Sequin Rosé and New Girl

“Pink wine makes me slutty.”

I know that technically my stated goal for this blog is to pair movies with corresponding wine, but this time I’ve chosen a TV show. With websites like Netflix, programs like HBO Go and their less-than-legal counterparts like Side Reel and TV Links EU on the rise, watching a season of a favorite show can feel a lot like watching a long movie. I don’t know that the people I know are watching more TV, but I would definitely say that they’re watching it in a different way. Before I booted the television out of my bedroom in favor of late nights spent with two side-by-side Safari windows open, it would have been weird to sit down to watch a specific show with a glass of wine. (FYI: Right now I’m watching Mad Men in one and writing this in another.) A half hour show with commercial breaks is barely enough time to get started on a glass, let alone a bottle! Now, receiving a newly released DVD of a full season is an occasion for celebration, a chance to have friends over for a night in. (By the way, if you haven’t started planning your Arrested Development release party costume, you’re doing it wrong.) The point is, now you can grab a bottle (or two), set up whatever watching device you prefer for continuous play and enjoy.

Whether you watch it online or on Fox, you should send New Girl straight to the top of your queue. Now, stick with me boys... New Girl certainly looks like a fluffy, poppy vehicle for Zooey Deschanel’s widely beloved brand of quirky-cute, but there is so much more below the be-polka-dotted surface. Here are just three of the many reasons to watch:

1. The Story: New Girl tells the tale of Jessica Day (Deschanel) as she faces the ups and down of being a twenty something teacher, adrift in L.A., her only anchors her model best friend and her three male roommates, found on the Internet. The best friend is the beautiful model and down to earth tough girl Cece (played by the stunning Hannah Simone). The roommates are the often-flamboyant wannabe playboy Schmidt (Max Greenfield), the utterly loveable Winston (Lamorne Morris) and the scruffy mess of a bartender Nick (Jake Johnson). The problems that the five main characters face are not always realistic; this season alone they have captured a rare lionfish, survived an overdoes of absinthe and gotten out of a shady deal gone wrong involving a race horse. However, the feelings are surprisingly genuine at the end of each slapstick adventure. Real problems slip through the cracks: the sticky situation of owing a friend money, how to deal with the death of a parent and falling for a friend/roommate/room-friend, to name a few. If we’ve been waiting for a comedy that falls between married-with-kids-coms and a high school dramas, it has finally arrived. Twenty something’s rejoice, you don’t have to cry your eyes out while cursing Lena Dunham to feel that you’re part of a target audience. (I like GIRLS, but sometimes I want to get away from the depressing truths and insanities that are life in our twenties.)  

2. The Laffs: This show is funny. Period. (Speaking of which, in one episode Winston actually gets his period. Go ahead and pretend you don’t want to know more.) I don’t think a show has made me laugh aloud this often since middle school. I can’t even explain why the shenanigans of the cast are so funny unless it is because they remind me of my own friends. Seeing a Nick-Miller-Style-Freak- Out (second in the comedy hall of fame only to a Charlie-Style-Freak-Out via It’s Always Sunny) may be one of the last pure joys in life. You will be tempted to make your own Douchebag Jar for your most Schmidt-like friend. (If you actually do this, you might as well go ahead and put $10 in there right off the bat.)

3. The Inevitable Crush: You will fall in love with one or all of the characters… although there is a 90% chance that it’s going to be a combination of Nick and Jess. Their awkward, bug eyed, panic moonwalking, often angry chemistry is irresistible. I want to say more on the subject but I won't because I don't want to spark yet another in a series of intense debates about the future of their budding relationship. Schmidt is a metrosexual show-off with an always semi-visible heart of pure gold. I know plenty of people who have trouble not falling for real boys this impeccably groomed and hopelessly romantic, let alone their king. Cece, who seemed like just a side kick in season one has actually developed into a complex character dealing with an arranged marriage in a surprisingly realistic way. And that brings us to Winston. The thing is… Ol’ Winny might sometimes get overlooked because he is not linked to one of the constantly shifting love-triangles enveloping the other four members of the show’s fab five but, take note: While he has his fair share of freak outs, Winston is the anchor of the group, giving wise council and snort-laughs in equal measure and he is so sweet that it will knock your socks off.

Sequin has pretty much every box checked on a girls night in wine list. The Rosé is pink, “Delicately Bubbled”, brightly (and cutely) packaged and sweet sweet sweet. I got together with my best friend Shelby to test it out, along with the latest episode in New Girl’s second season. 

We also grabbed a couple of sheets from a “Rate That Wine” notepad that I gave my parents as a gift last year. These tablets are a great gift or conversation starter for any wine-based get-together. You can get yours at Knock Knock Stuff (http://www.knockknockstuff.com/catalog/categories/pads/kk-pads/rate-that-wine-pad/) or occasionally at Anthropologie, where they also appear to stock most of Zooey's wardrobe from New Girl. 

