Sometimes, all you need in this world are good friends and a good bottle of wine. With National Best Friends Day coming up, Zulily just released a three-bottle set perfect for celebrating what you love most about your BFFs: humor, honesty and trust. But you’ll only be able to buy it through June 15!

Vintage Wine Estates created this limited-edition set, featuring a 2019 Rose, a 2020 Sauvignon Blanc and a 2018 Cabernet. It’s $49 for the set of three and ships to most states in the U.S. Buy it for yourself for your next wine night or book club with friends, or buy it for your bestie and surprise them.

As in-person reunions ramp up this year, a new survey from Zulily and Pollfish found that almost half (49%) of moms said they’d only seen their friends two times or less in the past year. And more than half of moms (51%) said they proactively look for other mom friends for support once they’ve had a child of their own. Even if getting together is impossible, 30% of moms said they speak to their friends twice or more a day.

The survey featured 1,000 U.S. based moms, ages 18+. What will IRL meetups look like? 40% said they’d do a girls night out and 25% said they’d host a happy hour at home. Whatever you’re planning for that long-awaited get together, this wine set will definitely hit the spot!

––Sarah Shebek

Image courtesy of Zulily

 

RELATED STORIES

12 Unique Wine Subscription Services That Really Deliver (When You Need It Most)

21 Wineries with Seriously Cool Kid Perks

You Can Make Wine in Your Instant Pot & BRB Buying Juice By the Gallon

Why should kids have all the fun? Sam’s Club is already making spirits bright this year by releasing an exclusive 12 Days of Wine Advent Calendar. Each one is labeled with a fun, wine-inspired ugly holiday sweater!

Wine Advent Calendar

Each box contains 12 different 187ml bottles which is enough for you and a friend or significant other to share. All are products of California.

Wine Advent Calendar

Varietals in the pack include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Cabernet – Syrah Blend, Red Blend, Cabernet – Merlot Blend, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, Sweet Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Rose’.

Wine Advent Calendar

This calendar is only $37.98 for 12 shareable mini-bottles. 

Look for this fun Advent calendar in your local club.

—Jennifer Swartvagher

All photos courtesy of Sam’s Club

RELATED STORIES

2020 Harry Potter & Star Wars Advent Calendars Have Arrived

This “Friends” Advent Calendar Is Filled with over 40 Keepsakes

Disney Storybook Collection Advent Calendars Return for 2020

Everyone seems to have an eco-friendly angle these days, but the wineries of Sonoma (and the area itself) have long been committed leaders within the movement. Many Sonoma wineries use a combination of green techniques like solar power and organic farming, while others have taken it to the next level using biodynamics. Here are our favorite eco-friendly wineries and the tour companies who will take you there:

Quivira Vineyards and Winery in Healdsburg stands by statements like “live in balance with your surroundings” and “experience a true vineyard farm.” They embrace all biodynamic farming practices from the spiritual to scientific, which means they obsessively monitor healthy microbiotic life, and use only materials from their self-sustaining vineyards, compost piles, farm animals, and vegetable gardens. Their tasty wines are carefully made to respect the natural flavors of the soils and the specific elements found in each vineyard.

Benziger Family Winery remains a leader in the eco-friendly movement with biodynamic gardens and wines and countless accolades for their green practices and farming over the years. The estate is earthy and beautiful, tours informative and nature-filled, and entire portfolio of wines are certified sustainable, organic, or biodynamic. Tribute, a robust Cabernet blend, was the first Demeter-certified Biodynamic wine from Sonoma Country and one of the first in Northern America.

To read the full article to discover more of what eco-friendly Sonoma has to offer, click here.

This is our weekly guest post from our friends at 7×7, a site that keeps you up on the best of SF. We’ve teamed up for an exciting partnership to bring you a fantastic Date Night idea each week. Be sure to check out their blog for hourly doses of the best of SF.

The start of the school year can be a hectic time: back-to-school shopping, signing up for activities, sports practices, the list goes on and on. But as the kids settle into the groove, it’s time for you to take some much-deserved time out, and nothing spells relaxing like a fresh glass of wine from local grape growers. 7×7 Magazine has put together a fabulous list of urban wineries in the Bay Area, which will turn a frantic fall into a soothing and delicious autumn.

The 2011 growing season, which will forever be remembered as cool, damp and unpredictable for Northern California, is coming to a merciful close. But don’t feel bad if you didn’t make it up to Wine Country to experience the full thrill of harvest (trust us, the traffic was terrible anyway). This week, the grapes are coming to you.

