'Palin Syrah' Wine Drops in Sales After Sarah Palin Veep Pick
Editor's note: This dispatch comes to us from wine guru Amy Monroe. She works in the grape business in the Bay Area, and literally stumbled across the "Palin Syrah" this month at a San Francisco wine bar. "How can you not write something about it?" she thought. The Palin label is inexpensive (about $13 a bottle), organic, and Chilean—attributes that don't necessarily make it a cult wine—plus it's relatively invisible on a Google search. Thanks, Amy, for enlightening us on the Palin Syrah! —Erin
Words by Amy Monroe | Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin might not be fond of San Francisco, but one San Francisco wine bar is fond of Palin Syrah. Or rather, it was.
"It was our best selling wine before (the V.P. announcement),” said Chris Tavelli, owner of Yield Wine Bar, which has offered Palin Syrah, a certified organic wine from Chile, by the glass since July. But after Sen. John McCain tagged Sarah Palin as his running mate, sales of the wine with the conservative's inverted name plummeted—not surprising in famously liberal San Francisco.
As with the GOP ticket, the Palin falls second in the lineup. The wine’s tasting note reads as it did when Tavelli wrote it months ago: white pepper, madrone, dry. Incidentally, a madrone is an evergreen found primarily in the Pacific Northwest that bears red berries in the fall. When the berries dry up, they are replaced by hooked barbs that latch onto large animals for migration.
Even though sales are down, the wine—like Palin the politician—draws lots of attention and comments. One Yield regular suggested that Tavelli amend the wine’s tasting note to read: moosemeat, salmon, hint of gunpowder.
When Tavelli chose the wine, which is imported exclusively by North Berkeley Imports, Palin wasn’t on his radar screen. Any parallels people draw between Palin Syrah and Sarah Palin are a “total coincidence,” Tavelli said.
Despite the steep sales drop, Tavelli plans to keep “Palin the wine” on his list—for now. With only two cases left in stock, he’ll sell it until it’s gone.
But as for whether a reorder is in Palin’s future, Tavelli is more tentative. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on how the election goes.”
About the author: Amy Monroe works in the wine business in the Bay Area, where she is only one paper shy of her diploma from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust. When asked whether she prefers red or white, she answers, "whatever's good."
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28 Comments:
Love the suggestion for revising the tasting notes on the wine, but seriously, I'm as liberal as they come and if a person can't look past a name and get to the juice behind it then they deserve a tongue lashing as much as Palin does!
vinovamp at 12:01PM on 09/22/08
Just goes to show you how superficial some people are. *roll eyes*
Cassaendra at 12:24PM on 09/22/08
Just the sight, sound or anything that might invoke that brain-washed Trog makes me want to VOMIT!
Pointy at 3:21PM on 09/22/08
Can we find a conservative Rothschild or Latour to support the right? Would prefer those prices come down rather than the Palin Syrah...
BirdDoggie at 5:27PM on 09/22/08
I am sure the wine is just as delicious as Sarah'Cuda is awesome. ;0
Benjamin9 at 6:46PM on 09/22/08
"Just the sight, sound or anything that might invoke that brain-washed Trog makes me want to VOMIT!"
You cannot be serious!
I've looked at this site for a long time and have never seen politics so crassly injected into something so innocent. Does this mean I no longer have to have my girlfriend to our favorite restuarant in Clinton, NC.
Geez, get a grip.
hawkster at 7:06PM on 09/22/08
How can I buy a bottle of Palin Syrah. If she wins, I'll drink it in celebration. If she loses, I'll save it for 2012. Either way, I just know it'll be a conversation piece in my poor pitiful wine rack.
SiouxLady at 7:50PM on 09/22/08
LOL, in related news, I notice Tina Fey is not wearing her glasses much lately, probably to avoid the odious comparison to "Bible Spice".
Tonecat at 8:10PM on 09/22/08
I can't believe people care about this. It's not the same name. And they aren't associated. Do they think that, in some mystical way, drinking this will cause her (and McCain) to win or that they are supporting her? Also, it's like it's Palin that's running against Obama judging by the media lately.
@Tonecat: Nah, I think Tina Fey was wearing her glasses less before Palin was announced as VP. Like that recent American Express commercial that was running since July. I think Tina Fey just wants to get away from having the one look with the glasses.
wunami at 9:40PM on 09/22/08
Go ahead Pointy,VOMIT! You'll be helping the environment by returning to nature what you have stolen to sustain your greedy self.
