Author: amarose

The first step to happiness, as we all know, is accruing a wide and varied collection of wine. But once you have all that wine? How are you going to protect it? What the lying news media won’t tell you is that there are anywhere between 10 and 1,000 bandits, ruffians, and ne’er do wells on your street every night looking for delicious vintages to steal. If you’re not willing to guard your wine with your life, you might as well put it out on the curb and relinquish all claim to it. But how are you going to go about securing your stash? Wine security is no joke, but we’re here to help.

Wine Security Essentials: Hire 20 Armed Guards

MINIMUM. The more guys you have watching your delicious whites, decadent reds, and playful rosés, the less likely it is that a prowler thirsty for vino will be able to access your stash. Cameras can be avoided, security systems can be hacked, but 20 loyal guys with lethal weaponry will never let you down. Be sure to keep them from flipping on you by sharing your wine with them. Invite them to your picnics and barbeques. Let them know that they are part of the family.

Poison Your Wine.

Starting now, inoculate yourself to an odorless, flavorless poison of your choice by adding a low dose to every meal you eat. Once you accrue a tolerance, spike your wines so that any wannabe thief will be killed the instant they take a sip. Be sure to inoculate your friends, family, armed guards, and whoever else you might want to share wine with or your life could suddenly become incredibly tragic.

The Latest in Wine Security: Mouse Trap

If somehow the wine crazed burglar gets past your 20 loyal protectors and your poisoned goods, then treat them to the final boss of wine security: A human sized mouse trap. While the snap of the trap will likely destroy the bottle of wine that you leave as bait, one lost bottle is better than 10 stolen ones. Mesmerized by the idea that their criminal enterprise is about to pay off, your would be wine thief will jump at the bait  bottle- And then be trapped between a plywood base and a steel wire. Works every time!

Back in the 1980s, Dungeons and Dragons was a niche activity played by nerds and losers. But times change, and in the modern age the tabletop role playing game is not only popular, it’s cool. People listen to podcasts about DnD, play it at bars, and now there’s even a high budget film franchise based on it. If you’re one of the many people in their twenties who like to get a group of friends together and play DnD, you might be in search of the perfect Dungeons and Dragons wine, one that you can bring to a session and enjoy as you complete quests, kill monsters, and cause chaos in quaint medieval taverns. Search no more: Here is Amarose’s guide to the perfect DnD wine!

Lore Accurate

Something to be mindful of when selecting your Dungeons and Dragons wine is how well it fits into the world that you’re playing in. If the setting for your campaign is based on medieval europe, it might not make sense to drink sake. Maybe if the setting is gothic horror it might make sense to drink a dark, aromatic red, or if you’re adventuring in a summery setting you might want a cool, refreshing white.

Cost Efficient

DnD is a casual activity, and you probably don’t want to break the bank over it. So, if you’ve found the perfect wine, maybe a red blend based on an ancient recipe or a mead with a name like ‘viking blood,’ you might want to check the price tag first. Immersion is not worth spending 30 dollars or more for a wine that you’re going to drink casually as you play a tabletop game. Go for something a little cheaper, even if it compromises your vision a little.

Drinkable

So you’ve filtered wines by lore accuracy and cost efficiency, and what you’re left with might taste pretty bad! The worst case scenario for your Dungeons and Dragons wine is that it is disgusting, but thankfully, we have a solution: Rosé! It fits in many medieval and ancient settings (ancient winemakers could not get all the tannins out of red grapes, so their red wines were really rosés), it’s affordable, and it tastes delicious! Bring a bottle to your next Dungeons and Dragons session and your friends and co-adventurers will thank you.

‘Rosé All Day’ is the catchphrase of a lifestyle, a fun rhyme that rosé lovers use to express their love for the delicious pink wine. But how did the phrase come to be? What is the history of the movement, what are the underlying social and economic conditions that led to its birth, and most importantly, do you really have to be drinking rosé all day?

How Much Rosé Should You Really Be Drinking?

Lets address the last question first. The answer is no, you should not actually be drinking any alcohol all day. Have a glass with dinner or share a bottle on a weekend picnic. If you truly spend all day drinking rosé, the chances of your physical, mental, and social health sharply deteriorating rises exponentially. Rosé All Day is more about keeping the spirit of rosé alive even when you’re not drinking it. That means keeping it light, fun, and approachable 24/7.

How Did Rosé All Day Start?

