Eric Crane has this word of advice for wine drinkers: "Don't judge the wine by the vessel you pour it into." By that he means you can enjoy a glug of wine just as easily out of plastic ("I will always celebrate the red Solo cup.") and coffee mugs ("more on the go and far more fly") as stemware. The important thing is to have a good time sharing it. "It's fun to drink it with people and talk about it with people. Wine is the great unifier," he says, cracking open a bottle.
Who better than Crane — the director of training at development at Empire Distributors and all-around-Atlanta vinous gadfly — to kick off a new series on this blog?
In celebration of the AJC Dunwoody Wine Fest , which takes place this October 11, I've asked a few of my favorite drinkers around town to crack a bottle with me, and tell me why they love it.
Crane shows up to lunch at Miller Union with a bottle of Pewsey Vale dry riesling from the Eden Valley in Australia. He brings a 2008 vintage, which might be hard to find in a store. But more current vintages of this screw cap bottle are widely sold, and cost only about $15. It ain't fancy.
“I always get heckled for my love of riesling,” he says, “but I have convictions about the beauty of the wines that come out of this grape.” He unscrews the top and pours. It tastes to me almost like a Sour Patch Kid at first sip.
Credit: John Kessler
Credit: John Kessler
“Like lemon juice and lime juice you can plug into the wall,” says Crane with satisfaction. “This is good any time of day.”
Each sip gets more interesting, stays in the mouth, changes. Behind that citrus pow there’s a lot going on. I ask Crane about it, and he smoothly transforms into expert mode. The vines, he says, are trellised on contours in the topography, so the grapes ripen unevenly. The winemaker is “able to grow complexity into the wine.” He pauses for a moment. “But it’s also a good coffee cup wine.”
He points to the hills depicted on the label. "Right here at the top of this hill is the only Breaker Morant memorial in the world. There are also a lot of kangaroos hanging out. It's a hazard of the vineyard."
Before his 12 years with Emipre, Crane worked in the front of the house at Atlanta restaurants. He credits Michael Touhy, the founding chef/owner at Woodfire Grill, with turning him on to the joys of good wine.
“Working with Michael flipped my lid!” Crane says, draining the bottle into our glasses.
About the Author