Wunami, you show serious signs of thinking for yourself. Report to your local DNC HQ. Bring shovel.
dean martin at 5:30AM on 09/23/08
The label is very fitting... it prominently displays the black hole America will fall into if Palin is elected
dennisharvey at 8:34AM on 09/23/08
@Hawkster, Dean Martin, get your Neanderthal selves back to Wal-Mart where you belong! Your Kraft dinner is waiting.
Pointy at 12:56PM on 09/23/08
regardless of your political affiliation it seems extremely lame to not drink a wine because of its name, when the naming had nothing to do with politics.
if it was named AFTER the person, in THAT CASE you can choose to support or boycott it.
megannesta at 4:23PM on 09/23/08
I went to Yield last night and drank a couple of glasses of the Syrah Palin and I had a good laugh with Chris about all the fuss it's generated.
Sam Breach at 11:12AM on 09/24/08
PS - I didn't go out of my way. I walk past Yield on the way home from work - it's a block from my house.
Sam Breach at 11:13AM on 09/24/08
I'm glad they aren't selling to San Fran, what a bunch of hate mongers. There's no way I could ever be a liberal. The entire DNC platform is based on "I hate Bush." Do something constructive and positive with your life. If Barack Hussein Obama gets in the White House, so be it, I'm sure another Reagan (from CA by the way) will emerge from the ashes, but I won't let mself be filled with hate. How do I buy a bottle?
usnagrad1988 at 1:51PM on 09/24/08
ANd you would think that with all that New Age stuff out in California that those people would be well .. Smarter and nicer and tolerant?. With all that new age stuff you would expect to see more people who are not carrying around so much anger and are SOOOO reactive. . but that is obviously not the case
Roochy05 at 2:44PM on 09/24/08
You guys are bursting my bubble. I imagine all of you foodies as smart and tasteful. Whatever side of the political spectrum you're on; boy just the mention of politics brings out the blue or red colored glasses and the insults.
The article was meant in jest. Can you really take it seriously. Besides, I'm sure the sales of all wines are down right now because of the economy. (And don't even TOUCH who's to blame for that one!)
Tactful_Cactus at 3:13PM on 09/24/08
@tactful_cactus i totally agree. making rude generalizations is not going to change anyone's mind. jeez!
megannesta at 5:23PM on 09/24/08
Amazing amount of hate on the Left. I am going to order a case of Palin Syrah!
JonFraudCarry at 5:59AM on 09/25/08
Ok guys, as much as you hate the woman, I must say that you've jumped the gun on this one -- in a BIG way.
http://winelibrary.com/reviewwine.asp?item=41876
"Unfortunately the product that you are looking for is currently sold out."
Palin Syrah 2006 (per bottle or 12pk case) is totally sold out.
Who's laughing (now) on their way to the bank?
JohnnyKnoxille at 5:20PM on 09/25/08
@JonFraudCarry, the nasty tally on this thread is a pretty concrete four-to-two in favor anti-Left comments. Wanna read 'em again with the clear glasses on? ;-)
Tactful_Cactus at 9:01PM on 09/25/08
@Tactful_Cactus, that nastiness is typical of the right...dole out the nastiness and then project it on the left. P.S. we already know the right can't count.
dancearrow at 10:35AM on 09/26/08
...okay, make that four-to-three now!
Tactful_Cactus at 12:20PM on 09/26/08
wow, lots of hate and superficiallity from the left. way to represent your party, guys! just re-enforcing things I have already come to realize about the left.
delilah at 11:59PM on 09/29/08
five-to-three
Tactful_Cactus at 10:58PM on 09/30/08
Chris Matthews just broke this story on MSNBC's "Hardball." Way to be ahead of the curve, Serious Eats!
Susquehanna at 7:30PM on 10/01/08
Honestly! If people are shallow enough to allow something as simple as a similar name,to keep them from enjoying a favorite wine, then they're just as shallow and clueless as Sarah! I'd like to think that the're afraid that somehow in sipping this wine, it would slowly sap the "intelligence" and common sense out of them; and they would become a forgetful Sarah clone! That's frightening! Yikes!
sassy at 9:10PM on 10/01/08