Your Cure for a Rough Day at the Office

Come on in and let me pour you a glass. After a day like today, I know exactly what you need, a good stiff drink. Not just any drink will do, but I happen to know just the thing to put you at ease.

I slip off your shoes, give your aching feet a firm squeeze and your body begins to relax ever so slightly. Your resistance is low, your brain is tired and you’re not going to fight with me. I know this and I also know that what I pour for you is a bit out of the realm of your typical drink, but you succumb to my better judgment.

Expecting a glass of wine, you jiggle the glass, and the sound of the ice cubes tinkling excites your exhausted state. You take a sniff and your long day melts away as you slip off into the exotic aromas that only exist elsewhere… far, far away. You’re now under my spell… really the spell of Cana’s Feast Chinato D’Erbetti.

After a day like today, you need something stronger than a simple glass of wine, and this one is anything but simple. Cana’s Feast Winery, located in Carlton Oregon, produces a Nebbiolo-based wine that’s been blended with grape neutral spirits from Clear Creek Distillery, sugar and hypnotic infusions of over 18 different aromatic herbs, spices and plants. The Cana’s Feast Chinato D’Erbetti ($45), the first domestic version of this historic Italian beverage, was inspired by the traditional Barolo Chinatos from Piedmont and has its roots in old-world traditions and folk medicine. It’s a cure all, or at least a cure to a rough day. 

Combining time-honored Vermouth making methods with classic naturopathic extractions for herbal medicine, the result is a fortified wine with a prescription for contentment. The wine is magical all on its own, sipped slowly after a meal, but to make a troubling day vanish into a sea of minutia like a flash of green as the sun hits the ocean, mix the Chinato into your favorite cocktail and savor the moment. Give an Old Fashioned a new twist, add a shot of Chinato and breath new life into a classic drink… I love the way the Chinato enhances a good whiskey (and vice versa). Take DIY bartending to a new level and try some of these creative cocktail recipes by Portland's top Mixologists. Next time you need an escape, try a glass of the Chinato D’Erbetti and discover a new world through an Old-World wine. it's just what the doctor ordered.

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This post was written for and inspired by Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBS) challenge #77 to write about what wine you would drink after a bad day at work, hosted by none other than A Glass After Work. And while actually I’m posting this piece a day after the WBW challenge, if you knew the kind of day I had yesterday co-hosting #WineChat with Frank Morgan of Drink What You Like, you might grant me a little leeway, if not pour me a good strong drink, and rub my feet.

Full disclosure, I actually work for Cana’s Feast Winery (managing their Marketing and Social Media), so my knowledge of this unique and memorable wine is rather intimate. When I saw the WBW challenge though, I knew there wasn’t anything I’d rather drink after a rough day at the office and thought the rest of the world would benefit by the knowledge of this tasty little cure-all, even a day late.