Tuesday, November 18 2008

And if Vicky Hanover shows up, she'll be all set

Whew! We made it all the way to Brandon today, through icy conditions and freezing wind. My Starbucks chilled down to a frappuccino all by itself! Good to be back in the heart of the prairies, though.

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Tuesday, November 18 2008

First things first: my event for Signature Wines in Comox was a huge success!

Would you make wine with these people? Of course you would!

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Tuesday, November 11 2008

Remembrance Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

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Tuesday, November 11 2008

Hong Kong? Paris? Not important enough to rate their own clock.

Comox might not be the most beautiful place on earth, but it's in the running. I'm off there tomorrow to do a Limited Edition tasting for my pal Sigrid at Signature Wines. She runs a wonderful store, and has some great folks working for her, so I'm looking forward to dropping in on them. It's been a few years since I've seen them and that's too long!

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Thursday, November 6 2008

Always yakking, while the poor folks wait patiently to taste wine.

We had a great night out in Sidney, with a Limited Edition tasting for customers of Peninsula U-Brew Winery. Stan and Marueen went all out, and the venue was great, the food was spectacular (they had a great caterer working with them) and the crowd was lively and asked some great questions. Good job, everybody!

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Thursday, November 6 2008

Hiya Joe!

Wine: is there nothing it can't make better? According to a study done at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, wine may protect against dementia. The study was a long-term population study began in 1968. According to their findings,

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Monday, November 3 2008

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour? No!

Ah yes, this is the part where I insert the obligatory apology for not updating my blog on a more regular basis. Anyone remember the scene between John Belushi and Carrie Fisher in The Blues Brothers, where he 'apologises' for leaving her at the altar? "I ran outta gas. I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from outta town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake, a terrible flood, locust's. It wasn't my fault!! I swear to God!!"

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Tuesday, October 21 2008

Now, if I can find the meat fountain and the salad waterfall, I'm set.

Not since the Mario brothers stereotyped Italian plumbers as tortoise hating, gorilla baiting, princess-rescuing do-gooders has civilisation seen such a miracle of modern ablutionary events. According to The UK Times online, bungling plumbers caused wine to flow from the taps of local residents.

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Tuesday, October 21 2008

Cal! Don't look so sad!

Ah, Limited Edition season. For me it forms about one-third of my entire work year. It’s not just being on the road from the beginning of October until the middle of December: there’s a lot of work involved in choosing and testing the Limited Edition varietals, the commercial equivalents for tasting purposes, and the recipes and food items that match up with them. Once that’s done I put together a one-hour presentation on regions, grapes, flavours and foods for use across Canada, the USA, England, Australia and New Zealand, etc. etc.

It occurs to me at this late date that when I say ‘Limited Edition Tasting Event’, some folks might not know exactly what I mean. It’s simple enough in concept: we partner up with a retailer who wants to show off this year’s Limited for his customers, show up and give a talk about the wine, do some Q&A, and then try the wines with some food.

One thing: the wines themselves are not Winexpert kit products. In Canada this would be illegal under all circumstances, and there’s no getting around it. We could do it in some places in the USA, but there’s a hitch: none of the kits exist yet, except as 3-litre benchtop prototypes. In some cases we’ve only just gotten our hands on the juices from Europe by November. So we go to the local wine shops and purchase commercial equivalents. They’re not always exactly what we’ll be doing with our kits, but it gives folks a good idea of the aromas and flavours they’ll see in the Limited Editions.

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Friday, October 17 2008

Why is it so dark in this picture, and why is that box tilted to the left?

Whoo-eee! It’s been a busy week in the Western USA. I flew into Denver to do a couple of Limited Edition Events. The first one was for the Brew Hut in Aurora Colorado. Wonderful folks there, and they put on a great event, despite having just come off the weekend of the Great American Beer festival. They also happen to run a micro-brewery attached to their retail store, and this year they took a silver medal for their beer, so there was much rejoicing and happy faces.

