We are living in strange times, my friends. I go to work (thankfully) and the first thing I do is put a mask over my face. I take a walk around the store and ninety percent of the customers are wearing masks. All the employees are donning the same gear, some with gloves. The masks I understand since the Coronavirus is spread by spittle or touching. However, when I see someone wearing the same pair of gloves all day, how can that be good? There’s a simple trick that will keep you safe without wearing gloves. It’s called “washing your hands.” I have never heard any of the experts suggest the wearing of gloves. Many times I’ve listened to them speak of the importance of hand sanitizer and handwashing with handwashing emphasized over and over. It’s amazing how effective it is. Not only will it protect you from Covid-19, but it will also protect you from things like the common cold, and the flu. If there is one thing that comes out of this whole Covid-19 mess, I hope it is better hygiene.
I’m happy to see people going back to bubbles. When the virus started spreading throughout the world and made it our way, I wrote that sparkling wine sales were sagging. In the last couple of weeks, sales of bubbles are picking up at a brisk pace. I literally got wiped out at the store this Mother’s Day weekend. I had quite a bit in back stock, but it evidently wasn’t enough. I’m not talking the cheap stuff either. Folks were going for it! That’s a good sign to me, because it means that people are feeling like celebrating! Hope reigns eternal and I think that many of us are seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
My wife Susie and I are eager to start traveling once again. We have been talking seriously about making our way to South Africa again, perhaps in 2021. Both of us fell in love with that part of the world when we traveled there a couple of years ago. Not only is it a beautiful part of the world, the people are friendly, the wine is fantastic and the food is amazing! It is a big country, and we saw just a fraction of it. So much more to explore. We stayed in Cape Town and traveled east, making our way to a game reserve where we had the chance to see elephants, giraffes, lions and hippos, along with many other wild animals. It is something we will never forget. This time we would like to venture north of Capetown and check out wine country there. We will have to make a trip to Constantia again and also make our way up to Swartland where they make some incredible wines. Of course, we will check out the west coast and enjoy some relaxation together. Susie is a huge supporter of my career, but I don’t want to make any trip we take all about wine. That is one of the many reasons we are so good together.
This Thursday will be the first time I conduct a wine tasting event over the internet. Trey Busch from Sleight Of Hand Cellars will present his wines to my group over Zoom. I am putting together sample packs, so they can join along in tasting and talking about the wines. My group will also have a chance to buy a couple of wines that are not in the sample pack. It will be interesting to see how it goes. However, this approach will never take the place of our normal gatherings each month. Once I get the green light to have a group tasting, we will be back at the Mullis Center. For now, creativity is important and I may have to take the Zoom approach for a couple of months, I will give you a report on my next Bits & Bobs.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
