BITS & BOBS

I had the honor to interview Michael and Andrew Januik last week. The first segment of the interview is up on my channel, I hope you check it out. Andrew and I had a discussion about children following in the steps of their winemaking parents. In Europe, it’s expected that the kids carry on the winemaking tradition of the family. That is not necessarily the case in the U.S. We decided it would be interesting to have this discussion on my YouTube channel, and Michael was willing to be a part of it. Michael gave some interesting insights into why he believes that Andrew and his brother Don are now running the winery. Don handles the tasting room, marketing and the tech side of the winery and Andrew has taken over as head winemaker for both Januik and Novelty Hill. Andrew also shares what he believes lured him into the family business. It’s an extremely interesting discussion and I can’t tell you how many times the word “fun” was used by both Andrew and Michael.

While in Woodinville that day, I also stopped by Pomum Cellars and visited Javier while we tasted his wines and discussed what’s happening with the Washington wine scene. I also made a quick stop at Guardian Cellars’s tasting room and was floored by their Merlot. Expect to see that in the department soon. It still surprises me when I hear someone say they don’t drink Merlot. It has to be one of the better varietal wines that Washington State produces. I can remember when L’Ecole won gold medal after gold medal for their Merlot over the years. I think they are the ones who really made people aware of how well this grape expresses itself from our state. I believe I have said this before…The three best Merlot-producing regions are Bordeaux, Italy, and Washington State. I really do have to write a piece on Merlot!

We are searching for a third person for the wine department. It could be full or part-time. If you know of someone who would be interested or if you yourself are, come see me. It is a great opportunity and a fun environment to work in. Knowledge of wine is helpful but not required. I can teach you. When Scott came on board he knew very little about wine. Now look at him!

This will be a short article today as I have to get ready to catch a boat for a wine tasting in Seattle. l hope you have a great week.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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BITS & BOBS

Dry January is still a thing, one that I’m not so sure is always the right approach for individuals, especially if they hit February with an alcohol vengeance if you know what I mean. I like the approach I’ve heard about on some of the social media channels. It’s called “Damp January.” This approach makes more sense to me. Just limit how much alcohol you drink. Cut back a bit. Maybe take a day or two a week off from consuming wine, beer, or hard liquor. I know a lot of people like to prove to themselves that they have the self-control to stop drinking for a month; I get it. However, hitting it hard once January is over is not healthy. Just tone it down in January and maybe, just maybe, that will carry over into a new lifestyle. Now that’s healthy.

What are some trends we are expecting to see in the wine world this year? I’ve discussed a few and am looking for some input from my readers. One trend that I feel will develop over this year, is a shift toward Old World wines, something I’m observing in my department. What are old-world wines? They include wines from France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Croatia and England. I’m seeing a huge interest in Bordeaux wines as well as Cotes-Du-Rhone reds out of the Rhone Valley in France. This is interesting to me because although Bordeaux has been somewhat steady in sales over the years (it’s picking up even more now), Cotes-Du-Rhone reds have been hard for me to sell. Basically, they are GSM blends, Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre. In New World wines, the GSM category is on fire. However, I have witnessed a shift towards these Old World GSM reds. People are starting to catch on to the wonderful red blends from the Rhone Valley. I know a lot of you have always gravitated toward these wines. However,this has not been the case with the majority of my customers. Now, I can stack a Cotes-Du-Rhone red on the sales floor and it doesn’t stick around very long. I’m not sure if I’ve had anything to do with it, but I like it. I think I will devote an article to the Reds from the Rhone Valley in the near future.

I’ve been looking through some old notes in one of my Moleskines from years ago. It has inspired me with new ideas. For instance, in the past, I’ve spent some time writing about wine critics of which I am one. I wrote at one point that wine critics are like Zombies, people try to kill them, but they just won’t die. I think wine critics are important as long as they are doing it for the right reasons. I want to help people to spend their money wisely. By giving honest reviews, I try to guide my viewers (on YouTube) or my readers to a wine purchase that will satisfy them. It doesn’t matter if it’s a hundred bucks or ten bucks, I want them to avoid disappointment. I’ve always said it’s easier to be disappointed with a more expensive wine than a cheaper wine. However, even a bad wine at ten dollars is something I don’t want anyone to experience. I’m not sure all wine critics look at it the way I do. There is one famous wine critic who actually charges wineries to send him samples. Now that’s crazy! It makes you wonder what his motive for reviewing wines is. That is what I refer to as an Ivory Tower Critic. It’s about money and being a celebrity. Personally, if I owned a winery, I would never pay a critic to review my wines. I will expound a bit more on my thoughts about wine critics in the next Bits & Bobs article.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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BITS & BOBS

If you had told me when I was in my early twenties that being a wine steward, blogger, and wine YouTuber would be my career, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. I grew up in a family with six kids. My mom had no money to spare (although she was good with money); she bought what we needed to be comfortable, and wine was never on our dinner table. I have only one memory of my mom and Cold Duck (it’s not a good memory, by the way); other than that, I never saw my mother or stepfather, for that matter, drink wine. So, to be where I am today is quite amazing when I give it some thought. My passion for wine and the wine world runs deep. I love sharing that passion with others. For instance, my YouTube channel is there for that very purpose. Of course, I love to help people spend their wine dollars wisely, but I also love to educate them about the wine world. I’m not the kind of person to show my passion outwardly, but it’s there and I hope that you and others see and feel it. There’s so much to learn and I know that personally I will continue to educate myself on this fascinating subject. I hope stay with me on this incredible journey.

