Yes, SHE CAN picnic with McBride Sisters canned rosé (#winePW)

Doesn’t it rain a lot in the Pacific Northwest? I get that question a lot since moving to the Seattle area two years ago.

Yes, it does. But there are many types of rain in this corner of the world. As Washington state native Jenni Whalen outlines in a 2009 essay, they include drizzle, mist, sprinkles, normal rain, downpours and thunderstorms. The first three types won’t alter your plans much. Downpours and thunderstorms, of course, are sudden, disruptive and require you to take cover. That leaves normal rain and a new category, the climate change-induced atmospheric river.

An atmospheric river is a drenching rain that moves inland from the Pacific Ocean and settles down for a day or more. This type of rain is a game changer, and that’s what we had as I write this post today.

So much for my picnic lunch in the park for this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend (#winePW) theme: Picnics and Canned Wine.

Time for Plan B: Spread the vinyl-covered picnic tablecloth inside. Set up the paper plates and napkins. Put out the food and wine. Enjoy!

If reading this in time, you can join the #winePW Twitter chat on Saturday, 6/11, starting at 8 am PT/11 am ET. Simply follow the hashtag.

What’s with canned wine?

Almost three years ago, I had an opportunity to participate in a blind tasting of canned vs. bottled wines.

Conducting this tasting was a husband/wife team of independent researchers, Drs. Robert L. and Helena A. Williams. In their 2018 survey, the two researchers conclude that convenience and occasion are more critical factors than wine knowledge or demographic segmentation (e.g., millennials, GenX, baby boomers) in consumer awareness, consumption and purchase of wine in a can. They suggest that canned wine is not a fad, but rather, a new wine category.

In the four years since that survey, multiple research reports confirm that canned wine is here to stay. Earlier this week, for example, ResearchAndMarkets.com posted its Global Canned Wines Market Report 2022. The report predicts the global canned wines market will grow by more than 10% over the period from 2021-2027, driven by the demand among millennials.

I couldn’t have told you which of the wines I tasted back in 2019 were canned. I’ll just say the experience made me curious about canned wines because they have some obvious advantages. They’re handy to transport and open. You can find them in various sizes and, when empty, these lightweight aluminum cans are easy to discard – in a recycling bin, of course.

McBride Sisters – A women-owned, Black-owned business

These two sisters have a compelling story. An ocean separated them while growing up. As adults, they met and bonded over a common passion for wine. Now the two sisters – Robin McBride and Andréa McBride John – own a global wine brand with sales of $5.5 million in 2020.

McBride Sisters is the largest Black-owned wine company, by volume, in the United States. You can listen to Robin McBride describe her journey in this week’s episode of “She Pivots,” a podcast about women and their success stories.

The sisters’ New Zealand portfolio spans Marlborough, Central Otago, and Hawkes Bay. In California, their wines include Chardonnay from the Central Coast, a red blend from Paso Robles and a Santa Lucia Pinot Noir.

In 2019, Robin and Andréa created the McBride Sisters SHE CAN Professional Development Fund to help close the gender and race gap. You can read about the fund in this post I wrote last year when I tasted the McBride Sisters Black Girl Magic Riesling for Black History Month.

Yes, She Can – McBride Sisters SHE CAN California Rosé

I could not find a vintage on this can. According to the SHE CAN tech sheet, the 2018 rosé is 45% Pinot Noir, 32% Merlot, 9% Zinfandel, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Malbec from the Central Coast of California. Grapes are fermented and aged in stainless steel.

My tasting notes: Pale salmon in color. Strawberry, peach and faint white flowers on the nose. Palate is dry with a slightly bitter note upfront, followed by grapefruit, grapefruit pith and green apple. Medium+ acidity. Medium finish. Alcohol: 12.5%. Price: $4.99 at Total Wine.

Got to admire the McBride Sisters’ clever marketing and the sisterhood of wine drinkers they’re building with it. The slogan on this canned wine is, “Wines that go anywhere for the woman who’s going everywhere.” Light, breezy and portable, this canned rosé pairs well with picnics and other events when you’re more focused on social activities like frisbee or beach volleyball than evaluating the wine. And yes, HE CAN enjoy it, too. The contents of this 375-ml can pour neatly into two wine glasses.

My picnic menu: To me, a picnic should consist of packable cold food you simply put on the picnic table or blanket. No heating up. No grill. No fuss and definitely no muss. Here’s my picnic menu – a combination of items I prepared myself and bought at local stores:

• Classic deviled eggs ala Betty Crocker
• Chicken legs and chicken wraps
  To bake the chicken: Season the chicken first with salt and ground pepper and let rest on the counter for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, create a rub by whisking together equal parts ground cumin, coriander, ginger and turmeric, and red pepper to taste. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
  To assemble the wrap: Layer thinly sliced chicken, Whole Foods honey mustard coleslaw (follow package directions), and bread and butter pickles in middle of a 10-inch tortilla. Squeeze bottled cilantro lime sauce over top. Fold and roll tortilla.
• Maui kale salad with sweet onion dressing via Epicurious
• Grand Central sourdough bread
  Interesting fact: Pacific Northwest-based Grand Central Bakery recently announced it will create a “perpetual purpose trust” that confers shares not to individual owners, but to a mission. You can read this Seattle Times story for details.
• Trader Joe’s olive tapenade
• Whole Foods snickerdoodle cookies

Find out what all the bloggers are stashing in their picnic baskets, Boo-Boo, by clicking on the links below:

• A Portable Orange Chardonnay Seltzer Perfect for a Picnic by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Canned Bubbles and Hot Dogs – A Taste of Summer by Avvinare
• Convenience and Flavor with Canned Wines from Argentina for a Backyard Picnic by Crushed Grape Chronicles
• (Easily) Portable Wine for Summer Picnicking by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Picnicking with Le Petit Verre Canned Bubbly Rosé by Our Good Life
• Pro-Tip for the Chief Picnic Operator – Don’t Forget theCanned Wines by Grape Experiences
• Summer Sippers: Decoy In a Can in the Sierra by Wine Predator…Gwendolyn Alley
• Yes, SHE CAN Picnic with McBride Sisters Canned Rosé by My Full Wine Glass