Bridge Lane Rosé

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Bridge Lane Rosé
Price: $40
Region: Long Island
Retailer: Lieb Cellars

Boxed wine is a pretty polarizing thing. People generally have an opinion about it. My opinion has always been a very neutral "It's fine." I see the pros, but I mostly taste the cons. 

I'm happy to have discovered Bridge Lane, because now I can say, "It's awesome!"

Bridge Lane is not something I would normally drink. It's boxed and it's from Long Island. But the packaging is great, and you get 4 bottles worth of wine for $40. But most importantly, their grapes are sustainably farmed and handpicked! AND STAINLESS STEEL FERMENTED! HOW OFTEN DO YOU HEAR THAT WHEN IT COMES TO BOXED WINE? UH NEVER. MOSTLY IT'S SOME RANDO FROM YOUR DORM FLOOR EIGHT YEARS AGO ON FACEBOOK RANTING ABOUT SOME BOXED SHIT SHE GOT ON SALE AT TARGET AND HOW IT'S MOMMY'S JUICE TIME. Ick. 

But that is not the case with Bridge Lane. Yes, some rando may be threatening to kill her children if she doesn't start sucking some down, but at least it is a thoughtful wine. The second label to winery Lieb Cellars, these wines are handcrafted, bright, youthful and fruit-forward. This is actually my second box of Bridge Lane (I've also had the Red Blend) and I have to say, I'm very impressed. It's not easy to maintain a fresh wine in a box, in a bag, but god damn it, they did it! 

To me, this is a great answer to the summer get-together where you're like, "Fuuuck, I don't want to buy five hundred bottles of wine but I also don't want to buy four boxes of Franzia." Well, now you don't have to do either. You can buy a couple boxes of Bridge Lane and call it a party. 

Even if that party is just yourself on a Monday afternoon.

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Tasting Notes: Classically rosé. Bright cherries on both the nose and the palate. Easy drinking and smooth with a friendly finish. It sticks around, but you're totally cool with it. Perfect for a party on your patio or porch. Great alone, but I believe would make for some killer spritzers as well. 

Ross Test: Sticky but satisfying 

Please Please Me & Arca Nova Vinho Verde

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Sauvignon Blanc may have been the white wine that converted me from Only-Drinking-Cabernet-FOR-LIFE-I-KNOW-EVERYTHING twenty-three year old, but Vinho Verde was the white wine that I first fell in love with. And that is why I enjoy this Arca Nova Vinho Verde ($9, Silverlake Wine) regularly. Maybe too regularly. Like, more regularly and dependable than my digestive system. 

Vinho Verde is the best for my favorite type of drinking: summer day-drinking. Cheap and low in alcohol, you can buy and drink a lot of it. Slightly sparkling, delightfully dry, and just juicy enough to be thirst quenching, I'm pretty sure it's the estival ultimate. 

There is nothing better for me than coming home in the summer with the AC blasting, popping a bottle of vinho verde and putting on some early Beatles. Is there anything more fun and poppy than Please Please Me? In my personal opinion, no. And it pairs perfectly with vinho verde. THEY ARE ONE IN THE SAME. If you look up "light & playful" in the dictionary [of my dreams], you will find a photo of the Beatles recording Please Please Me drinking vinho verde. They're laughing and chugging bright green & teal bottles and having a blast and blowing kisses to me through the glass cause I mean, I'm totally there in the dictionary [of my dreams].

The Arca Nova is bright and tastes like grapefruit lemonade, with hints of melon and Paul McCartney's sweat. I say Paul because it's kind of sweet but not as genuinely sweet as George's would be. Paul may write sweet songs but I don't believe he's as sweet as he lets on, and he's not as pure as Georgey boy. That being said, I fucking love that about Paul. You just know he's a bit of an asshole, and not gonna lie, I need my men with a bit of asshole. That sounds like I'm into buttstuff which is fine but I'm not into buttstuff but anyway, okay, ahem.... Anyway, Paul McCartney was my second crush ever after Disney's Robin Hood (yes the fox, the literal and figurative fox). And this is how I always imagined Paul's sweat tasting-- crisp, salty and intoxicating.  

