5 Things To Do With Leftover Chardonnay
If you’re one of those miraculous people who happens to have wine “left over” when you open a bottle, this one is for you.
Whether you have half a bottle of just a smidgeon left form the night before, don’t dump it down the drain and put your Chardonnay to good use!
Drink it!
How long does an open bottle of wine last, you ask? This is just a friendly PSA that if you are storing your wine in the refrigerator firmly corked after opening, you still have about 2-5 days to enjoy it! The taste will change subtly as the wine oxidizes (aka is exposed to oxygen). The fruit character of the wine will wane and it will be less vibrant, but the wine is still drinkable as long as you are enjoying it!
Freeze in ice-cubes to chill down a glass
If you’re sipping while it’s warm outside, use this trick to cool down your Chardonnay. Pour your “saved” wine in to ice cube molds and freeze them (covered with plastic wrap is best) for up to a month. Then simply pop a cube or two to chill down your “fresh” glass of Chardonnay! If you’re a wine with ice kind of person (no judgement!) then this is a great way to chill down your glass without diluting your wine with water.
Keep in mind, the alcohol will keep the wine cubes from freezing completely, so expect them to be a little slush.
Chardonnay should typically be served at around 50 degrees - which is about 30 minutes in the refrigerator from room temperature. At Sea Bird Wine, we typically find that white wines are enjoyed best when they’re not bracingly cold, since it helps open up the delicious fruit character. But the best wine is the wine you enjoy drinking, so whatever temperature pleases YOU is the best way to enjoy it.
Stir up Chardonnay sangria
Perfect for when we’re on the latter end of that “5 to 7 days” since the wine has been open, keep the good times going by making a Chardonnay sangria!
We love this simple sangria recipe from The Spruce Eats that’s perfect with just a few ingredients.
- 3 oranges (cut into wedges; or 1 cup orange juice)
- 1 lemon (cut into wedges)
- 1 lime (cut into wedges)
- 25 ounces/750mL white wine (1 bottle)
- Optional: 2 ounces brandy
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 2 cups/.5 liter ginger ale (or club soda)
Squeeze the juice from the citrus wedges into the pitcher. Remove the seeds and toss in the wedges. If you're using orange juice, add it now.
Pour the wine into the pitcher.
Add the brandy (if using) and the sugar. Stir very well to ensure that all of the sugar is dissolved.
Add the ginger ale or club soda just before serving so the sangria retains its sparkle.
Enjoy a Chardonnay spritzer
3 parts wine / 1 part club soda / squeeze of citrus
This is the perfect aperitif beverage if you’re sipping pre-dinner or day-drinking. No recipe needed, just eye-ball what you have on hand. Club soda is a great stand-in, but feel free to use any bubbly soda that isn’t too sweet like a lemon-lime sparkling water or your favorite La Croix.
Dish up a white wine sauce for a super simple dinner
As our girl Julia Child once said: “I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food…” and that is the kind of Great Times we’re looking for.
Right now more than ever, we are loving any recipe that comes together fast with pantry essentials. This is our go-to on a Monday night when we enjoyed a little bit of Robert’s Road Chardonnay with Sunday dinner the night before!
- Sauté a few cloves of chopped garlic in a tablespoon of butter.
- Add in about a 1/2 cup of Chardonnay and reduce slightly.
- Remove from heat, stir in 1-2 more tablespoons of butter and some fresh tender herbs.
- Toss over piping hot al dente pasta with some cheese and lots of cracked pepper.
Remember, in order to have leftover wine…you need to have a good bottle to begin with! Start by popping the cork on our 2015 Sangiacomo Robert’s Road Chardonnay from Sonoma Coast. This wine is delicious, and award winning, if we do say so ourselves!
4 Fun Ways To Enjoy Wine At Home
Bored at home? Never! We’re pouring up a glass of our favorites wines and keeping things fresh and exciting at home. Here’s a few ways to enjoy wine at home, all paired with a Sea Bird Wine to enjoy along the fun.
