The Shape of Things to Come: Restaurant Wine Sales Post-COVID
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, we are the 3rd most […]
Import Wine Tariffs
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. (where the WTO found the […]
Natty, but Nice
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: Fast forward to the winter of 2020, and the ‘natural wine thing’ is more than a trend; […]
Changing Tastes or Taste Changing?
Those reading this that aspire to get some industry credentials—Master of Wine, Certified Sommelier, Master Sommelier, Certified Wine Educator, WSET Level II and Level III to name some—are well aware that part of the process/testing to acquire such post-nominals requires a blind tasting component, in addition to the various multiple choice, short answer, and essay […]
Sake: The Other White Wine
Geek assumes that those reading this are well aware that sake is way more than that scalding -hot stuff out of a bag-in-box at Benihana. Though that beverage has its place, it is not very similar to the premium sakes being produced in Japan today. Premium ‘Special Designation Sake’ (Tokutei Meisho-shu) is a whole ‘nuther […]
Bang for the Buck?
Finding Value in the wine world is very akin to playing Whack-a-Mole…and right now, the Mole is sticking his head out of certain French terroirs. France is the ceremonial home of premium wine. Indeed, many, many of the world’s greatest wines—and all of the uber-expensive wines—hail from this oh-so-lovely country. Of course, France has always […]
Merlot’s ‘Time Out’ is Over
The Return… Two of the most famous movie lines of all time are “I’ll be back” (Arnold Schwarzenegger The Terminator 1984) and “I’m not drinking any ******* Merlot!” (Paul Giamatti Sideways 2004). Fast forward to 2018 and we noticed a new movie coming out titled I’m Back Bitches. We’re wondering if it is about Merlot…because […]
Red Wine: on the Rocks?
Beyond ‘Room Temperature’, Geek is increasingly being subjected to wines being served by restaurants at the wrong temperature—from way too cold to downright hot! Like the rest of Michiganders, Wine Geek enjoyed a particularly lovely and warm summer this year. Not much to complain about with one exception: the warm temperatures sometimes migrated indoors—especially in […]
Don’t Kick the Can – Wine Geek
There’s a big buzz right now (no pun intended) regarding canned wine. It’s the latest and greatest wine trend currently (well, other than rosé). It’s a cool category which by all indications is about to explode. So Wine Geek—who always loves to tell our customers what they are missing—will shed some light on the trend. […]