Thanksgiving Like a Master!

Instead of our usual "A Fern Between Us: Emotional Sanitizer Wine Show" episode for Thanksgiving pairings, we will settle in for a quick read and a fast mastery to your holiday meal pairing!

Lets face it, most of us are exhausted, maybe even recovering from Covid, so lets not reinvent the wheel. Thanksgiving is notorious for being difficult to pair wines to because of all the combating foods on the table. Here are a few tricks to instantly make your foods more wine friendly and make you look like a Master Wine Pairing Badass...

*Caramelized onions. Add them to asparagus, mashed potatoes, yams... gives a savory component that makes even the most unfriendly wine pairings work.

*Cauliflower. add one head to 6 potatoes, pureed to make jaw dropping mashed potatoes that love wine.

*Mushrooms add an earthiness wines love. Add to gravy, serve sauteed and added to veggies or stuffed with breadcrumbs and cheese as a fun side dish.

*Nuts! Nuts are amazing with all kinds of wines. They either bring out an earthy aspect, minerality or utilize the salt to highlight the fruit in the wine. Add them to stuffing, chop up and sprinkle on side dishes, or serve warm on their own as an appetizer.

Now lets talk wine. An easy go to is rose wine. It is one of the easiest to pair to a multitude of foods and is a crowd pleaser. For red, choose a lighter bodied style such as Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo or Sangiovese. I'm going to try to avoid falling down a rabbit hole of confusion with the grapes I just mentioned also being known for making some of the biggest, boldest wines there are (Barolo and Brunello respectively). What I encourage you to do is explore the lighter styles that offer complexity and interest with a depth of flavor rather than a bold body that can fight with more delicate food flavors. Finally, don't forget the Port! Port not only is a classic with dessert, or as dessert, but is also wonderful as an aperitif prior to the meal! It goes amazingly well with hard cheeses, nuts and pate.

Wanting to change things up? Try offering the same grape, but different wineries and/ or regions. This is not only something that will be fun for guests who may have never done a wine tasting or food pairing to experience. It is also a great conversation starter especially if you have guest that don't know each other. For example, try a Vivac Sangiovese, a Russian River Valley Sangiovese, and a Vino Nobile de Montepulciano (trust me that is Sangiovese). Place all 3 on the table and let people try the different wines with different foods, compare and contrast how they are alike or different and vote for a favorite! Of course there are no wrong answers, but we expect it to be the Vivac. Just kidding! Or are we?

I obviously suggest you start with Vivac wines for all your holiday meal needs. They are European in style, meaning higher in natural acidity and lower in alcohol making them much more food friendly. They are 100% NM True, and are winning Gold Medals at prestigious competitions around the world. Click on the grape name above for a link that takes you directly to our website (or click here for the full list) with tons of information about the wine and has ordering made easy! You can also visit our tasting room daily 10:00am- 6:00pm or call 505-579-4441 for personalized shopping service.

Happy Thanksgiving/ Friendsgiving/ Reason-to-celebrate from all of us at Vivac Winery!

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family! 

 Written by Michele Padberg, co-owner of Vivac Winery. If you enjoy this blog, check out her personal blog at Wine First Adventures

The Fern Between Us... Solving 2020

Whoa, where did we go?!? Well, lets start by clearing the air on what happened to this blog. 

It started as a "Fueled by Vivac" blog about training for marathons. The winemakers were running a lot of them and I was painfully being drug along. As readership built up, and we stopped running so much, I started to include other things we did. Our Annual Gourmet Raft Trip with New Mexico River Adventures, our staff float trip, our owner trip to Napa, or simply drinking wine on our porch. I must admit, with all of us so busy, it became harder to find "Fueled" material and I turned to my personal life to keep a voice. It is hard to separate the business from my personal life, after all they are forever intertwined. The blog had always been from my personal experience and viewpoint so it didn't feel strange to lean into other aspects...even if it meant following my health issues or travels. I mean isn't EVERYTHING I do "Fueled by Vivac"? Well, not everyone on our team thought it was what the winery should be blogging, it was more appropriate for a personal blog. I got it, made sense. But as I tried to shift the blog to be more in keeping with an appropriate business feel, I also lost my inspiration to write. I became the editor in my head, always asking if it was "too personal" and suddenly I had zero to say. Ya, I know that is wild, the lady who won't shut-up suddenly has nothing to say! I asked others to write for us, but the tone was completely different (as it would be) and the natural, honest, openness that took the blog from 0 to 800+ readership was lost. It seemed more natural to step away, let it organically bubble up as I had things to share and to explore other ways to connect with all of you.

Then 2020 happened. I think it is safe to say that everyone had a meltdown of one kind or another that year. Mine was a creative one. 2019 had been one of the most successful years of events for the winery and myself and then suddenly... nothing. Our Tasting Room has its own draw and people seek us out on their own by simply driving by, but events and PR are a huge component to encourage people to get up off the couch and come see us... in the middle of nowhere. Now there was nothing happening. People weren't leaving the house! We had crazy state mandates to close and then some amount of open and then close again... it was incredibly stressful and all I could think of was "how can I get people to stay connected with us???". I was also going stir crazy so I do admit that it was as much for you as it was to give me a project. And that is how The Fern Between Us; Emotional Sanitizer Wine Show was born.

The Fern became a way for you all to taste wine with us virtually, something that most of the time isn't a possibility since we are rarely at the tasting room ourselves. It also became a way to stay relevant. I booked guests via zoom that had interesting stories or input on our insane situation surviving the pandemic. It made sense to connect on many levels, let's learn about Merlot... and talk to a Doctor about how to stay safe. Let's taste Tempranillo and talk to a teacher about how to help our kids learn remotely. Let's Rose all day and learn about great facial products to help us deal with the stress breakouts. It was instantly successful on our FB live platform and as the lock-down stretched on...and on...and on, it became a coveted moment of connection for many. Then slowly the world started to open back up, we started to leave our houses and go back to work, what a bummer for our show! 

I also started to return to work. I had been working for the winery of course from home, in fact conducting tastings and classes via zoom and pre-shipped wine, but I returned to wine judging in person. Being flown around the world felt dangerous especially with an autoimmune disease and medication whipping out all immunity, but that world is focused on your sense of smell and protecting that meant mandatory masks, PCR test before, during and after competitions. Vaccines were mandatory and we all carried hand sanitizer around like it was a wine glass about to be poured into... as in the most valuable possession we could hold. But this travel and additional work was exhausting and while I tried to motivate the show into a new world, filming while on the go, it started to feel "old". People got busy with their lives again. I couldn't think of inspired content. It was feeling like the blog. 

Now, as I sit in the Seattle airport returning from teaching Master Classes at the American Wine Society National Conference, having cancelled several weeks of the show (I also flew to Italy for an Extreme Wine Competition recently), I wonder if the blog is once again the way to connect. 

It won't be the end of the show, the show is simply too fun! People are less likely to tune in live, but it is clear they are watching after the fact as they find time. But I write this blog today as a HOWDY and reconnect! So, what would you like to hear about? I'm an open book, ask away!

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family! Written by Michele Padberg, co-owner of Vivac Winery. If you enjoy this blog, check out her personal blog at Wine First Adventures

Hosting a Friendsgiving? Thanksgiving? Hanukkah?

Hosting a Friendsgiving? Thanksgiving? Hanukkah? 

Regardless of the reason, you will need wine! Weather you have a get together or celebrate in front of the TV solo great wine means a great time. Black Friday is only a couple days away as well and is our one day only sale. We are offering 25% off all of our wines (or an additional 5% off your wine club member discount) and is a great time to stock up on all your favorites for the Holidays!

Wondering what to pair with a complex selection of foods ranging from yams to turkey, mashed potatoes to pumpkin pie? We've got you covered! Rose wines are hands down the easiest pairing wines and crowd pleasers. We have two options, both are great choices: Rose of Sangiovese and the slightly bolder Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon. They both have the ability to pair with most of the foods on the table and won't add to that already too full feeling. Rose wines make everyone happy being lighter than a red, bolder than a white, fruity for the sweet wine drinkers, but with great acidity to make them balanced and complex for red wine drinkers.

Make your dishes more wine friendly by leaning into the savory rather than the sweet. Instead of marshmallows in the yams, bake them with butter, slices of onion, slices of orange and a dusting of brown sugar. Add cauliflower to the mashed potatoes for a subtle earthy note and make sure the stuffing has nuts in it to add depth (unless someone is allergic of course). 

The red wines we suggest to make your meal heavenly are our Abbott Cabernet Franc and our Nebbiolo. Both reds have a lighter body than say a Cabernet Sauvignon which can clobber the flavors of a more delicate dish. These reds are also packed with natural acidity and lots of flavor so you have all the delicious aspects of the food and wine coming together in harmony. By making your dishes more wine friendly, you can pick up on the notes in the wine. Adding orange highlights acidity, adding nuts highlights tannin and any earthy note or berry will bring out the fruit in the wine. 

To finish the meal, pair your pie with our Amante port style wine. Skip the ice cream and have this as your sweet addition, add cheddar cheese to apple pie or keep it simple with brown sugar and salt roasted nuts, an unbelievable combination with the Amante. 

We hope each and every one of you is surrounded by those you love and can raise a glass to those that can't be with us during these strange and difficult times. 

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family! 

www.VivacWinery.com

5 Pandemic Wine Pairings You Need Right NOW

What the what?!? Are you in an episode of Black Mirror?

Unfortunately not, this is actual reality. BUT we are lucky to have internet, wine and sweat pants. I don't want to take too much time away from your binge watching Netflix so lets get down to some important pairings!

Pairing 1: "Tiger King", Netflix's ridiculous show. Ridiculously entertaining, I-wouldn't-ever-be-watching-this-if-I-wasn't-trapped-in-my-house show.
     PAIRED WITH: well this one gets several... If you are rooting for...
     Carole Baskin: Warm Vivac Chardonnay, just plop some ice in it and pretend it isn't still warm.
     Joe Exotic: Vivac Sangiovese with fruit and vodka, extra kicker just cause!
     Jeff Lowe: Vivac Cabernet with Coka-a Cola, beef up all those flavors and cover it up all at the same time.

Pairing 2: It's-another-morning-in-quarantine-and-I-got-outta-bed PAIRED WITH Vivac Rose of Cabernet... because this incredible little wine is the only thing that will encourage you to get up before noon.

Pairing 3: Zoom work meetings PAIRED WITH Vivac Abbott Red, red wine blend, because it tastes so good it doesn't even matter that you are drinking it out of a mug and telling your co-workers its coffee.

Pairing 4: I-haven't-showered-in-days PAIRED WITH Vivac Diavolo red wine blend because it goes down so smoothly that you'll be a couple bottles in before you've finished re-watching last season of Schitt's Creek and your purple lined lips can't even mouth "bath time".

AND the final pairing is... is-it-inappropriate-to-drink-out-of-the-bottle PAIRED WITH this Vivac wine was found on the nightstand, what day is this, who am I combo.

All joking aside, we hope you are all staying safe and healthy. We know many of us are losing loved ones and that the mental fatigue of handling this is real. We hope having a little laugh helps your day. Sending love from all of us at Vivac Winery.

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family! Written by Michele Padberg, co-owner of Vivac Winery. If you enjoy this blog, check out her personal blog at Wine First Adventures
www.VivacWinery.com

Fueled by Vivác Winery: Top 10 Things You Don't know About Vivac Winery

Fueled by Vivác Winery: Top 10 Things You Don't know About Vivac Winery: Are you rolling your eyes at yet another 'Top 10' list for you to read? I know, we are sick of them too. But, if you can't beat ... -Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family! Written by Michele Padberg, co-owner of Vivac Winery. If you enjoy this blog, check out her personal blog at Wine First Adventures

Top 10 Things You Don't know About Vivac Winery

Are you rolling your eyes at yet another 'Top 10' list for you to read? I know, we are sick of them too. But, if you can't beat them... join them?

