Something really cool happened last week that I wasn’t expecting. While I was trying some new wines at a trade tasting up in Bellingham, a woman turned to me and said… “Bits and Bobs?”. I looked at her for a few seconds trying to absorb what she was saying and responded: “Yes, that’s me.” I didn’t catch her name, but I remember she was from Laconner. She told me that she followed my blog. How cool is that! I know many of my friends follow me, but to have a complete stranger recognize the person behind the blogging was pretty cool.
Patrick stopped by my department the other day with a crap-load of wines from Mexico (Baja to be exact), for me to try. I was very excited for this as I have probably only tasted maybe two wines from this area if my memory serves me correctly. We tasted fifteen wines and most were stellar. In fact, C+/B- was the lowest grade I gave one of the wines. My project now is to create a Mexican wine section in my set. Both the whites and reds were top-notch with the highest priced wine being $47. and most were in the $20. range. Patrick waxed poetic about the region where the wineries operate and it inspired me to think about planning a trip down there to check it out. The wines had a nice balance of acidity, tannins and fruit. I was really impressed with the crunchy acidity most of them had, but balanced nicely with solid fruit. I am very eager to bring them into the store so my customers can give them a try themselves. And for those of you who know what I am talking about….Yes, I have booked Patrick for a future event.
I am now collecting notes on my top forty wines under twenty bucks for 2018. It looks like I have decided what my #1 wine might be and I think a lot of you will be surprised. I am actually! I have also narrowed it down to two choices for my winery of the year in ’18. I’m pretty sure I know which winery it will be, but I never pull the trigger until December. I am very excited about all of the wines I’ve tasted from the winery I am leaning towards, and I think once I reveal my choice you will agree.
I am gearing up for a few episodes on You Tube where I will discuss and review wines for Thanksgiving. After experimenting over the years with many different wines, I have decided to switch gears and throw out a few of my past go-to wines. I will discuss why that is the case and dabble into some new (old really) choices. It can be one of the tougher holidays to match wine with simply because of the mix of sweet, tart and savory. I encourage you to follow me on You Tube as I venture into wines for Thanksgiving. I’m getting really close to four-hundred episodes. If you have any ideas for what I should do for that landmark episode, I would appreciate any input I could get.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
