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Wine and food pairings can happen every day, but whether or not they’re a good pairing is a different story.  Part of my shtick is taking the snootiness out of enjoying wine.  What better setting to test that than in the IZOD Indy Car press box at Infineon Raceway, located in Sonoma.  I’m always on the look out for good, flavorful food no matter what price range or style.  Your taste buds don’t care.  Your taste buds care about sweet, sour, bitter, salt and umami.

Here’s what I found today:

Meatloaf used to creep me out as a kid.  But as I got older I realized you can make meatloaf with quality ingredients and flavorings.  My Gramma used make something similar called Grandma Jay’s Hamburger Steak in Mushroom Gravy.  Today’s wine+food pairing goes to show you can find good, balanced combinations just about anywhere.

wine+food pairing without the snootiness

Not only was the meatloaf surprisingly good, but check out the desserts!

melt in your mouth caramel brownies

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Hard to believe how fast a year went by…  On August 1st of last year the Bakas family moved west to pursue a dream.

In the past twelve months I’ve had the privilege of meeting so many people across the country and share great wine.  Many of the people I’ve met are on this list you can 1-click follow on Twitter.

I’ve cooked up a deal for online friends to get the wine I’m going to celebrate with.  The newly released 2006 Napa Valley Merlot goes for $28/btl at the winery but on Thursday and Friday you can get it for about $16/btl including upgraded shipping!  Orders are in full cases (12 btls) only.

Here’s the link to get the Merlot Use coupon code ONE YEAR when checking out to get the FED EX priority overnight shipping included at no charge.  When the order is filled and it ships out, it’ll get to you the next morning.  Enjoy!

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Few things bring people together like food and drink.  From the Roman empire on up through the ages to now, wine has served as the common thread that weaves together society though social gatherings.  Birthday parties, annual holidays, business functions, family dinners or just hanging with friends are settings where wine and conversation are likely to be found.

That bodes well for wineries and wine shops wanting to build their brand in social media.  The wine industry has a bit of an unfair advantage over other industries.  If we were using social media to talk about tires it wouldn’t be nearly as sexy as talking about Chardonnay.

I’ve seen dozens of wineries who are trying to make sense out of social media and utilize what limited time they have to do something, anything just to avoid being left behind.  Well open up your mouths baby birds, because I’ve got a big fat night crawler for you.  Well, five actually.  Here’s some answers to the test:

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1. Be Patient - It can work.  But it’s not going to happen overnight.  The best analogy I can give is the example of planting vines.  You don’t plant vines, then turn around and say, “where’s my grapes?”.  You have to wait 3-5 years before your vines produce fruit you can use.

Luckily, you don’t have to wait 3-5 years for your social media vines to produce fruit, but you do have to nurture it and let your social presence grow organically.  If you do that, your social media presence will produce fruit consistently.  It’s hard for winery owners to commit 100% to this concept, which is why some of them are failing at it, and ultimately writing off social media as a fad.

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2. Build Trust First, Then Sell Wine (maybe) - This is the secret.  It’s the answer to the million dollar question.  It might blow your mind when I tell you in the past 12 months St. Supéry winery has offered to sell wine through social media a total of three times.  Yet, people are buying our wine and sales are up.  They’re buying for a number of reasons, including the hard work of our CEO, VP of Sales, National Accounts guy, price adjustments, new winemaker and our stellar visitor center.  Social Media and Marketing is one cog in the engine.

The worst thing you can do is get online, then start pushing your product.  Nothing will dissuade trust faster.  In fact, that’s literally the opposite of what this is all about.  As soon as someone opts in either by following on Twtiter or becoming a fan on Facebook, that is the beginning of a personal relationship.  That’s the beginning of trust building.  You have to put faith in knowing your trust will create a tighter bond with consumers, which in turn will lead to sales.

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3. Establish a Personality - Wine drinkers would prefer to see a face or hear a voice.  If it’s the winemaker, even better.  If it’s the chef or owner, that’s a great start.  Just putting the winery label out there is okay, but it’s not very personal.  The consumer wants to get to know the people behind the brand.

Videos and photos are going to happen.  Attending wine and social media events is going to happen.  Before a consumer opens up their wallet, they want to know who they’re buying from.  Adding the human element to interactions with customers through the face(s) of the winery allows the winery to show they care and are transparent.

