Cheers! to an Annual Wine Night
Just over here reminiscing about one of our recent weekends in Metro Detroit. We spent a night with my sisters and brother-in-law and a night with our close group of friends. My cup feels so full after all of the quality time – this is for sure my love language!
On Friday night, we ate at an amazing and what appears to be a highly underrated restaurant in Clawson with my siblings. For any of my Metro Detroit readers – you must try Three Cats. It’s a restaurant housed in the old Clawson Theater – the vibe is eclectic, stylish and original. The food was incredible – and we tried just about the entire menu. We shared and sampled each other’s dishes and it was just a fun time.
Saturday morning we ventured out to Yates Cide Mill in Rochester Hills. My husband was thrilled to participate in such a quintessential fall activity (insert sarcastic voice here). But, we had a good time – I highly recommend visiting early in the day. We arrived shortly after they opened and it was perfect. We made our rounds with the little petting zoo. Then we ate cider and donuts and took a short walk on the wooded trail. The only thing we did not do was purchase any of the significantly overpriced pumpkins!
Saturday afternoon Sarah and I headed to Dearborn for my tattoo appointment. You can read all about that here! Then in the evening Bryan and I spent the night with our group of friends at our annual wine night.
Our Annual Wine Night
I highly recommend planning an event with your closest group of friends and turning it into an annual tradition. We are 7 years running into this tradition and it’s just really fun. Every year we have been in different seasons of life. The first year Bryan and I weren’t even engaged yet. From there, we have had nights with someone pregnant or littles sleeping in the room next door. We find a way to be together even with our busy schedules and it’s just the best.
We have had varying themes for our wine nights but it always ends with the 8 of us around the dining room table in quality conversations for hours. Seriously, it’s the best. Now, I’m not saying you have to do this exact thing but having a reason to get together for this quality time once a year is *chef’s kiss.
Wine Night Themes
If you are intrigued by this wine night idea though – here are what our themes have looked like. The first year we did a blind taste test – each couple had to bring a red and white varietal. We wrapped each bottle and then blindly tasted them from white to red guessing the type and estimating the cost of each bottle. Everyone brought a dish to pass. After a few years of this, we started to think 8 bottles for 8 people was too much.
So we’ve toned it down a little. This year each couple contributed one bottle of red (our preference anyway) but each bottle had to be over fifty dollars. We also planned a bigger meal – everyone brought a dish to pass rather than just appetizers like we’ve done in the past.
Basically, this night is an excuse for us to have an excellent meal, drink wine and be in each other’s company. What more can you ask for? I’m feeling especially bittersweet thinking about this tradition now as next year when we go to plan it, Bryan and I will be out of the state. I imagine the planning will be a little harder. But I’ll be doing my damndest to make it work!
Do you have an annual tradition with your friends? Share it below!
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