Valpolicella for Viticulture

Did you think we’d choose a Super Tuscan to pair with our favorite winery-loving board game set in Tuscany? That would be too easy! Also probably delicious, but not the vibe we were going for here.

We did stay “close to home,” venturing just a little further north in Italy into Valpolicella, the most famous red wine district in Italy’s Veneto wine region. The region’s revered reds are diverse, spanning four styles: dry, epic Amarone; spicy, cherry Valpolicella Ripasso; sweet Recioto; and lively, accessible Valpolicella. 

For a fiesty game of Viticulture, we chose a light, zingy Valpolicella by Brigaldara ($20), a beautiful foray into the region. Incredibly easy drinking, and best served with a chill (just like some other porch-pounders we’ve featured recently), Valpolicella could be described as the Italian answer to Beaujolais. 

This particular bottle is made with 55% Corvina, 25% Corvinone, and 20% Rondinella, perfectly balanced with a blend of the grapes required by DOP law. It boasts a lovely ruby-color and bright fruity flavor that comes together like sour cherry fruit leather. 

Now, imagine this. You’ve inherited a tiny, rustic vineyard in Tuscany with just a few plots of land, a crush pad, a tiny cellar, and a few eager workers with which to make your winemaking dreams come true. Sounds good, right?

You play through the seasons – each a little different – planting vines, building structures, harvesting fields, making wine, and filling wine orders, earning points and recurring income for each wine order you fill! The fun (and challenge) comes from strategically placing your workers to make the best use of limited, shared resources.

With your workers and some helpful visitors, you’ll compete against other vintners to develop the most successful winery in Tuscany.

And a bonus for Witty Pairs lovers, as your skill and mastery of this board game advance, so too can your venture into the Valpolicella world of wine. Look for a bottle of Amarone to age in your cellar (or basement, or bar cart, or under your bed…anything goes!) to break out when the competition gets hot. These aging-friendly bottles tend to come with a higher price tag, but we’ll keep our eye out for a great budget find!

Have you had any wine from Valpolicella yet? Let us know in the comments!

Sangiovese for Gorgeous May Days

Dear May,

Your flowers are stunning. Seriously, how are the trees that were so barren months ago filled with these enormous pink petals? Walking around while the sun is shining and a light breeze blows the scent of budding lilacs our way just brings us joy. 

Even as the sun sets and the evening air gets a little cooler, we’re comfortable and content to sit outside on the porch with cheese and crackers, exchanging tales with friends over a bottle of wine. OK, two bottles. But we especially love Stolpman Vineyards Love You Bunches ($20) Sangiovese, bold in cranberry and strawberry notes, and best served chilled.

Made by a process called carbonic maceration, the grapes ferment whole, uncrushed in a sealed tank, producing a refreshingly acidic, low tannin wine. This gets bottled early to seal in the fresh juiciness, much like another favorite crushable red: Beaujolais Nouveau, released each fall with a celebration in France. 

Sangiovese is the most widely planted grape in Italy and is fairly rare outside its home country. Tom Stolpman planted 10 acres of Sangiovese in Santa Barbara County, California back in the 90s and has been making this delightful porch pounder since 2013. The name is “a pun for the gentle ‘loving’ treatment of the whole grape bunches to keep the grapes intact through fermentation.” 

Love you bunches,

Beth + Naomi, the gals of Witty Pairs

Viognier for Spring Cleaning

It’s springtime, so naturally we are…spring cleaning! Groundbreaking, we know. More specifically, we’re purging our closets to round up donations and make some room, and making it all the more fun with a super affordable and vibrant South Australian Viognier (pronounced vee-on-yay). 

Yalumba Y Series Viognier ($9) is bright and tropical, with green apple on the nose, mouthwatering honeysuckle on the palate and a plush, full mouthfeel. 

You might be thinking – ‘an Australian Viognier? How uncommon!’ Chief winemaker at Yalumba, Louisa Rose, is highly regarded as a pioneer (and ‘Queen of Viognier’) in the industry for bringing Viognier to Australia. Viognier is native to France’s Rhône Valley and a tricky grape to grow well. Rose found that Viognier “behaves like a red wine” and mastered winemaking with Viognier in many of the vineyard’s wines. 

Coincidentally, we just learned that today is International Viognier Day! This one snuck up on us because…it’s a new holiday as of 2021! Yalumba created the holiday to shine a special spotlight on this grape. 