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4. The Right Person isn’t a Millennial - One of the biggest misconceptions is you need someone in their 20’s.  It might seem like a good idea because twenty-somethings are cheaper to hire and are the main users of social media, right?  Wrong.  The largest demographic of wine drinkers online are women 35-55.  I’m a 40-year old male, and having some successes in this arena.  Gary Vaynerchuk is a 30-year old male and definitely having successes.  The right person is someone with emotional intelligence to responsibly represent a brand publicly.

I’m not saying someone right out of college won’t work, just get someone for the right reasons.  This person is going to be holding your brand in their hands, which is why I tend to lean towards hiring someone internally rather than a so-called social media marketing firm or social media “guru”.  Anyone who refers to themselves as such should give you reason to run in the other direction.

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5. Promote Everyone but Yourself - I’m really fortunate to work for the Skalli family at St. Supéry.  They understand we can’t just talk about ourselves all day because that would be boring and one dimensional.  We often talk about everyone and everything but ourselves.  It blows people’s minds when we promote our competitors online.  We do it because we’re stewards of a legacy of collaborators.  Before any of us were born, grape growers used to work together and help each other out.  Luckily, in the realm of social media, you’re rewarded for doing that.

If I had to guestimate, I’d say a winery’s brand has little better than a 1:1 return on effort when self promoting.  But you get better than 2:1 when promoting members of the community.  Imagine that, you get rewarded for being positive and supportive.  Pretty cool concept.

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Pago de Larrainzar is a family owned estate winery from Navarra, Spain.

The wine presents an attractive and deep cherry-red color. On the nose, you will distinguish an intense aroma of mature fruit, compote, well assembled with notes of a well-aged wine in high quality barrels. This gives way to hints of minerals, pepper and coffee. On the palate, the taste is flavorful, very mature, appetizing and fruity. It is well structured and has a long finish. Merlot (45%), Cabernet Sauvignon (40%), Tempranillo (15%).

Hard Row to Hoe is owned and operated by Judy and Don Phelps in Manson, Washington.  This particular Merlot comes from the Riverbend Vineyards located in the Wahluke Slope appellation.  It’s yet another Merlot from Washington state that grabs you by the back of the head and says, “I’m gonna rock your world so buckle up  — Kansas is going bye bye.”

You’d expect a red wine named Shameless Hussy to be like a riverboat dancer on Xanax.  For twenty bucks this wine delivers.  What is delivers depends on what you’re looking for.  It’s a sweeter, jammier fruit driven wine dealing black fruits like blackberry, black cherry and marionberry.  There’s distinct vanilla and spices, that combined with the fruits gives you a sense of blackberry pie in a glass.

This is a fun wine.  There’s no need to analyze it and pick out the tasting notes, just pour it in a glass and rock n’ roll.  Every now and then I get a hankerin’ for a jammy style wine, and this one will scratch that itch.  The alcohol level on the label says 13.8% but it comes across more like 14.7%.  It’s a little hot at first so if you’re looking for a food pairing, something with some heat will offset the sweetness.  Red meats like flank steak or new york strip do well with generous salt and pepper along with some chili flakes.  The chili flake part is the secret that’ll make many red meats marry up with the hussy.  Visit the winery web page at HardRow.com.

I don’t give scores, but I would suggest picking up a bottle to see what Shameless Hussy has to offer you.  If you don’t like Merlot, Washington state might change your mind.  Cheers!

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Sometimes you have a really good bottle of wine that you don’t want to share with anyone.  Kind of like a snot nosed kid in the sandbox who doesn’t want to share the newest toy.

There.  I said it.  I love my wife, but sometimes I just don’t want to share.  Like the 20 year Tawny port I’m drinking right now.  Here’s a few ways to hide wine from your spouse:

10. In your stomach.
9. You know those little wood barrels St. Bernard dogs wear around their necks?  Those can hold a full bottle of Pinot Noir.
8. Old desktop computer towers can hold two bottles, but don’t turn ‘em on because they’ll cook the wine
7. “Why is this pillow so hard?”
6. I asked our cat if I could bury a bottle or two in her litter box.  I took her blank stare as a yes.
5. Remember on Scooby Doo how you could tilt a book on the book shelf and a secret lab behind the bookcase would appear?  Picture that, but a wine cellar.
4. A lawn mower bag can hold an entire case.
3. Baggy MC Hammer pants with carefully placed holsters can hold up to 5 lbs. a leg. The down side is you walk like John Wayne.
2. Hollow out a log in the fireplace.  Just don’t forget it’s there.
1. Some humidifiers can hold an entire bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.