Raise a glass of sparkling wine to the end of the year 2024! Join City Vino this week, as we feature sparkling wines and a Karaoke New Year’s Eve event with dinner and champagne toast. If you have not experienced a breath of sparking wines before, this is the weekend to get out and figure out for yourself the difference in taste between champagne, prosecco, and moscato. You might surprise yourself as there are a few really complex (not over the top sweet) moscatos out there.

As the weather cools and the time for campfires and backyard grilling returns, choosing the right wine to pair with your outdoor feasts becomes essential. Consider key wine characteristics like acidity, flavor intensity, fruitiness, body weight, and alcohol content when making your selections. High-acid wines, such as Sauvignon Blanc, can cleanse the palate, while fuller-bodied reds, like Zinfandel or Malbec, stand up to bold grilling rubs and sauces. Because wine can often play the dominant role in pairings, balance its flavors against the richness of grilled dishes. This way, each sip and bite enhances the other, making for a perfect evening around the fire.

Tonight, City Vino is hosting Always Flavored for a wine pairing dinner. Rita Witte is a talented chef, passionate about flavors and spices. She has a catering background prior to starting Always Flavor, which we will tap into for this dinner. Food to her is more than just sustenance, it is a way to connect with others and build relationships. Birthed out of an overabundance of hot peppers grown in her garden, she started to create flavorful sauces with the mission to elevate every meal. Always Flavored is at 610 Caroline Street where you can pick up a few sandwiches or bottles of her hot sauces. Go to the Rita power of two!

Zinfandel … There is lots more to the origin’s story but here are some of the highlights: An amateur botanist—Francesco Filippo Indellicati (1767-1831) from Gioia dle Colle, in the Puglia region—was the first to mention Zinfandel in his 1799 writings. There was a rare vine in his vineyard that ripens early—early for Puglia is in August. He called it “Primativo,” from the Latin “primativus” for “first ripening end.” Indellicati planted the vine close to his native village, and from there, it spread to other Apulian areas.