Wine is getting a little too serious.

It's basically just grape juice.

I take wine very seriously. It is, after all, one of the oldest products of all time.

But sometimes I take it too seriously. Sometimes I don’t take it seriously enough and people call me out. Sometimes I will start to cry while I share the story of a maker or a grape. Sometimes I don’t care, it’s just juice.

Sometimes, it makes me annoyed because there are so many politics and cliques wrapped up in the world of wine. Sometimes I just sit with a glass, in silence, and notice every single note the wine has to offer. Sometimes I’m in a crowded room and I drink glass after glass, barely noticing the notes. I just know it tastes very, very good.

I saw a meme last week that said “you can drink out of any glass you want” and showed stemless bodega glasses for every style of wine—the same glasses I regularly drink out of because, usually, I’m just not taking things that seriously. I reposted it saying, yes. Bodega glasses are very much Mas Vino approved. Because they are! If you just wanna crack open a cold one and that is your glass of preference and ease please use it.

I had a friend/somm in my DMs shrieking at the audacity of stemless glassware and I had an “its not that serious” moment. And listen: I know that there is technically a correct/incorrect way to drink wine. I know you will get the most from a bottle when its served at correct temperature and in the correct glass—but is it the end of the world if you don’t? Definitely not. My somm friend said “well it matters when you’re pouring a $200 bottle of wine”. Obviously, it matters for a $200 bottle, but I am very rarely, if ever, drinking a $200 bottle and if I was, you better serve it to me in a proper glass (cuz I probably accidentally ordered it at a restaurant). This is not to say that $20 should be slurped and splashed all over like it doesn’t have feelings! $20 bottles should also be treated with respect, its just really not the end of the world if you chilled it way down and you’re drinking out of a mason jar with your friends.

Wine needs less judgement. That’s why I’m writing this. Accessibility and approachability are what grows the wine community! I know my audience comes from all parts of the wine world and I think meeting people where they are is just as important as the education/information we share.

Anyway, this is not to throw shade at somms (or my friend!). Somms and very serious wine people will always feel a certain way about these topics, and trust me, I get it. It is literally their career and wine is on another lifestyle for them and I see and appreciate that. But for your every day wine drinker, sometimes a bodega glass is alright. Even my favorite winemakers drink their wines in them hehe.

I do encourage folks to explore the ways wine can change in different glassware, but I also encourage you to just enjoy casually if that’s what you wanna do.

-Your non-somm wine friend <3