THE POINT IS I LOVE IT.
PAUL AND VINHO VERDES.

Sidebar, real quick, uhhhh the guitars on "Anna"?
I listen to that song like 400x on repeat and then have to change my pants.
IT IS SO GOOD. IT'S LIKE THE CHERRY COKE OF GUITAR RIFFS.

Un Saumon Dans la Loire 'La Boutanche' Rosé

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Un Saumon Dans la Loire 'La Boutanche' Rosé
Price: $16
Region: Loire
Retailer: DomaineLA

I didn't mean to review another rosé. But when the homie Corey Cartwright of Selection Massale pulled out a bottle of 'La Boutanche' rosé at lunch, there was no way I wasn't reviewing it. I'm a huge fan of the Un Saumon Dans la Loire 'La Boutanche' series. They are all well crafted, easy drinkers at reasonable prices. I couldn't not talk about this wine. 

Especially considering my best bro Ryan Ellis came through with IF YOU'RE READING THIS IT'S TOO LATE ON FUCKING VINYL. ILLEGAL GERMAN VINYL. BLACK MARKET CLEAR VINYL. THIS IS DRUGS TO ME. LIKE I FREAKED OUT WILDER THAN IF HE HAD JUST STRAIGHT UP RUBBED MILEY CYRUS' MOLLY ON MY GUMS.

I didn't mean to be listening to Drake and drinking rosé again, but, that's just the way shit happened to go.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The 'La Boutanche' rosé is gamay based, so you know I'm tripping on this shit. Tastes like a cherry Starburst and has me feeling like I'm the one again. It's the color of the red lights in any number of Brooklyn bars I've been wasted in and never knew the names of. 

Also cranberry juice, but that is not very evocative.

Like, I don't care about a wine that looks like fucking cranberry juice. I care about wines that remind me of the six years I've been vacationally drinking in the bowels of Williamsburg, having the time of my twenties, throwing shows at now defunct bars (RIP Bruar Falls), watching my homies' bands blow up, and homies' bands dissipate, eating at Five Leaves every time I come through no matter the company, throwing rap and Nirvana on a jukebox in the same breath and talking about Blink 182 until 6AM.

THAT IS THE SHIT WINE SHOULD MAKE YOU FEEL.
CRANBERRY JUICE DOES NOT REMIND YOU OF YOUR WOES.

This wine is so good because it is so fucking youthful. It's bright and vibrant and makes me want to travel and party and pass out on your floor. I want to pop it like a pack of Skittles I finish in 36 seconds, even though I promised myself it would last me the whole flight. I don't have will power with anything pleasurable because I'm a hedonist with a guilty conscience. Like this bottle should last me more than an hour, but it can't because it feels too good to drink it all and listen to Drake and daydream about all the things I did and haven't done yet.

I don't feel like I'm getting old, but I kinda am.
But also: who the fuck cares?
I'll always have my memories, my rosé, and my illegal Drake vinyl. 

Some nights I wish I could go back in life.
Not to change shit, just to feel a couple things twice.

Tasting Notes: I like this more after it has time to open, and is not super cold. Much better at a chilly room temp. Cherry and herbal on the nose, tart cherry candy on the palate. In love with the mouthfeel with this one. Lingering but light, feels like a Helmut Lang tee for my tongue. Refreshing and delightful, if you like cherry Sour Punch Straws, which I happen TO FUCKING LOOOOVVVVEE.

Ross Test: Better in a glass but doable. 

Just Giving The People What They Want

I have been getting asked to do a newsletter of some sort for awhile now, so now I will be doing that if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Don't worry, it will not be an every day obnoxious sort of thing. It will be a cool, "Hey here's some cool posts + some cool wine info + other cool stuff" sort of thing. 

Posted on June 17, 2015 .

