Sokol Blosser and Voodoo Donuts

The idea may have been proposed on Twitter, but the result is right here on The Oregon Wine Blog. At some point, somebody from Sokol Blosser's Twitter account dismissed the idea of pairing their wines with doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnut. I immediately dismissed the dismissal with a suggestion of Meditrina pairing perfectly with a bacon maple bar. The result? Let's consult a panel of judges:

Josh:

There is a smokey nose on the maple bar, which compliments the smell of wine. The bacon stands up to the wine, but the pinot portion of the blend is appropriate in a delicious way to the maple bar. Observers note: his eyes totally rolled back into his head.

Micheal:

The nose on the wine is not very heavy, it's subtle, but I can't tell if it's subtle because the nose on the maple bar is heavier. Your nose leans more towards the maple bar than the wine when smelled sequentially. Very subtle. The wine by itself is full on the palate just after you swallow it and then it goes away. The flavor is very much on the front half of the pallat, almost bitter. Immediate thoughts is that the maple will overpower the wine, which I feel is true. Too sweet. Saltiness and smokiness of bacon is too much. Would suggest pairing with a riesling instead.

Alyssa:

The wine really doesn't taste like much since the maple bar is so overpowering.

Me (transcribed by Josh):

The savory aroma of the bacon melds perfectly with the sweetness of the maple. While sweetish on the nose, the wine gives hues of an oakiness that will connect with the maple better than the bacon. When paired sequentially with the wine, then maple bar, then wine - the wine amplifies the smokiness of the bacon making a near perfect match. A bold merlot might go well? Or a barbera? Overall, a recommended pairing.

In short, Voodoo Doughnut bacon maple bars definitely pair with Meditrina. If you're ever near Portland and have the opportunity, I can't suggest visiting any single place more than Voodoo Doughnuts. If you're in your local grocer's wine isle and want a surprisingly unique red blend based on pinot noir, I would highly suggest Sokol Blosser Meditrina. As noted in previous tweets, it also happens to have the best cork ever. Don't believe me? Pick up a bottle and read the cork.

Comments Update

Greetings Readers!

Just wanted to give you a quick update on post comments for The Oregon Wine Blog.  We held out as long as possible allowing open commenting on our posts.  Recently, however, we've experienced a dramatic increase (multiple per day) of anonymous, spam comments.  As a result, comments can no longer be anonymous:  you can sign in with a google account, openid, wordpress, livejournal, typepad, or AIM account.  We value open discourse in the online community, and hope you understand the necessity of the change.

Oh, and look forward to The Oregon Wine Blog's best wines of 2009 coming today!

Alumni Wine Clubs: Uncork Some School Pride

Josh's last article did a great job of summing up what most of us at The Oregon Wine Blog do to pay the bills. Not only do we all work professionally at universities, but almost all of us are alumni of universities surrounded by wine country.

What does that have to do with anything? Glad you asked!

In the past, one would have to frequently ponder the difficult decision of either donating a few bucks to their alma mater's alumni association or subscribing to another wine club. Those days are over because the folks at Alumni Wine Clubs have found a way to allow you to do both at the same time. In short, Alumni Wine Clubs has partnered with select universities to create alumni association-specific wine clubs that its members can join. Each club membership automatically donates a certain percentage of that month's shipment to their alumni association while also helping support alumni-related wineries.

For example, four of us at The Oregon Wine Blog happen to be alumni of Washington State University. Continent upon membership to WSU's alumni association, we can then join Wine By Cougars (operated by Alumni Wine Clubs) and receive four WSU-related wine shipments a year. Each shipment contributes a donation to the WSU Alumni Association and also benefits wineries with some sort of relation to WSU.

I found the idea of alumni association wine clubs a fascinating way to connect alumni to their alma maters and decided to email a few interview questions to Cassie Rothstrom at Almuni Wine Clubs. The following are a few of my questions and her responses:

1. First, please tell us a little about yourself and how you became interested in the wine industry.
I grew up in Walla Walla, and am now married to a wonderful man that actually handles all fullfillment for the wine clubs. And we have three wonderful kids - Matt (16), Abbie (11) and Ellie (9). Living in the Walla Walla Valley, you are surrounded by wineries. So naturally my interest in wine was peaked. At the time that I started the Walla Walla Wine Club (dba Alumni Wine Clubs) I was a partner in another company that produced a product called "Wine Away Red Wine Stain Remover". So the concept of doing some cross-marketing with a wine club seemed natural. People that would have a need for a red wine stain remover obviously drink red wine.

2. What inspired you to create AlumniWineClubs.com? Did you approach universities first or did they contact you?
I'd like to say that branching off from the Walla Walla Wine Club was totally my brain child. But in fact there is this genius marketing guru by the named of Jud Preece who works for the WSU Alumni Association (Senior Associate), and he contacted me about doing a wine club for the alumni association. Being a Coug myself, it sounded like a lot of fun!

3. To date, which club has the most members and why do you think
that is?
We have seven wine clubs. WSU's is by far the largest. A lot of that has to do with WSU's impact on the wine industry. With well over 75 Cougar-connected wineries, that says a lot about our Universities' involvement. But the main reason I think this club is so successful is because Cougs are very loyal to fellow Cougs! So if it's branded "WSU" they want to be part of it!

4. How do proceeds to the schools work?
A portion of the proceeds from each box of wine that ships out the door to each customer each time we ship (which can be as many as 6 times per year) is donated back to the alumni association. WSU's alumni Association opted for us to use the funds to endow two different Viticultural and Enology scholarships.