Chardonnay + A Bubble Bath
Chances are, you’ve had a long, hard day, no matter what you’ve been doing. If you’re working from home these days, it might be hard to draw the line between “home” and “work” life. So indulge in some self-care by sipping a cool glass of our award winning Sonoma Coast Chardonnay in the bath. You’re here to treat yourself, so make the most of it by:
- Grab a magazine or a new book to read while you soak
- Set the mood by turning on some ocean waves in the background
- Take some tips from Lifehacker and give your bathroom major spa vibes
Pinot Noir + Indoor Picnic
Ahhh…the great Indoors! Bring a little life to your living room and turn a Friday night into an at-home picnic! Bring the whole bottle of this Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir to your picnic spread and set the vibe with flameless candles, plenty of pillows and blankets, and finger-food only (no dishes, than you!). Here are some of our favorite things to picnic with our Robert’s Road Pinot Noir:
- A prosciutto, fig, and arugula sandwich on a baguette.
- Salty, kettle cooked chips with Manchego cheese
- A thin-crust pizza (ordering in is a total YES)
Cabernet + Get Crafty
A little bit of wine really helps those creative juices get flowing! Pop the cork on a bottle of 2013 Broken Rock Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley and gather your supplies for a fun night of creating something new and unexpected. Here are some ideas to get you started!
- Take an online painting class for your very own at-home Sip & Paint
- Learn how to letter for this year’s Christmas cards
- Get crafty with some old corks you’ve collected
Poseidon + Themed Movie Night
Take your Netflix & Chill vibes and give it a twist with a themed movie night! Open up a bottle of Poseidon Cabernet Sauvignon and take a deep dive on some ocean cinema. Here’s a list of our top 10 sea-inspired movies to sip along with including:
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Castaway
- The Life Aquatic
- Jaws (the original)
- The Perfect Storm
- Waterworld
- Titanic
- The Poseidon Adventure
- The Cove
- Chasing Mavericks
Check Our Wins at the International Women's Wine Competition
Double Gold & Best In Class. We'll Cheers To That!
This competition was expertly judged by the wine industry’s leading professional women who are experts in their field across the wine industry and media alike! The competition not only recognizes the best wines that appealed to our judges, but also the wines they felt would most appeal and influence other women wine buyers and consumers.
When it comes to wine, the ladies of The Flock know best!
It’s no surprise to us that women are the primary wine buyers (and drinkers!) in most households. It’s our passion to us to share our wine with those who love a great glass and are proud that we hold a popular opinion in this year’s International Women’s Wine Competition!
This competition was expertly judged by the wine industry’s leading professional women, though open to men and women winemakers alike. The competition not only recognizes the best wines that appealed to our judges, but also the wines they felt would most appeal and influence other women wine buyers and consumers.
Over one thousand wines were entered in the competition, with just 48 Best of Class designations…of which, we were happy to take the show with two our upcoming release of our 2016 Poseidon Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford and our 2017 Sea Bird Chardonnay from Sea. Rita Hills.
We also led the pack scoring a Double Gold medal with our 2017 Sea Bird Pinot Noir from Sea. Rita Hills. Who needs a side-by-side sip of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir!
Interested in getting first access to this wine upon release? Send us a note and we'll add you to The Flock!
Taste With Our Winemaker + Samantha Sommelier!
We went vintage for this tasting hosting by Millennial Wine Competition
The Millennial Wine Competition is a fresh take on wine tasting competitions, and we are excited to see the results come through when the judges sip and score some of the hottest new wine and spirits brands on August 26th this year.
We had the chance to treat one of the competition judges Samantha Capadli, AKA Samantha Sommelier in a live Instagram tasting with our winemaker, Patrick Durbin. We dug a little into our cellar to bring out a couple of really great bottles. You know, for quality control purposes! And also because we love seeing our wine “grow up” and sharing it with new friends!
