First and foremost, I want to thank all of you who have been patiently waiting for me to write something on this blog. Thank you for subscribing; it means so much to me. I love writing this segment and about wine in general. Expect to see more from me in 2023.
Soon to come will be my selection for “Winery Of The Year.” I have made the decision and will make an official announcement next month. I have also decided to narrow my list of top wines under twenty bucks down to twenty. In the past, it was forty wines under twenty dollars. That was always a huge undertaking and, in my opinion, superfluous. I will also include a wine that stood out to me in 2022 as one of the best I tasted, regardless of price.
What a year 2022 has been. In April, we took off the masks, and I could start wine tastings in person. Also, there have been many events where I have volunteered myself as an auction item (private wine tastings at someone’s home) to raise money for specific organizations. I believe before 2020, there were about five that were auctioned off. Now that masks are gone, and folks are more comfortable meeting in person, I have been able to put together a couple of these private, more intimate tastings. They are always a good time, and I usually make them a mild challenge with a single-blind tasting. The last one was a bit tougher, and despite the increased intensity level, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. There are still a couple in the shadows, and I’m waiting for the call.
Now that traveling opened up, Susie and I immediately set out to plan a trip abroad. In September, we took off for France, particularly the Rhone Valley, with a stop in Paris. First, Paris, a city we both love, and then on to Lyon, Avignon, and Nice. It was a trip we will never forget. Neither of us has been to this part of the world. While in Avignon, we met with Harry, who took us on a tour through parts of the Rhone Valley to visit a few wineries. Harry is a go-between for a distributor out of California and wineries in the Rhone. He is very knowledgeable and quite a character. I hope to get him to the island to present wines to my group. I believe Susie would agree with me that Avignon was one of our favorite places. More to come on our trip next week.
I have been posting episodes on my YouTube channel, although not as frequently as I would like. One a week, for now, seems to be all I can do. I am getting dangerously close to seven-hundred subscribers, which is very exciting. My last episode featured Bonarda in the blind format. Bonarda is second only to Malbec in Argentina as far as vineyard plantings, yet it is not nearly as well-known as Malbec. Although the blind formats are more difficult to put together, they are very popular. To this day, my most popular episode is “Can You Age Inexpensive Wines.” This episode has garnered over seven thousand views. I want to do some kind of follow-up to this; I’m just not sure what to call it. Maybe, “Can You Age Inexpensive Wines, Part 2.” What do you think?
I have so much more to write about, but I’ll save it for another time.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