We also had a chance to drop in on some of the local Colorado retailers, including my friend Wally at High Country down in Monument. His is a dual-purpose store, specialising in garden supplies and consumer winemaking. He’s a tremendously sharp guy who really connects with his customers and makes everyone feel welcome. Plus, he’s got a resident kitty-cat who has the run of the garden centre. How could you not love a store that gives you the opportunity to moogle a kitty while you shop?

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Friday, October 10 2008

I swear, the economy was like that when I got here

How about that world economy? I know, it's enough to drive you to drink--not that I've ever felt it necessary to have an excuse. Having been through this a couple of times, I've learned that the best way to protect your retirement is to avoid looking at your portfolio: that way you'll avoid a thrombosis and live long enough to retire.

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Thursday, October 9 2008

Yes, Bacchus is worshipped here

I've been a bit remiss in updating my blog, but between getting ready for Limited Edition and being politically active (I did my advance vote--I'll be away) and drinking to drive away the electoral process blues from two countries at once, I've had a full calendar.

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Thursday, October 2 2008

Woo hoo, Limiteds are here! Well, no, they're not really. But they will be, and we know what they are!

Winexpert is proud to announce our 2008 Selection Limited Edition Wines! You'll remember it was about this time last year that I announced our 2007 line-up. I'm just as pleased with the wines this year, and there are a couple of personal favorites of mine coming round. You can click through on the first link to get the full marketing-speak on each of the varieties, but to give you a thumbnail on each one:

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Thursday, October 2 2008

Ultrasonic wine ager . . . sure it is.

I once had the opportunity to talk to a con man (reformed) as part of a fraud seminar I took when I worked at a bank, and I got to ask him a question that's bugged me my whole life: how do people fall for idiotic scams? When we read about the contortions folks go through to hand over hard-earned cash for a handful of magic beans, we laugh and fee superior--how could they be so dumb?

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Tuesday, September 30 2008

Actual grapes not included . . .

I love the contacts you make in this business, and it's great fun helping to pass stuff along to oenophiles. My pal Juhan has some pinot noir vines free for the taking. They're in the Vancouver area, and no, we can't ship. But if you've got space to plant 'em, contact tim(at)winexpert.com and I'll hook you up.

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Sunday, September 28 2008

The Shofar, made from a ram's horn, is blown to call upon listeners to begin repentance

I love commemorative holidays, even when they're not mine. I think you learn the most about people from the celebrations of their shared experience, culture and heritage. By understanding what others revere, or even just the things they hold to as an honour to their antecedents, you find deeper understanding.

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Wednesday, September 24 2008

I swear, this looks just like the Grateful Dead concert I went to . . .

There's an old story they tell in Germany about the Archbishop of Trier. Poor old fellow was on his deathbed, and try as they might, the barbers could do nothing (hey, it was the 14th century: a haircut was probably preferable to anything else they tried). As a last request he was brought a glass of the local Bernkastel wine. He drank a glass, and suddenly perked up. He finished the bottle and sat up in bed. By the end of the week he had finished hogshead of the stuff and was riding horses and eating elephants raw. "This wine is the best Doctor", he declared. And so from then on they referred to their local wine as 'Bernkasteler Doctor'.

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Monday, September 22 2008

A den of iniquity. And good buffet lunches.

For a guy who doesn't gamble (because I can do math) I spend an unusual amount of time in Casinos. However, it's not the lure of gaming that attracts me, nor showgirls or even lounge acts: nope, it's almost always work. Last Sunday it was our 2008 Western Canadian Retailer Conference at the Fabulous River Rock Casino in Richmond BC.

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Friday, September 19 2008

How do they all know to change colour at the same time?

