I’m eight subscribers away from four-hundred on my YouTube channel. I’m super stoked that so many are following me on this platform and I am super appreciative! I started it a long time ago. In the early days, I wasn’t focused on growing the channel as much as honing my skills in presenting wine to my viewers, giving honest reviews and helping people to find good values in wine. In the past three years, I have really concentrated my efforts to grow my audience and it has paid off. My goal is to hit seven-hundred subscribers by the end of 2021. A bit lofty I know, but without goals, one can lose focus. One of my favorite things to do is program guests. I have had many of the years and they seem to be very popular. It’s been tougher over the past year to set up interviews due to Covid-19. But as I pointed out in last week’s edition of this piece, there is evidence of a silver lining sneaking out in 2021.
It’s funny to me that some of my top episodes on YouTube involve expensive wines. I reviewed some Harlan wines in 2016 and there are over a thousand views of that episode. Conversely, I have over a thousand views where I discussed the ability to age inexpensive wines, reviewing some older, inexpensive Bordeaux that I pulled from my cellar. This tells me that I have a diverse audience that understands that being a blue-collar wine guy does not limit me to value wines only. Those that know me, know that I get very excited when I find a great wine that is not expensive. However, I have been known to purchase expensive wines if they are worthy of being placed in my cellar, or for immediate consumption. Blue-collar folks will spend the money if they know it’s worth it.
March is the original Washington Wine Month and I plan on reviewing quite of few wines from our great state. I love wine from all over the globe of course, and I’m not particularly partial to Washington State wine. However, I’m very proud of what we have accomplished since the early days of wine in Washington. There are now over a thousand wineries in our state and more to come. The quality level just keeps going up. I have tasted some amazing wines that rival many wines from California at a third the price.
I have at least two wineries in my sights for “Winery Of The Year” in 2021. I will continue to do my research while I promote my 2020 “Winery Of The Year”…Barnard Griffin. So far, I have reviewed the Reserve wines from BG and will focus on their Signature wines in March. I believe that Barnard Griffin represents some of the best values out of Washington. Rob and his daughter are passionate about getting their wines into the hands of the masses, rather than pricing their wines out of the reach of the average customer. Barnard Griffin has been around a long time and I think it’s time to get to know their wines again.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
