My Julie Andrews Moment
Like just about everyone out there*, I’m on social media. And every Wednesday I make and post a video about wine.
(*Minus my husband, he’s a luddite and refuses to do any of it. So I see you, non-social-media-ers.)
Yesterday’s post was about the Nebbiolo, an Italian varietal that is my absolute favorite. It’s my birthday week and I though “what better way to celebrate myself than to share and talk about my favorite things?”
Since today is my actual birthday, we’re going to do that again! This is my Julie Andrew’s moment; my chance to share all my favorite things of the alcohol world, at the moment. Some of these are local to Wisconsin, some are not. It ranges from glassware, to barware, alcohols, videos, inspiration, and so much more.
So, enjoy! These are a few of my favorite things...
And even if it’s not your birthday, maybe go out and spoil yourself a little.
Wine
This section is hard because, well, it’s all just personal taste! But here’s what I’ve been gaga over lately, and maybe you can find something new to try.
Well we know from the video up above that I am a big Nebbiolo fan; and honestly I’m just an Italian wine fan in general. I like my reds dry and FULL of flavor. If that sounds up your alley but you don’t want to shell out for a Barolo (they can get kind of pricey) then go for a Sangiovese. That is the most common Italian red wine varietal, and is in most Italian red blends as well as being a great stand-alone varietal. They’re usually a little bit juicer than Nebbiolos, but still dry and can range from fruity to floral depending on where in Italy the wine is from. My favorites are Montepulciano; these are always delicious and you can usually find a few well-priced options.
My other fairly new red favorite right now is the Rioja. This is not a varietal, but a wine region in Spain. Similar to Barolo & Barbaresco in Italy, it’s a Qualified Designation of Origin region, which is the highest classification of wine in Spain.
You’ll normally find Tempranillo being the largest grape contributor to a Rioja wine. I really like these because they have great red fruit flavor (raspberries, strawberries, cherries) paired with savory flavors like cedar, dill, and tobacco. It’s a great balance between lots of different things, and it’s always a fun time!
For white wines, my go-to is always Sauvignon Blanc, particularly from New Zealand. They have such amazing tropical fruit flavors and little sweetness, so they are crisp and refreshing and perfect for summer.
I’ve been trying to branch out on my whites though, as I tend to stick a little too closely to New Zealand. So recently I’ve been trying other drier whites, and have been having great success with Pinot Gris (or Pinot Grigio, basically the same thing but from different countries). Most of these tend to be dry and minerally, which is the way I like my white wine! Zippy, with hints of fruit, and a lot of wet pavement.
Spirits
This section could take us all day, so I’m only going to call out one specific alcohol, then do a general recommendation.
First, if you are a gin drinker and have not tried The Botanist, you absolutely must! It’s a gin made by the Scottish whiskey distillers Bruichladdich, found on the island of Islay. It is a treat! It’s subtle, and not harsh at all; with floral notes that steer away from the juniper bombs you can get from lots of gins. If you’re looking for a good martini gin - get this one!
My general recommendation is this: GO LOCAL. There is a craft distilling boom right now, and nothing is more fun that finding that local place and doing a taste test. It’s a great way to support your community and small businesses in your area.
As Matt and I travelled around Wisconsin these last few years, trying to get to know our state a bit better, we have found SO MANY small distilleries (and wineries and breweries)! Not all of them were to our taste, but boy did we have a fun time trying them out.
And how else are you going to find your favorite new brandy if you don’t try new ones?!
I’m not even going to talk about beer; too many types, breweries, and options! All of them good! (Okay, most of them good.) But the same recommendation applies here. Go local. Try all new things. I swore I hated red ales until I had one from Giant Jones Brewery (local to Madison) and hot damn did they prove me wrong. But I wouldn’t have known unless I had tried.
Barware
This is an interesting one for me, and has been a roller coaster over the past few years. When my partner and I moved from the Midwest over to England in 2017 we decided to go full minimalist kitchen. This was mostly for practical purposes, but we also just weren’t interested in having cabinets full of glassware or pots and pans which only had one purpose.
It wasn’t until 2022 that we started branching out into additional kitchen implements again. I will put a caveat here that we still try to be very intentional about what we have and what we are collecting.
