In response to Executive Order 2020-04, declaring a state of emergency across the state of Michigan concerning the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Great Lakes Wine & Spirits has taken the following action steps to ensure the safety of our employees and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with OSHA and CDC recommendations:
Implement Basic Infection Prevention MeasuresFor Michigan Coronavirus/COVID-19 information and updates go to https://www.michigan.gov/Coronavirus
Over the past 40 years (!), Geek has had the extraordinarily good fortune to have visited many (most) of the wine world’s classic regions. In addition to producing some amazing wines, most of these places are incredibly beautiful as well: think Tuscany, Alto Adige, Provence, New Zealand, South Africa, Napa, …
In Napa, Prices and Risks are Up, Interest is Down… The numbers are a bit squishy, but depending on how one defines ‘winery’ there are almost 500 physical wineries or wine brands with dedicated tasting rooms, but there are north of 1,700 wine brands producing Napa Valley wines (and …
‘What’s Behind Door #2?’ Hint: not beer Big Beer Isn’t Happy: Seltzers & RTD’s Continue Their March Towards ‘Cold Box’ Dominance The Cold Box. Our retail customers know how important their reach-in coolers are: over 90% of guests that enter a store purchase something from the cold box, whether a …
Whether it’s for health, control or fashion, low ABV products are here to stay. Few would argue that consumers are more attuned to health & diet and what goes into our bodies than ever before. Millennials in particular seem to be more committed to healthful lifestyles than say, their …
Tuscany As has been noted in all of our previous Wine Geek on the Road posts, it seems that most of the world’s great wine regions happen to be beautiful. Think Napa Valley, Santa Barbara, Stellenbosch, Central Otago, Piedmont…and Tuscany. Add to this (and/or because of this), wine tourism …
Clean Wine As if the whole Natural Wine thing doesn’t confuse people enough, the new allusions to ‘clean wine’ are also creating some questions and accusations. Avoiding the obvious fact that trolls tend to dominate the twitter-sphere these days, twitter blew up a few weeks ago when Actress Cameron Diaz—with …
The Shape of Things to Come: Restaurant Wine Sales Post-COVID The United States is the largest wine market in the world. This has been a long time coming. Of course, our position as the #1 wine market in the world in linked to our population: at about 330 million people, …
Those of us involved in the import wine business have endured a few months of agita this winter, which was reduced—but not eliminated—in February. In case some readers are not fully aware, here is the background: As a result of two separate trade spats between the U.S. and the E.U. …
RASPBERRY BRAMBLE The Classic Bramble is well documented as the crown queen of cocktails. This delicious concoction was created in London at Fred’s Club by bartender Dick Bradsell in 1984. The Bramble is straightforward Gin Sour with the addition of Crème de Mure. It is said that this drink was …
Natural wines continue to intrigue and—happily—are getting a little less ‘natural’ A few years ago—as the ‘Natural Wine’ thing was beginning to posit itself as part of the mainstream, not exactly an acolyte, Wine Geek offered his opinions: (https://www.glwas.com/blog/2016/emperors-new-clothes-natural-wine-taste-un-natural/) Fast forward to the winter of 2020, and the …
Over the past 40 years (!), Geek has had the extraordinarily good fortune to have visited many (most) of the wine world’s classic regions. In addition to producing some amazing wines, most of these places are incredibly beautiful as well: think Tuscany, Alto Adige, Provence, New Zealand, South Africa, Napa,…
Over the past 40 years (!), Geek has had the extraordinarily good fortune to have visited many (most) of the wine world’s classic regions. In addition to producing some amazing wines, most of these places are incredibly beautiful as well: think Tuscany, Alto Adige, Provence, New Zealand, South Africa, Napa, the Sonoma Coast to name the obvious ones. So, when Geek is asked ‘what is the most beautiful wine region?’, it’s not an easy answer: they are all beautiful in different ways. But when Geek is asked ‘what is your favorite wine region to visit?’, that’s easy: Piedmont in northwest Italy. Indeed, we were just there for our 12th or 13th visit; more visited by Geek than any other region than Napa Valley. Piedmont (foot…
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