The ratings that Sequin pulled fell somewhere in the middle ground, overall our biggest problem with it was the extreme sweetness. This may be less of a problem for other drinkers, but we tend towards dryness above all else. Unlike New Girl, what you see here is what you get. Sequin is bright, sweet, bubbly and little else. This is still a great pairing. If you’re going to laugh until wine comes out of your nose, it better not be expensive. At $9.99, you can be prepared to sip, swill and spill with abandon.

Pairing Notes: Pair with your best friend. That’s all you need, except maybe snacks and a fluffy comforter and to laugh yourself to sleep on the couch.

This post is dedicated to the lovely Shelby Parenteau. May we go to tin-finity and beyond.

Pro Tip: For more comedy in this vein, see Happy Endings, starring Damon Wayans Jr., who played a roommate named Coach in the New Girl pilot. 

Wild Horse & Wanderlust

“Nudist Winemakers: Just The Grapes”

For this post I have gone above and beyond my usual wine expectations… and well below my movie standards. This wine is drinkable yet complex and the movie is exactly the opposite: watchable without being complex in the slightest. I’ll come back to that… but first, let me tell you about Wild Horse Winery’s warm and delightful 2008 merlot.

The winemakers at Wild Horse made their, “first wine in a plastic tub. Stirred it with a baseball bat.” But, they have come a long way from that college extracurricular project, becoming one of the leading luxury wineries on California’s Central Coast.

This specific wine, from vineyards at Paso Robles, is rich and relaxing. It gives an overall impression of warmth and comfort, perhaps due to the warm daytime temperatures that make the Templeton Gap the ideal place to grow the grapes that make it. Cooler night temperatures in this area provide structure and finish to the taste of this wine. I would be interested to taste the Cabernet, which is grown in adjacent vineyards and is said to have a more direct fruit flavor. The scent is delicious and seems to have an echo of cinnamon (although that could just be me). This would go very well with a rich meal, red meat or pasta. A review on the winery’s website recommends drinking it with a cheeseburger and I have to agree that it would be a decadent accessory to that American favorite.

This is a great special occasion wine on a budget. It runs between $17 and $20, depending on the shop. I usually try to keep my picks for this blog under $15 (I’m not made of money!), but this was brought over as a birthday treat.

Wanderlust (David Wain 2012) is a film starring Jennifer Anniston and Paul Rudd as a couple fleeing New York City for financial reasons and landing accidentally at a hippie commune. There are antics aplenty along their quest to figure out their lives and their relationship. And… that’s about it. The plot and the gags are fairly predictable and the film falls short of being truly exploratory and doesn’t stand up to the level of comedy that’s come to be expected in films with Judd Apatow as a producer. There were some enjoyable moments, for example a scene where Anniston partakes of ayuhuasca tea in a “truth circle” (my compliments on the unconventional choice of hallucinogen). However, successful jokes were outweighed by a number of cringe-worthy jokes that drug on for far too long.

Wild Horse Winery produces wine with a purpose that has obviously come to fruition (wine jokes!) after a long journey. This seems to be the opposite of the sentiment embodied by Wanderlust, which leaves me wondering… Why did the cast and crew, many of whom are associated with a long list of successful projects, do this movie at all?

Pairing Notes

#1: This wine is far too nice to be chugged at an appropriate rate to make this movie enjoyable.

#2: Do not watch this movie with your family… or really in the presence of anyone you respect (… or really at all). There is an abundance of casual nudity, without enough humor to smooth over the awkwardness. Although, (nudity fun fact!) I did find it quite hilarious that Joe Lo Truglio wore a false penis while playing the role of a nudist winemaker.

#3: However, drink this wine with someone you love, someone who you can watch a terrible movie with and not mind, while snow falls outside.

Wine info from Wild Horse Winery’s website: http://www.wildhorsewinery.com/

Movie info from IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655460/

Back Off The Wagon

I have been surprisingly sober for the last few weeks (okay months...) and thus, haven't been posting. In lieu of an apology, here is a link to a really great post about How To Drink Wine from the wonderful blog, A Cup Of Jo. It has some great little tips in it and the illustrations are fantastic!

http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2011/12/wine-etiquette.html

To me, wine etiquette is important insofar as it is useful. Most wine etiquette, if not all, stems from (wine glass humor!) practices that make wine taste better. Try out some of these tricks on your favorite vintages and see what a difference it can make! Some wine rules can seem archaic and not make sense for anyone or just for you specifically. (I hate people who swish and hmmmm and sniff all while obviously focused on whatever film I have so expertly selected or the conversation at the next table over. If you're here to drink... own it and drink, already!) Keep in mind that rules are made to be broken!

Expect a new pairing in the next few days! (And don't forget to check out other great posts from A Cup Of Jo here: http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/ )