6 Ways to Enjoy Wine Outside

To help you enjoy your wine and last bit of warm weather adventures, we’ve compiled this list of ways to take your sippin’ to the outdoors.

1. Sips on the Pool

Pool days are some of the best days in our opinion and who doesn’t love a glass while they float?! Bring your drink (and the whole bottle) to float alongside you in this super cute Funboy Palm Drink Holder. Will you reach for Aphrodite Merlot or maybe Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay? Whichever you choose, keep your bottle cool and glass nearby while you soak up the sun.

2. Sips at the Beach

It’s official, we have found the best glassware for drinking on the beach. Had you given up on having a nice wine experience while laying in the sand? Don’t call it quits yet! These glasses are literally called “The Beach Glass” so you can pour yourself some wine, let it sit next to you, stable, and you have the freedom of not grasping it the entire time you’re trying to enjoy yourself. The beach calls for multi-gold medal winning 2015 Sangiacomo Robert’s Road Chardonnay. 

3. Sips in the Backyard

Backyard get-togethers feed our very souls. Getting to see loved ones, gathering around food and drink, enjoying the late summer air, there’s almost nothing better than patio afternoons and evenings. Elevate your backyard experience with this cute, functional, and modern wine table! Perfectly sitting 2 wine glasses, your wine bottle, and some snacks, this table is both aesthetically pleasing and perfect for outdoor drinking. Our 2013 Sonoma Stage Vineyard Pinot Noir gives us total backyard vibes.

4. Sips at the Park

You’re at the park, enjoying a nice picnic and some wine, when you go to take a sip from your glass and see a fly...floating in your wine. EW! Obviously you toss it but do you even want to use the glass anymore?! We don’t want that happening to you so we’ve found the very best wine glass lid to avoid floaties, sand, dirt, anything that could potentially end up your delicious glass of Poseidon Cabernet Sauvignon. 

5. Sips on the Boat

Boating is one of the most fun activities of the summer. From jet skis to fishing, tanning, and one of our personal favorites, sea bird watching, there’s so much to do out on the water! We love to bring this portable wine glass holder that keeps our delicious wine in one place, avoiding spillage! 

6. Sips on a Hike

It is so important to stay hydrated while hiking as well as avoiding peak times. That’s why we like to suggest a sunset hike with your favorite bottle of Pinot Noir. Gather up your bottles of choice and keep them cozy in this Backpack Wine Cooler! Stash some water bottles, cheese, and crackers in there too for the ultimate hike picnic! 

Wherever you go to close out your summer, take us with and tag us in your photo-ops too @seabirdwines! 

by Chelsea Hamilton

9 Wine Podcasts To Sip To

Whether you’re on a road trip or chilling inside to stay cool during the heatwave, here’s a few things to play on the airwaves while you’re enjoying a bottle of Sea Bird. 

UnHappy Hour - 2014 Sangiacomo Robert’s Road Pinot Noir 

UnHappy Hour is the raunchy talk podcast that you hate to love (but totally secretly do). Comedian Matt Bellasai started out doing this on Facebook Watch, pouring himself a large glass of wine and talking about pop culture, news, anything that he wanted to rant about. He and his producer, Barrie, have the best conversations and he often interviews people in the arts space whether fellow comedians or actors or even drag queens! You will always laugh with this one. Matt often went with a red wine and with the cocoa notes of Sea Bird’s 2014 Sangiacomo Robert’s Road Pinot Noir, it’ll sweeten up all the gossip from the show. Just be careful not to laugh too hard while you’re trying to take a sip! 

U-Up Pod - Aphrodite Merlot 

U-Up comes to us from the minds of “Betches” who, if you are unfamiliar with them, are a lifestyle media company that just emulates your relatable bestie. Betches co-founder Jordana Abraham and comedian Jared Freid get together to talk all things dating in the modern world. From Jordana’s recent engagement to Jared’s recent breakup, they’ve lately been helping us navigate relationships and dating through COVID and frankly - it’s been a lifesaver. Get the best dating and relationship advice no matter if you’re single or married, you’ll definitely relate to this. Throw this on, have a laugh, and pop open Sea Bird’s seductive Aphrodite Merlot to match. We couldn’t possibly listen to a pod about love without the goddess of love herself’s blessing. 

Pop Culture Happy Hour - 2017 Sea Bird Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills

NPR brings you a daily blurb on pop culture! Pop Culture Happy Hour premiers Monday-Friday and serves up what’s hot in the world of music, TV, movies, books, art, literally anything and everything. Tune in to their ‘Songs of the Summer’ episode where songs were nominated for "Song of the Summer" with a snippet of the song to win them all - it sets the perfect vibe for summer and you'll want to queue up their whole playlist on your Spotify account. We love our 2017 Sea Bird Chardonnay from Santa Rita Hills for this podcast because it’s zesty and fresh just like these short, quippy episodes.

