Because all good things must

All good things MUST come to an end, and yesterday signaled the end of the wine tasting spree that began in earnest in March. Mariner Beverages hosted their first large format, traditionally styled wine tasting at DiMillo's Restaurant and managed to surprise and satisfy me. Not that I have anything against this wholesaler: in fact I find their approach to business fresh, young and energetic. But looking at their wine portfolio, I simply did not expect to find anything worth picking up this time around. I went into this show basically curious but really just wanting to show the flag and support Mariner's "Big Kahuna", Tim Wisseman.
Standout tables featured the Thunder Stone wines and its newer additon: Big Claw, a clean crisp white that features a Large Lobster Claw on its label...so you'll know what to pair it with. Crossroads wines from New Zealand also showed off the same old Sauvignon Blanc/Pinot Noir set, but they were surprisingly complex and defied the same old taste profile. When you go to shows like these and taste 35 - 50 wines, it's nice to be surprised sometimes...It's also nice to have your expectations met as well, so you really have to weigh a lot factors when tasting these samples. There is so much good wine out there that you begin to look for a definition of style that fits what you want to sell. For instance, I already have three excellent New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs that jump out like a basket of fresh grapefruit, now I can offer this Crossroads Sauvignon Blanc that is more mineral, grass and fruit...I guess I'm diversifying. The problem as a retailer becomes: But most customers have a profile in mind when searching for a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, so won't I just confuse them? Hopefully they will be adventurous enough to want to seek out the differences. Time will tell.
Finally, getting back to the show, there was a table of just Spanish wines, and all of the red wines were good, some were excellent, and all were enjoyable. Although we could have stayed another 45 minutes, after drinking those Spanish labels we unanimously decided to finish with some port and go home.
It was a great way to finish the tasting season and now I will have to wait until the fall for more opportunities.