We need wine to share.  The sharing events are the upcoming holidays, football games, and family/friends get togethers.   People don’t want to spend a fortune on Uncle Joe who guzzles everything.  Here are some great wines for the above events.

Black Box wine is on fire right now, at VG's Grocery in the state of Michigan, and across the US of A.  People are recognizing the amazing value these wine items offer.   The value is both in the price and in the juice, a real bang for your buck.  We have this item in our ad this week at $19.99.  At three liters in volume that is 4 bottles of really good juice at 20 bucks, or, 5 bucks a bottle.  The other beautiful thing about Black Box is that the wine stays in quality for a longer period of time due to the oxygen not being able to get at the juice.  As wine is dispensed, the bag inside the box collapses, allowing no air to touch the wine.  Oxygen is what kills the wine.  Normally we don’t drink a bottle of wine much past 3-4 days after it was opened and refrigerated.  Box wine can keep up to six weeks.  Very convenient.  The juice is new world wine from quality vineyards and is very good juice.  A gem that is getting much recognition.  This wine has a gem of a price as well as it is on ad this week in Family Fare stores. In ad in Michigan stores but available in all VG's Grocery stores at a great everyday price.

A real surprise to me was the new rosé from Franzia.  This company made famous and wealthy by the way with 5 liter bag in a box.  The Franzia patented Wine Tap revolutionized wine sales starting in the 70’s.  This brand is still very popular due to the price per ounce and the product lives long in refrigeration.  The Rosé surprised me because I expected a very sweet finish to the wine.  The start, middle, and finish on the Franzia Rosé is semi-sweet.  It is not cloying or sticky sweet.  This wine will pair with all appetizers and is a great sipper. Available in all VG's Grocery stores. 

One of the newest and very exciting can items is a wine in a can.  Wine in cans is hot right now.  With new technology in the can, wine is now a viable beverage in a can.  Dark Horse is one of our fastest growing wine brands.  Dark Horse in the 750ml glass bottles is really moving off our shelves.  It has become a very popular brand at Family Fare.  Dark Horse has come out with two wine items in a 375ml can.  The two flavors are Rose and Pinot Grigio which are very popular varietals and make a perfect choice in cans.  The typical can size for wine is either 187ml or 250ml which basically is one to one and half servings of wine.  The 375ml is a generous 6+z pour for both of you.  A very convenient package for tailgating. Available in all VG's Grocery stores.

Another great wine to share is Michigan’s own Chateau Grand Traverse Select wine items.  The most popular is the Sweet Harvest, followed by the Sweet Red and the Semi Sweet Riesling.  All of these wines are sold by Chateau Grand Traverse on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City.  Do yourself a favor and visit this beautiful place.  I highly recommend taking their tour, you will learn a lot about historic wine made in Michigan.  The Sweet Harvest Riesling is one of our best-selling Michigan wine items.  We consider it a local wine and are very proud to offer these great tasting wine items. Available in Michigan stores.

Another gorgeous spot for Michigan wine is Chateau Chantal.  The views from Chateau Chantal’s parking lot is epic.  360 degrees of beauty all around.  The tasting room and inn is situated on the top of a hill where you can view both the west arm and the east arm of Grand Traverse Bay.  There have been millions of pictures taken from this winery.  Chateau Chantal has offered us a new item that is their Bubbly Cherry.  This Bubbly Cherry wine is made from 100% Montmorency tart cherries.  It is done in the very popular sweet style with bubbles.  The pairing recommendations are strawberries, popcorn, spicy foods, appetizers, and fried food.  I also recommend chocolate with this beauty.  This wine won a silver medal at the 2017 Tasters Guild International Wine Competition.  This is a great wine to start out at your family and friend parties. Available in Michigan stores.

• Started in the Grocery business bagging at D&W in 1975.  Worked at D&W for 30 years in various departments.
• Worked at SpartanNash for 11 years.  Currently the Category Manager for Wine/Beer/Spirits for SpartanNash East.
• Have been a category manager since 1990 and a category manager of beer  since 1997.  CM of wine and spirits since 2007.
• Have travelled extensively which provided the opportunity to taste many foods and beverages from Hong Kong to Caribbean, from California to Maine.
• Love to cook, grill, and bake, snow ski, sail, and read books.    Best baked item – a bourbon pecan pie with rum crust.  Best grilled item – salmon with blueberry onion wine sauce and goat cheese.  Best cooked item – Squash Apple soup with bourbon.  Best ski slope – Go Devil at Keystone.  Best book – Wonder.
• 1 wife, 3 children, 7.3 grandchildren.