Clean-Crafted Wine 

Skip to the bottom for a little giveaway treat! 

With the start of the school year and the kick off of fall, I get such an urge to dig into the books I've been neglecting. Fall always feels like the perfect time to nourish the brain and connect with friends IRL. I love sharing our perspectives, celebrating the dissenting ones, on a book. Trying to figure out what that one character meant when she did that thing or what it would feel like to go through the big struggle those characters endured. It's a really great outlet. The book clubs I've joined had one other major element in common - wine. Always wine! 

Most of my book clubs have been on a school night, which means I need to be careful of what and how much I drink. It's way too easy to get a hangover these days. So I want (and frankly need) to be more mindful of the wines I choose. 

Nobody ever taught me how to evaluate wine. I just know how to drink it. As a visual person, I pick my wines based on the branding and hope for the best, which is an atrocious way to select something you're putting in your body! Christy Stuber, consultant for Scout & Cellar, recently reached out to me and introduced me to a new way of choosing my book club beverages so we all could have a better wine experience. 

Clean-crafted wines are grown naturally—without the use of synthetic pesticides—and bottled consciously—without added sugars or non-organic chemicals to modify texture, flavor, color or aroma. Scout & Cellar specializes in clean-crafted wines. Their selection is robust and the prices are right on point with a decent bottle from the state store. 

Christy and I agreed that the only way for me to really understand the beauty of clean-crafted wine was to try it. I fell on my sword for this one and took a bottle each of her favorite red, white and sparkling wines. It isn't socially acceptable to drink three bottles of wine on your own so I tapped the expertise of Lauren and Catie to see what we really thought about this stuff.  

2017 Dove Hunt Dog Chardonnay
Mendocino County, California

I'm here to tell you I don't particularly like white wines. But this Dove Hunt Dog Chardonnay was exceptional! It's light-bodied, crisp and just a tad fruity without being overly sweet. Fun fact - The vineyard that produces this wine is organic and on a self-sustaining estate that generates all of its own power through renewable energy sources. Talk about a superhero drink! 

Gruber Röschitz Grüner
Veltliner Frizzante, Austria

Sparkling wine is one of those things I like to talk about drinking but rarely do I actually enjoy it. It's usually too sweet or too dry or too cheap and I end up with a raging headache before the day is even done. But the Gruber Röschitz Grüner is dangerously delicious. It tasted light and fresh. This stuff went down so easily I could have "accidentally" consumed the entire bottle on my own. This was my absolute favorite of the day. 

2015 Middle Jane Pinot Noir
Willamette Valley, Oregon

Red wine is my old friend. We've seen the best of times, we've seen the worst of times. But we'll always have a thing (especially in the fall). This Middle Jane Pino Noir is divine. I love when a sip of wine is almost entertaining, but it doesn't linger. This is just fruity enough and ends up being fairly light. True story - Instead of using chemicals, this vineyard creates and applies compost teas made from medicinal flowers and herbs.
I mean, come on. That's awesome.

I'm so excited to have found this great resource for genuinely great wine that is produced in a way I can feel really good about. You should give Scout & Cellar clean-crafted wine a try!

Your book club will be delighted!

Giveaway!

Leave a quick comment below to be entered into a giveaway for a discount on your next purchase of Scout & Cellar wine! Entries accepted until noon this Thursday. The winner will be announced Thursday evening.

Cheers! xo  

Photos // Wellesley & King Photography

Wine for this post provided by Christy Stuber, consultant for Scout & Cellar.