STAN’S PICK FOR JANUARY 2023

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Stan The Wine Man

Every month, I pick a wine that I feature in my department for the entire month. The criteria for my pick is really quite simple. The wine needs to overdeliver for the price. The jargon used in the wine world is qpr or quality-to-price ratio. Some months are harder than others. I challenge all the sales reps who call on me to come up with a wine that will qualify as my pick for the month. I try to keep it at under fifteen dollars retail, which makes it a bit tougher. Last month, Nate came with a gem from California that rolls in at ten bucks.

2018 Mon Frere Winery Cabernet Sauvignon (California)… $!0.

Aromas of dark cherries and currants with a kiss of toast, licorice, and spice. Dark cherry and currant notes pop on the front of the palate, supported by soft, structured tannins. Toast and spice notes join up on the mid-palate into a decently long finish where warm spice notes linger. Nice integration and balance, this is a fantastic value for ten bucks. They give this baby a regular price of nineteen bucks. It’s certainly not a twenty-dollar Cab, but it’s a steal at ten. (B-)

2018 Mon Frere Winery Cabernet Sauvignonn

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

Posted in Main, Stan's Pick of the Month | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BITS & BOBS

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Stan The Wine Man

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

Posted in Bits & Bobs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BITS & BOBS

Posted on July 12, 2022 by Stan The Wine Man

As expected, it has been hectic at the store. The weather didn’t cooperate for the 4th of July, but that didn’t stop people from coming to visit our beautiful island. Every year, I get caught off-guard with specific categories of wine that take-off during the summer months. You’d think after all the years I’ve been doing this, I would have things dialed in. Who knew that everyone and their uncle would be buying sparkling wine for the 4th this year. That section got wiped out almost immediately. I prepared for red wine to sell since the weather, which was forecast to be cooler and rainy, would favor Cabs and red blends. But no; everyone seemed to be in a festive mood and wanted to pop the bubbles or have an Aperol spritzer. One thing is sure; people can be unpredictable!

Another thing I didn’t take into consideration is the price of gasoline. Boaters were not in abundance as they usually would be this time of year. At six or more bucks a gallon, I don’t even want to think about how much it would cost to fill up a good-sized yacht. Therefore, the boxed wine sales waned (yes, even people with yachts buy boxed wine), which I did not anticipate. Needles to say, I have enough boxed wine left over after the 4th to get me through the next couple of weeks. Even a seasoned vet like myself can’t think of everything.

My wife Susie and I are getting very excited about our upcoming trip to France, which includes a stop in Paris and then on to the Rhone Valley. We will head to Lyon first, then on to Avignon and ending in Nice. Neither of us has been to the heart of the Rhone Valley, although Susie has been to Nice in the past. Of course, there will be some winery visits involved. It will be very close to harvest, so I don’t expect to chat with any winemakers. Most likely and hopefully I will have a tour guide who will show me around the winery. Good enough for me! Susie is fervently planning our itinerary, she is the best.

I have been quiet on my YouTube channel lately. I appreciate how important it is to put up fresh content on a regular basis. However, it is always difficult during the summer months due to the increase in demands on my schedule. I did shoot an interesting episode on vegan wines with Mike Sharadin who owns a vegan restaurant in the heart of Friday Harbor. I also put out an episode featuring Greek whites. Greek whites (sans Retsina) are starting to gain in popularity, and the two I reviewed are quite interesting.

In the next few episodes, I will focus on wines from Portugal, one of the most misunderstood wine regions in the world, yet they produce some of the best values you can find. Of course, Port and Vinho Verde are well known, but that is just scratching the service of wines Portugal produces. I have a feeling it’s the grape varietals that throw people off. What the hell is Fernao Pires, Roupeiro, Arinto or Loureiro? Those are a few white varietals that come out of this country. For red varietals you may see on the label Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Castelao or Trincadeira. Consumers sometimes avoid buying something they are uncomfortable with, mainly because they don’t know what it is. I’ve put out a few stacks of Portuguese wines at the store with measured success. I love it when people experiment with new things, especially when it comes to wine. The cool thing about Portugal is the wines are, in most cases, priced right. It will be fun to feature them on my YouTube channel and hopefully pique people’s interest to go out and purchase a few bottles and expand their palate horizons.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

Posted in Bits & Bobs, Main | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BITS & BOBS

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Stan The Wine Man

One has to wonder why things happen the way they do in our lives. For instance, a group of us were up in the warehouse recently, talking about someone we knew, but haven’t seen in a while. Low and behold, when I went downstairs to the store guess who was shopping? If one pays attention, this kind of thing happens more than we dare to think. Another example of this strange phenomenon. In the past month or so, many samples of wine have been put in front of me to try. In most cases, there is quite a variety of wines to muse over. Strangely enough, two varietals have been presented repeatedly by different vendors… Chenin Blanc and Mencia. Neither of these varietals is what I would call mainstream. What are the chances that four different reps in the span of a month would place a bottle of Mencia in front of me to try? Granted, one of them landed as my “Pick Of The Month” for June and it has been doing quite well. However, I don’t foresee Mencia being the new hot item in the wine world. The same could be said about Chenin Blanc. Yet, both varietals have been presented to me consistently over the past couple of months. Coincidence? Maybe, but it does make you wonder.

I took up running again. I was an avid runner about ten years ago, but something happened in my life that took the wind out of my running sails. About a month ago, I decided it was time to get back to doing something that I really enjoyed in the past. Because of my personality, I have to be careful not to get out of balance. Running is a great way to stay fit and healthy, but I can’t let it take away from other aspects of my life. I actually planned on running this morning, but I have been neglecting my blog and I needed to write this piece. I had to make a decision… Run or write? I think for me, the problem lies in this fact. I’m fearful that if I skip a day, I will then skip two days, which will turn into a week and then a month. Before I know it, I have stopped my running routine. Silly you say? I bet a lot of you have gone through the same type of thought process at some point in your life. Both running and writing are hard, obviously in a different way. Running is a physical and mental challenge, whereas writing is simply a mental challenge. There have been times when I feel that mentally writing is in fact harder than running.

Summer has finally arrived! After a cold and wet spring, the warmth of the sun is a nice change. The grass likes it too. With all the water in the ground, once the sun starts shining, you can almost see the grass grow. I love to mow grass, it’s kind of therapeutic for me. However, I have had enough mowing therapy for now. Fortunately, in a couple of weeks, the growth will slow down as the grass and ground dry up. Then, I will have more time to write. I have to say that between running, mowing, or writing, mowing is the easiest.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

Posted in Bits & Bobs | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment