Update: How To Drink Wine Alone

A few months ago, I wrote in this column about how to drink wine alone when the social pendulum has swung to solitude. That was in the context of the holiday season, when wine in moderation and a dose of solitude could help to counterbalance the toll of relentless, extroverted, hyper-social activity.

About six years ago, I also wrote about drinking alone when “there are no rules that say that wine can’t be a somewhat selfish undertaking, or that you can’t be selfish about the wines you drink or how you drink them.” Even then, drinking alone is still in relation to other people, when the wine you choose might be a wine you drank the first time you went abroad, or a wine some long-ago friends gave you, or a wine from the year you were born.

Drinking wine is, mainly, a social undertaking by nature even when we’re drinking it alone.

Which means that it’s time for an update, particularly in this era of SARS-CoV-2 when “venturing out for wine” likely means tuning into virtual tastings while otherwise staying quarantined or self-isolated.

There’s quite a lot more to it than that, however. Here are two developments I’ve noticed as we update, culturally, what it means to drink alone: more time to explore, and more time to “self-curate.”

There’s more time to explore.

Rather than spending anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes or more driving or walking to and from a wine tasting, all we need to do now is step maybe from our kitchen counter to our desk or sofa. Tasting wine virtually softens and extends the edges of time restrictions. With less time given over to the logistics of getting from place to place, there’s more time to explore the experience of wine itself.

Intentionally, I’m not saying that there’s more time to learn; I’m saying that there’s more time to explore. Learning may be the route that some wine enthusiasts pursue (and there are plenty of online courses available for tailoring education to your custom tastes) but the options are more open than ever before for exploring the context and the experience of wine. For example, wineries, importers and distributors are getting creative about online videos that bring viewers inside the winery and behind the scenes for a very compelling perspective on the reality of wine making, growing and selling in this extremely challenging environment.

These videos are humanizing the experience of wine, which is exactly where the scale tips from wine consumer to enthusiast to lover.

There’s more chance to self-curate.

With shelter-in-place orders in effect in some of the US wine industry’s biggest markets, consumers are turning to creative and innovative pathways in order to continue to access, purchase and enjoy wine.

“Self-curating” an evening wine choice may mean, for an established wine lover, delving into collections they’ve developed over the years. For them, it may mean turning inward for guidance on which bottles to open according to mood or dinner options.

“Self-curating” for a curious wine lover who’s familiar with ordering wine online may mean intentionally supporting winemakers or brands they already love. It’s likely that those brands have developed special online offers (including severely reduced shipping costs) to accommodate the new reality of drinking at home more often.

“Self-curating” for a food and wine enthusiast may mean, in some markets, ordering wine from a favorite restaurant or wine bar who’s received regulatory leeway to sell bottles “to go.” In Atlanta, where I live, I’m seeing offers from restaurants I follow (sometimes more for their wine lists than for their menus) who are offering already-mixed cocktails and special pricing on bottles from their inventory, alongside meals to go. All three can be ordered then picked up curbside.

In cities or states who are not yet under office shelter-in-place orders but whose residents are nonetheless self-distancing, “self-curating” wine choices can start with where to shop. Smaller wine shops, for example, may feel more comfortable than supermarkets and newer, less established wine shops may feel more suited to considered decisions about where to spend money.

Whether you’re living under shelter-in-place orders or not, our purchasing and consumption behaviors around wine are rapidly shifting. What are you seeing in your own neighborhood, about how we drink alone? Please comment or drop me a note and let me know.