New Year, More Wine: 2019 Resolutions for Budding Oenophiles

by Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo
story published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 12/20/18

The most yelled-out-loud countdown to midnight of the year is a chance to reset, to refresh and to redo. For wine lovers, a new year is a chance to revisit their relationship with their favorite beverage and to discover even the littlest ways to enhance it. Here are five resolutions to consider, submitted humbly by a fellow budding oenophile.


Fine Dining w/a View: Ferraro's at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

Travel for Wine: Need a reason to travel to Hawaii? The Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, one of only four AAA 5-Diamond resorts in all of Hawaii, is hosting its first Wine & Food Classic, March 1-3, 2019. Put on in conjunction with sommelier Christian Navarro of Beverly Hill’s Wally’s Wine & Spirits, the lavish, immersive seaside event will feature master classes, dinners, grand tastings and mingling sessions with world class wine experts and chefs. Set on one of the most remarkable properties in the world, this fancy feast will hone your palate while creating lifetime travel memories. A perfect example of how satisfying your wanderlust can be a wonderful way to introduce your palate to new, exciting, exemplary wines. Sonoma for a long weekend, anyone? Or Porto for a long week? In 2019, let your taste buds do your travel planning.

Drink Less: This one’s just for those of you who are letting loose this holiday season, the ones who will be counting steps, joining a gym and juicing come January 1^st. Cutting back on your wine consumption will – yes, hurt – but effectively be the easiest way to trim daily caloric intake. By drinking one five-ounce glass of syrah a night instead of two, you’ll trim 125 calories. Invest a bit more on a better red, instead, in 2019. Baby steps? Switch to white – 120 calories a glass.

Drink More: When I say more, I mean more variety. My wife went through a massive pinot noir kick this year. When I was ready for a break, I began secretly opening blends or grenaches or cabernet francs to see if she’d tell the difference. Even when she did, she really liked what would have otherwise remained an unopened wine. Our communal wining opened up pretty nicely since. In 2019, buy wines you’ve never considered buying before!

Two of my favorite wine finds of 2018

Sip With Eyes Closed: In 2019, start tasting wine blind. That means taste the stuff in your glass, but without knowing what’s in it. You’ll know pretty quickly if that wine speaks to you – if it’s a wine you’ll want to buy again – or if this merely is a passing slurp. I used to host monthly wine tastings with friends – we’d pick a theme, wrap wines in aluminum foil, pour them at random and discuss which ones we liked and which ones we didn’t. I met the woman who’d become my wife through one of these, so the possibilities really are endless.

Cheat on Your Partner: Drinking partner, that is, who could be your spouse or roommate or friend. After a while, there’s a coiffing comfort zone, and you’re sharing nightly sips of the same rotating regulars. What if, in 2019, we mix things up a bit? Share a glass with your neighbor, that other parent from school, your parent. By changing up the people we sip with, we expand our imbibing portfolio, we’re introduced to wines and styles and labels we wouldn’t have otherwise discovered and, if nothing else, we make new friends.

Happy New Year!

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