The Wine Elves Made You a Present

Hello my friends,

If your December is already resembling a chaotic cocktail of group texts, gift-buying lists, White Elephant RSVP's and new streaming holiday rom-coms (spoiler: they're getting worse)... take a deep breath. I come bearing peace, joy, discounted wine and a free PDF.

That’s right, my annual Holiday Wine Guide is officially here, with the singular goal of making your life approximately 750mL easier.

It’s totally free, beautifully skim-friendly, and full of practical, delicious wine inspiration... whether you’re hosting, attending, gifting, or just opening something festive on a random Tuesday (to get you through that rom-com).

Inside, you’ll find five sections organized by style so you can shop (and sip) with confidence:

• Start the Party: three tiers of bubbles for every budget
• Friendly Favorites: zero-stress wines that everyone loves
• Let’s Impress: iconic bottles to wow the in-laws and feel extra festive
• Adventurous Delights: off-the-beaten-path picks for curious connoisseurs
• Sip Your Sweets: dessert wines because the holidays mean drinking your sugar

And because I want this to be actually useful, each category includes a hyperlinked example bottle straight from Flor Wines, selected with the help of my fellow wine elf (and shop owner) Sergio Licea. If you want to purchase directly from Flor, use RAISEAGLASS2025 for 15% off all featured bottles.

(No, I don’t get a cut of this; just sending you to good wine from good people!)

Whether you take the guide to your local shop, click through Flor’s selections online, or simply need to read something other than depressing news headlines, my hope is that this guide takes the guesswork out and puts holiday sparkle back in.

Two Great Gift Ideas 

If your holiday shopping has begun (like it or not), here are two special gifts for the food-and-wine lovers in your life. Yes, I'm biased... but I also like to think I have excellent taste in these matters 😉 Thank you for supporting small business and keeping his whole adventure possible. 

🎁 Arden’s Wine & Sauce Pairing Trio

After years of guests begging us to bottle Arden’s signature sauces, I finally talked Erik into making our first-ever holiday gift set, and obviously I paired each sauce with a favorite Oregon wine. This trio is designed to give you restaurant-level meals with scandalously little effort: boil pasta and add the dashi brown butter, toast a baguette and swipe on the foie torchon, drizzle salsa macha on literally anything that holds still. They are your holiday secret weapons — delightful to gift, dangerous to keep, and scientifically proven to make people think you’re a culinary genius. 

🎁 'Hosting With Wine' Mini-course (20% Off for You!)

If hosting has ever felt more like an stress-test to impress the cool kids than a celebration of time-spent with loved ones, this course is for you. Hosting With Wine is a quick, friendly mini-course for anyone who loves the idea of throwing an epic dinner party complete with epic food and wine pairings, but wants actual, usable, non-intimidating guidance. How to choose bottles, how to decode labels, how to build a theme, how to pair things without Googling in the pantry... it’s all in here. Pulled from my existing courses plus brand-new material, it’s the perfect gift for the wine-curious person in your life (including you). Use code HOLIDAY20  to bring the price from $60 down to $48! Then go forth and host the nights your friends remember.