Arinto for Six!

Have you heard of Six?! Six is a broadway musical that allows the 6 ex-wives of Henry VIII to tell their stories, through a fun and flirty battle of popstars. Some are beheaded, some divorced, but each Tudor queen (turned pop star) is inspired by modern day divas like Rihanna, Adele, and Alicia Keys through her costume and music. We’ve honestly been playing their sassy anthems on repeat since we discovered the show.

We’re pairing the soundtrack with a female-produced Portuguese Arinto. Ever heard of this grape? It’s an indigenous grape to Portugal that produces age-worthy, bright white wines that pair well with the rich seafood dishes popular in the region. Quinta de Chocapalha Arinto ($18) is vivid, mineral, and packs a citrus punch. 

Quinta de Chocapalha is a family business just north of Lisbon, Portugal. In 1987, Alice and Paulo Tavares da Silva embarked on a journey to replant and regraft vines on their estate that dates back to the 16th century. The youngest daughter, Sandra Tavares da Silva, is their chief winemaker slash wine diva today! In addition to making the wine at her family’s estate, Sandra is the lead winemaker for Wine & Soul, which she founded and owns with her husband Jorge Serôdio Borges in the Duoro, best known as the birthplace of Port.

Give this wine a try while you give Six a listen… and don’t lose ur head!

Sparkling Brut Rosé for a Pool Day

As it starts to warm up again, we’re just about ready to lay out by the pool, read a novel, play some tunes, and sip something delicious and refreshing. We’re kicking off the pre-season with a wine that not only serves as a perfect pool day wine, but also checks the box on many other descriptors we love – a wine with a good story, female-owned and made, and bubbly!!! 

Three sisters Sharon Cohn, Rebecca Faust, and Cynthia Faust grew up together in Northern California. After they lost their mom to rare Alpha-1 (a disease that makes it hard to breathe), they were inspired to make sparkling wine in her honor. The winery name “Breathless” is both an ode to their late mother, and a reminder to celebrate life’s moments that leave you breathless. A portion of proceeds from wine sales goes to the Alpha-1 Foundation and other non-profits. 

Breathless Sparkling Brut Rosé ($35) is made in the traditional French method, méthode champenoise, meaning secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle as it does in Champagne. Head winemaker, Penny Gadd-Coster, who boasts an impressive resume and won awards for the first vintage of Breathless Brut just 1 year after the winery opened, uses the three traditional Champagne grapes in her sparkling wines: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. This Sparkling Brut Rosé flaunts a beautiful salmon color, and is rich in flavors of strawberry, stone fruit, and a hint of cream.

The wine label also has a unique story! The label features a painting called “Lady on a Flying Cork” that the sisters found on a Champagne poster from the 1920’s. They bought the rights to this poster to feature on their bottles. See a close up of the label below! This label can also be found on a recently released historical fiction novel: Champagne Widows. We’re definitely adding this to our to-read list this year, anyone else in?!

Sicilian Red for Fire Pit Hangs

Fireside with the mountains behind you… a bottle of delicious Sicilian red created by dynamic women (and the men in their lives too). This is aprés at its finest. Following a few days of skiing and a stock up session at the one and only wine shop (state liquor store) in Salt Lake City, we turned on the fire pit at our hosts’ house and sipped some vino together, recapping the day.

If you’ve followed us closely (or have a super awesome memory when it comes to wine), you may recall a Donnafugata white we highlighted in November as a great wine for catching up with friends. When we spotted a red with the same name and similarly artistic label, we knew it would be perfect for our fire pit hangout! 

La Bella Sedara ($23) is an easy drinking wine of Nero D’Avola with cherry flavors and soft tannins. We loved sipping this as the sun set over the mountains and we waited on our takeout Thai food to arrive. 

In 1983, Giacomo Rallo, a fourth generation winemaker, founded Donnafugata with his wife Gabriella, a pioneer of viticulture in Sicily. Today, their daughter José and son Antonio lead the company. José Rallo also has great love for music and singing and has guided live audiences through a multi-sensorial experience combining different wines and jazz tracks. A woman after our own hearts!

The name Donnafugata, a twist on the phrase, “donna in fuga,” which means “fleeing woman,” refers to the story of a queen who found refuge in the part of Sicily where the company’s vineyards are located today. This same adventure inspired the corporate logo: the image of a woman’s head with windblown hair that dominates every bottle. 

Let’s just say we identify strongly with an adventurous woman with windblown hair! 