Marine Conservation Happy Hour - 2016 Poseidon Cabernet Sauvignon 

It wouldn’t be a Sea Bird experience without talking about Marine Conservation! We really fell in love with this Marine Conservation Happy Hour podcast. Hosted by Andrew Lewin, Dr. Craken McCraic, and Dr. Scarlett Smash, this podcast opens with a drunken sailor song to transition us to an informal pub-like setting where the hosts sit down for drinks and a chat about marine life and conservation. This podcast is perfect because it’s hilarious and sassy - you feel like you’re having a drink with the hosts, and you get to learn some interesting and helpful things about the ocean. Of course we have to pair this with the god of the sea himself, our 2016 Poseidon Cabernet Sauvignon. Did you know 100% of Sea Bird proceeds go to marine life conservation? Read more about this here on our Instagram!

The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamo - 2015 Broken Rock Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 

If you’re ready for some serious chuckles then turn on The Bald and The Beautiful and turn the volume UP! This podcast will have you about to wet your plants from laughing. Iconic Drag Queens, Trixie Matell and Katya Zamo, get together to chat all things life and interview the absolute best people. This is the kind of podcast you want to be on and the Queens are the type who’s laugh alone makes you laugh too. We suggest pairing this with our 2015 Broken Rock Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon because just like the podcast, this wine is ripe and fruity! They were honestly made for each other. 

Wine for Normal People - 2014 Sangiacomo Robert’s Road Pinot Noir 

Snobby wine-o’s are the worst. We are major fans of sommeliers who keep us laughing, are approachable, and make wine education fun. Husband and wife, Elizabeth Schneider and M.C. Ice, team up to bring us wine education with “normie” vibes. Elizabeth describes herself as a certified cork-dork...but literally, she is a certified sommelier and also a published author. Her hubby on the other hand is your normal wine-loving person. For this pod, we really love our Robert’s Road Pinot Noir as well because this is the perfect wine to sip on and analyze while you learn all these fun new wine things! Pick up the leather and fruit notes within our Sonoma wine while learning what a tannin is or unique facts about the region.

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - 2016 Poseidon Cabernet Sauvignon

Murder mysteries, true crime, and ghost stories are the absolute best. Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark co-host this awesome podcast, telling their favorite true crime stories and on a different note, they have maybe the best podcast voices we've ever heard! Once a week they put out a longer episode which usually talks about a hometown murderer (could be your hometown!) and later in the week they put out a mini episode, reading listener’s stories that they’ve written in! You will always have an episode to listen to. To go with these dark tales, we’re pairing this podcast with Poseidon for the dark, velvety color of this 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bring a Bottle - The Three Drinkers - 2015 Broken Rock Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 

This is the podcast to play when you want to feel like you’re drinking with your hilarious besties. Aidy Smith & Helena Nicklin talk all things drinking, interview a variety of guests, you can enjoy their awesome Australian accents, and especially look forward to Helena’s “can you guess what wine this is by the weird noise I’m making” segment. We paired this with our Broken Rock Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon because it’s perfect to sip on while you’re cooking steak dinner with mushroom risotto, laughing away with Helena and Aidy (who you’re now on a first name basis with, duh).

How to Save a Planet - 2017 Sea Bird Chardonnay Sta. Rita Hills

How to Save a Planet is the podcast we all need to be listening to right now. Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is joined by co-host and journalist Alex Blumberg as they discuss climate change, often talk about the ocean, and analyze policy surrounding the global climate crisis. Dr. Ayana most recently interviewed Dr. Jane Goodall, famously known for her long term study of chimpanzees in Tanzania. Ocean lovers, this is the podcast to "nerd" out to! Dr. Ayana makes climate change and earth issues more approachable while also telling things in her scientific, matter of fact way. For this reason, we’ve paired this podcast with our 2017 Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay, to keep things light and refreshing while dealing with topics that require a bit more attention. 

Pop a cork, tune in and enjoy! Don’t forget to let us know which ones you love most and tag us while you're listening and sippin' @seabirdwines

by Chelsea Hamilton

Flocking To These Sea Bird Wine Regions

by Chelsea Hamilton

Sip & Shuck Oysters | Your Guide To Oysters In September

With modern farming techniques, we are lucky to be able to enjoy oysters year around. But there’s something just a little above and beyond about enjoying food in season, and September is prime time for oysters.

