My wine group had a great time with James & Poppie Mantone, owners of Syncline Cellars. James is their winemaker and he has a wealth of knowledge that he shared with us. Syncline is located near Lyle in southern Washington State. The wines were amazing, and by the time he was finished speaking via Zoom, I think most of us left knowing a lot more about some of the vineyards in Washington State, winemaking techniques and why James and Poppie chose the Gorge as a spot to grow grapes and make wine. James makes an amazing sparkling Rose’ and they were kind enough to release some to our group. They usually sell it only from the winery. The biggest surprise for me was the Gamay Noir. It has amazing complexity and flavor. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth the price. If you’re not familiar with this winery, here is a link to their very cool website.
I am continuing my celebration of the original Washington Wine Month (March) on my YouTube Channel. Malbec was the subject of last Thursday’s episode, and today (Monday) I will delve into Washington State Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s very interesting for me, to focus on specific varietals from Washington. As I’ve pointed out, Washington is able to grow and produce many different varietals very well. This is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is obvious. A lot of great wine comes out of this state. The curse? Washington has an identity crisis. For instance, Napa is known for Cab, Lodi for Zin, Oregon for Pinot Noir… You get the point. What is Washington Known for? Just about everything. At one time, Merlot was going to be Washington’s signature grape. Well, Merlot took a nose-dive after the movie Sideways. Then Syrah became the focus of many Washington State wineries and it took a nose-dive in sales as well. I feel both Syrah and Merlot are still some of the best wines out of our state. As both varietals strengthen in the market once again, wine buyers will appreciate what Washington can do with both Syrah and Merlot. Either way, I feel that there will always be an identity crisis because winemakers from Washington will continue to experiment and produce many different varietals very well because they simply can.
Once again, I will rave about my sales reps, rather than a rant. Some reps work on commission, some on both a base salary and commission and some (although rare) work on salary only. The commission sales rep is hungry (not literally) and works hard to get new products in my department, including things like my “Pick Of The Month” and featured items in my display areas. This is their paycheck. A salary-only rep might be content just writing orders and moving on to the next store. I have a young lady that sells wine to me who is salary only with some incentives thrown in. This doesn’t stop her from being an aggressive, zealous salesperson. I can count on her to present wines to me, especially new items weekly. I appreciate her hard work and passion for what she does. I have no problem with the aggressive type because they are the ones who get new wines in front of me and I appreciate that. This young lady has helped me on numerous occasions with material for my YouTube channel. Anytime there is a new canned wine in her portfolio, I get a text from her. She gets a kick out of my consistent reaction to wines in a can. I will explain that statement in next week’s article. Hat’s off to her for helping me find new wines and her interest in what I do in the wine world.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