Apples be ripe, nuts be brown, harvest of grapes has come around: Canadian wineries started picking the 2008 vintage this week. Word from Niagara is that quality is looking pretty good. Although there was a worrying amount of rain in summer (which growers responded to by thinning fruit to concentrate sugars) the end result was only a slight delay in harvest: mild winter temperatures and a hot, dry spring gave a good fruit set, and until Hurricane Ike roared through Ontario, the Autumn was mild and calm as well.

Growers are reporting good results from Chardonnay, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir from some regions is running 21° Brix (enough for 12% alcohol or so), and crop size will be average-ish.

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Wednesday, September 17 2008

Rice wine? Technically it's beer, but it's weird drinking carbonated sake

First it was pet food laced with melamine, then lead-toys and contaminated baby formula and now pesticide contaminated rice used to make saké. What's next, cyanide toothpaste? Razor-studded contact lenses?

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Saturday, September 13 2008

The city has a thousand stories . . .

Hello Toronto! I'm blogging from the ballroom of the 2008 Winexpert Central Canada Authorised Retailer Conference, and now I'm exhausted from typing all that out. Today is a long day of me talking, and talking and talking about Operations Excellence in the on-premise operation--five hours of all-Tim, all the time, with a lively finish at the end with Dave Laroque doing a wine tasting/wine and food pairing to cap the day off.

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Saturday, September 13 2008

No, that's not my beer--I never drink before breakfast

Before I started traveling for a living, I knew nothing of airport lounges. Oh sure, I knew that CEO's and sports stars had private places where they kept away from the hoi-polloi, but it wasn't something that intruded on my consciousness. I'm neither CEO nor a star (except in my own mind) but weirdly enough, airport lounges have come to feature prominently in my life.

When you travel enough, say thirty or forty plane trips a year for a decade, eventually airlines think you're worth paying attention to. No matter that I always fly the cheapest ticket, they seem to like me anyway. As such, Air Canada kindly sent me a 'Star Alliance Gold Status Member' card. It's the secret decoder ring that lets me use their Maple Leaf lounge facilities in various airports around the world.

Far from being fancy-pants and indulgent, I actually find that they're almost a necessity for someone who travels so very often: snacks, free internet, AC outlets, showers and above all, oases of calm in the middle of frantic travel, they help keep you from going buggy the tenth or twelfth time your flight is delayed or your luggage is sent for an unplanned excursion in Sri Lanka.

If you have the ability to use one, I can highly recomend it. Unless you can avoid flying thirty or forty times a year, which I recommend even more highly.

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Thursday, September 11 2008

Waiter, there's a stupe on the fly!

From the 'What the . . . ?' department of Decanter Magazine, German wine takes top international trophy for Pinot Noir.

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Wednesday, September 10 2008

Fourteen inches of black and white glory--who needs plasma? Other than vampires, I mean.

In accordance with the 'desert or deluge' principle at work in my work life, I've got a TV appearance tomorrow morning. Holy overexposure Batman! Luckily I'll probably be on for less than three minutes total.

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Tuesday, September 9 2008

Well, I hope there's no mortality at the upcoming dealer conferences in Toronto and Vancouver--although with me speaking for four hours, there are no guarantees.

This Sunday in the fabulous Sheraton Toronto Parkway North Winexpert will hold it's 2008 annual Authorised Retailer Conference. Like a lot of manufacturers, we like to gather our retailers up once a year for gossip and a glass (or two) of wine. There will be a wine presentation by Dave Laroque, a fabulous presenter--he retired from being the head wine educator for Andrew Peller a few years ago, but he still does wine tastings for us, and they're always entertaining and wonderfully informative.

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Friday, September 5 2008

What on earth is that thing--how am I supposed to fit it in my Blu-Ray player?

It's starting to occur to me more and more frequently that I'm as old as dirt--in some ways. This inter-web thingy is a miracle that I couldn't have envisioned when I was a callow young hoyden, using a reel-to-reel VCR (Google it, kids). Case in point, YouTube--who'd have thought you could share movies of such fascinating things as people getting hit in the groin with millions of other like-minded folk around the world, all for free and all on your own?

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