2015 Robert’s Road Chardonnay – Sonoma Coast
Coming from the Robert’s Road Vineyard grown by the Sangiacomo Family, this special lot of Chardonnay has routinely been a “crowd-pleaser” scoring us high-fives from friends, and awards from judges.
Grown the the northernmost vineyard at the base of Sonoma Mountain and at the North End of the Petaluma Gap, this fruit gets incredible influence from the ocean, resulting in bright acidity and perfectly balanced Sonoma-style fruit. It’s what we refer to as a Burgundy style wine from Sonoma Coast.
Patrick’s Perfect Pairings:
- September Oysters
- Seared Muscles
- Grilled Chicken w/ herb butter
Samantha’s Perfect Pairing:
- Oysters (or any type of shellfish)
- Creamy Chicken Pasta
- Roasted Turkey
- Cheeseboard before dinner
2014 Broken Rock Cabernet Sauvignon – Napa Valley
The 2014 is what we can confidently refer to as “the vintage of the decade” due to its perfectly balanced tannins and plush fruit when it comes to Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
We’ve sourced this Cabernet Sauvignon from the Broken Rock Vineyard in Napa Valley, located just off the Silverado Trail at the foot of Atlas Peak. This west-facing vineyard plot soaks up all that lush afternoon Napa sunshine while still benefitting from it’s slope location, lending to the perfect balance of “mountain fruit” structure with rich Valley floor fruit.
Patrick and Samantha unanimously agree that this wine (and frankly, all red wines) are best served with a little chill, shooting for 55-65 degrees, which is essential right out of wine fridge temperatures.
Patrick’s Perfect Pairing:
- Moroccan Lamb (grilled) to play with the baking spices coming through
- “Slab & A Cab” AKA any grilled red meat
Samantha’s Perfect Pairing:
- Netflix (but be careful with it or the alcohol will catch up to you!)
- Anything on the grill
This wine is showing lovely with lush velvety tannins without too much grit, and just a little touch of baking spice and oak leaving you balanced.
Top takeaway from Patrick & Sam? Leaves your Chardonnay a little less chilled & chill your red just enough.
Click here to watch the tasting over on the Millennial Wine Competition Instagram page!
Want to know the final scores from the competition in August? Make sure you’re signed up on our mailing list where we’ll release scores and new wine releases to The Flock! Simply fill out the contact form below and we’ll add you to the list.
Read All About It! | The Vintner Project
"Vineyards are humble, rustic places that bring us back to our connection to Mother Earth.”
The Vintner Project is an online sourced dedicated to exploring the diverse world of wine in an approachable way, focusing on the stories of wineries and the people behind them. It’s something that’s close to our hearts and we are excited to dive deep into the story of Sea Bird Wines and our dedication to preserving marine wildlife by taking great vines to great times with every bottle!
In this article, Joe Campbell and our Winemaker Patrick Durbin share some behind the scenes insight into our passion for the ocean, coastlines and marine wildlife. It’s this passion that inspires us to share our story and our wine day after day. As a native East Coast-er, Patrick spent his summers on the New Jersey shore. But year after year he noticed less wildlife and more trash washing up on the beach.
When Patrick and his wife Becky decided to explore their passion for wine by launching a new wine label, they knew that the wine would be great, and the profits from the wines would do good in the world too. When you buy a bottle of Sea Bird Wine, we give back 100% of the profit to marine wildlife non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving the coastlines. It’s a great reason to sip on with your loved ones!
Without a healthy coastline, we couldn’t make great wine. As an artisanal micro winery, we source our grapes from premier vineyards across California Wine Country to make limited barrel productions each vintage. Each vineyard in California benefits from the Pacific Coast influence, lending foggy mornings, warm, ripe afternoons and cool evenings that develop the most iconic California wines year after year. We currently produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast AVA and Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.
