How to Make the Most of Your Socially-Distant Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend looks a little different this year, though that’s not stopping us from kicking summer off on the right foot. For us, this epic weekend screams friends, family, and copious amounts of wine (as well as honoring our fallen heroes, of course). While these traditions may be slightly pivoted, we’re still committed to having the best inaugural weekend of summer yet. Check out our tips below for making the most of your socially-distanced Memorial Day Weekend.

Have a Solid Stash of Wine On Hand

Whether you’re socially distancing outdoors or hanging inside with the AC blasting, one thing’s for sure: having a solid stash of wine on hand is key. Although this year’s #MDW is a bit unusual, we aren’t going to let small pivots rain on our parade. We recommend having a solid assortment of reds, whites, rosés and bubbles on hand to ensure you’ve got a perfect bottle for every food and wine pairing scenario or afternoon sipping sesh that comes your way. Need some inspiration on how to build a go-to case of wine? We’ve got you covered.

Chill Your Reds!

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: red wines come alive when served with a slight chill. The whole ‘serve at room temperature’ saying came about prior to the days of central heating and air conditioning, meaning that most homes’ ‘room temperatures’ were actually pretty close to cellar temperature (50-65 degrees). We recommend serving lighter-bodied reds around 50-55 degrees and medium to fuller-bodied reds at 55-65 degrees. When it comes to red wine, once you go chilled, you’ll most likely never turn back.

Soak Up the Sun

We’ve been counting down to Memorial Day Weekend for months. Although social distancing may force our barbecues and beach outings to shift, we’re certainly going to find some time to take advantage of the sun. Whether heading to the park with roommates or immediate family, taking a solo beach day, or simply posting up in the backyard by yourself, we recommend taking in as much late-spring sunshine as possible -- but don’t forget to keep your thirst quenched! Whether high-acid whites or convenient canned wines are more your jam, we’ve got something for every ‘sipping-beneath-the-sun’ scenario. Best of all, for all of our NYC dwellers headed Out East, we’ve officially launched our weekly Hamptons Delivery service!

Raise a Glass With the Ones You Love

Sure, we may be physically apart, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share a toast to the start of summer with the ones we love, right? We recommend setting up a Zoom #MDW happy hour with your closest friends and bringing the party straight to your outdoor space (that’s what we’ll be doing with our Verve Wine team!) For those looking to share an even more dialed-in happy hour, make a list of wines to sip together beforehand and get in on the same

Say Hello to Your Local Wine Shop Friends

We’ll just come out and say it. We miss you! This Memorial Day Weekend, we recommend swinging by your local wine shop -- safely masked and with respect to social distancing rules, of course-- and saying hello to the team. Although delivery is always convenient, there’s something special about the shared interaction between you and your local wine shop crew. Who knows, you may even snag a new favorite wine rec out of it! If curbside pickup is an option at your local retailer, we say go for it. Soaking up the sun and chatting wine with your local wine community sounds like a win-win to us. We can’t wait to see you!

From our Verve Wine family to yours, we wish you a safe, healthy, and happy Memorial Day Weekend. We look forward to sipping with you this summer!