There are just some days where I don’t want to open a whole 750ml bottle of wine (shocking, I know!) For those nights, there is Usual Wines.

What grabs your eye initially, besides for the practicality, is the cool laboratory flask-like bottle. It holds 6.3 ounces, a perfectly (large) poured glass, in my opinion.

Their wines are made in small, sustainably farmed batches with no additives. I couldn’t find much info on the vineyards, but the website says they focus on specific appellations of California and make the wine with minimal intervention.

The first one I tried was their 2014 Chardonnay, straight from Sonoma County. The wine was light gold in color. Once I poured it into a glass, I found it to be very aromatic with notes of ripe pear, buttered bread, and apple. On the palate, I tasted some green apple, honeysuckle, and lemon. It tasted unoaked to me, which is my preference. I paired it with some garden fun, since the weather has been SO NICE down here (humidity is at an all-time low).

You could build your own case of red or rosé (or mixed) for $96 at Usual Wines. Looking forward to trying the rosé next!