What could this list possibly include you are asking yourself? You already know the media coverage from the last blog post. You already know the amazing wines or you wouldn't care about this blog in the first place. And, you probably follow us on various social media platforms that show you the fun stuff us 4 owners run off and do with our families...so what DON'T you know???

1) NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! The sound you do not want to hear coming from the winery.
We would rather uncork (by hand) hundreds of bottles to fix a wine than release it to you with a problem. Yes, this has happened, and while devastating and costly, we will not put a bottle of wine out there with a problem. They may not all be to your taste, but they are correct.

2) They are sometimes 'twining' but they are not twins.
The winemakers are NOT twins. Many of you know this, but so many do not, that is seems to still rank as one of our top unknowns. Jesse is 18 months older than Chris.

3) Jimmy Two Times. (*1)
Our port style wine "Amante" (meaning 'lover'... yes, it does sound like a telanovela. We have no idea what we were thinking with that name either. It sounded good at the time) is made with 100% Tempranillo grapes, which is the traditional grape used for port in Portugal. Here is the sly part... we are dedicated to using 100% NM fruit 100% of the time... to make the port, we halt the fermentation with a high alcohol brandy... made by our friends down the road at Don Quijote Distillery who use 100% NM fruit to make their 100% Tempranillo brandy! I know! So slick right!?! End result is a 100% Tempranillo, 100% NM True fortified wine.

4)  How about them apples?
Dixon, where we live and have our winery and anchor tasting room, is a place just south of Taos; one of the most charming places on earth! It is a small town that has many apple farms (including the land our winery is built on), they also sell these apples, BUT we are not the "famous Dixon Apples" people have heard of. That was a family named Dixon who ran a historic apple farm near Cochiti Pueblo. And yes, their farm was destroyed by the Las Conchas fire a handful of years ago. Our town of Dixon has not had any major fires and still has beautiful apples available. Confusing I Know.

5) That's Amore!
During winter months, we have a small grouping of tables and chairs inside our cozy tasting room! Yep, you can still have date day at our place even when it's cold outside.

6) Run Forrest run! (*2)
Both winemakers have run many full marathons, Jesse has even run several ultras (including a 54 miler!). I ran one full in Napa, then stuck with halves, so much more civilized. And both of Chris and Lili's kids have started competing in triathlons! Their son Maddox has actually won a bunch too. This is how our "Fueled by Vivac" sponsorship for races started and why we have super cool sports shirts available in long and short sleeve. Send us a pic of you in one of our shirts, in a race, and we will give you a free bottle of wine.

7) Super cool!
We have created specialty wines for the incredibly talented musician/ artist/ actor Robert Mirabal under the label "Mirabal Reserve". These unique wines mirror Robert's life story and include a choke cherry addition to the dry Sangiovese wine. We made this choke cherry wine from fruit grown in Taos, where Robert is from. You can buy these wines at our tasting rooms or our website, order from their website or find them in select locations soon!

8) The lean years
We were on food stamps for years as we got the winery started and had babies. We are immensely appreciative and grateful for that assistance. We hope that now as we offer more and more jobs to the community and give back through local organizations that we are in some small way paying it forward.

9) Start them young
While we all love Taos Ski Valley (I mean hello! It is continually listed as some of the best skiing in the world), little known Sipapu Ski area only 30,mins from us, is a delightful destination and very family friendly. It is also where we had all of our kids (3 between us two couples) on skis by the age of 2! If you visit northern NM in winter, stay there and drive down the hill to see us.

