Felix Lebron and the wine bar he crafted.
Over the past weeks, I have been devoting a great deal of time to getting our 530 Wine Bar finished and ready to open. We are making great progress. The team is working very hard getting important components of the wine bar completed. One such item is the walnut-topped bar. Our property management person, Felix Lebron is an outstanding carpenter and did a spectacular job of building the bar with a solid walnut top which is very beautiful! He is currently building a platform to hold the thirty-two walnut wine lockers we have to offer our customers.
For the past three weeks good friend and general manager of the 530 Wine Bar, Tom Welsh, has filled in for me writing the wine blog articles. It was very timely as Tom had just returned from a wine tasting trip in both Burgundy and Bordeaux France. Tom had a marvelous time, and I am so happy he could share the highlights with us. I must say I was jealous after reading his articles…I wish I could have been with him.
Today’s Wine Industry
As we all remember in March of 2020, the world came to a halt due to the Covid pandemic. People began working from home and many businesses shut down for months. Restaurants in particular closed which hit the wine distribution market very hard.
The pandemic drove the price of wine up and created a shortage of some wines, especially ones from Europe. Restaurants are back open now and while they did experience some shortages, those have resolved since.
The pandemic did benefit the wine industry as it led to a rise in online wine sales.
The pandemic did benefit the wine industry as it led to a rise in online wine sales. Some wineries saw their direct-to-consumer sales up by 10 to 20 percent. Many people switched from buying wine at grocery stores to online purchases from wineries, which caused this increase.
Some wineries saw their direct-to-consumer sales up by 10 to 20 percent.
There were limited selections at wine shops and grocery stores. Wine delivered to your doorstep was much more convenient and safer. It is reported that many consumers will continue to buy direct from wineries even as the Covid pandemic becomes more under control.
The word I am receiving from Napa is that wine prices will rise in the month’s ahead due to the increased cost of wine production. You might want to stock up a bit!
As always, I appreciate your support of our wine blog and encourage you to share it with family and friends. If you care to share your comments on this blog posting or other topics, please do so in the comments section below.
Until next week,
Cheers
Upcoming Events at LEX 530 – Just ONE DAY LEFT TO BUY YOUR TICKETS!
LEX 530 has a new executive chef, and we are so excited for you to meet him! You can at our special Autumn Wine Dinner, introducing Executive Chef Jeremy Perkins, to be held on Friday, November 19, 2021, at LEX 530. Chef Jeremy will prepare a delicious five-course dinner to be paired with Stan Minden’s and Carl Tiedemann’s wine selections. The reception starts at 6 pm. Dinner begins at 6:30 pm.
THE COURSES:
Salad Course: Baby spinach, warm bacon, curried cashews, grapes, goat cheese, tossed in a honey-balsamic vinaigrette. Paired with the 2019 Villa Sparina Gavi.
Seafood Course: Pan-seared sea scallops, mint-pea purée, roasted rutabaga, lemon, flakey sea salt. Paired with the 2015 Troupe Albarino.
Pasta Course: Fresh pappardelle pasta, asparagus, peas, spinach, crispy prosciutto and roasted garlic cream sauce. Paired with the 2020 Côte Chalonnaise Chardonnay.
Entrée: Pistachio-crusted rack of lamb, cauliflower and blue cheese mash, grilled broccolini, green herb chimichurri. Paired with the 2019 Brendel Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
Dessert: Red-wine poached pear with almond shortbread cookie. Paired with the 2017 Kokomo Ruth’s Vineyard Alexander Valley Cabernet.
We look forward to seeing you at this very special Wine Dinner. Tickets are $100.00 per person (tax not included). Please purchase your ticket by noon on Friday, November 12.
Menu is subject to change at Chef Jeremy’s discretion. Individual and shared seating options are available. If you have a preference, please call 574-296-1330 after purchasing your tickets.
The menu for your Autumn Wine Dinner looks terrific.
I started buying wine for delivery directly from makers eight or nine years ago. Of course, the lockdown discouraged us from going to retail stores, We had to visit Costco to pick up prescriptions, and on those visits I would always snag 10 or 12 bottles of, mostly, everyday drinkers. However a vast majority my wine purchases were online–from both wineries and online retailers. With the easing of restrictions, we are, of course, getting out pretty regularly, we even go out for dinner, roughly, once a week. However, I am still having most of my wine delivered,
Rising prices for wines are not surprising. My observation is that just about everything is more expensive that it was a year or two years ago.
I enjoy reading your comments, Carl. Good luck with the wine bar venture.
Hello Mark. Nice to hear from you again. I just received word that our bottle costs, along with labels, warehouse rates, etc. are all going up or have gone up. We’ll have no choice but to raise our prices in the coming 12 months. I guess that prices are bound to go up.
Have a great Thanksgiving.
Cheers
Carl