BITS & BOBS

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Stan The Wine Man

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

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BITS & BOBS

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Stan The Wine Man

We are getting ever so close to Christmas, which means a lot of wine shoppers will be looking for hearty reds to go with their prime rib or a solid Pinot Noir to enjoy with their Christmas ham. I honestly love this time of year in the wine department. Cabernet Sauvignon will be the top choice for most wine drinkers, but I love the challenge of getting someone to try something just a little different. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cab myself. However, stretching palate horizons is what I’m all about. For instance, my “Pick Of The Month” for December, which is a red from Puglia, has enough depth and complexity, along with a touch of minerality that makes it a perfect match with food. Will it stand up to prime rib? Absolutely! And, it is only fifteen bucks. With the cost of meat right now, saving a few bucks on the wine side sounds good to me. I know many of you will want to seek out something a little more special and I get it, it’s Christmas. That said, I will be shooting an episode on possible wine choices to pair with prime rib or ham. They will not all be budget-friendly, but being who I am, most of my choices will be kind to the wallet.

I just put out an episode on YouTube featuring budget-friendly wines for December parties. This episode features bubbles and white wines. All four that I reviewed delivered a fantastic quality-to-price ratio. Check it out if you get a chance. Speaking of my YouTube channel (Stan The Wine Man TV), I am open to any suggestions from you, on what you would like to see me feature. What subjects interest you? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section. I have some ideas, but any help is welcome.

I’ve been thinking hard about possible buying trends for 2024. I had a discussion with Lauren, my Southern sales rep. and she came up with one that I hadn’t given any thought to. Non-alcoholic wine sales are really starting to take off. It isn’t necessarily because people are giving up on drinking wine. I’ve found that some people are seeking out n/a wine as a break in their consumption of fermented juice. The problem is finding decent non-alcoholic versions of wine. We have a few choices at the store, some better than others. I know there are more out there and I will do my best to find some of the good ones. With better techniques in producing n/a wines, I think we will find that the quality will get better in the near future. I will be shooting an episode on that very subject in 2024.

Another trend I think we’ll see next year will be growth in the Pet Nat category. Right now, it’s kind of a hipster thing, but I can see it making its way into the mainstream of wine drinkers. Pet Nat is a sparkling wine that has lighter bubbles and winemakers use this method for making wines of all types. The Pet Nat method is to bottle juice that has not finished fermenting. As it finishes fermentation, light bubbles are trapped in the bottle which is usually sealed with a pop cap, although a few producers use cork and cage. You get a little sparkle with your wine, which is different and kind of cool. I have quite a few choices in my department, including a Pet Nat Barbera which is very good. I think this will be a big trend in 2024. There will be others of course, so I will be writing an article with my thoughts on trends in 2024. I’ve been wrong in the past, the future is always hard to predict. But, that doesn’t stop me from trying.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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STAN’S PICK FOR DECEMBER 2023

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Stan The Wine Man

Actually, I already let the word out on this one in my article featuring my top twenty wines under twenty bucks for the year. This is my number one wine of the year in that category. As my #1 wine, I thought it would be appropriate to make it my December pick at the store and on this blog. So here it is.

2021 Albea Comeluna Puglia Rosso (Puglia, Italy)… $16.

Deep cherry notes come through on the nose, joined by notes of dried bark, earth and hints of cinnamon and licorice. Intense cherry notes on the palate that are balanced by nicely integrated acidity. Earth and dried bark notes sneak out on the mid-palate into the complex and long finish of cherry liqueur, licorice, and hints of chocolate, mingled with the earth notes. Such good balance. It wants to go big and bold, but the structured tannins and earth notes keep everything in check. 85% Nero di Troia and 15% Primitivo (A+)

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BITS & BOBS

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Stan The Wine Man

2023 is just about in the books. As you know, I’ve published my list of “Top Twenty Wines Under Twenty Bucks” for the year. Most interesting to me, was how many white wines are on that list. Five of the top ten are whites. That’s never happened on any of my past lists. As many winemakers have told me, it’s harder to make white wines than reds. One winemaker explained it to me this way. When making red wines, you have more chances to blend and tweak the wine until you get the results you want. With whites, unless it is a blend, you get one crack at it to get it right. Once it’s in the tank, you hope it comes out the way you anticipated. That being said, I’m actually impressed that so many whites found their way into my top twenty.

I’ve made up my mind as to who will be my winery of the year for 2024. I haven’t announced it yet, but I will soon. I’m very excited about the wines I’ve been trying from this Washington State producer. It’s a small winery that puts out some serious juice. They have just a few wines to choose from, all in the low to mid-twenty-dollar range. I’m super excited to meet the winemaker and try to set up a YouTube interview. He is focusing on Italian varietals and when Scott and I tried the Barbera, we were both blown away. There’s your cliffhanger, I’ll be announcing my choice closer to the end of December.

On my YouTube channel, I’m focusing on budget-friendly wines for December Christmas parties. The first episode went up last week and has garnered quite a few views. Episode two goes up today. I think that whenever you can find wines at reasonable prices that are well made, that is something almost every wine drinker is interested in. Somewhere along the way in my wine career, I’ve developed a knack for finding great values. Don’t get me wrong, I love to find awesome wines at all price points. However, being a person who comes from humble roots, I really do like to help people save money on their wine purchases if I can.

Speaking of my YouTube channel, I have 849 subscribers. YouTube is starting to put ads on a lot of my more popular episodes. When I hit one thousand subscribers, I start getting paid for those ads. That’s exciting! At the pace I’m going, I could hit one thousand by spring. It’s not the money so much, but the fact that they are already advertising quite a bit and I would like to get a part of that action since they are taking advantage of my popular episodes. It’s funny, when I started my channel years ago I had all these high aspirations. I was shooting one a day except on weekends. That took a lot of planning and, looking back, the content was let’s say, not of top quality. I was working solo and did not always put enough thought into what I was doing. I’ve calmed down since then and now I realize that one episode a week is where I want to be. There may be times I veer from that, but generally speaking, that is a comfortable goal for me. Now, I just have to start focusing on some of the technical things that will help my episodes get more attention. One episode (my most popular), has over nine thousand views… That’s crazy!

I hope to write an article that focuses on some of the trends in wine that we may see in 2024. I have a few ideas. Actually, I could use your help on this. If you would like to send me a comment on some of the things you’re seeing in the future of the wine world, I would love to hear it. As the old saying goes, two heads are better than one. A trend I do see happening in 2024, is an increased interest by consumers in Pet Nats. Pet Nat is a lightly sparkling wine that is not always white wine, it can be made from any varietal. Unlike Champagne or Prosecco, the wine is bottled before the fermentation is finished which gives it the bubbles in the bottle. A simplified explanation I know, but at least it helps you get the picture. More to come on that another time.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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