Holiday Delivery: Wine and Gratitude🍷

Hi Friends,

This week’s newsletter will be a quick one. If you’re also subscribed to our Arden mailing list, you’ll know that I sort of poured my heart out to our community earlier this week so I won't rehash it here. Essentially I shared a little bit about how Arden — and honestly, every restaurant in Portland — is feeling the dampened holiday spirits and broader economic uncertainty right now. 

The response was truly overwhelming and has left me misty-eyed and humbled. We filled our books for the rest of the month and can now head into our two-week annual January closure with so much more peace of mind. So from the bottom of my heart: thank you!

And on that note of gratitude, I thought I’d use today to spread some holiday joy and share a few small things that made me smile this week (and hopefully will for you too!) - both wine related and otherwise...

(Also, had to include the cute photo above from this week's Food Forward Oregon event, where I had the privilege of curating the wine! )

1. Champagne Problems

First: Champagne Problems. This Netflix holiday rom-com set in Champagne is… not a good movie. Did I rolled my eyes almost the entire time? Yes. Do they get nearly everything about Champagne wrong? Yes. Do they somehow make Americans look even more clueless about wine? Also yes. But was it still fun to watch a holiday wine movie set in a place you know and love? Absolutely. And will it make you want to visit Champagne and be a better visitor than the protagonist? Most likely. Consider it wine escapism, and pair it with your favorite glass of... you guessed it: Champagne!

2. Conur's Wine Club!

Second: my friends at Conur Wines launched their wine club, and I got to go to the launch party at the Corbett Room on Friday. Lots of people have great wine clubs... but the reason I’m mentioning this one here is that Conur is doing something really fun and unique with theirs. Alongside their own wines, Diego and Federico are curating a rotating selection of Argentine bottles from producers they love and believe in... wines you almost never see in the States. And no, these bonus bottles are not all "big jammy Malbec"... they are thoughtful,  creative minimal-intervention wines from up-and-coming producers in eclectic styles. If you love Argentine wine (or want to learn more) and want to explore beyond the obvious, it’s worth a look! (nothing in it for me here, I just like recommending things I'm excited about :)

3. Elf Tights

Thirdly, it brought me more than a little joy to reunite with Sergio from Flor and shoot more holiday content for you guys. The elf tights are back. We wrote some very silly sketches. We even upgraded to elf ears this year (hello, Production Value!).  The teaser and first installment are live now, with more coming soon....

4. Holiday Theatre

Lastly — and not wine-related — I’ve been helping some friends launch a new theater company in Portland... Rose City Stage Company, dedicated to bringing the arts back to our central city and activating performances in unused storefronts. We’re kicking things off with a three-day staged reading of A Christmas Carol (pulled straight from Dickens’ text and just 60 minutes long), and helping put this together has genuinely warmed my heart and dropped me straight into the holiday spirit. If you want to join us, it’s running this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the Starlight on Old Town (corner at NW 6th & Everett). Tickets are pay-what-you-will, with proceeds supporting Central City Concern and the birth of this new nonprofit theater project.  Would love to see you there if you're wanting to remember the true meaning of Christmas ❤️

Cheers and wishing you the happiest of holidays,

Kelsey