Speaking of journeys, Susie and I are starting to talk about a trip to Portugal and maybe a side trip to Rioja. Some of the most amazing values in wine come out of Portugal. I bring quite a few into Kings for displays and they do quite well. I intend to expand my Portugal wine section. It is quite small now, mostly because my customers don’t seek them out while shopping. Italian, Spanish and French wines are very popular, but not so much with wines from Portugal. It’s my job to guide wine buyers to the great values that are coming out of this small country. I’m glad to have my wife Susie at my side, the best trip planner I know. We will start to hammer out the details for the trip soon.

The two episodes I recently posted on my YouTube channel about aging budget-friendly wines garnered some amazing results. I think you will see it in my face as I tried some fairly inexpensive wines that were at least thirteen years old or older. 2011 was the youngest wine I tried in those episodes. It proves to me, that a wine does not have to be expensive to age. I hope you take some time to watch parts one and two; they are intriguing and may inspire you to seek out some wines to tuck away in your stash and see how they turn out in five to ten years. I would especially like to inspire younger wine buyers to come to me for advice on wines that will age and not break the bank.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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BITS & BOBS

On Saturday, I shot an episode on aging budget-friendly wines. It will go live today at 8 am. The last episode I did on this subject three years ago has garnered close to 10,000 views. It’s obviously a hot topic, so I crawled under my house and dug through my cellar to find some of the older wines I tucked away that were under fifteen bucks. This has been a passion of mine, which started early in my wine career. I love to see how inexpensive wines age. That being said, I don’t just put any wine in my cellar that’s cheap to see what will happen. The wine has to have components that indicate it could improve with age. What are those components? Structure is the key! It has to have a balance of three key ingredients. Acid, fruit and tannins. Acidity is super important as it is the backbone of aging. Alcohol, acidity and tannins act as preservatives in wine to help it age. However, they have to be in balance with each other. If these components are in harmony, the wine should age nicely regardless of the price. I have had a lot of success with this over the years. This latest episode, which comes out today, will be a two-parter. Check out the episodes, I think you will find them very interesting. Here is a link to my channel so you can find it easily.

I am working with Andrew Januik on a time to run down to Woodinville and interview him for my YouTube channel. His father Michael, is also going to be part of the show, which is very exciting! The main subject will be kids who follow in the footsteps of their winemaking family. In Europe, it is expected that the children will take over the winemaking duties of their parent or parents, which goes on for generations. Not so much here in the U.S. Andrew has taken over the winemaking at Januik and Novelty Hill Wineries with the mentoring of his father. Michael still has a part, of course; he, like so many of us in the wine world, has to be around it. I am looking forward to interviewing both of them on this subject. Stay tuned.

I’ve read recently that wine consumption is flat or down in the U.S., a trend that seems to be gaining momentum. I believe this is somewhat deceptive for a very good reason. As we all know, the Hispanic population is burgeoning in the United States. Most of my Hispanic friends are not wine drinkers. As I’ve observed in my department, they are not that interested in wine. Maybe a sweet wine like Roscato or Moscato every now and then, but that’s about it. I think the real indicator of what is going on in this regard is the fact that Modelo Beer is the #1 brand in the U.S. right now. The increase in the population of Hispanics who do not drink wine would dilute the stats. Based on my observations in my department, wine drinkers are still drinking as much wine as they always have. Of course, Dry January puts a dent in sales (although, this seems to be losing steam). It could be, in the future that the Hispanic population in our country will eventually gravitate towards wine consumption as they meld into our customs. Who knows, the future will tell the story. I’m waiting for someone to come out with some real-time statistics on this. I’m just going on what I see happening in my world.

Coming up on my YouTube channel this month and February will be a blind Petite Sirah tasting, a review of the wines from Sage Rat, my winery of the year, and, of course, my interview with Andrew and Michael Januik. I recently did a food and wine pairing on my channel. It was a pizza and wine pairing that seems to be a popular subject matter. Not necessarily because it was pizza, but I think many of you are interested in wine and food pairings. It’s a little tougher to put together such episodes, but I think I will try and do a few more of those in the future. What are your thoughts? If there are any other ideas for episodes on my YouTube channel, I would love to hear from you.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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