Screaming Deals And Things That Make Me Want To Scream!



Guarding my wine buy like any good prepper!



I hear from all over that one of the things my readers like the most is when I tell you about some really screaming deal.  Well, here is one thing that you won't want to miss.

My son got married about a month ago, and believe it or not, we ran out of wine at the rehearsal dinner!  Oooohhh!!  Bad wine guy!  (Truth is people were stealing the bottles because they were custom labeled with my kid's cute pictures on them.  The wine was pretty good too, but not good enough to steal.)

The wedding was in  Uniontown, Washington, just down the street from Pullman.  Well, being a good host, I ran down the highway back to Pullman and into the WalMart store.  As I quickly perused the shelves I found a couple of bottles of Columbia Crest Vineyard 10 blend for $2.97 per bottle! 

Hmmmm...I thought.  Well, WalMart is known for screwing up prices on things.  When prices are entered in Bentonville by some data person there, the scan tags for the prices come up in the store thousands of miles away.  Even though the distributor and the managment may scream, the price may remain off for months before they can fix it.  Believe me, I've sold truckloads of stuff that way in my past life as a distributor.

So, when I came home I made my way into the wine isle in my own WalMart and found the price to be the same.  Bwaaahaaahaaa!!!  I bought the shelf clean.  (This is really good juice by the way.)

A week later I walked to the back of the store to get some half and half for my french toast and found an entire end stack of this wine at that price.  Now, it is starting to make me think that something is going on.  I purchase a case and resolve to do some homework.

I talked to my friend Sabrina Greever, who manages Mid Columbia Wine and Spirits in Richland.  She said that there was a wholesale clearance on the stuff and they had brought in several cases on a bulk buy.  Their retail was running at $2.95 (cheaper than WalMart by 2 cents.)

I called an inside source at Columbia Crest who told me that indeed Ste. Michelle Wine Estates was clearancing the label for Vineyard 10 blend and had blown all of the wine out of their warehouses in an unprecedented sale.  The wine no longer exists at Columbia Crest and won't exist again. 

So, what's a self-respecting wino supposed to do?  Run to the stores and buy some of this stuff up. 

This is a wine that sold for $11.99 a few months ago.  The retail is several dollars cheaper than the wholesale was just a few weeks ago.  (Did I mention that this is awesome juice???)  The catch is you better buy it right now or forever hold your peace.  When the Zombie Apocalypse occurs you will be left without!  I picked up a few cases myself and am guarding it with my pitbull and AK47.

Now, onto crap that makes me crazy. 

Over the past few months, and increasing over the past few weeks, I have been receiving a ton of spam crap through my blog.  Somebody with really crappy english is trying to get you to look at their penis enlargement webpage by posting compliments on my blog.  What a bunch of lowdown scumbags. 

I only tell you about this because if you comment on my blog and it doesn't pop up for a few hours or days it is because I'm investigating every blog comment.  I've never really been one to care if you agree with me or not.  I don't even care if you tell me my blog is full of crap or you hate me.  (example:  my last blog about Grocery Outlet.) 

You just need to know that whatever you post, it will get read first and deleted if it's a spam.  I figure if anyone is going to buy a penis enlargement tool from anybody it needs to be from me.  By the way, you can use a wine bottle as a vaccum pump by heating it up, attaching it to the area you wish to suck, and running out into cold air.  It could work.  Just not willing to experiment on myself.
Love and Cheers!

Restaurants Serving Grocery Store Wines A Poor Choice

The other night I met with some old friends in downtown Pendleton at a local establishment known for fine dining. I was looking forward to a few bites of grilled beef and a good glass of dark red wine to wash it down. Unfortunately I was both shocked and mortified that all that the place had on their glass pour list was the same stuff I could have bought at WalMart. The worst part was that the price for a glass was the same as I could have gotten an entire bottle for at the store!

I have a strict rule about writing this column. It comes from my old friend Thumper in Disney’s Bambi. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” With that in mind, I’m not going to rail on about my snobbish wine tastes and the lack of good selection in Eastern Oregon.

Quite to the contrary, I am impressed with some of the skills used by a few restaurant owners in the region. I just wish that everyone could come up to speed. My “ask” today is that you, the consumer, be aware of what is available out there and demand it. Don’t let some bozo restaurant owner bully you into drinking Barefoot Merlot for $6 per glass.

The first thing that you need to know is that there are many, many wines out there that are reasonably priced specifically for the purposes of restaurant sales. These wines are marketed as such, and aren’t even allocated for sales in stores. Many don’t even have a scan bar on the back label so they can’t be sold at the register.

These restaurant wines are a little harder to acquire, and many are locally produced. Unlike wines that are allocated for the major chain stores, their marketing efforts and dollars don’t go into big ads in magazines. They are focused on producing really great wines at the best prices for “on-premise” accounts.

Examples of these types of wines abound. As I mentioned, many are locally produced, such as many of the wines produced by Precept Wine Brands out of Walla Walla. These are amazing wines, made by renowned area winemakers for the sole purpose of producing wines that are affordable and attractive to the restaurant market.

A few of my recent favorites are the Gordon Brothers Kamiak Labels, Ste Michelle’s Antinori Family labels, and Terra Blanca’s new arch label wines. All of these are very reasonably priced for restaurant sale, and absolutely fantastic. What’s more, I’m not going to refuse to buy a glass when I know I can’t get the bottle at the same price at a local store.

I know what you’re thinking now…”But, what if all I want is a glass of White Zinfandel?” My answer is that there are still options out there, literally sitting in a warehouse ready for delivery to your favorite restaurant. All you need to do is tell your waitperson that you don’t appreciate them selling you Sutter Home for the same price that you could buy it at Safeway. Ask for something different next time, and expect it.

Enjoy!