Click Here To Read The Full Article On The Vintner Project
Retail Therapy | Pinot Noir Edition
In our second edition of Retail Therapy, we’re pouring up a glass of two of our single vineyard Pinot Noir bottles and choosing the perfect Pinot Noir Pairings to *add to cart*
Sonoma is home to one of the top regions in California to grow Pinot Noir. In fact, as of 2018, there were over 13,000 acres of Pinot Noir growing in Sonoma County, making this varietal 20% of the region’s production. Home to the Sonoma Coast region, this area hosts one of the coolest sub-appellations that lends itself to ideal growing conditions for this picky grape. Even though most vineyards are miles inland from the Sonoma Coast line, they benefit from the cool, foggy mornings, moderately warm afternoons and cool evenings that preserve the acidity of the Pinot Noir grape while maintaining and lively fruit character.
As a micro winery, we select our grapes each vintage from vineyards who have cultivated their wines to the highest quality. We choose the best of the vintage and allow the quality of the grapes to do the work from cellar to bottle. In 2013, we selected fruit from the Sonoma Stage Vineyard sitting just between Petaluma and Los Carneros at the southern end of the Sonoma Coast AVA. In 2014, we sourced from a house favorite, the Sangiacomo Robert’s Road Vineyard. Each bottle is true to its region, and not only expresses its terroir, but the highlights of the growing season itself.
Whichever bottle you choose (when in doubt, do a side by side tasting of both, of course!) and check out our Retail Therapy Guide, Pinot Noir Edition to add the perfect accoutrements to your Pinot Noir sipping adventure.
Go Vino for Sustainable Outdoors-ing
We may be eating out at restaurants less now, but that’s not stopping wine-time. So instead, we’re packing up bottle of wine into a S’well Bottle, laying out a blanket on our favorite outdoor spot and sipping Pinot Noir out of these sustainable GoVino glasses for Date Night.
It’s a bonus that every time you reuse your GoVino glass, there is one less single-use plastic that we’re protecting from our oceans. That’s something to cheers to!
You Had Me At Pinot Noir Shirt
Is it even wine time if you’re not wearing this shirt? We’ve traded our “going out” outfits to this cozy stay-at-home outfit and we’re perfectly content sipping from our couch and feeling so comfy.
ReWined “Barrel Aged Pinot Noir” Candle
This earthy, complex candle “mimics the ground that produces it” which is wine speak for terroir which is more wine speak for “tastes and smells like where it was grown.” As general terroir enthusiasts, we love the perfect setting this candle adds to our at-home drinking adventure.
Scratch & Sniff Wine Expert Book
We always say, the best way to become a wine enthusiast? It’s simple. The more wine you drink, the more enthusiastic you become! Enjoying wine is such a great hobby because you only get better at identifying wine traits by drinking more wine! We’re adding this scratch & sniff wine book as a fun activity to break open with our favorite wino buddy to get even better at identifying wine characteristics. Ahhh yes, we’re picking up notes of fresh cut garden hose already…..
You have all the pairings....now simply add wine!
Shop: 2013 Sonoma Stage Pinot Noir - Sonoma Coast
Shop: 2014 Robert's Road Vineyard Pinot Noir - Sonoma Coast
Read All About It! | Napa Valley Life Magazine
"Making great wine is awesome, but having a purpose beyond profit is even more motivating for us"
As a wine producer in the Napa Valley region, we are always excited to connect more with our community. Our brand is built on close connections: with our land, with our clients (AKA The Flock!) and with the wine community as a whole. So when we had a chance to share our story with the Napa Valley Life Magazine team, we of course were ready to take flight!
Our mission to create great wines for you to enjoy with your loved ones on any occasion is our driving force. As a boutique microwinery, we work with small production vineyards to select the greatest grapes of the vintage and make them into limited production wines. A refreshing Sonoma Coast Chardonnay…a lush and nuanced Napa Valley Cabernet…a balanced Pinot Noir with hints of coastal breezes…those are the wines that inspire us to keep creating alongside Mother Nature year after year.
