FRIDAY’S FIVE

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Stan The Wine Man

In a weeks time, I taste a boatload of wine (seriously). A lot of my friends think I’m lucky. Well, they’re right and I wouldn’t give this job up for the world. The only thing that makes my job hard, is my feeling of responsibility to taste the samples given to me as quickly as possible and to put my reviews either in my Moleskine, on my YouTube channel (Stan The Wine Man TV), or right here on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are five wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week.

2014 Awning Estates Cabernet Sauvignon Colchagua Valley (Apalta, Chile)… $12.

Aromas of dark cherries, licorice and tobacco with a touch of earth and hard candy coming through. Dark currants and earth on the palate supported by firm, approachable tannins front to finish. Good balance of acidity, fruit and tannins. Solid finish of leather, currants earth and tobacco. There is a touch of green twig action that lies underneath. Nice Cab at a stupid price. (B/B+)

2017 Weingut Heinrich Naked White (Austria)… $21.

Pineapple and orange citrus on the nose with a pinch of ginger. Funky Pineapple and apple notes front to the finish where apple dominates on the back-end, that has a slightly bitter edge. 68% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Blanc, 7% Neuburger, 5% Muscat Ottonel, 3% Gruner Veltliner (C+)

2015 Memaloose Idiot’s Grace Red (Columbia Valley, WA)… $20.

Aromas of raspberries, black olives, green olives, bark, black tea and chocolate with a touch of funk and a hit of cooked popcorn kernel. Black raspberries, cooked popcorn kernel and chocolate notes hit on the front of the palate, backed by solid, balanced acidity that gives the wine a crunchy feel in the mouth. Chocolate and black tea notes join up on the back of the mid-palate into the long finish. A nine in the delicious category. 34% Sangiovese, 33% Cabernet Franc, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon (B+)

2017 Fantini Sangiovese Terre Di Chieti (Abruzzo, Italy)… $14.

Roasted meat marinated in cherry juice on the nose with a little bark, tobacco and caramel thrown in. Licorice, currants and slight bark notes come through on the palate, supported by balanced acidity and tannins. There is a slight hit of caramel that sneaks in on the back of the mid-palate. Crisp and bright finish with hits of citrus. (C+/B-)

2017 Santa Barbara Winery Chardonnay (Santa Barbara County, CA)… $17.

Slight butter and oak notes on the nose. Butter and pear notes on the palate, supported by nicely integrated acidity front to finish. Oak notes sneak out a bit on the finish but stays in check. Nice and fresh, making it an excellent food Chardonnay. (B-/B)

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man



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BITS & BOBS

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Stan The Wine Man

Can anyone explain to me why a restaurant would refuse to offer Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay to their customers? A sales rep who calls on me told me about this place. I was stunned that someone who owns a business would actually let their wine snobbery, rob them not only of easy income, but also patrons. Evidently they feel that Cab and Chard are not worthy of their wine list. I sort of get it. As a person who runs a fairly successful wine department, I have many wines on the shelf that I wouldn’t drink myself. I won’t give specific examples of course, but the reason I have them their is for the customers who like those wines. They aren’t poorly made wines per se, I just am not interested in them for drinking. It would be irresponsible of me to take them off the shelf and lose customers because of it. There is some weirdness to this rant that I will get to now.

The said rep who told me this story shared a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Loire Valley in France. The Cab was lean, acidic and green. I don’t know about you, but that’s not what I’m looking for in a Cabernet. Of course, the sales rep loved the wine because as I’ve mentioned before, he is one of the acid/veggie freaks I have to deal with. He told me that the above restaurateurs added this very wine to their list because they liked it so much. Good for them! They are now proud owners of a wine list with one Cab on it that maybe 5% of their customers will like, and I’m being generous with 5%.

I have nothing against liking esoteric wines. I like quite a few myself. If I am craving a green thin style wine, I go for a Cab Franc from the Loire Valley, because that is what they are like on many occasions. I’m a big fan of whites with a ton of crushed or dusty rocks in their flavor profile. Think Sancerre, Muscadet, White Burgundy or Chablis. If I discovered a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with those characteristics I wouldn’t wipe my shelves clean of all the grapefruit bombs and only carry one NZ Sauv Blanc because it has what I like. That would be insane! I’m not a huge fan of the grapefruit driven Sauv Blancs out of NZ. However, I am well aware of their popularity and I provide many choices for my customers who like them. Giving people what they like is a huge responsibility that I take quite seriously. If one chooses to be a wine snob and owns a business that sells wine or runs a wine department, please make yourself a closet wine snob and only reveal yourself to people of like ilk. Your customers will be happy and your wine friends will be happy.

