A New Year to Enjoy Good Wine and a Wine You Should Be Drinking

Whether you are team - “keep drinking, Dry January, or damp January”

How is your January currently going? Whether you are team - “keep drinking, dry January participant, or a damp January person” (when did this new thing happen?) I hope your month is going well. 

As a wine professional many people have asked if I do Dry January. Years ago I always participated in the Whole 30, which as part of it you give up alcohol. But, I have also worked in wine retail and if you ever work in wine retail most of us don’t believe in it, but we accept others do. I am team, “whatever you decide to do, do it.” As for me, going “dry” at times throughout the year has everything to do with how I want to feel and this goes on well beyond January. I take a lot of no alcohol breaks and don’t really talk about it unless asked.

A lot of my friends in the wine industry usually participate in Dry January and also go dry throughout the year. As a frequent traveling wine person for work, I particularly don't drink when I am not traveling and working. But over the years through aging, hormone changes, and needing better sleep, I have come to realize depending on the day alcohol is not always my friend. The beauty of wine is being able to “spit” but still understand all the nuances and complexities of wine. Yes, that is not the pretty part of a wine job.

I am not giving up wine for the new year or for the rest of my life. Wine is a communal product that has transformed my life, lives of many of my friends, and is truly enjoyable with a meal. It is still the elixir of many great memories. The no alcohol talk has many layers and it’s really a person by person basis. 

Whatever you are deciding for January, I wish you a continued prosperous new year. 

Flowers Vineyard and Winery’s Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2022

Bright, lovely, engaging and simply divine. Elegant without being confining. A beautiful pinot noir that shows the elegance of Sonoma Coast fruit. In the hands of Chantal Forthun this grape sings. If you haven’t had wines from Flowers, don’t hesitate to seek them out and plan a trip to Sonoma Wine Country. I know sometimes wine people can be a little over the top in explaining wine. We get excited, myself included, and sometimes the excitement takes over our explanations and we over analyze, over think, or simply dial it up too much. This wine doesn’t need a lot of unnecessary adjectives. 

Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2022, a wine you should be drinking.