I’m balling out today with a bottle of Krug, but not just any bottle of Krug. This bottle comes with a QR code with some music made specifically for this wine. It’s so wild I had to give it a try. I’m sharing with a bunch of friends this evening and we’ll see if it adds to the experience 😅 Share what you’re drinking today!! 🎆

This past weekend I traveled to a wedding in a state park outside of Portland, Oregon. The wedding was absolutely beautiful for so many reasons, including that the couple served only local Oregon wines during the reception! Unfortunately (or not), I didn’t get to try them all, but I did make it a point to dig through the cases during the set up to take photos of all of the labels! I was a big fan of the bubbly rosé, which was served in place of the champagne toast during dinner.

The world of natural wines is very new to me, so going to the Columbus natural wine fest just made sense. Baptism by fire if you will. But this fest was a ton of fun and I learned so much. So if you're new to natural wines like I was (am) here's what learned 1. Natural wines can and will range on the funk scale. There were some that tasted very much like a "normal" wine and others that had a deep funk to it. For the rosés and whites it was almost like a sour apricot flavor or an overripe blood orange. 2. Natural wines can be BOLD. I figured natural wines probably didn't have as much going on, but that was so far from the truth. One of the wines I sampled was a Merwah Orange wine from Lebanon. This was sharp, zesty, super juicy up front and finished like an orange cream soda. There was another that had a very jammy flavor on the nose, but finished with more smoke and earthy notes. But once again the spectrum can swing the other way. There was an Alexander Valley Cab Sauv and it started with one note and ended with that same note. Most of the wines though were very bold, even if it was a rose or a sparkling wine, but there were a couple that fell flat. 3. From the samples I had, the flavors that came through seemed to very dependent on the area and the wild yeast used. Some tended to be more earthy, even if it was something that typically was more juicy, and then there were others that for the region would share similar flavors regardless of the grape used. 4. Not really a wine thing but holy cow wine fests are busy places. There was so much wine and so many people to talk with. I got to spend a lot of time talking with Laila from Mersel wines, and gained so much information from her. All in all it was a great experience and I am very excited to keep diving into the world of Natural Wines. I feel it may be a touch harder to find the good ones, but when you find them, it is amazing. Cheers! 🥂 If anyone is curious who was there, what I actually sampled and my thoughts let me know! I’ve got a note book full waiting to share 😂

My wonderful cousin shipped 12 bottles of Cab Francs from different wineries in VA. She knows how much we love them. Her husband (who had to ensure only the best ones were sent to us) has the same love. I’m still so not great at describing them. However there was some left in a glass from last night so I took another sniff. Know what? Remember those markers that smelled like different fruits from way back when? Yes! That’s the smell I detected. I feel like @Marie Cheslik would be proud of that description! 😊Light bodies and I couldn’t get enough!

Wine pairing with food is a typical question but does anyone here ever change their wine selection on how they are feeling? When I’m feeling more excited, or in the mood to socialize around town, I go with white wine. However,, when I’m relaxing at home, writing- I prefer red. I’ve also been helping a friend through a breakup recently and brought her a bottle of red and something just told me it “fit the mood” better for a more serious chat. So I’m interested- does anyone else do this?