10) Being smart 
Yes we have a wine for every palate (including a soon to be released RESERVE ROSE that is mind blowing), and yes we have 14 NM craft beers on tap and a local cider, but we ALSO have Nitro Coffee on tap, sparkling apple juice, specialty root beer and will soon we hope to have HopTea and NA Prosecco! We know not everyone in a group is a drinker (or likes to drink as much as we do) and we support having a DD and being safe so we want to offer amazing treats for those needing something without booze.

This probably could have been twice as long, but we know you have drinking to get to so we don't want to hold you up. If you have questions, about us or the winery, ask! We have updated our new website with a fun fact filled 'About Us' section and there are now tons of details about each wine available, but we know your curiosity doesn't stop there so message us, maybe your question will become our next blog post!

(*1) reference to the movie Goodfellas and a character named Jimmy Two Times because he said everything twice. Doubling up on Tempranillo is our version of Jimmy Two Times.
(*2) if you need this reference explained, you are not watching enough movies! From the movie Forrest Gump.

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com

Written by Michele Padberg, co-owner of Vivac Winery. If you enjoy this blog, check out her personal blog at Wine First Adventures

Making a Splash!

We recently had the honor to be selected as 1 of 7 wineries to present to the elite wine media such as Wine Spectator, James Suckling, Wine Enthusiast, HuffPo and many many more. Due to the fact that our other owner team had just left to travel Asia with their family, my husband Jesse and I flew to New York City to hopefully wow the who's who of wine.

Getting up at 3am to catch your flight and traveling all day (because New Mexico is its own island it seems and you can't fly direct to most places) landed us in the city starving and exhausted. Our hotel was perfectly situated in the Lower East Side next to Katz Deli and down the block from a wine shop! We ate, we drank, we fell asleep by 8pm. Ya, par-tee animals!

Trying to figure out how to present to the top wine media is really tricky. We were given 20 mins to present, which when we arrived we were told would actually be 15 mins, to sell our wines we were pouring and ourselves. I had selected a vertical (different years, but the same grape) of Cabernet Sauvignon that would show the craftsmanship and age-ability of our wines (2005/ 2009/ 2013/ 2016), a bold move that I hoped would garner us some good attention. I had worked hard on crafting a beautiful slide show to highlight the beauty and uniqueness of where we live and also so they could see it is a family operation with the four of us pouring our hearts and souls into the winery. In addition I crated professional media packets with details, photos, bios and wine stats for each attendee. I had a list of talking points and had encouraged Jesse to figure out what he wanted to say. Jesse looked at me the morning of the presentation like a deer in headlights and exclaimed that he, the winemaker mind you, shouldn't have to present. Given I usually do the presenting and I do teach wine classes, I am used to public speaking and I assured him I would be standing up there too and would jump in when needed. By the end of the event, he had media writers dripping off him, asking for photos and crooning over his "perfectly tussled hair". It was an absolute success and the wines made a huge impression. Days later as we discussed an offer I'd received to speak at a prestigious conference, Jesse would reference that event and say "What are you going to talk about? Or are you just going to stand there and let me do all the work?". Of course he was joking, and it is this wicked sense of humor that made me fall madly in love with him, so my response was to laugh so hard I almost peed my pants.

It's a rare treat to have these kind of big splashes for a little winery and we just got hit with 3. The 1st was James Suckling himself posting a review of our Refosco on all his personal social media touting that our Refosco bested those from even Italy. Then the NYC trip and finally having the opportunity to present at a travel wine and food writers conference (IFWTWA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Being surrounded by travel wine and food writers from all over the world for 3 days as you pour your wines and create friendships was fantastic!

We are in our 21st year and while it feels like the success is over night, we look back and can't believe how far we've come. From food stamps and working other jobs to buy grapes and barrels, one by one, to being able to leave our incredible staff in charge so we can fly to NYC to shake hands with the top influencers of our day, it truly stuns us. And we owe it all to all of you, thank you!

Now hurry and get a glass of wine to celebrate with us!

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com

Written by Michele Padberg, co-owner of Vivac Winery. If you enjoy this blog, check out her personal blog at Wine First Adventures