Are you joining us in a closet purge? What are your favorite donation spots, or resale stores?

TJ Meritage for Puzzling

Final pairing of TJ’s budget wine week!

A Meritage (rhymes with heritage!) is a New World blend that is produced Bordeaux-style, meaning it must include at least 2 of the 6 red Bordeaux varietals. The 3 major grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Malbec, Carménère and Petit Verdot appear in smaller quantities. 

A white Bordeaux blend is primarily made of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, with a splash of Muscadelle… but we’ll revisit this style another day.

A bottle of Meritage reminds us of a puzzle – Meritage wines often don’t have to disclose which grapes are a part of the blend, and yet the pieces (…grapes, but bear with us for the metaphor) fit together so beautifully in a silky, yet robust blend. 

This Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve Meritage, Lot #86 ($13) is easy to drink, velvety smooth, and shows a lovely blend of vanilla, blackberry, and a hint of plum. 

Have you tried any of the TJ’s reserve wines yet? Let us know what you think!

TJ Shiraz for Library Games

Support your local library! It’s easy and extremely beneficial to you – hello free books, media, events, and more! There’s no reason not to.

Did you know your local library probably carries board games?! To us, this discovery offers a perfect way to trial a few new games without committing to the cost (and storage) of acquiring too many new ones. Recently we checked out Sagrada, a cool dice game that involves making patterns on a stained glass window (like the famous Sagrada Familia in Barcelona). It’s simple enough in play, but made tricky as no dice can sit next to another with the same color or numerical value. 

Trader Joe’s Reserve Shiraz, Lot 214 ($10) from Barossa, Australia makes the perfect pair! This budget buy from TJs gave us a chance to try out a truly delicious Australian Shiraz (aka Syrah if you’re in France) without a big financial commitment. With dark berries, medium body, and a long finish, this was a perfect game night bottle. And you know exactly where you can find it!

TJ Merlot for Library Reads

We’re kicking off a 3 part series where we’re pairing exclusive TJ’s budget wines with budget friendly activities! 

First up – support your local library and check out the next book you’ve been wanting to read! While you enjoy your free and convenient read, we recommend pairing with an entry level Merlot from TJ’s. Trader Joe’s Merlot Petit Reserve ($7) is jammy with just a hint of spice, and soft tannins that help it go down easy. Not to mention, it’s hard to find a better deal! 

Here’s a handy guide when shopping the Trader Joe’s label wines – Petit Reserve is the lowest level of the reserve wines, followed by Reserve, Grand Reserve, Platinum Reserve, and Diamond Reserve. We’ll get to a couple more levels this week! 

We felt this was especially timely as today is #WorldBookDay, a celebration for book lovers everywhere. Happy reading and as always, happy sipping!

Pairs for Broadway Hits

We LOVE the love for Broadway! You know a favorite show soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment with dinner prep, spring cleaning, afternoon chores, and more…. We’re always happy to belt out some showtunes. We put our heads together to imagine the perfect pairing for A FEW of our favorite shows. Taste them with us and see if you agree, and if you’ve got some ideas for others, we’d love to hear them!

Pair Hadestown with Chronic Cellars Sir Real Cabernet Sauvignon ($17). Just look at that label – king of the underworld, for REAL! We love this wine because it is tannic, but balanced with bold fruit and always punches above its weight. And Hadestown? What an exceptional show! The story, the music, the feelings! Grab a few bottles and give this a listen, because we’re gonna sing it again and again.

Pair Moulin Rouge with Château Barouillet Splash ($22), a French sparkling wine made with Semillon. A love story between a courtesan and a young writer, filled with excitement that builds to the last splash calls for a wine with as much natural life and buzz. This pet-nat differs from Champagne as it finishes fermenting in the bottle and calls for no added sugar… and you know not all love stories have a sweet ending. Still, love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love…. And a bottle of Splash!

Pair Hamilton with Teleda Orgo Dila-O ($16), a dry amber wine from Georgia made with two local grapes, Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane, and fermented and aged in underground qvevri – the traditional method dating back to 6000 BC. Afterall, if you’re listening to a modern retelling of history, a modern traditional orange wine pairs beautifully. Macerated on the skins, this natural wine is beautiful and interesting, just like our favorite contemporary retelling of our founding fathers. Be sure to track down a bottle ASAP because history has its eyes on you.

What’s your favorite Broadway show? Any tunes you’d love to pair? Let us know in the comments!

