BITS & BOBS…

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Stan The Wine Man

I’ll get this out-of-the-way right away. I am so stoked that the Eagles beat the Patriots that words cannot express how I feel. For all of you that know me, you know I have hated the Patriots since I was in grade school. It has nothing to do with Brady or anyone currently on that team. I’ve just never liked them. Come to find out, my brother confessed that he actually liked Steve Grogan and the Patriots back in the day. It took every ounce of self-control not to throw him out of the house. That aside, it was a very fun Superbowl to watch. The highest offensive yardage total in Superbowl history. Hard to believe, since the Eagles have one of the best defenses in the NFL. At least their defense came through during the Patriots last possession! At least I can watch Sportscenter now without hearing over and over again about how great Brady is. Phew!

I actually had a sales rep tell me that I was weird. He was referring to his inability to nail the wines that I am looking to buy for the store. He brings samples and maybe one out of ten come close to what I am looking for. One thing I think he fails to understand is that I am not looking for wines that I like. I am looking for wines that my customers will like. There are wines out there that I love, but I would be hard pressed to sell them at the store. I have become accustomed to what most of my customers like and I try to please at least 80% of them when I make a purchase. I have a few friends/customers who like different styles of wine that are not in the eighty percentile. I have wines for them as well, but they don’t move out as fast as the others. When my department has three or four of these taking up space, I have to hold back from buying any more until those are gone. I’m talking wine stacks here, not shelf space. My advice to all my reps is to try to learn my philosophy for purchasing and bring me wine that fits into that philosophy. Most of the reps who come to me do an excellent job, but there are still a few who think they can convince me to buy something from them that they are totally stoked about. It doesn’t work that way and it never will.

I noticed quite a few of you watched my interview with Ryan Crane on You Tube.. Ryan is one cool cat and I love his approach to wine making. His wines (Kerloo Cellars) are unique and everyone who I’ve shared them with, loved them. Although they are not in the inexpensive category, they are a tremendous value for what you get. They could demand a higher price tag, but Ryan wants his wines to be accessible to as many as possible. I am going to continue to write about his winery throughout the year. As my 2017 “Winery of the Year”, Kerloo Cellars deserves as much attention as possible. There is more to come, so stay tuned.

Susie and I are getting very excited for our trip to South Africa! Believe it or not, it is only two months away. I have on my itinerary a visit to Indaba Winery, Excelsior, Constantia Glen and Simonsig. I hope to interview a few wine makers and of course will be documenting the trip for my You Tube channel. I will also be writing some articles related to the trip on my two blogs, stanthewineman.com and The Blue Collar Wine Guy. We also plan on taking in all the sites around Cape Town and Franschhoek as well as go on a safari. Susie will visit some of the wineries with me, but I will not ask her to endure all of them. She is very supportive of what I do in the wine world, and I am very supportive of her individuality. Bloody hell, it seems to be working quite nicely!

Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man

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FRIDAY’S THIRTEEN….

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Stan The Wine Man

A boatload of wine

A boatload of wine

In a weeks time, I taste a boatload of wine (seriously). I 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 thirteen wines that I have reviewed in my Moleskine (good or bad), this past week.

2013 Borgo Del Tiglio Collio Blanco (Italy)… $27.

Aromas of diesel and wet stone with a splash of melon, oregano and walnuts. Very herbal and melon driven on the palate with an underscore of lemon and wet stone. Good acidity with a hit of mixed nuts on the expanding finish. This white has excellent balance…Think shellfish. A blend of Friulano, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling (B+/A-)

2015 Podere Ruggeri Corsini Langhe Bianco (Piedmonte, Italy)… $15.

Aromas of lemon, white flowers, melon and a touch of apple. Loads of apple notes on the palate with a backdrop of peach and a good dose of minerals. Lemon notes sneak in on the back-end joined by a little hit of apple skin. A blend of Arneis, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. (B/B+)

2015 Domaine Sainte Marie Des Crozes “L’Outsider” Cabernet Franc (Languedoc, France)… $13.

Rose petal, violets and cherries on the nose with hits of licorice and toast. Green salad all day on the palate with a big splash of tart cherry juice and a pinch of licorice. Solid acidity that is well-integrated with the fruit. Red flower notes show up on the mid-palate big time with blackberry leaves joining in on the finish. (B-)ves

2016 Chateau Val-Jonaise Rose` (Cotes Du Luberon, France)… $16.

Aromas of apple, melon, cherries and a touch of herbs. Round cherry and apple notes up front that immediately go dry on the palate into an apple, cherry, melon finish with an edge of herbs. (B-/B)

2016 Klinker Brick “Bricks and Roses” Rose` (Lodi, CA)… $15.

Watermelon, cherries and a big hit of peach on the nose. Bone dry on the palate with apple and peach notes front to finish on a strong backbone of acidity. Some wet stone and pink flower action on the finish. 38% Grenache, 30% Carignan, 24% Syrah, 8% Mourvedre (B+)

