I could never, ever, ever work on the distribution side of things in this business. Eventually, my indie-artisan high horse would be compromised, and I’d have to make a sales goal of 200 cases of Napa Crappa or Chateau Poop or Flatuating Rabbit or some such shit.
The only supplier-side job I could stomach would be […]

….in wine!
This Thanksgiving I did a “stage,” as the restaurant folks call it, at a wine shop here in Seattle. It was fantastic to focus on selling wine, with none of the visions of staffing, profit margins, or sales goals dancing in my head. And it’s different, how customers behave, when you’re just selling wine. […]

thanks for giving.
Sooooo, you think it doesn’t matter? Only a few dollars isn’t enough?
Here’s the random first few emails I’ve opened of readers letting me know what they bought for Thanksgiving, and hence matched with a donation to America’s Second Harvest:
$75.93, ???
$50.00, (thanks Dad!)
$12.02, a bottle of Aglianico
$125.00, a mixed case of turkey wine
$11.89, a […]

I like to call it: holiday #1. As in #1 almost down, #2 and #3 to go. Can’t help it. When you’ve worked every holiday for most of your life, well, it tends to wear the shine off them.
But contrary to what people may believe, I do try to confront the silver lining of […]

For those about to walk!
….we salute you.
What sort of public prankstering can you pull off with a 4 inch strip of duct tape? What about 8 inches? OK, you can use scissors. Oooh! and glitter. But nothing else.
Let’s see, what happened in the world of wine today, this Thursday, the Thursday before Thanksgiving? Nothing worth […]

I’ve been getting emails from everyone about what job they would like to hold for Starbuck’s.
Taj - You’re hired. You get to be Director of Muffin flavors. We’ll hire a part time consultant for scones. You’ll have your own focus group, of course.
Beau is Executive Vice President of Italian Sounding Thingies (very important, hence […]

No less than 4 times today was I confronted with what I thought to be smart, considerate, progressive minded people extolling the virtues of Starbuck’s. The last comment was about a woman’s guilty pleasure - the Chantico. No, not a new mid-size from Kia. Chantico is Starbuck’s double down into the luxury chocolate market. More […]

I know I haven’t been talking about wine enough lately, what with the name of this blog and all. I’ve been writing about it so much outside of this blog that I was stuffed. But, as we enter the heavy drinking season, I have plenty of tasting notes saved up for tasty holiday treats. Today’s […]

Like chocolate and peanut butter, tomato and mozzarella, or tequila and lime…..some unions are blessed. I think it’s the Irish in me, but I crave Bailey’s November through January. It’s not the alcohol. You’ll get sick off the stuff before you get drunk. It’s the smell. It’s the creamy, rich, spicy, slightly sharp flavors.
And […]

This experiment had some fits and starts. My Dunkin Donuts Original Blend brew challenge didn’t start off well. I cut open the sealed bag to reveal the beans at right. Yuck. That shine’s not from oil, that’s just the flash that I was to lazy to correct. These beans were light brown and completely dry, […]