Nashville's Holiday Wine Guide
This year, Mattie Jackson and Robin Riddell Jones want you to buy cheap wine.
Mattie Jackson, co-owner of Salt & Vine and resident sommelier is committed to taking the pretension out of wine. Her passion for wine took hold during a study abroad trip in Greece when she was 20. She recalls, “wine was to those cultures as sweet tea was to us growing up in the south. Common, personal, and to be shared. She and partner Hannah Schneider opened the Bottle Shop next door where more than ¾ of the wines fall between $15-30 on the shelf. Mattie says, “expensive wine is always good wine. Value wine can be great wine if you shop right.” This is proven out with their Wine Club which offers a monthly delivery service.
If you’re looking for something fun this season, join them for their class November 16 with Steve Pignatiello, a Burgundy focused importer from Asheville, NC, for an exquisite small production Burgundy class. They’ve also got classes in the works for December, so stay tuned.
Mattie's picks for the season:
GIORNATA IL CAMPO ROSSO - $19.99
ROULETIERE VOUVRAY SEC - $19.99
JEAN LUC JOUILLOT BRUT CREMANT DE BOURGOGNE - $29.99
Robin Riddell Jones started her wine business, Tavola in 2016, out of a desire to educate people about wine. Tavola, which offers wine classes, and a wine subscription service, means table, which Jones explains goes back to her roots, “My family loves food. I have most fond memories around many tables in my life—it’s all about the table. Gathering, laughing, eating and drinking.”
Her desire is to support small vignerons out there that are just trying to make honest wine. Her Raising the Glass classes at restaurants like Epice and now Miel welcomes wine lovers of all levels. Whether you have a wine loving friend on your holiday list or want to treat yourself, check out her classes or sign up for The Spill, where three curated bottles of wine are delivered to your door. After she had her second child, she realized the need to have good wine delivered to her door, so she did it herself.
Robin's picks for the season:
2016 LA FRUITIERE, CHARDONNAY BLEND - $10.99
2016 GRAN CERDO, TEMPRANILLO - $15.99
NV LAMBERT DE SEYSSEL “PETIT ROYAL” - $21