I do have to mention that as soon as I wrote about my new found success uploading my YouTube episodes, I ran into a snag. If you checked out my latest with Owen Thayer, you may have found that all you heard was the soundtrack and the video froze in the beginning. I was so frustrated, I thought about giving up. However, I persisted and found the problem. You can now watch the episode with soundtrack and video in harmony. It still takes time to load them up, but at least it is working. Check out my latest here.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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BITS & BOBS

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Stan The Wine Man

This has been a good week for me on the YouTube front. I posted an episode on Chilean Cabs finding a stellar example of what you can find in that part of the world. Quality juice for a prayer, check it out here. I also shot an episode with one of my sales reps to show you what I experience on a weekly basis at the store where they present wines to me hoping that I will find one that will work in the store from their bag of goods. Owen from Cavatappi Dist. was the first to volunteer to shoot an episode with me and we both thought it turned out well. That episode will be on the big screen tomorrow.

The most exciting news for me personally was a breakthrough in loading up my videos to my YouTube channel. As a lot of you know, since my move to a new house, I have been struggling with the time it takes to load an episode to my YouTube channel. I upgraded my video editing program and BOOM! Now it loads up in minutes, whereas it took days prior to the upgrade. I’m sure it has something to do with the formatting of the video before uploading. Anyway, it is a big relief and gives me the inspiration to continue on making informative and entertaining videos on wine. I hope you are enjoying them as much as I enjoy making them. There is always room for improvement, so any suggestions will be accepted with open arms.

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The 2016 vintage out of Bordeaux (and across Europe for that matter) is turning out to be an exceptional year for wine quality. Keep your eyes open for bargains from this vintage and give them a try. So far I have tasted only one that was marginal in quality. The rest have shown way above their pay grade. I’m still waiting to try the 2016 version of my #1 pick of the year under twenty bucks in 2018 which was a 2015 Bordeaux. I am getting ready to shoot an episode on this very subject which will be a review of three Bordeaux from this vintage. I almost rushed into doing it I was so excited! However, I calmed down and realized that I have some time to do a little more research to make the episode as informative as I can. I know, I am very geeky when it comes to wine, especially when it involves a classic vintage.

Speaking of classic vintages, I am hearing nothing but good things about the 2018 vintage out of Washington State. I have talked to a few winemakers and they concur. I have tasted quite a few Rose’ and whites and I am impressed with what I have found. It will be very exciting to get into the reds when they are released. I have a feeling that quite a few from 2018 will make it into my cellar.

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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FRIDAY’S FIVE…

Posted on August 16, 2019 by Stan The Wine Man

In a weeks time, I taste a boatload of wine (seriously). A lot of my friends think I’m lucky. Well, they’re right and I wouldn’t give this job up for the world. The only thing that makes my job hard, is my feeling of responsibility to taste the samples given to me as quickly as possible and to put my reviews either in my Moleskine, on my YouTube channel (Stan The Wine Man TV), or right here on Stanthewineman.com. Here for your reading pleasure, are five wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week

2016 Borie-Manoux Beau-Rivace Bordeaux (France)… $12.

Aromas of earth, candied red cherries and red flowers with a little dried cardboard coming through (not corked). Balanced, solid acidity supports notes of dirt, cranberries and candied cherries with a beam of citrus through the center into the finish. Not for the weak of heart. Very old world, classic inexpensive Bordeaux. (C)

2017 Pascual Toso Malbec (Mendoza, Argentina)… $15.

Tobacco, leather and cherries on the nose with a hit of wilted red flowers. Bright cherry notes on the palate with a kiss of cranberries. There is a candied element that comes through with wilted red flower notes on the lifted finish. (C-)

2018 Elsa Bianchi Malbec (San Rafael…Mendoza, Argentina)… $13.

Aromas of licorice, boysenberries, cinnamon and tobacco, with a little hit of bark and dried leaves. Boysenberry and plum notes expand from the front to the mid-palate than morphs into brooding dark fruit notes mingled with tobacco. There is a nice beam of acidity giving it a nice lift in the mouth. Good complexity for a Malbec for the money. I tried this after it had been opened three days and it only got better. I was impressed. (B+)

2018 The Vigilant Malbec (Central Valley, Chile)… $10.

Notes of cherries and plums on the nose with a hit of bark and hair perm action. Solid acidity on the palate (almost crunchy), supporting lifted plum and boysenberry notes with a little hit of tobacco underneath. Slight hit of candied blackberries join up on the mid-palate into the clean finish. The acidity is well-integrated but on the high side. (C+/B-)

2017 Weingut Heinrich Naked White (Austria)… $21.

Pineapple and oranges on the nose with a pinch of ginger. Funky pineapple and apple notes on the palate front to finish where the apple notes dominate on the back-end with a slight bitter edge. A true funk lovers white. 68% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Blanc, 7% Neuburger, 5% Muskat Ottonel, 3% Gruner Veltliner (C+)

Cheers!

Stan The Wine Man

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