BITS & BOBS

I have come to the conclusion that Friday’s Thirteen, an article I do each Friday with my review of thirteen wines I’ve tasted over the course of a week, needs to be renamed “Friday’s Five.” Who am I kidding? Most of you don’t have the time or patience to read through thirteen wine reviews. We live in a fast-paced society that screams for fast-paced information. I myself love to read wine reviews because it clues me in on certain wines that I might be interested in. It also gives me ideas on the type of prose I might use in my reviews as well. I’m a wine nerd, that’s for sure. I know there are many like me out there who would not mind reading through thirteen wine reviews. However, I’m going with the odds and shortening my Friday wine reviews to five. The original idea for Friday’s Thirteen was obvious. Every once in a while, the article would actually fall on Friday the thirteenth, which was kind of cool. I guess the point is, I want you to read my reviews, and it will be much easier if I only put five reviews out there each Friday for your perusal. If you have any thoughts on this, let me know in the comments. Am I on to something here, or do you want me to continue the thirteen thing? For now, I am going with Friday’s five, I think it will better.

I recently did a sherry review on my YouTube channel. It was a very cool assignment I gave myself. I had to do a ton of research before I shot it. I’m not much of a sherry drinker myself, but it is a part of the wine world and recently I tasted some I really liked. I now am on a mission to make it a part of my wine drinking experience. It is very versatile with food depending on the style of sherry you choose. Fino and Manzanilla are the lighter and drier versions. They pair well with sushi or a lighter fish dish. Amontillado has a little more complexity, and Oloroso is also complex but sweeter. I immediately thought of a spicy Asian dish with the Oloroso, something I will try in the near future. PX or Pedro Ximenez is just otherworldly. One of the best dessert wines you will put to your lips. I love Port of course, but if you haven’t yet tried a PX, I would encourage you to seek it out.

The excitement builds everyday as our trip to England, Paris and northern Italy gets closer. I am very pumped to make the trek to the land of Barolo and Barbaresco. I hope to set up a couple of interviews with either the wine maker or owner of the wineries we will be visiting. We will also be staying in Verona in the Veneto region, where the wine of the Pope, Amarone is produced. The owner of the store I work at simply adores Amarone. I have to say that I agree with his adoration. However, this region is also famous for the likes of Prosecco, Valpolicella (of which Amarone is the top dog), Bardolino and Soave. Susie loves Soave, so we will stop at one or two wineries there. Basically, I will have a ton of writing material from this trip as well as a few episodes for my YouTube channel. Of course, all work and no play is not a good thing. Susie and I are using this trip as our honeymoon, so there will be a lot of sightseeing and leisure time as well. I can’t think of a better person to travel the world with than my wife Susie. We have the best times together!

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man