Despite the icy rain falling around us, Spring actually is right around the corner. Before we know it, the birds will be chirping, the sun will be shining, and the desire to mill about on outdoor patios and roof-decks will become unbearably irresistible. What better way to celebrate the oncoming good weather than with a raging shindig? Since we are in a recession, here are some wine tips to keep your clambake sweet, dirty, and cheap.
Rowdy College Pals
This is for all of you who are still in school- or just party like you are. Any sort of “reunion” with people who doodled on your face with sharpie when you were passed out from drinking a 30-rack of Pabst all by yourself is sure to get wild. But now (ostensibly) you are grown-ups. So it’s time to forgo the Jaegar and Blue Ribbon special and move it on up to some red wine. Let’s not go crazy here though.
Since your buddies will inevitably throw back a case or two while reminiscing about nearly getting arrested for smoking pot on the Commons on Marathon Monday years back, you need something that reflects your now-mature status with the college price tag. Your answer is the Don Rodolfo Malbec 2006 from Argentina. At $11 a pop, this rich, powerful red with heavy tannins and strong fruit flavors of cherry and strawberry is a total steal.
So cringe not, when your pals pop open the 8th bottle – you can afford it. And if you can’t? Charge them five dollars at the door like the good old days.
Wedding & Baby Showers
Think of the scene in Bambi when all the bunnies and woodland creatures start pairing off and those revolting cartoon hearts are fluttering thick in the air like a million hummingbirds. It’s baby season, y’all. Spring fever has sprung and your previously cool couple friends are either getting engaged, married, or breeding at an exponential rate. Rest assured that you will be invited to plenty of daytime, family value style get togethers.
What socially acceptable wine can you bring that will delight the matriarch of the family as well as get you drunk enough to deal with listening to your friends’ plans of teaching their unborn child, Mandarin, how to play the violin via womb?
The Loimer Gruner Veltliner is a clean, crisp white with a sunny disposition that goes down easy, paired with hors d’oevres or standing on its own. At $15 a bottle, why not bring two? The other singletons will appreciate it, and hell, you might even meet a spring lover of your own.
Party For Deux
On that note, let’s get to the best part of Spring. All that crazy loved up, holding hands on the Charles, sun in your face fun that accompanies a new relationship. You’re so enmeshed in the throes of first infatuation that you are spending every waking moment together and the most banal activities (i.e dish washing and grocery shopping) suddenly are intimately exciting. In order not to induce nausea in those around you, instead of grinning conspiratorially at each other while you play footsie under the table at the restaurant, why not stay in and get all lovey-dovey in private?
The perfect wine for a romantic dinner date is the Torbreck Cuvee Juveniles. Originally created exclusively for a wine bar in Paris, this vino has been referred to as Torbreck’s version of a Barossa Valley Cotes du Rhone on steroids. With ripe, juicy flavors of blackberry, spiced cherries, minerals, and Asian spices this blend of Grenache, Mataro (Mourvedre) and Shiraz is soft, sensuous and heedlessly drinkable. A perfect match for meatier dishes, it also can stand alone. After one glass (or two or three), you may just find yourself skipping straight to dessert. And why not? Spring flings have a way of turning into Summer Love.
When Everyone Is Already Wasted
You know how it goes, everyone’s out at a bar, the night air is warm and inviting and suddenly 2AM is no longer time to go home. You, personable and sophisticated Second Glass reader, somehow always end up hosting your merry band of hooligans during these after-hours soirees.
The problem? Everyone’s already intoxicated and definitely not in a place to enjoy or understand the nuances of that Jordan Cab you’ve been hoarding away. Answer? Save your old wine bottles and funnel a jug of Carlo Rossi into them.
At 6 bucks per two bottles of wine you will seem like a generous chap and benevolent host. They won’t notice the syrupy sweet cheapness and you’ll be drunk enough not to care. Good luck with the hangover, though.
Enjoy the Springtime, my inebriated little lambs, and get ready for a whole summer of hot-weather wine recommendations and more dating advice from The Second Glass and the Young & Intoxicated.
