You know the feeling. The sun is beaming, there’s a soft breeze, waves are gently crashing nearby, and the salt from a recent dip in the ocean is baked into your sunscreen-soaked skin. When all of these elements conspire together to make it seem as though you never had a job and will never in fact return to one, the only thing to be done about this level of euphoria is to reach for a vacation wine.
va·ca·tion wine
/vāˈkāSHən wīn/
noun
- A wine that anchors you in the moment, sharpening your senses and dulling your worries, all with one crisp sip.
Admiring a light frost crawl across your glass as it’s filled with a quaffable wine is textbook vacation vibes. It signals that your OOO auto-reply is shielding you from meeting invites and just-bubbling-this-back-ups, and that maybe your idea of moving to the Mediterranean coast isn’t so far-fetched after all. And while the aforementioned seaside scenario is a stellar example of where a vacation wine hits its stride, a vacation wine is more like a state of mind, to be enjoyed wherever and whenever you please (though preferably on an actual vacation).
“What I’m drinking while away is much less particular than when I’m back at home,” Parcelle Founder Grant Reynolds says. For the NYC-based sommelier, it’s more about what he’s not drinking. “I’m avoiding anything with too much flavor and too much alcohol. I like to do stuff while on vacation rather than just get drunk, nap, and repeat, so my approach to vacation drinking is all about a long lunch, having the coordination to safely go for a swim following that lunch, and then still being in good form for a proper dinner.”
The prerequisites of a vacation wine are few, but enhancing the moment is non-negotiable. “A vacation wine must be cold, crisp, high acid, low oak integration, and taste a bit like the salty ocean,” Las Jaras Co-founder Eric Wareheim tells us from his vacation in Formentera, who shares his insights while sunbathing on the rocks overlooking the turquoise sea. “We brought some Jamon, some hard cheese, and an Albarino from a responsible winemaker. (Organic but not funky, no bullshit.) I listen to the waves crashing against the rocks and the cool water hits my face and I kiss my glass of wine and cheers to goddess for offering up such a wonderful spot to sit ’n’ sip.”
