Five Ways to Celebrate National Wine Day

Get ready to raise a glass this Sunday, the 25^th in honor of National Wine Day! Although it’s not quite clear how the holiday came about (Do we really need to know?), the intention is for Americans to take a day and celebrate all things wine. 

Here are five ways to get the celebration going!

1) Buy Appropriate Stemware

Red Wine Glass

Really. If you’re having a glass of wine more often than just on the holidays, then step up to a glass crafted for the type of wine you drink. Red wine glasses have a larger bowl so that you can swirl to your heart’s content and release all those luscious aromas. White wine glasses have a smaller mouth so that the wine stays cool and crisp. Champagne glasses are tall and thin so the bubbles keep coming. And clear is preferred to a colored wine glass so you can see the wine.

2) Clean Out Your Wine Cellar

Come on, this will be fun. Grab a box and start sorting through your bottles. Anything you don’t like, don’t want or don’t recognize goes in the box. This has now become your party box. Call some friends and have them over for a potluck Sunday supper; pop open some of those bottles and celebrate!

3) Visit a Winery

Take a Tour

What better way to indulge your love of wine than at a winery where they live it 24/7? Go somewhere you’ve never been before and undergo the whole “winery experience” with fresh eyes (and senses).Take the tour, taste the wines, talk to the owners, the winemaker, the bar staff to learn something you find fascinating. Then find someone to enjoy a bottle with and tell them what you learned. After all, wine (like knowledge) is better shared.

4) Celebrate the Indianapolis 500 Winner

Today is also the running of the 98^th Indianapolis 500; the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The race starts at 12:12 p.m. eastern time and will conclude after 200 laps produces a winner from the pool of 33 drivers. Toast the checkered flag and the winner of the largest single-day spectator-sporting event.

5) Drink Something Special

Back to the wine cellar, but this time pull out that special bottle of wine. (And remember, special doesn’t have to mean expensive.) Maybe it’s that Chateau Ste. Michelle Dry Riesling or Raymond Vineyards Rutherford Cabernet, or dare I say it, that Black Box Merlot you picked up last week at the grocery. It doesn’t matter about wine ratings or appellations, just make it something special that you will enjoy.

What a weekend coming up: National Wine Day; The Indy 500, and Memorial Day Weekend! Go grab a glass and salute them all!

~ Joy