And this actually brings me to my first recommendation: shop for glassware at thrift stores or garage sales. First of all, if you’re going to get anything from a thrift store, glassware is the easiest thing to clean, so no getting grossed out by that.
Second of all, do you really need a set of 6 or 8 or 12 wine glasses that are all the same? NOPE. Let’s say you said “absolutely, yes I do! All matching, please!” I bet you can find them cheaper at an estate sale! While I do like having a few different shapes of wine glasses around now, I only get one or two at most of each type, because that’s all I need.
Outside of thrift or vintage stores, the only place I’ve recently purchased brand new glassware has been at World Market, of all places. This is because you can purchase singles of all of their glassware, which I absolutely love! I don’t want 6 martini glasses, I only want 1. I don’t even need 4 brand new wine glasses when Matt only broke one of ours last night (happens more than you’d think).
The other “new” allowance we’ve made in the kitchen, specifically for our bar, in the last few months has been a full barware implements kit. It’s a set of tools for cocktail mixing specifically. Ours is from Barillo and I have only been thrilled with it. One of the biggest reasons we sprung for the kit was that I had been using our meat tenderizer as a muddler for about 6 moths, and it was starting to show some wear and tear. We decided getting some stainless steel bar implements that were actually made for the job might be a good idea.
And it makes me feel fancy when mixing cocktails - which is just fun!
Inspiration
I have been asked a few times, where do I come up with the topics for my blog posts, wine Wednesday videos, and Friday Happy Hour videos? There’s definitely no one answer to this, but there are a few fun resources I’ll share!
First, once friends and family heard about my blog, my inbox blew up with topic recommendations and forwarded emails concerning everything from orange wine to articles on how our taste bud differ. It’s been great! Hearing from those around me about what they want to hear about has been key, and always a great pile of ideas to fall back on.
For the weekly blog, mostly it’s just about what’s interesting me at the moment and/or what holiday is around the corner. I try to hop between the beer/wine/spirit worlds each week to keep things fresh.
Quick plug - if you have a topic you want to know more on, use the “contact me” form on the website and email me your interest! I’ll do a deep dive into it!
Besides what’s boppin’ around my - and my friends & family’s - brain, I do have some specific accounts and businesses I like to follow and which usually are good as topic inducers, or honestly just really entertaining and interesting.
Behind the Bar is a cocktail-based YouTube channel and is fantastic. Not only is Cara’s accent enthralling, but she often goes into detail on the history of a cocktail, the “whys” of how stuff is done in mixology, and does spirit comparisons with experts. The videos are short and sweet, and usually have me wanting to try making whatever she just did!
Anders Erikson’s YouTube channel is in a similar boat. They are short, quippy videos about the everything in the cocktail world, starting at the basics and going to the wide world of spirits you’ve never heard of before! Fun, short, and again, makes you want to bartend.
Moving away from YouTube for a second, The Spruce Eats is one of my favorite website for cocktails recipes (and food recipes, if I’m honest).
Turning to the world of wine, I have two favorite YouTube channels.
The first is Wine Folly. If you don’t know about Wine Folly and you’re a wine lover, please do yourself a favor and start following them! Their knowledge is amazing, and their graphics are even better. They really do have some stellar graphic designs that help learn everything from wine regions to tasting notes.
The second is Bon Appétit’s playlist with sommelier André Mack. He has a great, dry way of walking you through the world of wine. I’ve learned so much about wine labels and distribution from him! He brings it down to a non-snooty level, and honestly it’s all just very entertaining.
Now, I haven’t found a great beer-based YouTube channel yet, so if you have some great recommendations, drop them in the comments section!
And of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I also have a YouTube channel. I only upload once a month, on the first of each month, and I share a local-to-the-Midwest beer, wine, and spirit. It’s called The Midwest Basement and it’s tons of fun. Be sure to check it out!
Weekly Adventure
As a gift to me, spoil yourself somehow this week. Buy yourself that bottle of tequila you’ve had your eye on but is a bit pricey. Scour the local thrift store for a weird, colorful martini glass that will only be used once every few months. Do some yoga outside! Go out for a glass of wine with a friend you haven’t seen in a while. Or make your own fun mocktail and put it in a fancy glass. Whatever it might be, have a little fun this week.
Cheers,
Molly