Wednesday, October 7 2009
Limited Edition In the Heartland of America
Why are they all looking at me like that?
I've had a few days well-earned downtime, after my whirlwind tour of Minnesota, including Minneapolis-St. Paul. I was doing market visits and Limited Edition consumer tasting events with my pal, LD Carlson's account manager, Brian Wright. Brian and I travel well together, which mainly means he is able to tolerate my obdurate Canadian socialism and odd personal habits with grace and aplomb.
We started off by visiting some folks around Minnesota, including Brew N Wine Creations over in Mankato. Great folks in a brand-new store, it's a classic case of someone starting to make their own wine, and having the whole thing spiral out of control until one day they open up their own retail store.
Bright, airy, spacious and full of great kits!
Whenever I meet folks who came into the business as excited home winemakers I always think of the story of the groundskeeper at the courthouse. For twenty years he polished the brass cannon in front of the courthouse every day, making it gleam, until one day he bought a cannon and went into business for himself. That story would make sense if our kits had gunpowder in them or were useful for besieging castles, I guess, and in this case Gordon and Don have set up a really nice shop that's got great selection and enthusiastic service. Nice seeing you guys!
Chris Farley, Northern Brewer
We also dropped in on the folks at Northern Brewer. It's a busy time for them, but we got to check out their store and talk about their new location and lots of other good stuff. Chris has some really great people running the retail operation, and I managed to score some cool loot:
I for one welcome our zombie overlords
Look, he's smiling!
Heh, the poster is up on the wall in my office to remind me to drink my beer, if only for safety, and the mug has held beer, coffee, water, Shiraz and barbecue sauce so far, and I've had it less than a week!
After that it was time to get down to brass tacks: my public awaited!
Wally Klopp, who owns Pine Cheese Mart and Wine Shop, is an old friend. Every year he puts on a very splashy event for Limited Edition at a country club. We do food pairings and wine tasting and generally have a great time. His customers (many of whom come back every year for the tasting) are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and could wear a fellow out with their questions!
In vino amicitia
The show went well: I switched up my presentation a little, leaving out a couple of jokes I've used for the last few years (I like old jokes: everyone knows where to laugh) and pumped up a little more about the history of the Limited program and a wee bit more about the wines. It seemed to go over fine, and the wine tasting and food pairing portion was a great hit.
Peas in a pod, no?
Wally did one thing that made me very happy, but rather a bit embarrassed. He brought along a case of Winemaker Magazine Guide to Wine Kits and told anyone who bought them that I'd sign them! While I'm very proud of having written a whole issue all by myself, I would never have thought of having an autograph session, but nonetheless he not only sold every copy, I signed every one too! The next day we stopped in to see him and his store. In addition to an excellent selection of, uh, Selection kits, Wally carries a full line of Winexpert stuff and wine and beer making supplies, and has a sideline in excellent cheeses.
Wally, flanked by Brian Wright, considering the curds and whey
Next day it was off to St. Paul and Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies. Lots of good stuff is going on for them right now: they've got a new website up and running, they're busy as a hive of bees, and they're looking at new digs. With a schedule like that, you have to wonder how Dave managed to put together such a great Limited Event in a hurry. Probably some form of voodoo!
Bearded in his lair. Well, 5 O'clock shadowed in his lair, anyway
There were over a hundred people, all pretty stoked. A couple of old friends showed up, including my pal Steve whom I've known for years, but never met in the flesh--he's an administrator at the winepress.us forum where I moderate the kit thread (I like to keep busy), and a really great guy. Nice seeing you, Steve!
Telekinetic high-five!
After that it was off too the Happy Gnome for a quick pint. If you're ever in St. Paul, I highly recommend it for good beer and very good food. I've heard good things about the Muddy Pig, but never seem to be able to drag myself from the Gnome . . .
After that it was a quick snooze in my fabulous soundproof suite next to the Mall of America (I've stayed there three times and never managed to hit the mall. I feel like a failure as a consumer) and then back on an airplane for Canadian Thanksgiving (why do we have it a month earlier than Americans? Tax reasons).
I'm in the office most of this week for meetings and planning, and Friday I'm out on some local site visits. Monday, it's road time again: I'll be at Candlelight and Wine in Victoria, doing a Limited Tasting for Gary. I've known him for something like a decade, and now that he has his own shop he does it up right, and puts on a great event.
Thursday it's back to the lower mainland and Von Euw Brew--I better buy a new pair of running shoes, because it looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of it!
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