Well, for the second time in two months, I’ve been mentioned in the Sunday Seattle Times Pacific NW insert. Erik Lacitis did a follow-up to his article in November about wineries in Washington State where he focused on a start-up winery from San Juan Island. In the November article, he published some comments I made over a phone interview he did with me. As my wife Susie said, the chances of Erik including a comment from a reader about me are pretty slim. I’m appreciative of the comments from the reader. Also, I garnered quite a few new subscribers to my YouTube channel due to the mention in the December 17th Pacific NW insert. Now, that’s pretty cool, just saying.
I recently did a phone interview with the winemaker for my 2024 “Winery Of The Year,” which I will soon be announcing. A small Washington State winery that produces some stellar juice. It’s always a difficult task to choose a winery of the year. There are so many that could be my choice. It seems to always come down to that one or two wines that stand out to me. I can’t wait to focus on this winery in 2024.
My focus on YouTube this week will be red wines for a prime rib dinner. I know, I know, not everyone cooks prime rib on Christmas Day. However, that’s what I prepare for my Christmas meal, so I will allow myself the freedom to review reds that pair well with prime rib. That being said, if ham is your choice, I would suggest three possible reds: Pinot Noir, Grenache, or Syrah. All three work for different reasons, depending on how you prepare your ham. Syrah works well with a bone-in ham. It can be a bit stronger in flavor which it needs to be to stand up to Syrah. Both Pinot Noir and Grenache work with a ham that is cooked in a milder way. Growing up as a kid, my mom always prepared a ham for Christmas that came wrapped in plastic and was cheap. Wine was never served at holiday meals in our household. A single mom with six kids had to be frugal. I’m going to date myself here. I believe my mom could purchase a pretty good sized ham for around ten dollars or under. I will eat ham these days, mostly in sandwiches.
We are about to go into bubble season big time. As I’ve mentioned recently, nationally, Prosecco sales are on the rise, whereas wine sales in general are on a decline. I’m not sure how long that trend will continue, but I do see it in my department. Prosecco sales are on fire. However, I do not necessarily see a downward trend in wine sales. I have a loyal group of wine drinkers that keep my department going strong. What I do see in my area is a decline in beer sales, which is weird because craft beer is such a strong category nationally. Since I’m the beverage manager, I oversee wine, beer and booze. Wine is my passion, but, I have an interest in all three categories. With the economy the way it is, liquor sales are also impacted. In my humble opinion, wine is the healthiest choice of the three, so I’m glad to see my people are looking out for their health!
I will be featuring sparkling wine on my YouTube channel immediately after Christmas. One will be solely Prosecco since it is such a hot ticket right now. I recently discovered a Cava that I will review in one of the episodes. Cava is such a value sparkler. I reviewed Dibon Cava in one of my episodes on budget-friendly wines for December parties recently. This is a classic example of what you can get from Spain at a stupid price.
I’m looking forward to 2024 and I’m waiting for some comments from you concerning trends you believe we will see in the wine world this coming year. Any help on this subject will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