5. Do you anticipate your partnerships expanding to any other states, namely Idaho?
As a matter of fact, yes. We just began dialogue with them earlier this month!

6. Anything else you would like at add?
We have alumni wine clubs for WSU, UC Davis, U of Oregon, OSU, Humboldt, UNLV, and Cal. But if you aren't an alumn or friend of one of these universities, you might want to consider the Walla Walla Wine Club, which features wines from the Walla Walla Valley.

8. This one's just for fun. GO _____!
COUGS!

So there you have it. Yet another innovative way the wine industry is growing and making connections to other facets of peoples lives. Our last article mentioned how little the wine industry is doing to attract young buyers, but Alumni Wine Clubs is doing just the opposite. A huge thank you goes out to Cassie for answering my questions and to all alumni out there supporting their alma maters one bottle at a time.

Kids These Days: The Age Paradox in Wine

Last weekend, a group of friends and I attended two different wine-related events in the Willamette Valley:  an Italian tasting at Natalia & Cristoforo's in downtown Corvallis and an afternoon jazz event at Willamette Valley Vineyards.  We had a fabulous time at both events, but I had a bit of an epiphany in the parking lot of Willamette Valley Vineyards as my friend Megan made the observation, "We'll probably be the youngest people here by a longshot."  When we got inside, I looked around...and thought to our experience at the tasting the previous day...and she was right.  Not only were we the youngest, we were the youngest by 20 years!  This is not an uncommon experience for us, and from it spawns Josh's idiot savant theorem of the age paradox in  wine.

Before I get too far in my far from scientific analysis, it's only fair that I share a little context as to where we are coming from with The Oregon Wine Blog.  We started the blog as a way to quantify and share our enjoyment of the experience and culture surrounding wine in the Pacific Northwest.  Our tagline self proclaims that we are "not-really-snooty up-and-coming wino's...", and while the snootiness is debatable depending on who you ask, young and up-and-coming is not.  See, of the entire wine blog staff, only 1 writer currently breaks the 30 age barrier, with the rest of us hanging around in our mid-20's.  Therefore, not only are we young in our wine experience, we're also young in our respective careers (translation - don't make a lot of money).  All but one of us spend our 50 hours per week of paid work at various colleges and universities in the region.  You didn't think the blog could pay the bills, did you?  All of this to say, we are a key market to the wine industry -- young, gainfully employed, some disposable income, and lot's of drinking years ahead of us -- and one that needs some attention and nurturing.

So, here goes with my innermost thoughts on this paradox:

1. There are plenty of young people involved in the Northwest wine industry, so what gives?  It's true.  With Washington and Oregon wine being the new kids on the block when compared to California, or France and Italy, we've consistently found a healthy, youthful energy among winemakers and staff throughout the region.  Winemakers looking to get their start can do so much easier than in more established (and expensive) areas.  We're seeing winemakers who planted a vine and a dream 10 years ago right out of college putting out some amazing stuff.  Why, then, is the clientele markedly older?  See #2 and #3.
2. Wine is expensive, yo!  Well yes, it can be, although not always.  No matter how you cut it, your average college-age drinker can get a whole case of PBR for the price of a decent bottle of wine, with a marked increase in the drunkenness factor.  The younger crowd usually makes less money, may be starting a family, paying off student loans, and hopefully starting a retirement fund.  Your older folks are better established in careers and may have more disposable income to throw around.  If you read our article on value labels, though, you know it doesn't have to be that way.  I'm currently in a hotel happily sipping a glass of 2007 Columbia Crest H3 Cab Sauv -- the bottle cost maybe $12. I'll save the $20+ bottles for time with friends.
3. But I don't know how to swirl, sniff, sip, and all that stuff!  Let's be honest, wine can be intimidating stuff.  The culture surrounding the industry is steeped in tradition, and for your average Joe it can seem all snooty and stuff.  Now, you and I know that isn't the case, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, but this is perhaps the crux of the paradox.  If someone like me attends and event and there is nobody in my age range at the event, I may not want to go back because I don't see people like me around.  It gives the impression that one must be experienced and refined to enjoy our beloved alcoholic grape juice.
4. Who cares?  You should.  Say you are a winery who has a client base that is 80% aged 50 or older.  Not knocking our older friends, but there is a limited duration in which that client will continue to purchase wine.  Maybe 20 or 30 more years?  Now, take your 25 year old "up-and-coming wino."  Establish a solid relationship with that customer and you have 50 years of wine purchases and word of mouth marketing to look forward to.  Both are important markets.
5. What to do? OK, so in 4 not so brief points, I've hopefully imparted on you the fact that there is a bit of a paradox around age in the wine world.  Both young and old are important markets, but they seem to be contradictory in some ways.  Market to one, alienate the other...and vice versa...usually at the expense of the younger crowd.  How to crack that egg and effectively encapsulate the 20's crowd while maintaining market share during the golden years is key.  One thing that I've found quite effective is use of social media. Yes, I'm talking about blogs, Facebook, good websites, and Twitter.  That's a real easy way to connect with a young crowd and develop a following.  A welcoming tasting room and staff can go a long ways, as can a portfolio of wine that includes both value bottles and the more expensive variety.  Consider some events that are more educational in nature, or would attract a younger crowd.  Maybe even a young professional event at your winery to engage a different market?

Well, I probably should let our older readers get back to their Metamucil and bed, and our younger crowd to Red Bull and Rock Band.  I kid...I respect all of our audience of all ages.  And, don't get me wrong, there are absolutely wineries out there that are doing things right.  Those are the ones that we patronize and write about quite a bit.  It's a tough issue and a fine balance.  What have you seen that is effective in engaging a younger crowd?