If you are splurging an oyster in the US you are likely enjoying what is 95% of our farmed oyster supply. If the oysters are not farmed, they are harvested in a sustainable way so they can keep doing their essential work for our oceans. When it comes to keep our oceans thriving, oysters are the ones we can thank for maintaining the balance of their local marine ecosystem by filtering seawater through their gills, and reducing excess algae that might otherwise suffocate other marine life.

We are cracking open a bottle of crisp Chardonnay and shucking our hearts our while the last of the warm weather still makes it nice for outdoor dining while it lasts!

Why Chardonnay With Oysters?

With a crisp minerality and bright fruit notes, Chardonnay is a great pairing for oysters. You’ll want to stay clear of anything overly oaked, so a bottle of 2015 Robert’s Road Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is the perfect thing to reach for when you have a plate of bivalves to get shucking.

Best In The West Coast

Pacific oysters are small and sweet and the world's most cultivated oyster. They will tend to have a more pronounced cucumber or vegetal undertone.

Look for:

• Kumamotos - small, sweet, almost nutty oysters. They spawn later and in warmer water than other oysters, so they remain firm and sweet well into summer months. Kumamotos used to be lumped in with “Pacific oysters”, but it ends up they are their own species.
• Miyagis - these oysters tend to also have a mild nutty flavor, and are great to eat raw or even throw on the grill Rockefeller style.
• Olympias - Puget Sound and British Columbia, Olympias are sweet, coppery, and metallic. These guys are the tiniest.

Can’t Be Beat In The East

Texturally, East Coast oysters tend to be solid bites—silky to meatier, whereas West Coast will be slightly creamier, custardy.

• Bluepoints - typically harvested from the Long Island Sound, these oysters are probably the friendliest crowd-pleasers on the East Coast. They tend to have a moderate salinity, spring meat and a very light mineral finish.
• Wellfleets - plump and clean, this type of oyster is known for its good balance of creamy sweetnesss and brine thanks to the cold and relatively clean waters in the Wellfleet region.
• Malpeques - typically briner and fuller bodied than Bluepoints these meaty oysters can be found in medium tides from Malpeque Bay.
• Beausoleils- farmed in the New Brunswick region, these are about as far north as you’ll find this specimen of oyster (considered a Virginia oyster) Beausoleils are some of the most beautiful oysters thanks to their even size, and refined, light taste. These are ideal for more novice oyster eaters thanks to their light body without too much brine.

Must-have for a great oyster shucking:

Ensure your mis-en-place is ready to go with some shucking essentials. A few things you'll need to have ready:

• A glass of 2015 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay in hand, of course.
• A shucking knife
• A shucking glove (a sturdy kitchen towel will also work)
• A classic mignonette sauce
• Lemon wedges
• prepared Horseradish if you like things a tad spicy
• Cocktail sauce (use this easy DIY recipe) or pick some up at the store

Watch this video to become an expert shucker. Practice does indeed make perfect!

Much like enjoying your glass of Sea Bird Wine, eating oysters is a sensory experience! Oyster descriptors range from briny, buttery, sweet, metallic and mild. “Oyster Somms” can even pick out flavors like melon, cucumber, mushroom and more.

We love this six sense tasting guide from In A Half Shell to guide you through your shells like a pro:

My Six Steps of Pro Oyster Tasting // by In A Half Shell

1. SEE: Feast with your eyes! Study the shell, shape, color.
2. SMELL: It should smell sea-breezy and sweet, not fishy at all.
3. SIP: Sip the oyster liquor to get a sense of the salinity.
4. SLURP: Shimmy the oyster meat loose, tilt the flat edge of the shell to your lips and slurp! Don’t discard the oyster liquor (faux pas).
5. SAVOR: Chew a few times to get the full body taste; notice the progression from nose (salty) to body (sweet/flavors) to finish (lingering aroma).
6. SHELL: Flip the shell over and admire the collaboration between nature & farmer.

We love being able in enjoy culinary treats like oysters and wine, and it wouldn’t be possible without a healthy, thriving coastlines to allow us to grow and cultivate both of these things! While you’re shucking, we invite you to enjoy a glass of Sea Bird Wines knowing that the bottles you purchase help us donate back to marine wildlife habitat conservation efforts like the Marine Mammal Stranding Center so we can continue to preserve these amazing gifts from nature for years to come.

Shop more Sea Bird Wines here!

by Chelsea Hamilton

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!

1. Sauté a few cloves of chopped garlic in a tablespoon of butter.
2. Add in about a 1/2 cup of Chardonnay and reduce slightly.
3. Remove from heat, stir in 1-2 more tablespoons of butter and some fresh tender herbs.
4. 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!

by Chelsea Hamilton