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Mother’s Day easily can be promoted as “Buy Mom Some Wine Day.” There is the cliché joke: “buy mom wine because you are the reason she drinks.” But there is a less jejune reason to do the right thing—moms who enjoy alcohol drinks overwhelmingly prefer wine over spirits and beer.
According to polls over several years, women make up some 60% of wine buyers. Gallup in 2021 reported women choose wine 49% over liquor 26% and beer 23%. Multiple surveys show women are the dominant consumer group in wine sales.
So, if part of your Mother’s Day strategy is gifting her an alcoholic drink—accompanied by flowers, candy, cards, and obsequious fawning—then your safe choice is wine. Especially the wine she likes to drink. And if you do not know what wine that is, you have work to do.
According to a superfluity of surveys, the “little woman’s” favorite is not automatically insipid white zinfandel or cloyingly sweet plonk or vanishingly ephemeral rosé. Moms like wines. Bold reds paired with the fat-dripping grilled steak she cooked for you. Mineral and saline whites from Santorini with the Mediterranean white fish she serves on special occasions. An etherial Willamette Valley pinot noir with the turkey she baked for your Thanksgiving feast. Nothing wrong with white zin, but that decidedly is not the momma whole story.
In short, there is no timid stereotype female wine drinker. According to a cascade of scientific studies, women are gifted with more sophisticated and discriminating tasting resources on their tongues than men. Mom gets it that wine is a wonderful and appropriate companion to a meal. Especially one with the family where she was the lead character in the creation. Next Sunday, act accordingly if she is your mom or you are the reason she is a mom.
Tasting notes:
• Lake Sonoma Winery Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2019: Stays true to soft, round, easy drinking Lake Sonoma style. $25-29 Link to my review
• Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay, Napa Valley 2022: Outstanding, subtle richness, wonderful fruit, respectful, restrained winemaking. Creamy mouthfeel. $35-48 Link to my review
• Tenuta di Arceno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020: Serene tannins, solid backbone of acidity frames impressive medley of dark fruits. $36-45 Link to my review
• Sokol Blosser Estate Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, Oregon 2020: Easy going, easily slurpable, eager-to-please wine from Dundee Hills pioneering winery. $44 Link to my review
• Goldeneye Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley 2022: Superb cooler climate effort. Enchanting finish. Benchmark New World pinot noir. $45-62 Link to my review
Last round
God promised men they could find women who were good and obedient in all the corners of Earth. Then God made the Earth round. Wine time.
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