It started with a tweet, posted in 2010 by the now deleted account @DIORSWORLD305, saying ‘ok we poppin bottles #BOSS CHICK #RoséAllDay.’ One can only guess at DIORSWORLD305’s state of mind at that moment when they made history. Perhaps they had just received a promotion at work, becoming in truth the ‘Boss Chick’ that they reference, and felt compelled to open a bottle of rosé in celebration. Perhaps it was an expression of exuberant defiance in the face of the slow recovery of the economy after the 2008 recession, that though the world was uncertain they remained the Boss Chick with the popped bottle of rosé. Whatever their motives, that tweet changed the world forever.

When Did The Phrase Spread?

Once cast into the world by DIORSWORLD305, our favorite catchphrase stewed in hibernation for 6 years before exploding into the popular consciousness in summer of 2016. The relative inexpensiveness of rosé combined with its eminent drinkability to create a drink perfect for a new generation of younger millennials entering the legal age of drinking. In those months from June to September, the hashtag #roséallday swept the internet and the real world, cementing rosé as more than just a niche wine style. By the end of that historic summer, Rosé All Day had been canonized by the greatest honor an internet-age cultural movement can receive: A scolding article from Vice accusing the hashtag of fomenting social rot.

Wine walks. We’ve all done them. It’s the post-pandemic era and there’s no shame in it: Get a little bit of wine, take a nice walk outside, and sip as you enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Maybe you like to drink a little chardonnay as you walk around a local body of water, or some pinot noir as you traipse through a rose garden. Maybe you take a trek through the woods with a splash of rosé! Whatever your preference, there’s usually only one thing standing in the way of a good time: Open container laws. Thankfully, we’ve got your back with some acceptable to-go cups that can keep your wine walks on the right side of the law.

WATER BOTTLE: The Boring Option

It’s simple, it’s easy, it’s washable: Just wash out your trusty water bottle and put some wine in it. This option is the easiest and requires the least preparation, but it does come with its drawbacks. For one, a water bottle will hold way more wine than you want to drink, and you’ll have to regulate yourself either by not filling it up all the way or by keeping track of how much you have drank (which can be hard to do with an opaque water bottle!) Also, some of the romanticism of wine walks will inevitably be lost with such a boring, regular container.

REPURPOSED JUICE BOX: For Wine Walks Down Memory Lane

This method is a lot more intensive than the first, but it’s got a lot of style. Drink a juice box like a Capri Sun, cut open the top, fill it with wine, and reseal with a curling iron or some similar heat source. An instantly grown up Juice box! For this one you’ll definitely need to plan ahead, but it’s worth it to combine the thrill of a wine walk with the nostalgic packaging of a Capri Sun.

SIPPY CUP: The Platonic Ideal

This is the best of both worlds. Both reusable and low-maintenance and reminiscent of childhood spring days, a sippy cup will hold the right amount of wine and add a splash of whimsy to your wine walk. Be sure, however, to buy a fresh one from the store rather than stealing one from a young relative or neighbor. If there’s one thing more illegal than an open container, it’s stealing from children.

Amarose wine is designed for sharing, and there is no better place to share your wine than at a picnic. But while a picnic might sound like an easy and breezy way to spend a spring saturday, the uninformed picnic packer is in real danger of falling into a pit of unending despair in the form of an ill-packed picnic.You could make too many sandwiches, or not enough charcuterie. Your basket could fall apart en route if you don’t double check the structural integrity of the weave. A jaguar, lured by the scent of food, could attack and kill you and your friends as soon as you sit down. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s Amarose’s guide to packing the perfect spring picnic.

Stick to your shopping list!

Some people like to picnic with individual meals for each person, but I prefer a spread where everyone gets a little bit of everything. The problem this poses is that snacks are harder to quantify than individua meals, and so it’s pretty easy to walk out of the store having spent over a hundred dollars on every bag of nuts and wheel of cheese that looks yummy. Do not do this! Make a list beforehand, and do not deviate from it. It’s certainly better to have too much food than not enough, but both problems will be solved if you plan your shop properly.

Pack your spring picnic tight!

This is where your Tetris skills come in handy. Picnics are a mobile meal and so you’ll want it to fit in as few containers as possible. Imagine the embarrassment if you are forced to pack one basket worth of food into two baskets! A mortifying thought. I would not wish that on my worst enemy. Fill as much space with food as you can without cramming, and your picnic’s chances of success skyrocket.

Check the weather!

Spring is known for wind and rain on the days that it’s not sunny, so you’re going to want to keep an eye on the weather up until the hour of the picnic. The worst thing that can happen, except for jaguar incidents, is that the sky opens up on you, watering down your delicious Amarose and rending all of your delicious food soggy and ruined.  The weather can turn on a dime, so do everything you can to schedule for a date when the sun is out and the wind is down.

