Spring Wines? In This Economy?
17 spring bottles under $25, as well as some thoughts on Swedish coffee breaks and TikTok theories.
I’ve been trying to avoid the obvious. And the obvious thing for any wine “content creator” to do in mid-April is to offer a seasonal piece with the basic theme of “spring wines on a budget.” I’m always trying to run away from basic—which of course leads me in all sorts of pretentious directions.
Then I look at, say, TikTok. On TikTok, a nice-looking young person will look at the camera and sincerely—with zero irony—start telling you about one of life’s “truths” they’ve uncovered. Maybe they’re sitting in a car, or maybe doing their makeup, or unboxing something. But what they’re telling you about is some supposedly new viral phenomenon called, say, “The Saturday Theory.” And after like eight minutes of preamble, you find out that “The Saturday Theory” is simply just that people like to have fun with friends on Saturdays. And this video has a million views.
The other day I was watching food videos on YouTube, and I stumbled upon Food52’s series on fika, apparently an untranslatable Swedish custom. Now, I love a hard-to-define Scandinavian concept as much as the next guy. I’ve written enthusiastically about Danish hygge and Norwegian koselig. I often daydream about living in a tiny red cottage on a small lake island in Sweden. (A belated Happy Aquavit Day btw.) So this content found its prime target.
Host Nea Arentzen’s Swedish princess cake and cardamom buns look amazing and this is high-quality, wholesome pastry tutorial. But what exactly is this fika concept? Well, according to the Food52 video (sponsored by Sensodyne Pronamel toothpaste) fika is defined as this: “a break from activity during which people drink coffee, eat pastries or other light snacks, and relax with others.” Ok, Sweden. I mean, not to be a…but don’t people in, say, New Jersey and many other places do this too? Well, it doesn’t matter. These videos on what sweet treats to eat with coffee get about twice the views of this newsletter, so what do I know?
My point here is that—much as I’m loathe to admit it—complex angles might be overrated, perhaps even a bit stifling. So, for today, let’s just lean into simple, straightforward, and obvious: Spring. Wine. Inexpensive.
In keeping with our recent theme of “tariff-busters,” below is selection of good, honest affordable wines—all under $25—for your spring drinking pleasure.