I Sold A Book, And It Was Scary

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I'm pleased to announce that your girl, M. Ross,
is A FUTURE AMERICAN AUTHOR.
PLUME, SPRING/SUMMER 2017

I quit my job as Mindy Kaling's assistant because I really believed I was going to sell a book, and because my boyfriend Ben really believed I was going to sell a book. I don't know if I would have had the guts to quit without him. It was hard, and scary. I hadn't even finished the proposal, but I was up for the Saveur awards in less than a month, and there was nothing that was going to stop me from going to New York, attending the awards and trying to sell this book. There were no guarantees on anything. There was a good chance I would spend all my money going to New York, not win any awards and not even have any publisher meetings because I didn't even finish my proposal.

But as luck (and a lot of hard work) would have it, I finished the proposal, won the awards and I had a lot of good meetings. I had meetings for hours on end, for days on end. At the end of the day, I would rush off to Saveur events. It was extremely exhausting, especially coming on the heels of a press trip to Napa. I was running around like crazy and so anxious about everything. I barely ate, didn't sleep at all, and had to be "on" for over a week straight. 

Friday, June 5th, I had a legit breakdown.

The night before I had super surprisingly won the Saveur awards. My meetings that week had gone beyond wonderfully (I'm better in person I promise). There was no reason for me to be crying uncontrollably with panic, and yet I was. It was so bad I couldn't leave my hotel room and had to cancel seeing some of my favorite people on my last, and only free, day in NYC. I have anxiety, but never like this. It was so embarrassing, but I was so upset. So upset that I begged a wonderful, maybe one of my best, friends to bring me Xanax (something I do not fuck with) to my hotel. He brought it over during his daily run, in a tie-dyed shirt and basketball shorts. We sat by the pool and I cried and buried my face in his shoulder and he told me not to Heath Ledger myself. I was so scared and I was so scared of him leaving. He told me to go to the park, to get out, and I'd be okay. But I really didn't feel like I would.  I was so, so scared. 

And I couldn't even believe I felt that way.
EVERYTHING WAS GOING GREAT.
But I had legit ran myself into the ground.
I mean I got some pizza and chilled and was fine,
BUT, was legit not fine for awhile.

I got back to LA on Saturday night after almost missing my flight because I got drunk at the pool after some conferences calls and left my only credit card at the hotel. My book was going to auction Tuesday morning, 11 AM, EST. I proceeded to smoke a lot of weed and be an anxious mess until then.

I had spent everything I had going to New York.
Financially and emotionally.

I woke up Tuesday morning at 7:30AM PST
my body completely covered in hives
with a message from Chase that I had
$25.01 to my name.

And by 10AM PST,
I had sold my book
to Plume, an imprint of Penguin.

So. Here I am.
Still mostly broke, but hey,
I sold a fucking book. 

And my rash is finally gone, so that's good.

I'm just so excited. I never in a million years thought I would be writing a wine book, because generally I hate wine books, but this is my wine book. And you know me. So, you know

I guess the point is in your life, you will have the choice to make scary decisions. You will have the choice to leave what is comfortable. You will have the choice to spend all your money on pursuing your dream. You will have the choice to throw your middle fingers up at the people who have doubted you, who have told you you're not a real writer or you talk like an idiot or you have a mustache. Your ex-boyfriend who a month ago messaged you to tell you you're a degenerate schizophrenic pandering to twenty-somethings. Your family who never understood what the hell you were doing because they saw you keep changing your path, when really you were just following it. 

You have choices.
Make them for yourself.
Especially when they are scary.

They may not work out. I've made a lot of scary choices that have not ended up in me winning awards and selling books, but I wouldn't be here right now if I hadn't made all those other scary choices leading up to these recent scary choices. 

It was fucking scary.
And there is a good chance things may only get scarier.
But you know what?

This is the first time I haven't been scared.

Posted on June 16, 2015 .

