EIEIO & Company

Old McDonald had a farm, EIEIO…

The brainchild of owner Jay McDonald, EIEIO & Company opened its doors at The Tasting Room in Carlton in 1995. Located in a stately red-brick corner building in Carlton, The Tasting Room is on the site previously occupied by the Carlton Bank. It was the first tasting room in Carlton. Today it’s a safe haven for Jay’s wine deposits under the label EIEIO. Other winemakers (& company) also showcase their wares in this location.

With regard to his own wines, Jay is a consummate négociant, meaning that he purchases existing wines from various vineyards and then blends them to create pinot noir cuvées and single-vineyard labels. This practice goes way back in Burgundy, where négociants are highly regarded. We of normal palates can only gawk in awe at Jay’s ability to create great wines at down-to-earth prices.

There’s a reason The Tasting Room has adopted as its slogan “A serious wine shop for serious wine buyers.” It’s here that you can purchase wine from hard-to-find artisan wineries with such names as Belle Pente, Bergstrom, Brick House, Dominio IV, Evesham Wood, Patricia Green Cellars, Soter, and Beaux Freres. You might recognize the name Beaux Freres; Mike Etzel, Beaux Freres’ winemaker, is the brother-in-law of none other than Robert Parker.

The Tasting Room’s tasting fee is a little steep at $20, but you get a full flight of top-notch wines to sample, and, if you break out your Visa for a case of wine, the tasting fee is refundable. With glass of wine in hand, wander around The Tasting Room and check out the inventory — especially in the vault. There’s some special wines deposited there, collecting serious interest.