Valentine’s Day will soon be here and for some reason, I think it is a waste of time to talk about wines for that day. Why? First of all, it’s about the person you are buying the wine for. If they don’t like bubbles then don’t buy bubbles just because some wine person suggests it. Chocolate is always a big hit, but why add insult to injury buying a Port to go along with it. At this point in your relationship, you probably know what your partner likes, so buy that for them. If they like Cab, go to your local wine shop and get a suggestion on a good Cab. It is too huge a brushstroke for me to cover. so I don’t go there. I hope you don’t mind.
At the end of 2019, I released my list of top forty wines under twenty bucks. What I usually do after releasing that list is buy the top five to see if I was spot on, or whacked. This time I have to say that I was spot on! Especially my number one pick, a Dolcetto from the Dogliani region of Piedmont. The 2017 Pecchenino San Luigi Dolcetto is stellar. I bought a bottle and tried it again and was blown away. For fifteen bucks it knocks it out of the park. I bought six more bottles immediately and as I am writing this, there are only three left. I’m trying to be careful with my stock, but it is tough. It only gets better as it is opened. I try to spread it out over three days because on the third day it really shows its stuff. I’m running out at the store, so you know I’m going to buy a few more before it’s gone.
I’m working very hard to finish an article I am writing about Kevin Jusilla who is the owner of Kukkula Winery in Paso Robles. I had lunch with him in Seattle and we tried his wines and talked about his journey into the wine world and how he got where he is now, a winemaker and owner of a winery. It’s a great story and his wines are amazing. I intend to post the story both here and on my Blue Collar Wine Guy blog on the P.I. site. I think you will find it quite interesting. Stay tuned.
I had the opportunity to interview Tim Clark for my YouTube channel. Tim works for Dickerson Distributing and sells wine to me at the store. He is fairly new at the job and the point of the interview is to talk about his progression as a wine salesperson. He has been in the hospitality industry for a while but it was on the restaurant side as both a server and bartender. It’s very interesting to hear his story on the difference between the two careers and the challenges he faces. It will be up on my channel Wednesday, so I hope you check it out. We had a great time doing the interview and talking about wine afterward.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