2015 Field Recordings Tommy Town Vineyard Red (Happy Canyon, CA)… $22.

Toasty cherries and plums on the nose with a little Sugar Baby action in the background. Plush notes of dark cherries and blackberries on the palate with a little hint of chocolate sneaking in. There is a nice clean edge that lifts the fruit notes, with a hit of licorice that joins up on the mid-palate into the fresh finish. Good balance and structure. 90% Carignan, 5% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon (B/B+)

2015 Chateau Roc De Lefraut Bordeaux Superieur (Bordeaux, France)… $10.

Aromas of a burnt stick dipped in Smores with a splash of blackberries and currants. Currants all day on the palate with a prominent burnt stick component underneath. Currant notes expand on the mid-palate and dry out on the finish with hits of tobacco and a good dose of minerality. Burnt wood and tobacco notes linger. (B-)

2015 Chateau Roustaing Reserve Bordeaux (Bordeaux, France)… $10.

Cherries, currants, leather and tobacco on the nose. Currants, rose petal, violets and tobacco on the palate front to finish with the tobacco notes taking over. There is a nice fruit hit on the mid-palate that goes away on the crushed rock and tobacco finish with a hit of green tobacco joining in. (C+/B-)

2014 Gnarly Head Chardonnay (California)… $9.

Aroma of pineapple and pear with a hint of butter. Pear and baking spice notes on the palate with a hit of pineapple underneath. Subtle and fresh with good balance. Apple notes hit on the mid-palate into the finish where it mingles with the pear. Oak is a silent partner. (B-)

2014 Irony Small lot Reserve Pinot Noir Black (Monterey, CA)… $13.

Toasty blackberries and plums on the nose with a solid hit of currants. Currants all day on the palate with hits of chocolate and white pepper underneath. There is a nice red cherry hit on the mid-palate with licorice and tobacco notes joining up on the finish. Good balance of acidity and fruit. 10% Syrah (B-)

Non-Vintage Drappier Champagne Brut Nature (Champagne, France)…$55.

Aromas of almonds and apples with a hint of bread dough and lemon. Laser sharp and dry on the palate Lemon notes dominate front to finish with underlying notes of apples and yeast. (B+/A-)

2014 Drouhin Rose Rock Chardonnay (Eola-Amity Hills, OR)… $32.

A big splash of mint on the nose with pears and wet stone thrown in. There are hints of stainless steel and licorice. Intense licorice and sage notes on the palate, blended with notes of apple, pear and wet stone. Excellent structure and balance. A little closed, but some age will show its true colors. (B+/A-)(

2015 Tedeschi Valpolicella Classico “Lucchine” (Veneto, Italy)… $13.

Aromas of vanilla, violets, licorice and blackberries with a little spice action. Blackberries and red berries on a bed of wet stones backed by a spine of acidity that is well-integrated with the fruit. Red flower notes join on the top of the mid-palate into the finish where mineral notes linger. (B-)

Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man

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BITS & BOBS…

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Stan The Wine Man

I took the opportunity to visit Kerloo Cellars in Seattle, they are located in the Sodo Urban Works complex off of 1st Ave. (3911 1st Ave. South). It’s a cool location that is home to at least 8 wineries. Some are simply tasting rooms and some like Kerloo Cellars actually make their wine there. If you are in Seattle and have some time, check it out, it’s worth the stop (really easy to find). Kerloo Cellars is my 2017 Winery of The Year, so I wanted to go down and see the winery and interview Ryan Crane for my You Tube channel. It was a fun interview and Ryan expressed his wine making philosophy and how he got to where he is today. I will be putting that up on You Tube tomorrow. If you haven’t tried his wines yet, you are missing out on some of the best I’ve tasted out of Washington State.

As our South Africa trip inches closer and closer, I feel a little tightness in my gut. It is only two and a half months away! It’s a place I am very excited to visit, but at the same time, it is a hell of a long way across the globe. Come to find out, Cape Town is experiencing a serious water shortage and may have tight restrictions around the time we get there if they don’t get some rain. Susie and I will just go with the flow (no pun intended) and do whatever is required. However, the timing is impeccable. Our itinerary still has a couple of gaps, but over-all we are booked up. We will be visiting at least three wineries, possibly four. I will be shooting quite a bit of footage to put up on You Tube. It will be fun times and there will be lots of new experiences and beautiful scenery.

Speaking of S.A., at a recent tasting event, it was a South African wine that stole the show and it was only eight bucks. Seriously! It was the 2015 Indaba Mosaic, a red blend that had quite a bit of Petit Verdot. The interesting thing about this wine is the need to decant it before it comes out in full bloom. I believe it is the Petit Verdot that needed the breathing time. It’s good straight out of the bottle, but give it some time and…WOW! The ’16 and ’17 vintages do not have that much P.V. in them so I will have to give a report on how they are doing. The ’15 vintage looks to be sold out, no doubt due to my wine group.