Spring has officially sprung, and while we are still in the April Showers phase of the equation, the promise of May Flowers is just around the corner. If you’re like me, you’ve spent 2023 so far promising yourself that this year WON’T be like last year, that you won’t wait until the last minute to make matching pairs out of your wines and your spring flowers and end up completely swamped with work. Thankfully, we’ve got you covered. Nothing goes together quite like flowers and wine, so here are three flowers and the wines that best accompany them.

Roses – Pinot Noir

Some might think that roses would be best matched with rosé, but that would be silly. Besides a similar name the two have almost nothing in common. Roses are a deep, romantic red, and as such must be matched with a red wine. Pinot noir is light and fruity for a red wine, perfectly matching both the deep red color of a rose and the sweet smell.

Daffodils – Chardonnay

There is no flower more light and playful than a daffodil. It’s the spring flower of spring flowers, bouncy and yellow with a fun trumpet-like petal structure. Daffodils have a lot in common with chardonnay. Both are light in color, both are associated with good times and warm weather, and both are pleasant, light, and easy to enjoy.

Tulips – Rosé

Tulips: a beautiful flower, multicolored, symmetrical, associated with springtime, beautiful meadows, and obliterating the early-modern Dutch economy in a fiasco so unfortunate and stupid that it helped cost the country a centuries-long developmental headstart on the rest of Europe, losing any chance of becoming top dog of the continent. But we’re not here to talk about the failings of tulips, we’re here to talk about how tulips are just like delicious, crisp rosé! The flowers and wine are fragrant, light, and refreshing, and most importantly often get overshadowed by their peers. Had enough of roses? Give tulips a try. Sick of white wine? Rosé might just be the beverage for you.

There is a bell curve when it comes to wine enjoyment. On one end are those who know nothing about wine etiquette and thus drink freely and happily, perhaps not getting the most out of their wine but not knowing that anything is amiss. On the other end are those who are confident in their wine knowledge, who also drink freely and happily in the knowledge that they are doing everything right. The middle of this bell curve is an ungodly cesspool of stress. You know that there is a correct way to maximize the flavor of your wine, but are you doing it right? What if you did it wrong? You will never get those sips back. You’re not good enough for this. You should go back to drinking 5 dollar canned cocktails and never show your face in public again. If you have ever thought something like that while drinking wine, don’t worry! I’ve got the perfect guide for you to learn the ins and outs of wine prep.

Wine Temperature?

This rule is well known, but very important: Keep your red wines at room temperature, keep your white wines in the refrigerator! If you’ve every drank a hot soda or a lukewarm cup of coffee you know how much temperature can make or break a beverage. A white wine should be crisp and refreshing, and you can’t have a crisp and refreshing sip that isn’t chilled! It just can’t be done! Similarly, the complexity of a red wine just won’t come through if your tastebuds are too chilly. Even though rosé is made with red grapes, it should be chilled along with your white wine. Temperature is key to wine prep!

What is decanting?

Decanting your wine is an advanced technique known only to the most skilled wine enthusiasts. It’s also incredibly simple and easy, and you too can do if with the right container! Basically, the flavor of wine improves when given twenty or thirty minutes to ‘breathe.’ The problem is, simply uncorking a bottle and letting it sit isn’t going to make much of a difference. In order to maximize the amount of wine that makes contact with the air, it’s wise to pour your wine into a decanter, which is a broad jug that will allow the liquid to oxidize. If you don’t have a dedicated decanter, any broad container will do!

Spring is finally here! Birds are chirping, buds are growing on trees, and it’s finally warm enough to go outside without contemplating the void. For some, spring is simply the transitionary month between winter and summer, but if you’re a lover of rosé spring means something else. Rosé can (and should!) be enjoyed year round, a fine pink glass of rosé drank in January isn’t nearly as delicious as that same glass in the beginning of April as you watch the world thaw. But what makes rosé the perfect spring wine? And why specifically is AMAROSE the best spring rosé? Let me walk you through it.

Rosé: A Perfect Spring Wine?

Red wine is an obvious choice for the winter months. Rich, complex, and warming, there’s really nothing better to sip by the fire as you wait out the cold. But during the spring, that rich complexity is going to feel sort of flat next to the yearly miracle of the world’s rebirth. Likewise, a glass of white wine is also going to feel off, it being more evocative of the languid laziness of summer. Enter rosé. Perfectly crisp! Not too sweet! Not too heavy! When you drink it, you can hear baby birds waking up! There’s really nothing to say about a springtime rosé except that it hits.

Amarose: A Perfect Rosé?

