Cheers to Weddings and Wine!

First, let me apologize for being an absentee blogger. As many of you know Big Red and I are getting married (in less than one week!) and wedding planning has become my part-time job. Sadly, at the cost of my other part-time job, blogging about wine. So as I write this final missive before heading to the altar, let me tell you what I have learned about weddings and wine:

1. If wine is a priority at your wedding make sure to tell your caterer/coordinator. That way they know you are going to be thoughtful about your choices and they will work harder to help you choose well.
2. If you review the wine list at your venue and become apoplectic at the prices, negotiate. You are a smartie pants about wine markups so use your knowledge. I managed to cut my wine costs by about 40 percent by going to the grocery store, getting the average cost for some of the bottles and then gracefully calling bullshit on my lodge’s markups.
3. If you feel like there are holes in the wine list offered by your venue ask to see their distributor’s list. Typically you can buy by the case from the distributor and pay a small markup to your venue. It may be worth it to get the right wine. I did it for our champagnes and hey, if there are leftover bottles they won’t go to waste!
4. The other option is to ask about bringing in your own wine and paying a corkage fee. My lodge was willing to let me do this but ultimately I found buying from the distributor to be the better value.
5. Remember that sometimes miracles happen. I wanted a red wine for the gift bags we plan to give our guests. However, I was hell bent on certain parameters: The wine had to be from Washington, had to be a screw top (because who knows if my guests keep a cork screw handy), had to be a crowd pleaser and under $15. Good luck, right? But one magical night I asked a waiter at the 909 in Burien if he happened to know any wines that fit all those criteria. He laughed at first. But 15 minutes later he came back to tell me about a winemaker who was in the restaurant, who happened to have a great, inexpensive, high quality, screw top red and that a percentage of each bottle sale went to feed the homeless. How miraculous is that? Check out Sozo wine, y’all. Hopefully, you will like it as much as our wedding guests.

And with that, I am off. We are getting married a week from today and then honeymooning in Portugal. I imagine there will be lots of winetasting in my near future and hopefully I’ll come back with all kinds of recommendations on Vinho Verde, Port and other Portuguese delights. I plan to recommit to blogging once I return and can’t wait to hear from more of you as we continue on this adventure together. In the meantime, take the quiz to determine your tribe, check out our recommendations by tribe – on the left navigation bar – and happy drinking. Cheers!!!