If you love wine, you don’t need just one day to celebrate it – I celebrate is several days a week. But if you are having a party for National Wine Day, here are some advice and tips for making it fun and unique.
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If you are feeling bold, host a blind tasting for National Wine day!
While one sort of blind tasting is to cover up the label and have your guests, guess what the wine is, that’s not what I’m proposing. I attended a blind wine tasting that actually required us to be blindfolded. No, it wasn’t anything kinky. This was all about elevating your senses by taking away one.
How can you host a blindfolded wine tasting? Once blindfolded, give your guests something bold to smell like anise, or vanilla bean. This will heighten their senses. Next, place several glasses of wine in front of your blindfolded guests (if it is your first time probably only do this with three wines – one white and two red). When we did ours with Francis Ford Coppola wines, I found the white easy to identify but the red wines more difficult. You don’t realize how much of what you perceive as “taste” is “smell.” Ask your guests to sniff the first wine and share what they smell and then lead them into deciphering the wine. Repeat with wine 2 and 3. I’d recommend a light red wine like Pinot Noir and then a darker red wine like a Cabernet or Zinfandel. Read about my blind tasting here.
I have recently started a love affair with Rosé. A new one I just discovered is the brand Marcel.
This Rosé is well balanced and has notes of lychee and peach. Doesn’t that sound perfect for a Rosé? I enjoyed it with my Aunt on Mother’s Day. She’s not even a Rose fan either and she loved it!
Catch this wine it while it is in stock. It is $18.99 and I just tried to re-order it and it is out of stock!
Try Rosé Piscine wine, the unique thing about this rose, is that it is meant to be served over ice, so you don’t have to worry about it being chilled.
This Rosé was originally created by a wine connoisseur while he was on a vacation in Saint Tropez when he saw many women drinking rosé wine over ice in large wine glasses. He ordered one to give it a try, only to be disappointed in the diluted taste of the wine. This set him on a mission to create a rosé wine that could maintain its integrity while being served on ice. Rosé Piscine is one of very few French rosés made with the Négrette grape, mainly due to the limited geographic availability of this unique varietal.
Though popular in France, it only just began being sold in the US. Made in France, it is the only Rose, created to be served over ice. Flavors include Meyer lemon, skin of peach, vanilla, kiwi and McIntosh apple.
If you don’t normally like wine try Naughty Tea
The southern spirit is a one of a kind, 100% natural, alcoholic sweet tea containing zero grapes and no artificial flavors or colors, and is classified as wine even due to its distillery process. If you are from the south like me, southern table wine , aka, sweet tea is normal at most meals. If you enjoy sweet tea, then Naughty tea is for you! I tried this and though I enjoyed it with a couple ice cubes in it, it would also make a fantastic mixer too! The site gives you several ideas for cocktails – https://www.naughtyteawine.com/cocktails. Naughty Tea has less than 6 grams of sugar per serving and made with 100% natural black tea, so it’s a great choice for your health-conscious friends.
Try a Frosé !
Rosé is a fantastic summer drink. These great little pouches are perfect for the pool, the beach or anywhere where you can bring our own drinks. Plus you can drink them right out of the pouch! The company that makes these, Chanme’s site is FroseAllDay.com
Sign up for a wine subscription and enjoy it with friends on National Wine Day!
Grape Intentions is a wine subscription that also gives back. Selections are available in 1, 3, 6 and twelve bottles, starting as low as $12.50. There are three tiers of selections (‘Good–$20-$150,’ ‘Gooder’–$40-$280 and ‘Goodest’–$80-$460 (all depending on number and level of bottles ordered) based on budget. Wines are hand selected to suit each subscriber’s unique palate (you take a quiz when you sign up to determine your flavor preference) so it isn’t one size fits all. When people subscribe to Grape Intentions a portion of the cost goes to a charity the subscriber designates. Love the philanthropic aspect of this wine delivery.
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Want to enjoy wine by the pool this summer? Check out Butternut Wine! They offer Chardonnay, Rosé and Pinot Flavors in cans. I really liked the sparkling Rosé wine!
Wines Vines Analytics reports that $71 billion worth of wine was purchased in the U.S. in the last year. Here are some fun facts about wine:
- The world’s oldest bottle of wine is in the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Germany. The bottle of wine is from the year 325 A.D. It was discovered in 1867 in a grave expedition.
- While millions of people enjoy wine, and will be celebrating on National Wine DAY, some have a phobia of it. Oenophobia (oeno is Greek for wine, while phobia is Greek for fear), is the name for a fear of wines, pronounced “eena-phobia,”.
- There is a right way to hold your wine glass. Wine glasses are made with a stem, which is where you are supposed to hold it, so that the heat from your hand doesn’t heat it up.
Wine is good for you in moderation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, moderate drinking is up to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. So don’t overdo it on celebrating on National Wine day or any day.
- Heart health. The National Institutes of Health reports that studies have shown that adults who drink light to moderate amounts of alcohol may be less likely to develop heart disease than those who abstain.
- Gut health. The April 2017 issue of the journal Current Opinion in Biotechnology included the research results of a study on the health benefits of fermented foods, including wine. The study found that fermented foods contain living microorganisms similar to probiotics.
- Brain health. Research out of the University of Rochester Medical Center in 2018 found that drinking wine in moderation was associated with reducing inflammation and helping the brain to clear away toxins, including those that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Now that you know the health benefits and a bit of trivia, it’s only fair to throw a party for your friends to celebrate wine day, right? Here are some tips for choosing the wine for your perfect spring party or soirée:
- Try it before you buy it. Whatever wine you choose for your party, be sure you have tried it out before buying it in bulk. The last thing you want to do is open a bottle at the party only to find out it’s not a great-tasting wine. And just because you’ve had a wine at a restaurant doesn’t mean it will taste the same. I purchased a Nebbiolo I had at a restaurant and loved for Christmas dinner one year. I was so disappointed at how awful it was. So make sure to sample a bottle first – drinking wine in the name of “research” isn’t a bad thing, right?
- Introduce your guests to something new. Many of your guests will likely have some wine knowledge, and they have their favorites, but you can impress and interest them by giving them something different to try. Think Viognier or Mouvedre.
- Think about where your event will be held. If you are having an outdoor, beach or poolside party, you will want to ensure you have plenty of drinks served chilled. I do love red wine, but in the summer, it sure does make me even hotter.
Now you are armed with the best wines to serve if you are having a party for National Wine Day or how to celebrate solo. Which wine will you choose?