Many are saying this! As a Provence style rosé, Amarose is crisp, tart, and refreshing, with enough complexity to arouse your tastebuds while still being perfect for casual sipping on a spring picnic or an early in the season barbeque. It’s fruity notes and floral aromas are perfectly complimentary to spring’s warm breezes, budding greenery and rainstorms. It’s the perfect spring wine. If it is springtime and you are drinking a rosé, and that rosé is not Amarose, then you are are missing out on a universe of perfect springtime goodness. You might as well go back inside and close the shades until summer if you’re going to waste a season like that.

If you’re headed to the movies this weekend, there’s a good chance you’re going to see John Wick: Chapter Four, the latest in the hit series of action movies where Keanu Reeve racks up triple-digit body counts while somehow pronouncing single or double word lines (‘Yeah,’ ‘Maybe not,’) with upwards of ten syllables each. But with each successive movie adding more and more twists to John Wick’s story, it might be a good idea to revisit the series before jumping into the fourth one. But if you’re going to do a movie marathon, what wine are you going to drink as you watch? Don’t worry! We’ve compiled a guide to which John Wick movie pairs best with which wine so your watch-through can go off without a hitch.

John Wick (2014): Rosé

The first John Wick is simple and sweet: John Wick’s dog gets killed by the mob, he retaliates by killing all of them. Movie over. You’ll want a wine that goes down just as smooth, and rosé is a great choice. The autumnal crispness of a good rosé will perfectly match the crispness with which John Wick double taps faceless bad guys with his signature pistol, and the light floral notes will accentuate the deep sadness you feel when John Wick thinks about his dead wife. (Maybe if you’re looking for a good rosé you can pick up a bottle of Amarose!)

Chapter 2: Petite Sirah

While the first John Wick is a trim, lean revenge story John Wick 2 ratchets up the melodrama, and so this John Wick wine will have to be equally rich and flavorful. In this one, John Wick gets caught up in a familial power struggle between a pair of siblings vying for a place in the ruling council of the international guild of assassins. Alluring glances, sexual tension, catholic imagery… What could pair better with that then a petite sirah? Petite Sirah is dark, full bodied, and rich, and every sip will immerse you further into the spooky politics of John Wick Chapter 2.

Chapter 3- Parabellum: Chardonnay

There is only one word that comes to mind when I think of John Wick breaking a rival’s neck on the spine of a library book, or throwing antique knives directly from a museum exhibit into an assailants chest, or racing a gang of evil bikers while bareback on a horse: Buttery. And what wine is more buttery than a chardonnay? Pour a glass of this popular white and enjoy how cool and smooth it is– just as cool and smooth as the final fight in the glass penthouse.

If you’re like me, your wine consumption goes in phases. Maybe one month you drink a lot of chardonnay, another month pinot noir, maybe three or four months for rosé. But what happens when you’ve exhausted all the different styles and varietals? You want to drink wine, but no specific wine calls to you. Don’t worry! The world of wine is vast, and the odds that you’ve tried every type of wine is low. There are a ton of rare, little-known wines out there just waiting to be tasted! Some are rare because they are harder to make, others because their tastes only appeal to a niche group. But all are worth trying, especially if the better known varietals aren’t quite scratching your itch. Here are our personal favorite varieties of rare wine!

Vinho Verde

Common knowledge dictates that wine comes in two colors: red and white. But what about green wine? Vinho verde, a cheap and delicious wine from Portugal, isn’t actually named for its color. While it can appear pale green in hue, the ‘verde’ in vinho verde actually refers to the wine’s age. Vinho verde takes about three to six months to mature, much shorter than most wines. While there is no one grape that is used to make vinho verde, producers tend towards whites like arinto and azal. Vinho verde is typically more tart and fruity than its more mature counterparts, and often bears slight carbonation.

Mavrodaphne

Mavrodaphne is a dark red wine from Greece, sometimes used by winemakers in the creation of fortified wines and ports. In its typical form, mavrodaphne is rich and sweet with notes of dark fruit and soft leather. Of the wines on this list mavrodaphne is one of the more rare, being produced in a very small area and with grapes that have relatively low yield.

Retsina

Do you love the smell of pine needles? Have you ever wanted to drink them? Then retsina is the wine for you. Like mavrodaphne, retsina hails from greece, where it originated from the practice of sealing wine jars with pine resin. As such, retsina derives its unique flavor not from the grapes themselves, but from resin added in the winemaking process. Retsinas are almost always white wines, and are often paired with strong, garlicky snacks and dishes.

Mencia

Mencia is an aromatic red wine similar to pinot noir, with notes of strawberry, cherry, and black licorice. It’s status as a rare wine is due to its limited production: Mencia is made only in the Iberian peninsula, in Spain and parts of Portugal. While it might be a little hard to find, it is a must-try for any red wine completionists!