The Seahawks started off with an impressive win and perhaps they should have, since the Colts may struggle this season. I was offered tickets to see them at their first home game this coming Sunday. The idea of wearing a mask outside in the stadium does not appeal to my wife and me. I’m sure I echo many of you when I say that the mask mandate has to go. If someone wants to wear one wherever they go, fine. I have no problem with that. However, don’t make me wear one if I don’t want to. Washington State is one of only five states to mandate mask-wearing. No wonder folks are migrating to places like Idaho or Montana where wearing a mask is unheard of.
On a brighter note, I’m working on an article about my personal wine cellar. It was suggested to me that many would be interested to know what I put away for future drinking. I cellar a lot of budget wines and have been quite successful with the results. One of my most watched YouTube episodes is titled “Can you age inexpensive wines.” You may want to check it out. There are three key elements to consider when deciding whether a wine will improve over time. I talk about those key factors in the episode I threw up a link for above. My YouTube channel is nearing five hundred followers. I will be very excited when I hit that milestone!
Fall is just around the corner, bringing a whole new wine buying pattern for consumers. Rose’ purchases have already slowed down quite a bit. There are still diehard Rose’ drinkers like myself who will never give up the pink. However, most wine drinkers start gravitating towards heartier reds and believe it or not, Chardonnay. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and other crisp whites dominate sales in the summer. Chardonnay does well of course, but as the air cools down, folks look to richer whites. I actually got caught off guard this past week and ran out of a lot of the popular Chardonnays in my department. As red wine and richer white wine sales pick up, I will be changing my buying patterns as well.
Interestingly, for my “Pick Of The Month”, I only chose one white during this summer. I focused on lighter style reds that could be enjoyed in warmer weather as well as reds that would be great with grilled foods. For some reason, I did not run across a white wine that I felt would blow out of the store. I stick to my eighty percent formula, meaning that I believe eighty percent of the customers who buy my pick for the month will like it. I have been fairly successful with this approach. My assistant Scott and I will try wines together and when one rolls along that falls into this category, Scott will look at me and say “This is an eighty percenter.” It is quite gratifying to see his progression over the years. I believe he has been my assistant for six years now and his wine knowledge and understanding of what most customers will like has improved dramatically. We both enjoy what we do and I think we make a good team.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