Yes Way Rosé x Club W's "Summer Water"

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Yes Way Rosé x Club W's "Summer Water"
Price: $18
Region: Napa
Retailer: Club W

Back in March, I was in NYC to host a wine tasting. It was still cold, like snowing (okay, it was a "flurry", which apparently means something to people who live in snow cause for me, it was fucking snowing and "flurry" is not a real word if it's missing a "Mc"), but all of my friends who lived there kept excitedly going on and on about how ROSE SEASON WAS COMING.

"Rosé season?" I pondered, looking out a gray city window, wistfully. "What the fuck is that?"

It took me all of fifteen seconds to realize that much like how I don't understand "suede season" or "winter", "rosé season" is something that people who live outside of California experience because it gets so cold that they cannot drink rosé. On the one hand, I'm like, "Why would you guys ever live like this?! I drink and wear whatever I want all the time!"

On the other hand, I will never experience the sheer joy on two dudes' faces two weeks ago in Brooklyn while I watched them put back their fifth bottle of rosé by the pool at the McCarren Hotel. I don't know if I've ever been as happy as those two dudes in my whole life the way they were acting over this shit. It was FINALLY ROSE SEASON! EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW! IT'S FUCKING ROSE SEASON, MAN!

It is that emotion that my friends at Yes Way Rosé captured with their Napa pinot noir rosé, Summer Water. It's an excitement encapsulated in an easy-going attitude that even us Californians know is specific to summer. It's three months where everything feels possible. There are endless ideas for long weekends and trips to get the hell out of town, daydreams of desert nights, bougainvilleas and beaches. Outdoor movies and the smell of lighted grills, street fairs and the feel of first kisses (even when they are your one hundredth). Everything is beautiful in the summer, a blown-out Polaroid memory waiting to be made. And it all truly seems possible. The sun is out-- what couldn't we do?

Summer Water is an extremely pleasing bottle, whether you're looking at it or drinking it. The label is a design dream with its poppy minimalism. And it tastes like having the most fun. It tastes like those dudes' faces, which were extremely happy and laughing and one of them looked EXACTLY like Bradley Cooper, so also attractive. They were going to Governor's Ball and were just so fucking stoked on life. "THIS SUMMER IS GOING TO BE THE BEST SUMMER!!!" they said like they'd never said it before. And that is exactly what Summer Water tastes like. 

Now, who wants to find a boardwalk and get into some trouble with me and my Summer Water?

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Tasting Notes: The light floral and strawberry bouquet makes for a wonderful transition into its flavor profile: strawberries with hints of pears and peaches, and a striking minerality. Dry and frisky, this wine takes me to a place where there is lots of sunshine, very little clothing and even less responsibilities. 

Ross Test: SOMEONE! QUICK! GET A BOAT! THIS WOULD BE THE BEST ON A BOAT!

Hoxie Spritzers

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I first found Hoxie Spritzers at one of my main haunts, DomaineLA. I personally consider myself a purveyor of portable wine products, so obviously I had to try these out. I also had to try them out because they are made here in Los Angeles with natural ingredients, and the eco-snobby hipster that only shops at the farmer's market down the street in me could not resist.

Hoxie comes in two flavors, Lemon Ginger and Lemon Linden Blossom. Both are extremely light, refreshing and not at all bullshit sugary. Lemon Ginger has a light Sprite quality on the back, whereas Lemon Linden Blossom is more herbal. If you were to ask which is my favorite, I would choose BOTH. AT THE SAME TIME. 

I've been traveling a lot in the last couple weeks, but the time I have not been traveling, I've spent drinking one of each Hoxie at the same time on my porch. I mean, I'm not chugging them both down my mouth at the same time, but you know, sip at that Linden Blossom and then sip at the Ginger. REPEAT. FOR HOURS. Which is kind of a problem, but also totally not a problem because they're only 5% alcohol, so they are designed to be drank the fuck out of.

And maybe I'm being crazy for not picking a flavor, but why pick a flavor when they are both so good and I can just drink them both? No one ever said you can't have your Hoxie and drink it too. And if they did I would say, uh, you're completely wrong. I still have three other bottles of each from this four pack, and plan on having multiple threesomes with them. 