I am very curious as to why putting banana in the descriptor of a wine seems to turn people off. I believe it is because people associate banana with sweet, so they think the wine has a sweeter side. Time for me to clarify. A wine can have the flavor of banana or peach or whatever and it doesn’t have anything to do with the sweetness of the wine. I know it can be hard to wrap your mind around this concept. I like to use the example of vanilla. Vanilla extract smells sweet. However if you take a hit off a bottle, sweet is not what you get. Flavor is a flavor and has nothing to do with sugar levels. The problem is that a majority of wine shoppers do not understand this, so I leave banana off my descriptor nine times out of ten. If anyone can come up with a better explanation, I would be happy to hear it.

Roger Federer won the Australian Open this past weekend and it seems to me to be a bad omen for the upcoming Super Bowl. Roger, like the Patriots has won his fair share of championships, albeit on his own. If the Patriots win, it will be a team effort not an individual effort. However, my point is that I think Roger winning is a sign that the Patriots will again be Super Bowl champions. Of course you all know I loathe the Patriots and hope the Eagles can pull off a victory. As it stands now, my prediction for the Super Bowl is…. Patriots 35 – Eagles 28. I only hope that I’m wrong, and will have to eat my words in my next Bits & Bobs.

Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man

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BITS & BOBS…

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Stan The Wine Man

It is really hard to get excited about the Super Bowl when the Patriots are in it once again. Let’s face it. They have been fined by the NFL for cheating twice. The head coach was caught spying on another opponent’s practice prior to their game and then the quarterback was caught deflating footballs to give him an advantage. My question is…Why do all the sport channels avoid bringing any of this up? Who’s to say that they are not still finding a way to have an unfair advantage? Granted, Tom Brady is a Hall Of Fame quarterback. It would be foolish to think otherwise. He is the master of the 5 yard pass and then watches the receiver turn that into a forty yard pass. His accuracy past 30 yards is certainly not as good as many of the top quarterbacks, but the Hall of Fame does not have an asterisk for that. I will watch the Super Bowl as I always do, and I will join the millions of other watchers who are only hoping the Eagles can thump them. I have a bad feeling in my stomach this will not happen. There will be joy in the land if it does.

We had a wine tasting earlier in the month, and I was impressed that many who attended liked the M. Chapoutier “Belleruche” Cotes-du-Rhone. In the past, Cotes-du-Rhone has been a tough sell to my group of wine folk. It has always been hard for me to understand this. Basically Cotes-du-Rhone is a GSM blend (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre) with slight variations depending on the producer and the vintage. Of course, it is old world, so it might have a savory side that many new world versions don’t. You might get some tobacco notes, earth, leather, you get the picture. However, many of them have very little of this, which makes it more appealing to the new world palate. GSM blends are on fire right now, especially from the new world. What many don’t realize is that there are some screaming deals coming from southern Rhone for half the price of new world versions. For example; two CDR made it in the top 15 of my “Top Forty Wines Under Twenty Bucks” list for 2017. Neither one of them demands more than thirteen bucks. That’s insane! I have one in the store right now and it is only $10. I also have on order, ten cases of my #1 pick (correct vintage) and according to my distributor, it is going to roll in at around $13 and, it is a Cotes-du-Rhone. Check my list out on the “Blue Collar Wine Guy” blog. Don’t miss the chance to get your hands on a couple of bottles, I know I will.

I had an interesting discussion with a friend the other day, and while we were talking I realized something I hadn’t given much thought to until recently. As a wine critic, one cannot allow preconceived notions or personal preference dictate ones judgement of a wine. There are basic elements I look for in a wine. Structure, balance, complexity and solid integration of all the elements in the wine. I also try to wrap my mind around what the wine maker is seeking to achieve, what message they are trying to convey. This really came to light for me when I was reviewing the Kerloo Cellars Chardonnay on You Tube which will be out tomorrow. At first I was so caught off guard by the wine that I didn’t know what to think about it. After ruminating for a minute and re-tasting, it started to come to me. Yes, the wine had good structure, balance and loads of complexity. Yes, it was well put together. The problem was, I had a preconceived idea about Washington State Chard and that affected my initial judgment. What I had to wrap my mind around was, what was Ryan Crane seeking to achieve with this Chardonnay? It was then that I realized that he was attempting to make an old world style wine from the new world. Chablis immediately came to mind once I backed up a bit and thought about it. Kerloo Cellars Chardonnay was very much like a very good Chablis! No oak, possibly fermented in concrete tanks with solid acidity and integration. As a critic judging wines, it is our responsibility to divorce ourselves from our own preferences and preconceived ideas and simply let the wine speak for itself.

Go Eagles!

Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man

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