine, Sauterne, not the wine from the countries or provinces named (for example, the actual area in France is Sauternes, with an "s"), have generally disappeared. Today, it takes proprietary names to sell all the stuff in the middle of the road quality. What HAS generally improved in the business is the overall quality of wine! Very highly improved! But, there are now oceans, not lakes of wine available. AND, with that - lots of sales. But there's also been an increase of prices for a lot of people, especially on foreign marketed wines, not because of anything but - - - huge tariffs. Especially here in the States.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

Perhaps different over there than in England...