2023 can be your Year of Wine and Food

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It’s a new year, let’s get the wine and food fun started

Yay! Congratulations, it’s 2023! It’s no secret the last few years have been “unique” in their challenges for many of us. Yet here we are, a new year, a clean slate, an opportunity to experiment with fresh food and wine pairings, but only after traditional lip service time for the list of “ers”:

  • Healthier
  • Leaner
  • Stronger
  • Smarter
  • Sassier
  • Kale lover, well ok, kale tolerater

Funner?

Rather than add more well-intended resolutions that melt away like winter snow, let’s create more fun and curiosity with wine in 2023. What does more fun look like? Try new grape varieties, explore a region, and get to know our winemakers’ stories. We can keep it flowing with fabulous wines, so jump in: and we promise not to send you chasing some rare “it” wine fermented for months under a sleeping yak. 

Embrace weeknights with easy food and wine pairing 

Our cozy winter suppers will lead to those summer barbecues and beyond, so let’s talk about those bottles to have on hand; tasty, reliable, whether an old favorite or a spontaneous buy from an intriguing new vineyard. We can appreciate that not all wines need a white tablecloth and an event. On a hectic Wednesday night, dinner might be a rotisserie chicken eaten standing up at the kitchen counter, and that stoppered rosé in the fridge is just what you need. If you need help, check out the Always Wine Club for a monthly wine subscription that keeps engaging wine in the house and the stress at bay.

Rosé continues to rise

The Champions of Rosé have long said, “Rosé all day.” And I’d like to add, “what’s taking you so long?” Rosé is insanely versatile and made from almost any red grape, allowing you to select from an array of fruity berry, cherry, and watermelon characters. Its acids levels and body can typically pair with whatever foods are on a plate.  

More weekend, less work. (Psst, that means you.)

Let’s take the weekend back and savor wines that are special or have a more complex character. That same rosé enjoyed at your relaxing midweek dinner can also usher the palate into wines that benefit from deeper exploration. 

Serious yet relaxed may be the natural weekend meeting place for sparkling wines. Sparkling wine producers make their wines for more than a celebration, and it’s time to pop a few corks. 

Get festive and experience a refreshing and increasingly popular pét-nat (pétillant naturel) wine from California. Produced by primary fermentation in the bottle, pét-nats are free from rules that decide grapes, sweetness, or much of anything else, so grab a bunch and enjoy. Often sporting eye-catching labels and topped by only a crown cap,  these wines are naturally lower in alcohol with bold aromas and wild, fruity flavors. They can be cloudy, funky and surprising, as a bottle of fun should be.

While only sparkling wine from Champagne can bear that name, winemakers from Oregon and California use the identical process called, Methode Champenoise, to create elegant, complex sparkling wines. These wines merit a long luxurious exploration to appreciate their elegance. 

Look for minimal intervention wines

Take the time to explore minimal intervention wines in 2023.  Minimal intervention methods include eliminating synthetic pesticides and herbicides in the vineyards and adopting sustainable farming and water management practices. Healthy vineyards contribute to a healthy earth and grapes that express that unique terroir. 

In the winery, wines are fermented with wild yeasts and not fined or filtered giving them a fresh quality with more natural fruit character. Knowing where and how your wine was made makes for a happy wine drinker.

Have a great 2023!