Winemas: The Ugly Sweater Alternative for People Who Want the Wine, Not the Fuss
Winemas is a holiday season for wine lovers: good bottles, small rituals and unhurried company. The word has been floating around for years. I'm just here to give it a proper welcome and a hoodie.
Here is my case. The ugly Christmas sweater is a clever joke you wear once. Everyone laughs at 6pm, and by 9pm it itches. Winemas is a holiday you can actually host, with a hoodie you'll want to keep wearing. Enjoy the wine, not the fuss.
What Is Winemas?
Winemas is a holiday for people who've hosted the dinners, matched the napkins and smiled through the second round of small talk, and have decided the best part of the season was always the glass in their hand and the people near it.
It asks for no tree, no schedule and no particular talent. Just a table with some nibbles, good company and a bottle worth opening.
The season: Winemas opens November 19, the day Beaujolais Nouveau arrives, and runs through New Year's. There is no single Winemas Day. It's a season, and the hoodie is worn through all of it: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve and every cosy evening in between.
The Greeting and the Origin Story
The greeting: *Happy Winemas. Pour accordingly.*
Where it began: In a kitchen, in a sweater, with a bottle, by two friends who had hosted quite enough.
Why Winemas Hoodie Beats the Ugly Sweater
|
The ugly sweater |
Winemas hoodie |
|
A joke with a short shelf life |
A holiday you can host every year |
|
Worn once, then stored in a drawer |
A hoodie you reach for all winter |
|
Everyone laughs once |
Everyone's still talking at midnight |
| Goes with a bad Christmas party |
Goes with a good bottle |
The ugly sweater is witty for an evening. Winemas is conversation-starting for the long haul, and the hoodie happens to be soft enough to live in, from November 19 to New Year's.
How to Host Your Own Winemas: Six Traditions
You don't need a guest list of twelve. Two friends and one good bottle count. My suggestion for hosting: the second weekend of December, when the calendar fills up and a table of friends is hardest to find. Pick any weekend that works. Here are the rituals, all easy to do and easy to photograph.
1. The Standing Bottle. Skip the tree. Put one decanter at the centre of the table, dressed with a sprig of rosemary and a loop of fairy lights. It is the only decoration required.
2. The Bottle You're Slightly Afraid Of. Every guest brings the bottle they've been saving and never dared to open. The group votes on which one goes first. Fear is the point.
3. The First Pour, Held. Nobody drinks until the last glass is filled. The host says "To the table." Everyone answers, "To the table." Then you drink.
4. The Plain-Spoken Tasting Note. One sentence per wine, no sommelier vocabulary. "Tastes like a velvet chair" is valid. The best description wins the last pour.
5. The Cross-Colour Clink. Red, navy and royal blue hoodies clink with a different colour first. Same colours clink second. Nobody explains why.
6. The Cork Jar. Each guest writes a wish or favourite memory on a cork and drops it in the jar. Seal it, keep it, and read the corks aloud next Winemas.
A Wine Themed Christmas Gift That Gets Worn
Wine lover gift ideas tend to be a corkscrew and a candle. A Winemas hoodie is a wine themed Christmas gift that also invites someone to your table. Give one, then give the invitation: Winemas runs November 19 through New Year's. Pick a weekend and bring a bottle you're slightly afraid of.
Browse more in the [Hoodie gift guide] and shop the [Winemas hoodie].
Winemas, Quickly
When is Winemas? Winemas is a season, not a single day. It opens November 19, on Beaujolais Nouveau day, and runs through New Year's. Pick any weekend that works for you. The second weekend of December is a good one, when everyone's calendar is full and a table of friends is hardest to find.
What wine goes with Winemas? Beaujolais Nouveau (Georges Duboeuf) opens the season on November 19, and Moscato d'Asti is a lovely white option. Fleurie or Crémant d'Alsace make easy backups.
If you want to splurge:
- Marcel Lapierre Morgon, Beaujolais. Beaujolais at its most serious: deep cherry, spice and a savoury edge. Wine people hunt for this bottle, and it's the one to open when you want the table to go quiet.
- Bollinger La Grande Année (Champagne): a prestige vintage Champagne for a New Year's Eve toast or just because.
-
Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru (white Burgundy): a showpiece white and a good match for the white-wine side of Winemas.