Sippin Six Countries
Join me as I close out the year with memorable beverage moments from Asheville, Margate, Glasgow, Gdańsk, Munich, and Zürich.
I often ponder if a writer can exist without a reader, a heady rabbit hole I blissfully fall into each time I pick up a pen. For me, writing has always been about externalizing something internal so it can be witnessed so I thank you deeply for your attention, for testifying that my work (and through it myself) exists. Creating keeps me alive, so in tandem does your patronage and I look forward to continuing this journey with you in the new year. My final post of 2023 is a reflection on 6 countries I spent time in this year and some wonderful beverages consumed within their borders.
Some of my best thinking happens in breweries, which may seem off brand for a wine writer. The cavernous industrial aesthetic makes me feel like i’m in a true artist’s workshop, an echo-y loft where ideas float endlessly, bouncing off reflective tanks, soundtracked to fuzzy rock and relaxed weekend conversation. As I write this I happen to be sitting inside Bierwerk Zuri on the edge of Zurich West, aka ‘IndustrieQuartier’, a neighborhood filled with buildings that fit this dreamy pensive environment. This area has become the alternative “heart of the town” and those of you who travel with me (or hopefully will in the future) know I’m drawn to these neighborhoods like a magpie to silver. They offer a break from densely populated tourist traps, present you with an opportunity to see how the locals live, and even the chance to share a beverage with them if you’re lucky.
Over the past 6 months I’ve travelled between and within 6 countries. The United States, England, Scotland, Poland, Germany, and Switzerland. This whirlwind of travel was partly planned, sometimes spontaneous, and wholly worth it. I’ll admit that at times it can be exhausting, but what better way to drain your soul than by igniting it with novel experiences in uncharted environments. It is not lost on me how lucky I am to live this nomadic life and have the freedom to create everlasting memories with family and friends in all corners of the world. Many of these memories included local wines, beers, and spirits, which I’m excited to share with you.
Asheville, United States
Let’s start our journey in one of my all time favorite American cities. I was honored to attend my dear friends Caitlin & Chris’s wedding in Hot Springs and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend 4th of July with my Mum and Aunt in Asheville. We’ve spent quite a bit of time in this city throughout the years and now collectively dream of owning a vacation home here. We thrive amongst the lush wooded trails, endless art galleries, live music, craft breweries, cutting edge culinary gems (like Neng Jr’s), and most recently, an urban winery. Plēb was founded in 2017 by Appalachian State University friends, Lauren and Chris. I went to college a mere 20 miles up the mountain so was keen to get to know them and understand the mission and ethos behind this truly local North Carolina winery.
Appalachian Classic Sparkling - Plēb Urban Winery
What I love most about Plēb which shines through in this particular wine is that they are truly writing their own rules about what Appalachian wine is. This wine isn’t Champagne, nor a Prosecco, nor a Cava, and it damn sure doesn’t want to be. Like many things originating from this incredible corner of the world, it’s wild and anomalous. They’ve allowed historic regions to inspire the way they make their sparkling wine yet have created their own distinct winemaking methods. For the Appalachian Sparkling they use their ‘Appalachian Method’, a combo of Méthode Traditionnelle - the labor-intensive process where wine undergoes a secondary fermentation inside the bottle (Champagne), and the Charmat method, where the second fermentation occurs in large pressurized tanks rather than individual bottles (Prosecco). The team at Plēb generously gifted me a bottle of this gorgeous wine which was perfect to pop as we got ready for Caitlin to walk down the aisle at Paint Rock Farm, tucked deep within the Appalachian Mountains. It’s been a long time since we all lived in North Carolina but it runs deep in our blood, binding us together, as now does this wine that originated from it’s distinctive green earth.
Margate, England
Fresh off of my time in North Carolina I wanted to play it local and low-key to celebrate my birthday. I say ‘low-key’ but we ended up dancing until 4am with none other than the Mayor of Margate. 😝 I chose this quaint English seaside town, a significant maritime port since the middle ages, now best known for it’s hip artist community filled with queer clubs, vintage shops, local seafood, and natural wine bars. Margate is a true culinary destination and we enjoyed incredible meals and wine at Sargasso, Dive, and Angela’s.
2021 Horsmonden Dry White 2021 - Davenport Vineyards
At Angela’s we had a bottle of Davenport Vineyard’s white blend (Ortega, Bacchus, Siegerrebe, Faber and Huxelrebe) from neighboring Sussex. It’s soft, smooth, and creamy texture was a match made in heaven for our local oysters. Like I always say, “what grows together goes together” and these English grapes and oysters proved my point once again. 🍇🦪
Mrizi I Zanave - kuVen Red
While this bottle didn’t originate in England, it imprinted a Margate memory that will stick with me forever. My gal pals had just returned from Albania, where they had an exceptional red blend (Kallmet, Sangiovese, Shesh i Zi). They brought a few bottles home and were generous enough to share this one with me while we got ready to go out. Kallmet is an ancient, indigenous grape variety native to Albania. Kalmett can be reminiscent of Pinot Noir, with notes of black cherry and a dusty earth quality (which I affectionately refer to as Shroomy). 🍄 The Sangiovese added depth in the form of rose hip and spices, and together they turned out a fresh medium-bodied beauty (which I am now going to start referring to myself as). 🧚♀️
Glasgow, Scotland
To say that we are composed of two parts, half of each of our parents, is a true statement if we are referring to our physical form. In a metaphysical sense, I imagine that composition is uniquely split for each of us, changing with time. As I settle into the mid-chapter of my life, I’ve started to feel that in mind, body, and spirit, I am composed of nearly two equal halves of each of my parents. Just as much as I loved flying down a river in inflatable tubes clutching cans of White Claw on the 4th of July with my Mother, I equally cherish the quiet, reflective moments I share with my Father in musty old pubs scattered throughout the United Kingdom. My Father likes to visit me in the UK, it suits him here and deep down I hope his retirement brings him across the pond. He’ll hate the weather, as did I, but the bucolic setting has a way of enveloping you like a blanket until you eventually become one with it’s misty green and grey fabric. We’ve visited many places in the UK together, but Glasgow was new to both of us making it an ideal choice. My Father’s birthday just so happened to fall during our visit and I asked him what he’d like to do to celebrate. He’s never been a Scotch drinker, but it seemed natural we’d taste some while in Scotland. His father, whom I only briefly met as a baby, was a Scotch drinker and I loved the idea of him looking down on us toasting my Father’s birthday with his beverage of choice.
I picked out a local pub infamous for it’s whisky selection over a traditional ‘guided’ tasting. With over 800 whiskies by the dram, I figured The Pot Still would allow the flexibility two curious and relatively novice Scotch drinkers would want. The place was rammed but the New Yorker in me always manages to find a spot at the bar. Our bartender was lovely, patient, kind, and knowledgeable. We gave him loose references about what we typically drink (Chenin Blanc, IPA’s, coffee) and what we wanted to spend, and before we knew it he was climbing the walls pulling down bottles for us to review. This practice of ‘pulling bottles’ instead of presenting customers with a list is also becoming more common in the wine world. Typically a staff member will ask what you’re in the mood for, what you typically like, a general price range, and proceed to bring a selection of bottles to your table. I personally love this model, with the one caveat that you should confirm prices before you commit. We landed on the following flight, which we had very different opinions of, but most importantly the same shared experience of.
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