Celebrating World Malbec Day

Today is World Malbec Day! Malbec is a full-bodied red grape, indigenous to France, and widely grown in Argentina. While Malbec is one of the top 5 Bordeaux varietals (along with Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot), the grape thrives in the warm climate of Argentina. In fact, Argentina is credited with “saving” Malbec; while the grape was considered a minor player in France, Argentina brought it into the limelight and now grows a majority of the world’s Malbec. Common features in Malbec are black fruit, vanilla, cocoa and a deep purple color. 

A few weeks ago, we opened Bodega Norton Malbec Reserve ($10), not only for drinking but also for painting! We were recently introduced to Elysia Myers Wine Art by a close friend, and felt inspired to try painting with wine as she does! It’s a perfect lazy day activity! 

This bottle is a great showing of Argentinian Malbec, with medium body, blackberry and chocolate, and refined tannins. 

Are you celebrating World Malbec Day? 

CDP for R&R in the Tub

Friendly reminder that staying in and giving yourself some R&R does indeed count as “having plans.” Raise your glass if you love to indulge in a bubble bath – and let us know your favorite bath bomb, bubble bath, and other accessories that make bathtime so lovely. Can you guess our favorite accessory? Of course it’s wine!

This Homage to Heritage Châteauneuf-du-Pape (lovingly shortened to CDP, but it’s fun to say right?) fits the bill for a great bath pairing as it’s light and earthy, providing a nice balance to any sweet bath accouterments. 

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a major wine region in northern France known for its bold, full-bodied red wines… But don’t sleep on a CDP Blanc! CDP sits near the bottom of the Rhône valley in France, close to Provence. The name of the wine region translates to “new castle of the Pope” and refers to a time when Avignon was the home of the Roman Catholic Church. Grenache is the principal grape in CDP blends, followed by Syrah and Mourvèdre, though 18 red and white grapes are grown in CDP.

Typical flavor profile of a red CDP is jammy with red fruit, with prevalent earthy and herbal notes. We found that this Homage to Heritage ($35) changed in the glass by the hour; revisit this one to see if you can spot any changes if you don’t crush it in one sitting! Generally speaking, if you don’t love a wine right after you’ve opened it, there’s a chance you’ll like it better in a couple hours, the next day, or even if you try the bottle again at a later date! 

Enjoy some R&R this weekend and let us know what you’re drinking in the comments!

Grüner Veltliner for Springtime

Spring has sprung! Daffodils and tulips are starting to shoot up through the dirt and we’re seeing buds on every bush. And what pairs well with early blossoms of spring? Something fresh, bright, and bursting with all-natural energy!

Christina Grüner Veltliner ($20) is an unfined, unfiltered dry white wine from Austria. It’s hazy, citrusy, and super gluggable, meaning you can throw back large quantities easily – a must for any “porch pounder” as we enter into patio season. 

Christina Netzl and her family make wine out of Göttlesbrunn, Austria. Christina grew up on the vineyard, deciding as early as age 5 to become a vintner herself. Inspired by the natural wines introduced through an internship with a London importer (and following the births of her two little girls), Christina decided to convert her family’s vineyards to organic in 2013 and two years later, began making more natural wines under her own label. 

“Over the years, I’ve also been experimenting with different low-intervention methods in the cellar. I fell in love with them and the living wines they yield, and I ended up adding my own range of natural wines to the more classical ones ‘inherited’ from my father.”

– Christina Netzl, Jenny & Francois

Christina’s wines are available in the states thanks to natural wine importer Jenny & François Selections. We have it on good authority (from a favorite neighborhood wine bar owner) that seeking wines labeled as Jenny & François imports is a great trick for finding good natural wine. 

Jenny was seeking lively natural wine from traditional Austrian varieties (of which Grüner Veltliner is one of the most common) and Christina’s low-intervention wine fit the bill. They’ve since become some of the most popular bottles on their roster. 

Having tasted one so far, we’re intrigued and excited to seek out more! Plus, the bottles have beautiful labels that play with spring and nature. Jenny’s husband art-directed the designs and on her site, she declares them: “a tribute to the beneficiary insects that inhabit the vineyards. Not all bugs are bad – these useful little critters help manage pests and build soil health and biodiversity, which is so important in natural winemaking!”

We’ll definitely be seeking out more Christina wines in the future, but we’re also fascinated with the entire natural wine movement – and it is a movement back to winemaking’s roots that we’re witnessing! Will you be tasting alongside us?