In this feature with Napa Valley Life Magazine, our winemaker Patrick Durbin shares our story of our Sea Bird Wines came to be, our passion for terroir, and our underlying mission to support our natural habitat by donating 100% of our profits back to non-profit organizations that support marine wildlife.
Read the feature below, or head over the the Napa Valley Life Magazine digital publication and click on over to page 38 to see in print!
Retail Therapy | Chardonnay Edition
We’re at home. There’s wine. And the whole world wide web of shopping is at our disposal. Sounds a little dangerous? It’s ok, it’s the kind of risk that we’e encouraging you to take while you #StayAtHome because nothing cues our dopamine sensors like a fun purchase and a glass of wine!
In our first Retail Therapy release, we’re popping a bottle of our 2015 Robert’s Road Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. This Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a delightful one; aromatic with notes of white pears, tropical fruit and touch of vanilla, it shows off great fruit and acidity characteristic of the Sonoma Coast region with ripe yellow apples, nectarines and honey. Thanks to a warm, dry spring, 2015 brought us an early harvest with low yield and full concentration. It’s delightfully sippable with structure and balance abound.
You don’t have to take our word for it though! The San Francisco Chronicle International Wine Competition awarded this wine a Double Gold Medal (96 points) and the International Women’s Wine Competition gave us Double Gold & Best of Class (97 points) among others!
Thanks to the acidity and minerality of Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, we see a gloriously long drinking window for this bottle all the way through 2023. But why wait that long? Pop that cork and settle in to do a little online shopping for a few of our favorite things….
Cork Yoga Mat from 42 Birds
Perfect for all of those online Zoom fitness classes you’re hitting up (…right?) or for bringing outside to lay down on the grass and drink wine. No judgement. We are digging this natural cork yoga mat because not only is it anti-slip, cork contains natural anti-microbial properties that ward off mildew or any weird smells. *adds to cart*
Blonde Wood S’well Bottle
It’s no secret that we are big fans of S’well bottles. We prefer to opt in for the 25oz bottles (because hi, that holds a full bottle of wine!) and allows us to keep the perfect temperature wherever we roam. Our big ambitions are telling us to hit the trails for a hike with a picnic on top. The Blonde Wood is part of the Wood Collection that “imitates the charm of raw materials and natural fibers in the world’s most picturesque forests” which is adorable and really fits our vibe. Whether you’re truly outdoorsy or just a patio sipper, this is perfect for keeping your Robert’s Road Chardonnay at a crisp 50 degrees.
Chardonnay Grapeseed Bubble Bath from Napa Soap Company
Have your wine and soak in it too. We’re pouring a crisp glass of Chardonnay and soaking into this luxurious bubble bath made by our local Napa Soap Company. Made from Chardonnay Grapeseed Oil, it’s just an added perk that these ingredients protect skin from free radicals, moisturize and balance and reduce inflammation. It’s basically a detox-to-retox formula that we can get behind again and again.
Pate Sampler from Olympia Provisions
More than ever we are looking for small businesses to support and Olympia Provisions in Portland is one we definitely want to keep thriving. Order up their Pate Sampler for the perfect pairing with a glass of Robert’s Road Chardonnay. It comes with a trio of pork liver mousse, pork rillettes, and country style pork pistachio pâte. The bright an vibrant acidity of our Sonoma Coast Chardonnay plays a refreshing foil to these seriously rich charcuterie pairings and is perfect to make a meal out of with some crackers and a mixed green salad.
3 Reasons To Buy A Magnum
3 Reasons To Buy Large Format Bottles
Large format wine sizes are hard to come by, but always worth adding to your cellar in for so many reasons. Here’s why we’re always down for a big bottle:
Age With Grace
This one is pure science and we’re here for it. As wine ages, oxygen moves in and out of a cork. It is a natural product after all! If you think of a magnum versus a 750ml, think about surface area: you’ve got the same cork size, but less surface area transfer! That means that the bottles age at nearly half the speed of their standard size brethren.
Stay Safe, Buy Big.
