šŸƒAU REVOIR, DRY JAN!šŸƒ

by Megan Jones

What's up winos,

Last week wasā€¦ biblical. Thereā€™s no other word for it. If you looked up all the stages of the plague brought down on that dude Ramesses, Iā€™m pretty sure we had, like, four out of seven of them. There was flooding. There were malfunctioning shutters. There were power tools being wielded by a van of teenagers wearing sunglasses at night whose number we found on a sticker on the street. I was waiting all day Saturday for the locusts to come, but thankfully it seems weā€™ve been spared those. For now. Luckily I already have grey hairs, otherwise Iā€™d be blaming them on last week. But we made it through! Here we are, on the other side! The air is so much cleaner over here!Ā 

Thereā€™s nothing I like better after a week straight from the depths of hell than cracking the top off a bottle of fizz. Champagne girlie, pet nat budget, etc. Weā€™ve got a lot of sparkles on our shelves at the moment, and thereā€™s something for everyone.

LemossĀ has landed back on our shores after what felt like a lengthy absence. Def made the heart grow fonder. Itā€™s back and more smashable than ever; they even added a little tractor to the bottle. Cute. Also back is theĀ pet nat from the Schodl family, one of my absolute favourites. Citrusy, smooth and creamy, this is everything I want in a bottle, and itā€™s everything youā€™ll want too, I promise.Ā 

On the slightly more fun and freaky end of the spectrum, Tim Wildmanā€™sĀ Astro BunnyĀ is a frothy, fruity bomb made up of five different grapes that donā€™t often find themselves next to each other in the bottle. Ever changing, ever interesting, but still somehow manages to be super drinkable above all else. You can also check out hisĀ traditional English sparklingĀ which has a much more classic bent, if you want to marvel at the guyā€™s range as a winemaker. Get u a man that can do it all, etc.Ā SoifĀ is another good-weird one, grapes fermented with apples for a fizzy, cider-y, low ABV time. If youā€™re still pretending to do dry January, or slowly easing your way out of it, this is the perfect gateway at 9%, aka, essentially non-alcoholic.

If you like your fizzers more classic, but arenā€™t a millionaire, theĀ Vouvray from Champalou, theĀ Chenin from ChidaineĀ andĀ Derainā€™s Chut BrutĀ are all excellent, excellent options that wonā€™t have you moving money around from the Cayman Islands. If you like your fizzers more classic but youĀ areĀ a millionaire, a) good 4 u, b) wanna hang out? and c) get on theĀ Ephemere Rose from Savart, freshly restocked and just waiting to be popped. Sheā€™s dazzling. You could also do a lot worse than theĀ MineralĀ cuvee from Agrapart - every one of the domaineā€™s wines is mind boggling, but this is something else. Grab one and see what Iā€™m talking about, then come back and tell me Iā€™m right.

Last thing from me - weā€™re teaming up with our pals Jumi for a V-day fondue fest. Find me a better duo than wine n cheese? There isnā€™t one, soĀ get your butt down hereĀ on Valentineā€™s Day with your lover or your mates or any rando you can round up. You promise to do that and Iā€™ll promise not to blast Slayer all night in protest at all the romance in the air. Deal? Deal.

Iā€™d love to stay and chat, but Iā€™ve got to batten down the hatches in case anything else explodes in the bar. Cross ur fingers for me.

xoxo

Megan