WINEFARER is a wine and lifestyle blog and social media presence @winefarer that simplifies the world of wine through approachable tasting notes, fun content, real life experiences and stories! My goal is to encourage my readers and followers to live their best wine life in non-intimidating way.
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For better or for worse we are all too familiar with the “Socially Distanced” Playdate, outside in the park, your backyard or wherever the outdoor adventures may lead to. These playdates demand high energy and the ability to be quick on your feet. Although the idea of it is unsettling since it’s a result of a global pandemic, I actually think it’s brought a lot of silver linings to our lives and has taken us down paths we wouldn’t necessarily have taken. When looking at pairings for this Socially Distanced Playdate, I looked for wines that are high in acidity and fruit forward to energize us! Notice I select all white wines since you may or may not be running after your child and wouldn’t want red wine to spill! Here we go!
“The Perfect Playdate” does indeed exist and you know exactly what it is. It’s when you pack up the fam and head over to have a playdate at your best friend’s house! You feel completely relaxed and utterly secure in the space you are in. You can actually have an adult discussion while your littles keep themselves preoccupied. I stop to take a deep breathe of relief when I type this because these playdates are my favorite - no judgements just joy of watching your children grow up together just as you did. These pairings are somewhat easy because - no judgments allowed ;). I’m looking for wines that are supple, a sure thing, smooth and super calming. So with that, here are a few wines to pair with your “Perfect Playdate.”
Whether you’re being extra cautious or have grown accustomed to dining in after months of being quarantined, I’ve got you covered on some awesome restaurants who have pivoted their business model in the time of COVID-19 and are offering full bottles of wine for purchase via pick-up and/or delivery sorted by Manhattan neighborhood.
Being at the epicenter of COVID-19 in Manhattan it’s hard not to reminisce about the summers spent outside at restaurants sipping on bottles of rosé on ice with friends and family. Although we are not doing that anytime in the foreseeable future, I’m still going about my usual routine to get ready for summer sipping by trying a few different rosés and stocking up on the ones I like.
I first heard Alpana Singh speak in June at the Welcome Conference in Lincoln Center. Her hustle was palpable and her story of personal “terroir” was galvanizing. So much so, I had to dive deeper. Her story of exploring change and pushing through fear, all the while becoming the youngest women to pass the final level of the Master Sommelier exam at the age of 26 is simply, incredible. Needless to say, I reached out to Alpana to find out more and the below is extraordinary. Grab your notebook, because there are a lot of motivational lines to add to your mantras!
From Plated to Stitch Fix to FitFabFun boxes, box of the month clubs are continuing to be hyped and innovated, bringing new products conveniently to your door. They allow you to experiment and try out (and on) new things that you wouldn’t necessarily purchase, are hard to find or didn’t know you needed!
Following suit, wine clubs are starting to become more and more popular due to delivery convenience and the element of surprise. Now you are able to experience a wine straight from your favorite Napa Valley Vineyard in the comfort of your NYC home! While the vineyard to home concept has been around for a while, small start-ups and even wine stores are starting to adapt to the “box of the month club” culture giving us winos more of a reason to explore the world of wine outside of our go-to.
’m under the impression that rose is starting to get a bad rap again but for a different reason. While once thought of as an unpleasant, extremely fruity, cherry hued zinfandel now associates with the lightest possible wines on earth, tasting like flavored water or quite literally “Summer Water” (not to be associated with the brand “Summer Water” but in a general sense). So here’s to keeping rosé simple and bringing it back to a happy medium. Below are some Rad Roses for Summer for those who want a little something more.
Playdate (noun): A date and time set by parents for children to play together.
In my opinion, playdates are not only for the kids to run around freely living their best lives while working on their social skills and development but also for the adults to mix, mingle and have “adult” conversations in a relaxed environment. (insert Billy Joel’s Piano Man line – “And forget about life for a while”). Within this relaxed (and contained) environment it’s only appropriate to add some delicious wine to the mix – am I right? This is why I’m dedicating an article fully on “Playdate” Wines!
The list below has been carefully curated based off of specific criteria (that I made up) consisting of: simplicity, quality + fun factor. I thought it would be helpful to outline the perfect wines to bring with you in various situations you may find yourself in such as those Sunday afternoon playdates when Sunday anxiety creeps up OR when your kids are besties but you’ve never met the other moms! This is your mid-2019 off the shelf guide to playdate wines!
iedmont and Tuscany (Piedmonte and Toscana if you want to go all seductive Italian on me) are Italy’s most prestigious wine regions. It would be remiss of me if I did not delve into these old world regions seeing as they are some of the best wines in the world filled with rich history.
Aside from the production of stellar Italian wines, I felt a calling to dive deeper into both areas because of a single producer - La Spinetta. I’ve been admiring them from a far through their passionate and authentic social media posts and their 2017 il Rosé di Casanova, which I refer to as having a strawberry sour-patch kid finish! Although, I have yet to visit, their heart and soul through viticulture and the human hand behind these wines is prevalent at first sip. Sustainability at it’s finest my friends.
Why now are workers hesitant to order a single glass of wine to pair with their lunch? Why is it so frowned upon to have a glass of Fume Blanc or Pinot Noir with clients at noon? Is it an etiquette thing, functionality, act of fear or is it simply that over time this concept has been placed in a time capsule where we will be forever indebted to movies and our father’s stories. It has me thinking, what would happen if I was out to lunch with colleagues and ordered a glass of wine…? (nail biter)
Ariel, a native New Yorker with an epic cool-factor, is known for her love for bubbly and has some incredibly unique concepts under her belt, Air’s Champagne Parlor and Toyko Record Bar to name a few. However, her latest project immediately took hold of my soul (and guess what, I haven’t even been yet). I’m hesitant to even share this with you because reservations are already ‘NYC tough’ and I need a table here every weeknight! I am thrilled to introduce to you the new (as of March ‘19) Niche Niche, a dinner party concept featuring a different wine host every night of the week. Just how I was drawn to Niche Niche, Ariel’s energy and motivation is insanely palpable. So grab some Cristal and get ready to feel fucking awesome!
I’ve been covering Santa Barbara a lot recently and since it holds a special place in my heart and on my insta page, figured it’s only appropriate to post a feature on Santa Barbara Wine capturing everything I’ve covered over the last few months on instagram because I would hate to lose that wine knowledge for both of our sakes!