Bigger bottles mean thicker glass as you’ll notice when you pick up your standard size next to one of our magnum bottles. Sea Bird Wines magnums are bottled in thicker, darker glass that allows even more protection and room for the bottle to age slowly and gracefully…just the way we like it.
Yes you could save up that wine and store if for the perfect investment. But you could also throw one fun party and bring out the big guys to show everyone a good time. These bottles are perfect for a mixed crowd, as the novelty is a perfect conversation starter and a great chance to lure in a new wine friend who might have passed up a sip otherwise. Wine is always better when shared!
We’ve bottled just a select few magnums of the powerful 2014 Poseidon Cabernet Sauvignon that are perfectly poised for sharing with a crowd or laying down in the depths of your cellar to mature into greatness.
Do you know your bottle sizes? Here’s a cheat sheet for the Big Boys ranking in order from Tiny to Mighty...
187.5ml – Piccolo (aka a Split)
375ml – Demi or Half bottle – perfect for when you just want “one-ish” glasses with dinner
750ml – Your ride-or-die standard size bottle.
1.5 L – Magnum, which holds two standard size bottles if you’re feeling into math
3.0 L – Double Magnum (you guessed it, that’s 4 standard size bottles or 20 glasses of wine)
4.5 L – Jeroboam, which is 6 bottles (this is also where we start getting into Biblical King Naming Territory)
6.0 L – Imperial – 8 bottles worth of wine, or a very good dinner party.
9.0 L – Salmanazar – 12 bottles or a full case of wine, however you want to look at it
12.0 L – Balthazar – 16 standard size bottles
15.0 L – Nebuchadnezzar – Fun Fact: this bottle was named after the King Of Babylon which assuredly was a very good host if he was serving up this beast containing 20 bottles of wine
Choosing The Best Wine Glass
When you sip, I sip, we sip.
If you saw our latest episode of #SipWithSeaBird on our Instagram TV, we were tasting our 2014 Robert’s Road Chardonnay out of two glasses: a crystal stemmed wine glass, and a “daily drinker” stemless glass. Any way you pour it, the wine is great! But, by choosing a good quality wine glass, you are able to experience the complexity and nuance of a great wine at a higher level!
There are four “sensations” that you experience when tasting wine, as the glass makers at Reidel, The Wine Glass Company, will tell you:
- The Bouquet – we’re not talking flowers here! Each wine varietal has its own unique characteristics that can be experienced in the wine’s aroma
- The Texture – often called the “mouthfeel” this describes the wine’s first sips which you’ll often see referred to as watery, creamy, silky, soft, etc….
- The Flavor – The part we’re all here for, right?! This is the full profile of the wine that brings together fruit, minerality and acidity in the perfect balance to deliver to your tastebuds.
- The Finish – The
Using a high quality wine glass will enhance and show off all these amazing profiles in your wine.
Want to do a little more research? Here’s some of our other go-to wine glass brands that we know and love, all for different reasons!
RIEDEL – one of the most classic wine glass brands, RIEDEL shapes each glass specific to its varietal to show off the complex role played by glassware and wine. Easy to find, you can pick up a set at places like Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel and even Target!
Zalto Denk’Art Collection makes what they refer to as “The Universal Glass” that you can experience reds and wines in! This is ideal if you’re just dipping your nose into the wine world, and want to start with a great glass that you can try many new wines in! Fun fact: the Zalto team claims to have designed the glass in accordance to the earth’s tilted angles (that’s 24 degrees, 48 degrees and 72 degrees).
Schott Zwiesel – European made, these wine glasses are practical in every sense, and perfect to stock up on since they are affordable and easy to find in lots of different varieties. Even better, they are also dishwasher safe and resistant to breakage.
Gabriel Glass – Kinda like all the Musketeers rolled into one, the Gabriel Glass is known as the “one for all” wine glass. We’re here for it!
No matter what you’re sipping out of, we hope you’re enjoying a glass of Sea Bird Wines with your nearest and dearest. Cheers!