Teneral Cellars for Girls Night

This wine pairing is about boobs!!! We mean…girls night. 

Teneral Cellars is woman owned and operated, and produces beautiful wines that raise awareness and support for women’s causes. Teneral Cellars is also passionate about creating equal opportunity in the wine industry, elevating all women through grants, education, and employment opportunities. 

Their 1 in 8 Claret ($34) is a beautiful ode to Bordeaux, a rich red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. The 1 in 8 Claret is a bold blend, rich in blackberry and dark fruit, with notes of cedar and dark chocolate, and balanced out with a hint of vanilla. Named for the statistic that 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, this bottle raises awareness around breast health. The stunning label is also made by a female artist, and we just couldn’t help ourselves from snapping a cheeky photo. 

Claret is a British term that is used to label an American-made wine in a Bordeaux-style blend or Bordeaux-style red wine. Have you tried a Bordeaux or Bordeaux-style wine before? Tell us in the comments!

Merlot for Exploring Washington Wines

Did you know that out of 70 wine varietals, five make up over 80% of Washington’s production? Can you guess them? They are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, and Syrah. Our last woman-made Washington wine actually blended three of these five!

We like to learn about the different grapes, as each brings something unique to wine. This is something we’ll do through reading, taking classes, listening to podcasts, and of course through tasting! We highly recommend checking out Wine Folly, created in Seattle Washington by Madeline Puckette, Justin Hammack, and Chad Wasser. Their book, Wine Folly, The Master Guide, is a great go-to for quick, digestible information about varietals, regions, and tasting practices.  

Also from Washington, Chateau Ste. Michelle has been producing class European varietal wines since 1967. They own over 3,500 acres of land and produce a wide variety of wines that are readily found in most big box stores and supermarkets, often at very affordable prices. If you’re looking to learn about the five most common varietals as you explore Washington wines, Chateau Ste. Michelle, led by VP of Winemaking Katie Nelson, makes them all!

“Nowhere else in the world is there as much diversity in varietals as Washington. We have it all in just a few hours in every direction. It’s an honor to help build the momentum for Washington wines and find their place on the world stage.”

–Katie Nelson, VP of Winemaking

We recently discovered her Canoe Ridge Estate Merlot ($25), and took it home, eager to try something a little different from the grocery store standby – we’re sure you’ve seen the white label with cursive font on a trip or two. Bold and easy to drink, this Merlot is a fine example of the varietal, with red cherry notes and a dry finish. 

Wine Folly writes “Merlot is loved for its boisterous black cherry flavors, supple tannins, and smoky or chocolaty finish… tastes great alongside roasted foods like pork shoulder, roasted mushrooms, or braised short ribs.” We’ll add pasta with reheated norma (eggplant) sauce to the short list! 

Additional fun facts: 

🍇 Merlot, just like Cabernet Sauvignon, is a child of Cabernet Franc. 

🍇 It is the most planted varietal in Bordeaux, France. 

🍇 Pop culture has affected Merlot HARD. When the movie Sideways came out in 2004, Merlot sales dropped almost 2% (while Pinot Noir sales increased 16%)!

Cheers!

CMS for Competitive Card Play

When we’re on vacation together, we always bring a deck of cards! Actually we bring two decks to play our family favorite: Canasta! Any fans out there? Competition sometimes gets the better of us, so when tensions run high, a red blend helps return the balance. 

Hedges Family Estate CMS ($13) is a harmonious blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. It is so juicy and lighter than expected, easy drinking, and without residual sweetness. No complaints here!  

Tom and Anne-Marie Hedges founded Hedges Family Estate in the late 80s, purchased 50 acres on Red Mountain in the Yakima Valley and planted 40 acres of Bordeaux varietals. (We’ll give out bragging rights if you can name a few in the comments!) 

Their daughter Sarah Hedges Goedhart returned home after a few years away to make wine on her family’s estate and has been head winemaker since her uncle and mentor retired in 2015. We look forward to trying more of her wines!

Did you know that in addition to #Womensmonth, March is also #Washingtonwinemonth? At least it is in the world of wine holidays, which we are ALL FOR!

Zinfandel for Baking with Chocolate

Some nights, you’ve got to bake. It’s good for the soul. We recommend opening a bottle of wine and playing your latest musical obsession (or podcast!) while you gather ingredients and make the kitchen magic happen.