The following urban wineries are still bringing in fruit and they wouldn’t mind one bit if you stopped by to lend a hand, taste some juice, and find out once and for all what the difference is between wild and cultured yeast.

Dogpatch WineWorks’ shiny new crushpad will be awash with Merlot and Petite Verdot from the Coombsville area of Napa this week. And, to complete their Bordeaux-style blends, superstar cousins Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc will be arriving the week of October 24th. If you’re interested in playing winemaker, ask about the WineWorks’ custom crush options and next year, you can be the one deciding whether or not to inoculate.

If you’re more into Rhone varietals or would just like to know what a “Rhone varietal” is, Carlotta Cellars, a label that uses the WineWorks facility, will be competing for space on the crushpad to process their Carignan, Grenache and Mourvedre this week and next. Email proprietor David Grega david@carlottawines.com if you are interested in swinging by.

Dogpatch WineWorks – 2455 Third St. (at 22nd Street), 415-525-4440

To see more great wineries, read the full 7×7 article here.

Written by Courtney Humiston

This is our weekly guest post from our friends at 7×7, a site that keeps you up on the best of SF. We’ve teamed up for an exciting partnership to bring you a fantastic Date Night idea each week. Be sure to check out their blog for hourly doses of the best of SF.

Need an escape from the Bay? Head up to the Napa Valley for some pampering, a little wine, and indulge in the ease and serenity of small-town life. Our partner magazine, 7×7, has compiled a delightful list of the best spas in Napa. Welcome to this week’s relaxed edition of Date Night.

There are few things better than starting (or ending) a day in the wine country with a lavish spa treatment. While I prefer a deep tissue massage to finish off a day of wine tasting, others like to escape for weekends at a time into mud baths, facials and detoxifying soaks. No matter what your pleasure, there is no more opulent place to spa than amidst the vines, where creative treatments range from mineral-enriched clay and volcanic skin detoxifiers to cabernet baths for couples. Here is a list of my favorite spots for treatments in the Valley.

The Spa at Meadowwood is about as private, peaceful, relaxing and exclusive an environment as you can find. They offer everything from inclusive spa escapes that come with a 3-course dinner to wraps, massages, and restorative yoga. If you’re really looking to immerse yourself in wine country, try the  “Cabernet Crush,” a warm cabernet grape-seed skin-polishing treatment followed by an application of fragrant, vitamin-rich grape-seed oil.

Spa Solage is the lesser-known sister to famous Auberge Du Soleil and has a touch of the posh desert resorts of Arizona, but with vineyard views. At their Mud Bar & Bathhouse you can enjoy their signature Mudslide and geo-thermal soaking pools. Solage is also known for their seasonal specials and fiery restaurant/bar Solbar.

Kenwood Inn and Spa is like something out of Frances Burnett’s novel, The Secret Garden. It’s winding paths of flowers and vines lead to private nooks and pools, but you’d never know any of it was there from the road. Cozy as it comes, the spa, cuisine and general pampering are considered among the Valley’s best. I highly recommend the rooftop couples massage after some wine and soak in the massive hot tub.

The Spa at the Carneros Inn sits in the middle of 27 acres of grape vines, farmland and orchards. Like the Kenwood Inn, it has a very convenient location but you may find yourself not wanting to leave. Here, the spa is all about the “natural setting” and their treatments incorporate elements from flowers to olives found in the local environment.

Spa Terra at the Meritage Resort is entirely underground in a 22,000 square foot Estate Wine Cave.  Hidden within a hillside, the spa rooms are spacious, ceilings high, and services decadent. They’ve got a mix of options for couples and seasonal specials but the signature treatment, Solo Vino, comes paired with wine, cheese and all kinds of pampering.

The Spa at Silverado has a long tradition of elegance and class and they’ve been busy making a lot up upgrades lately. The grandiose, 16,000-square-foot, Roman-inspired spa may lack a little of the ambiance shared by others on the list, but they make up for it with special girl packages and a renowned and recently remodeled golf course (just in case anyone in the group prefers sport to pampering).

There are great day spas all over the valley like Greenhaus (which is downtown) and first-rate inns and resorts like the Millikin Creek and Indian Springs (check out their hot spring pool).

Have a favorite Napa Valley spa I haven’t mentioned? Let everyone know in the comments.

By Ian White

This is our weekly guest post from our friends at 7×7, a site that keeps you up on the best of SF. We’ve teamed up for an exciting partnership to bring you a fantastic Date Night idea each week. Be sure to check out their blog for hourly doses of the best of SF.