Moscow Mule and Memories
This post is from guest blogger Dustin Cann (@DustinCann on twitter) For me, summer brings to mind thoughts of time spent in the yard or around a pool with friends, grilling to hearts’ content and talking about all things impactful or ridiculous over the appropriate summer beverages. You’re well familiar the normal libations: Pinot Grigio, Sangria, Mojitos, Margaritas, and (alas) light beer. Nothing against any of these options, but I’m a little bored with them. Fortunately, I recently had a good friend give me a particularly great piece of advice: rediscover and fall in love with the storied Moscow Mule. There […]
The Blend of Barista and Sommelier: Starbucks Enters the Wine Biz
On June 25, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced that it will use a testing ground store dubbed “Olive Way” to experiment with several new concepts. With rampant growth halted, Starbucks is looking for ways to draw customers back to the store. One of the new concepts is to introduce wine and beer as part of its product offering. Is this a good idea? Will doing so completely change the culture of the store, or is it a brilliant move to capitalize on the distribution network to extend sales into the evening hours? I think it’s a great idea! In fact, […]
Nectar Monthly Honors for June
June ended pretty much the same way it began…a showcase of Washington Wine. On June 3rd hundreds of people tweeted thousands of times about Washington Wine for #WAWine. June 25-27 hundreds of people tweeted thousands of times about Washington Wine for the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference. In the middle of the month we enjoyed more Washington Wine with Taste Washington in Spokane and Washington Rose with Paul Gregutt (Seattle Times columnist). Drowning in the flow of literally hundreds of wines (close guess would be 300), I managed to review and score 25 wines, get featured in a local magazine, announce […]
The Sport of Speed Wine Blogging
Over the weekend I caught a glimpse of the future; something that could truly revolutionize action TV sports. It could be bigger than fishing or hunting TV. It will be more exciting than TV poker tournaments. I’m a little hesitant in sharing for fear that the idea could actually be picked up by a national show. Speed Wine Blogging! The rules 8 wine bloggers / 8 wines / 4 minutes with each wine Bloggers listen to the marketing PR blurb then quickly swirl, smell, sip, spit and score the wines. Prior to the cowbell ringing the blogger must document their […]
5 Things I’m Going To DO Because of WBC10
No doubt hundreds of posts will be written about WBC10. Some will be critical of the timing and lack of Washington industry leader involvement but most stories will be glowing praises of the coordinators efforts (well done). There will be various opinions on the quality of the wine that was tasted but everyone will agree on the amazing hospitality of the city and wineries of Walla Walla (thank you). Posts will debate the effectiveness of the panel presentations but none will decry the power of networking and meeting people face to face. In the midst of all the drinking, tweeting, talking, […]