ben, mike and danny

So last night I had drinks with the guys from Envolve Wines, Bachelor Ben Flajnik’s winery. All three of them were really fun and down to earth and brought all of their wines for us to sample – all around, a grapefriend dream night.

Their wines go for $20-$40 (thoroughly dug the Russian River Pinot Noir) but they also have a lower-priced Chardonnay from their Epilogue line which is only $14. I love that their vineyards are organic, sustainable and biodynamic and I love even more hearing about people putting shit in cow horns for the good of the soil!

The best thing I learned by far, though, was one of the greatest Bachelor facts ever. On his contract for the show, Ben had a rider that stipulated all of the wine he drank had to be at least $20 a bottle. This is pure genius on his part (and his lawyer’s). During the rose ceremony, the girls are just drinking whatever’s given to them at the open bar but is a winemaker gonna go for that? Hell no. So not only did he get good grapes on all of his dates with the girls, he also ordered whatever he wanted at restaurants – much to production’s chagrin.

At one dinner, he ordered a bottle of Lafite for $1000. Château Lafite-Rothschild is one of only five premiers crus (or first growths) in Bordeaux. “It was my first 1st growth,” Ben said. Ah, you never forget your first (mine was Château Margaux).

rosé - SO much better than a rose

Now back in Sonoma, it’s not like the Envolve guys are popping open Bordeaux every night. They’re actually partial to their own rosé, which they hilariously call a “porch pounder” – a wine you can just suck down really easily. In New York we don’t have porches so I have to tweak the term to “couch pounder.” The rosé is their newest wine and it comes out February 1. It’s 100% Syrah and it’s awesome so I highly recommend getting your hands on some. Right now all of their wine’s only distributed in a few states but you can order them through their website. You might not be able to get a rose from the Bachelor, but you can get some rosé. And you can couch-pound it while watching the crazy girls on the show catfight and cry!