Starbright Wine founder shares her wine-shopping tips for Valentine’s Day and beyond.
One-on-one support meets speedy, local delivery (or pickup) with Starbright Wine, which launched in Atlanta in fall 2021. Customers can choose wines online or chat with Starbright’s certified experts to build a taste profile. If you live within Atlanta’s city limits, your order can be delivered in as little as two hours. Here, we spoke with Founder and CEO Rachel Katz about choosing the perfect wines for Valentine’s Day.
What advice do you have for choosing wine suited to someone’s tastes?
The biggest pattern I see with wine buying is either going with what looks the most approachable (buying by the label) or going for a bottle based solely on the grape you’re most familiar with. What we love about our personalized one-on-one shopping support is we are able to dig into what the customer likes and suggest bottles they may not otherwise have chosen. The biggest misconception is that if you like one Pinot Noir, for example, you’ll like all Pinot Noir. While there are common flavors and tasting notes that connect varietals, so much can vary based on where the wine is grown, the weather, soil, practices, fermentation and aging. We encourage customers to shop by taste preferences first.
What are the top three wines you’d recommend for Valentine’s day?
So many options! For a little bit of a romantic splurge, I love the Clos de Betz Bordeaux Blend from the Betz Family. It’s a sexy wine with ripe, rich berries, chocolate and a hint of nutty vanilla. Decant it to let the air open it up and sip on it all night.
The Callie from Une Femme wines is always a good idea. You can buy a bottle for $32, or individual pony bottles for $11. It’s dry and crisp with berries and a toasty caramel finish. Best of all, proceeds from every purchase go to Dress for Success.
Lastly, not everyone is in the mood for red wine or bubbles, and that to me is where this Roussanne comes in. The Lawrence Vineyard Roussanne from Latta Wines is a round and smooth white wine, a perfect side-step for an unoaked Chardonnay drinker (or anyone really). It has balanced acidity and salinity, and citrus, floral notes. It’s a steal of a wine that drinks above its pay grade ($35) with beautiful intensity and drinkability.
Do you offer gifting and tasting options?
We take the heavy lifting away from gifting, whether for friends and family or clients and employees. We can curate wine gift sets, wrap them up and get them to where they need to go without your lifting a finger. We also do events and tastings if you’re looking for something fun and different to do with your loved ones, partner or friends.
BY: Claire Ruhlin
