Tag Archives: Nick Vorpagel

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Winecast 80: Nick Vorpagel and what’s on store shelves for the holidays

Nick Vorpagel headshot
Nick Vorpagel

Nick Vorpagel: “I’ve seen some leveling, but especially domestically, more price increases”

Good news and bad news for wine drinkers this holiday season: There should be plenty of wine on store shelves, but it’s going to cost more. And why is it going to cost more? Because.

That’s the take from Nick Vorpagel of Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva Country Meats, the blog’s official independent wine retailer.

Specifically, expect to see retailers pushing sparkling wine this season; however, don’t expect to find many values. Though, if you’re looking for value, Nick suggests the Spanish Borsao rose; the Australian Yalumba viognier or unoaked chardonnay, and the Haraszthy Bearitage red blend from California — all less than $15.

The podcast is 20 minutes long and takes up 13 megabytes. Listen or download here. Sound quality is mostly excellent — have I finally figured out this podcast recording thing?

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Winecast 69: Nick Vorpagel and the dilemma of the independent wine retailer

Nick Vorpagel headshot
Nick Vorpagel: $15 may well be the new $10 wine.

Nick Vorpagel: “We don’t carry Mark West pinor noir. I suppose there’s a place for that, but it’s not us.”

The pandemic’s supply chain problems don’t seem to be going away, and especially for small retailers. Throw in inflation and higher prices, and it’s not easy out there.

That’s the assessment of Nick Vorpagel of Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva Country Meats, the blog’s unofficial independent wine retailer. He says shipping woes have continued and it’s still difficult getting imported wine. Sometimes, European wine is in short supply and sometimes it’s Australia and New Zealand. Nick calls those rolling supply chain outages — “something is going to be short for a while, and you just don’t know what it is.”

Among the subjects we discussed:

• There seems to be little hope that wine prices moderate any time soon. This is from a combination of supply bottlenecks and large retailers gobbling up the wine that is available so that they don’t run out, further cutting supply.

• In addition, producers and retailers seem to be taking price hikes whether they’re warranted or not, just to be on the safe side. And discounts and wine on sale? Not anytime soon.

• All of which means it’s time to start worrying about what to drink during the holidays, says Nick. He says he has been told to order for Christmas this summer, a couple of months earlier than usual.

• Some values do remain, including South Africa, Spain, and Portugal (vinho verde!). South America? Not so much. And be wary if you see a fancy bottle selling for $15 with a 2020 Napa Valley label; it could well be smoke-damaged wine being sold under a different label. And we shed a few tears for the once-great Seguras Viudas cava.

Click here to download or stream the podcast, which is almost 25 minutes long and takes up about 17 megabytes. The sound quality is very good to excellent, though there is way too much giggling on my part.

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The WC on the Lake Geneva Country Meats podcast

Lake Geneva Country Meats
Can’t talk about wine trends 2020 without talking about the European wine tariff.

The WC talks about wine trends in 2020 with Nick Vorpagel of Lake Geneva Country Meats, the blog’s favorite wine store and meat market

Nick Vorpagel of Lake Geneva Country Meats, a long time friend of the blog, asks me about wine trends 2020 as part of the store’s podcast series. We talk about prices, premiumization, great cheap wine to drink, and even the tariff — and have a good time despite that topic.

Click here to go to the Lake Geneva site to listen to the podcast.

 

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Winecast 25: Nick Vorpagel, Lake Geneva Country Meats

Nick VorpagelHow do the best independent retailers do it? That’s the idea behind today’s podcast with Nick Vorpagel, the third generation at one of my favorite independent wine shops (and the brats aren’t bad, either), Lake Geneva Country Meats in the Wisconsin resort town.

And how does a a butcher shop evolve into a a top-flight wine retailer? We talked about that, as well as Nick’s very brief time in law school; which parts of the world offer the best wine value; and the increase in interest in a Wine Curmudgeon favorite, chenin blanc. Nick also offered some of his best wine values and the best piece of advice for wine drinkers: If you want to learn about wine, you need to drink it. And don’t miss the bit about cutting red wine with water.

Finally, what makes a great wine shop? Nick’s answer is simple: It’s about selling the customer the wine that makes them happy, and not the wine that makes the retailer happy.

Click here to download or stream the podcast, which is about 13 1/2 minutes long and takes up 13 megabytes. The sound quality is good, though there are a couple of spots where it fades in and out and Skype wasn’t up to its usual standards (had to record the podcast a second time, in fact).