If you’ve been mostly stuck at home because of the pandemic’s restrictions, like most people, you’ll probably want to be more creative with all things food this year. Well, let’s not forget the wine! If you’re having a small get-together, traveling, or simply just spending time by yourself, you can take your favorite glass of wine to a whole new level with some imagination and a dose of creativity.
Here are the best ways to do just that this year:
1. Spike Up Your Everyday Drinks
Drinking wine these days doesn’t only mean sipping a glass while having a hearty meal. If you want to add some zing to your otherwise humdrum afternoon, you can do so by spiking your ordinary drinks with some wine.
It’s typical to have a combination of coffee and alcohol. But did you know that wine can also go well with iced tea, lemonade, fruit juices, and even hot chocolate? The best wine to pair with hot chocolate is fruity red wine if you want your drink sweet. If you don’t have a fruity wine, a good old dry wine will do just fine.
If you’re not a wine enthusiast, but you want to mix things up and experiment, you don’t have to spend on a whole bottle.
You can try them out in small sizes and different types. If you don’t know where you can get red wine, rosé, or white wine in smaller portions, you can visit usualwines.com and try out their glass-sized bottles of wine. They’re perfect for sampling!
2. Turn It Into An Icy Treat
Some people love to drink wine to warm up an otherwise cold winter night. However, during hot summer nights, you can still enjoy a glass of wine sans the warming effect. The simplest way to do this is by adding ice to your wine and enjoy it cold. You can see the best ice tray here icemakerguide.net. But if you hate watering down your vino, don’t use ordinary ice cubes. Instead, fill your ice trays with your favorite wine and freeze them. Now, every time you want an icy treat to cool you down, simply add your iced wine cubes to your favorite glass of wine.
Take things further by infusing wine with your staple icy treats. If you are having a pool party in July, you can add a cup or two of rosé wine to your fruity popsicle recipe. How does a rosé-infused strawberry lemon popsicle sound?
Since you’re already freezing wine in cubes, why not try turning it into wine slushie? Just pop the iced cubes into your blender or processor. If milkshakes are your thing, don’t worry. You can also make an alcohol-steeped milkshake by simply blending the wine with your favorite ice cream.
3. Mix And Match
Let your imagination run wild, don’t hold back. Have fun when it comes to wines because this type of alcoholic drink goes well with almost anything. So, don’t be afraid to make your wine cocktail with whatever ingredients you have at home.
You can creatively mix wine with ingredients like ginger, fig, rhubarb, and even candy corn. For a stronger punch, you can combine your trusty vino with other alcoholic drinks. Just don’t overdo it by mixing everything in because you might suffer from one nasty headache the morning after.
4. Use Crazy Glasses
Another way you can consume wine creatively is by using out-of-this-world glasses or containers, especially during parties and get-togethers. For example, if you’re celebrating Halloween with your friends, using wine glasses with skeletons or pumpkin decorations would be fantastic and fun for all. For more information about Halloween costumes that can improve the night, visit blossomcostumes.com.au.
Instead of beer, you can have small bottles of wine in your beer helmet the next time you watch a game. Elevate your game-watching experience by eating caviar on top of salmon strips spread on bite-size slices of toasted bread.
You can also get accessories like a no-hands wine carrier, wine sippy cups, bejeweled glasses, sci-fi-themed glasses, or personalized glasses to add more character into your wine-drinking hobby. There are even wearable wine glasses, such as wine-glass rings. They come in various sizes to match your appetite for wine.
5. Try Unusual Wine Pairings
Here’s more proof that wines can go with almost anything. Try pairing wine with even the most ordinary food in your pantry. For example, you can pair sparkling wine with scrambled eggs for Sunday brunch or try red wine with your favorite fast-food burger and fries. And the next time you Netflix and chill, you can pair a large glass of white wine with potato chips.
If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, there are edible bugs you can pair with wine. Would you care for some mealworms matched with white wine, grasshopper with red wine, or forest scorpion with a cold glass of rosé? An exotic Asian food called balut, or duck embryo, goes perfectly with a glass of Sauvignon. Other unusual foods you can pair with your favorite vino are marmite, fugu, kangaroo meat, and even live octopus.
6. Sip Wine From Edible Shot Glasses
For a genuinely entertaining party, you can serve your guests edible shot glasses. Pour sparkling wine in some colorful hard candy shot glasses to wow your guests at your next party. It would also be a superb idea to serve your dessert and wine all at once with bold red wine in dark chocolate shot glasses. For a summer pool party, frozen cucumber shot glasses with sauvignon blanc would be a big hit that’ll beat the summer heat.
7. Go On Novel Wine Tours and Tasting
If you’re a wine person, you’ve probably already enjoyed numerous virtual wine tastings with your friends and family while on lockdown. This year, as the world starts to open up for travel, make up for all the missed events by indulging in more over-the-top wine tasting events. Sometimes, even the most common wine will taste extravagant and sophisticated if you drink it in exciting places with breathtaking views.
If you managed to save extra travel money because you stayed cooped up at home for most of 2024, then, you can probably splurge and treat yourself to an aerial wine tour, even without a special occasion. How many people can say they’ve gone on a spectacular wine-drinking event that includes a view from the sky? That’s right, only a few.
Final Thoughts
2020 may well be considered incredibly challenging. So this year, it’s time to be bold and adventurous. After a year of lockdowns and prolonged isolation, what better way to be more creative than by elevating something ordinary, like drinking wine, into something extraordinary.