Every month I select a wine to feature in the store I work at. It is simply called Stan’s Pick for…. Let’s say July. Normally I write it up on this very blog, a task I’ve been neglecting the past couple of months. For the month of October which has come and gone, my pick was High Heaven Merlot from Washington State. October is “National Merlot Month” so I’ve focused on this varital not only at the store but also by doing a four-part blind tasting challenge on my YouTube channel. Washington State vs. California Merlot. It was a tie game going into episode 4, where a clear winner emerged. It was actually closer than I thought it was going to be. I’m a huge fan of Washington State Merlot but I came away from this series with a deeper respect for what is coming out of California. In this four-part blind tasting challenge, I talk quite a bit about the varietal and why it suffered a demise in the early part of the twenty-first century. You may want to check it out.
I think I’ve mentioned that Susie and I adopted a teenage cat. She has definitely been a challenge, especially in the early morning hours. She is a sweetheart and a brat at the same time. Koko (that’s her name) has succeeded in waking me up before 5 am just about every morning since we brought her home ten weeks ago. I’m a morning person for sure, but she is starting to wear me down a bit. I’ve taken more naps in the past couple of weeks on my days off than I have in a long time. I’m hardly a fan of naps, I think they are a waste of my time. However, Koko has enlightened me on the value of a short nap in the middle of the day. I’m hitting the keyboard, writing this article at 5:45 am after about thirty minutes of play-time with Koko. She is lying on the table in front of me as I write, looking as cute as ever. Both Susie and I look forward to her reaching adulthood and hopefully, she settles down somewhat. I do agree with my wife that it is nice to have another soul in the house.
I recently reached five hundred subscribers on my YouTube channel. This is a milestone for me and I am stoked that there are that many people who are enjoying my content. One thing I need to do is map out what I want to accomplish on my channel each month. One Youtuber I follow says she scripts each month ahead of time. Not a bad idea if I say so myself. I admit that planning things out like that is not my forte’. However, I think we are never too old to change our ways, so I am going to give it a go and see if it helps me improve my content. I know for sure that a decanting episode is in the works. I’ve been trying to pry some ideas out of my viewers, but they have been reluctant to help me out. If any of you who read this blog would like to share some ideas, I am open to suggestions. I do like to have guests on my channel and I haven’t had any lately. It might be time to have Mike back on and do another blind tasting episode together. The last time we blind-tasted Cab Franc a varietal we both like very much. I’ve also been thinking that it’s time to have my assistant Scott on and talk about his progression from the editor of our local paper to wine assistant in a busy department. That could be interesting.
Cheers!
Stan The Wine Man