I know I get mad sentimental about summer 2009 a lot, but I feel like my new porch life plus my new serious spritzer relationship feels exactly like this DJ Kaos song that I found out about on my old buddy McGregor's old mixtape from that summer.  

It’s quite a thrill when two flaves meet...

IDK. I think Ginger is my favorite.
But then again, Linden is on fire too.
IDK guys. IDK.

What I do know is that I have had hives for three days and I took a Benadryl and it feels like an extremely chill headspace right now. I don't want to vibe on Hoxie and Benadryl all summer, but if I have to, it would actually be a pretty fortunate circumstance. Ideally, my hives are going to go away and I will just keep sucking down two varieties of liquidized sunshine on my porch from now until the end of time.

STAY VIBIN, KEEP CHUGGIN

HOXIE FOR PRESENT SUMMER 2015

Posted on June 11, 2015 .

Saveur Blog Awards 2015

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I can't really remember winning anything in my life. I mean, I've won stuff. One time I won a raffle for an Aladdin themed gift basket, but it was the boys' themed gift basket. I got a couple ribbons for swimming, mostly all 12th place. I won "Most Likely To Win An Oscar" in my senior yearbook, despite never being cast in a single play. 

But I've never won anything really. 

I didn't start writing about wine because I wanted to be a wine writer, or win any sort of awards for writing about wine. Writing about wine was a coincidence, and then a happy accident, and then a very enjoyable hobby. Even a year ago when I decided to take it more seriously, I didn't take myself doing it that seriously. I took it seriously, like the actual writing, but I didn't take myself seriously, and a lot of that has to do with one, I just never take myself seriously, and two, no one around me seemed to take it seriously. 

Which was fine. I mean, it hurt, but I also understood. It seemed insane. I was a writer who went to acting school who was making a living as a personal assistant while miserably clawing her way through writing comedy pilots. And then I decided to make a career out of my daydrinking as far as anyone could tell. Seemingly insane, or at the very least, unfocused and worrisome. 

I spent every last dollar I had going to New York last week for five days for the Saveur Blog Awards and for some business I planned around the Saveur Blog Awards (because if I was spending every last dollar, you know I damn well made sure those dollars were worth every penny).  It was also seemingly insane. I just quit my job and was relying on freelance work and now I was spending everything to go to "some blog awards thing". 

I didn't do it because I was planning on winning. I actually did it because I thought I was going to lose, but that I could meet good people in the food & wine industry. 

So you can imagine my surprise when I won both the Reader's Choice and Editor's Choice Awards for Best Wine Coverage.

The finalists in my category were so wonderfully talented and diverse, and well rooted in the wine community. The Feiring LineHawk Wakawaka Wine ReviewsJameson FinkNot Drinking Poison in Paris and Vinography each have such amazing, distinct voices with critical information about wine. I was so honored to be nominated along with them, and now I feel as though I can stand with them.

I finally won something I cared about. And I finally think people realize that I'm not insane for pursuing this. I never needed an award to justify my passion for writing and wine, but it is pretty damn nice to have it now that I do. 

And so, this is a formal thank you to you, my reader, for voting for me. Even if you gave up after they made you register, you still voted by reading, and you are voting now by reading this. This is only the beginning of a really fun journey of us drinking together, and I'm so happy to share it with you.

This is also a formal thank you to the editors of Saveur Magazine, who I sincerely did not in a million years believe would pick me, especially after your editor-in-chief endearingly referred to me as, "Oh yes, you're the girl who cusses a lot." But good lord, I am glad you did. To be associated in any capacity with such an esteemed and beautiful publication is such a privilege and I'm going to try not to embarrass you (too much).

This is also a delightful FUCK YOU to everyone who ever doubted me. Suck on my Le Creuset pepper mill, you dicks. 

BUT MOSTLY, THANK YOU. AND I LOVE YOU. AND CHEERS.

To many, many more bottles of wine in our future.

Posted on June 8, 2015 .