To our valued customer,
I was fortunate to spend quite a lot of time in France, and in my travels when ordering a wine, even an inexpensive house wine in a restaurant or small cafe in France, the wine was always a pleasant, enjoyable experience.
One reason it is difficult to get such pleasant wines in the United States is that the wines here get “cooked” somewhere along the way; either on docks, in trucks or sitting in the heat and sun for months in liquor stores.
We all know that wine is a living, breathing entity that needs special care; yet most merchants say it’s too expensive to ship and store wine in a temperature-controlled environment.
I ask, “How can that be, when a 25-cent banana in the store has been shipped and stored under good temperature control?” (The same range as wine temperatures, by the way.)
We have solved this problem for you because our wines, imported by Wine-Cask Imports, Inc., are temperature-controlled from the chateau to your front door.
Our wine selections are all well made and well cared for, chosen after several rounds of professional and customer tasting. Although France remains the standard by which most wine are measured, more and more great wine values are available from around the world, including California, Oregon, Australia, Chile, Italy and Spain. It is our pleasant task to find these treasures and present them to you.
Many of my friends have asked, “What is a well-made wine”? I do not have a precise answer, but I believe it relates to additives and greed. Some producers add acids, cane sugar, excess sulfites or other chemicals to accelerate the fermentation process, enhance the alcohol content, sterilize the equipment or add flavors. I call these “chemical aftertaste” or “headachy wines” because that is the personal effect I experience from many wines that are not well made. Well-made wines, then, by my definition, are a natural product, made by scrupulous, knowledgeable men and women, using time-honored and honorable techniques to nurture and help along processes that have been used for thousands of years.
A second reason it is difficult to get pleasant, well-made wines at a good price is the many price markups along the way to the consumer. We have solved this problem also, buying directly from the knowledgeable, honorable producers and passing the savings on to you. You get top-level wines at affordable prices.
The only missing ingredient in our formula is your individual taste. Thus, we offer a variety of wine styles. Once you anchor one of our wines with your taste preferences, you have achieved a winner.
So, in summary, we offer well-made wines at a savings by buying directly from the producers and we certify our wines are cared for from the producer to your front door — “From Their Chateau to Yours”; that is, “From Their Castle to Yours!”
Good Health!
Ralph A. Rotolante
Founder