In the 1960s, Jay Heminway was teaching sculpture at U.C. Berkeley, and with friends including Alice Waters (chef owner of Chez Panisse and famous for creating the farm-to-table movement), developed an appreciation of local, authentic food and wine. In 1969 he drove up the Silverado Trail in Napa Valley to purchase the land that would become Green & Red Vineyard. 

In 1977, Jay made his first vintage on his new vineyard: 300 cases of Zinfandel, all pressed in a basket press and bottled by hand with his daughter Tobin’s help. In 2019 when her father passed away, Tobin took over the family business and now leads the team in making excellent Zinfandel and other varieties. 

Green & Red Chiles Canyons Zinfandel ($30) has lovely, soft tannins, notes of blackberry, cherry, and oak, and pairs beautifully with a flourless chocolate cake (topped with whipped cream and berries!). It was a great companion throughout the entire baking process. Cheers!

Celebrating International Women’s Day with Madame Clicquot

We can’t let International Women’s Day pass without a mention to one of the baddest in the game…Madame Clicquot! Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin (now known as The Widow Clicquot),  married François Clicquot in 1798 and found herself widowed with a struggling champagne business just six years later. Though the Clicquot family business was more focused on textiles with wine sales as an afterthought, and her father-in-law sought to terminate the champagne branch after his son’s death, Barbe-Nicole’s interest and passion for champagne allowed her to perfect the champagne production and distribution to turn Veuve Clicquot into the global empire it is today. Did you know veuve actually means widow in French?! 

Madame Clicquot’s influence on champagne is unmatched. Not only did she turn around a failing wine business because she refused to give up, she also invented a champagne technique called riddling that is still used today. This technique relies on a riddling table, which allows for champagne bottles to be aged upside down, forcing the leftover yeast from secondary fermentation to collect in the neck of the bottle where it can be easily removed instead of sinking to the bottom of the bottle.

“In an era when women were excluded from the business world, she dared to assume the head of the company, a role she undertook with passion and determination. Madame Clicquot’s character might be summarized with two words: audacious and intelligent.”

– Veuve Clicquot

Raise a glass today to Madame Clicquot and to audacious and intelligent women everywhere. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them.

Smashberry for Smashing the Patriarchy

Let’s hear it for the girls, the women, the female warrior goddesses who smash the (wine) glass ceiling of the predominantly patriarchal wine industry. It’s Women’s History Month and we are here for every woman in any male-dominated industry shaking things up. 

Smashberry winemaker Roxie Ward is dedicated to bringing untraditional, unpredictable and unparalleled flavors to her winemaking. With a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Lagrein, Grenache, Ward created a unique fruit-froward, light bodied red wine. Light enough to sip at all day and just bold enough to provide some patriarchy smashing energy. 

Dishcloth from Overseasoned Amy, a Cambridge maker of amazing apparel and kitchen accessories for feminist food lovers. 

Help us celebrate Women in Wine this month! Got a favorite badass female winemaker, winery owner, wine writer, somm, or leader you want us to know about? Let us know in the comments!

Drink Progressively (in More Ways than One!)

We’ve loved featuring Black-owned and Black-produced wines all month, but February can not be the only time we (or you) call attention to the talented Black winemakers and producers in this white-male dominated industry. Make it your mission to learn more about the makers of your favorite vino and to expand your collection of go-tos to include wine by minority makers. 

How do you do this, you ask? We have a few tips:

🍇 Bookmark any of our pairings from the past month that stood out to you and inquire about these bottles at your local store. Even if they don’t have something in stock, you may be surprised to find many shop owners are always on the hunt for great new offerings. You could help pave their way!

🍇 Visit The Urban Grape (in person if you’re in Boston or online from anywhere) and peruse their BIPOC collection – it is large and ever growing. They also have great female-produced, LGBTQ-produced, organic/biodynamic, and minimal intervention collections so you can shop consciously in any way that matters to you. Founders TJ and Hadley Douglas also wrote a book called Drink Progressively that organizes wines by body, which can give you a better sense for what a wine will be like before you’ve tried it. In their store, if you see a bottle you know you like, odds are good that you’ll enjoy the wine immediately next to it based on their similarity – even if the latter is of a totally different varietal and/or region you aren’t familiar with. Online, the wines are ranked by body to help guide your way. 

🍇 Order online from Vinebase, an online marketplace that helps you buy direct from the winemakers and seek out wineries that are women-led, minority-led, and more! You’ll discover wines that aren’t available at your local shops or at big box stores. 

🍇 And follow along in March – we’re celebrating Women’s History Month with a totally female ensemble of winemakers!