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Interviewing Sussex Wines & Spirits
Posted by Interviews | Posted on 01-25-2012
| Posted inA couple years ago, I realized the value of building personal relationships with wine store staff. In addition to the friendships I’ve built, they’ve opened my eyes to producers and regions that had once been off my radar. It’s now common that I get a text message or email from one of them giving me a tip about a new producer in Jura, or a recently received shipment of pre-phylloxera wines from the Loire.
The role of your local wine shop clerk has never been more important as the quantity and quality of wine coming into our country has never been higher – while the increased selection and quality is great news for consumers, it also presents us with more decisions than ever about who to buy.
One wine professional that I listen to is Jeremy Block at Sussex Wines and Spirits. I’ve never been to the shop and have never met Jeremy in person, but still consider him an invaluable wine guide. I came across Sussex while shopping for some 2009 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive and was impressed with their selection of many esoteric and harder-to-find wines (they feature a lot of Neal Rosenthal selections) that they had. Over the past year, he’s invested time to understand my stylistic preferences and now proactively reaches out to me now with off-beat suggestions, or tips on new items he’s about to stock. Needless to say, I’ve found myself shopping there more and more.
I reached out to Jeremy the other day with some questions about his wine background, current muses, and vision for Sussex wine – his answers are below. Read the rest of this entry »