Christmas traditions are among the things I love about the holiday season. Watching the same movies, making the same foods, sharing the same stories—these are all things that strengthen the family and friendships around us.
It seems the tradition of leaving milk and cookies for Santa started in the United States during the Great Depression. As the story goes, parents wanted to teach their children to be grateful for gifts and to share with others. The tradition spread globally, with some regional variations.
While I love traditions, this year, I plan on modifying this one: I’m going to leave wine for Santa. I’ve thought a lot about what type of wine I should leave him. If I lived in another country, would I choose a different wine? As Santa flies around the world, which wines would he get?
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I reached out to Jennifer Walker, who owns Zephyr Wine Bar in south Reno. I asked her what wine she might leave for Santa, and, if Santa was stopping in France first, where he is known as Père Noël, which wine she’d pick.
“I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t say Champagne, for a few reasons,” she said. “It obviously can be considered a celebratory wine for the holidays, and so if I was Santa, I’d be pretty darn happy with that.”
I do love the idea of Champagne for Santa. I think he deserves it, and it pairs so well with Christmas cookies.
After France, I imagine Santa landing on rooftops in Italy. There, he is known as Babbo Natale, and some Italian children leave him bread with Nutella. There are so many great wines in Italy that I was having a hard time deciding which one I would leave. Walker had a suggestion.
“One wine I’m currently obsessed with is lambrusco,” she said. “It’s another sparkling wine, but it’s a chilled, sparkling red, which a lot of people just never had. We just love lambrusco, and 100% of the people we’ve exposed it to are now also obsessed with lambrusco.”
What another great choice. Lambrusco is not what you remember your grandfather drinking; it is a fun, fresh wine with a touch of sweetness that, along with the bubbles, would pair well with cookies, Nutella, or a slice of pizza. Che bontà!
I asked Walker why she wanted to open a wine bar here in Reno. She said that before moving to Reno with her husband eight years ago, she worked in marketing and events in the venture-capital industry for about 20 years. Due to her involvement in hosting events, Walker became interested in wine and began studying it formally 13 years ago at the San Francisco Wine School. Just more than a year ago, a space in south Reno became available that Walker believed would be a perfect location for a wine bar. The location, at 15415 Wedge Parkway, is close to ArrowCreek, Montreux and other upscale developments, and the area has a limited number of wine bars.
“I’m an experience creator—that’s really how I can see myself,” Walker said. “My philosophy is to offer unique wines from around the world, rather than just focusing on California wines.”
Zephyr Wine Bar also has meeting space for small gatherings. They’ve even had a wedding there.
I was impressed with the passion Walker showed for exposing customers to lesser-known varietals and regions. “If I had one goal, it would be for everybody to learn one thing (about wine) by the time they leave,” she said.
I asked Walker if there was a wine she had at Zephyr that would be a good offering for Santa from a unique wine region. Without hesitation, she mentioned a Lebanese wine, Chateau Musar. I think this is such a great choice; Santa is known there as Baba Noël.
“Chateau Musar is just an icon of Lebanese wine, and they’re famous for having never stopped production since 1936, even during all the events that have happened in that region,” Walker said
I had so much fun speaking to Walker, imagining Santa tasting wines around the world. If you are looking for a place to “taste with Santa” this holiday season, I hope you stop into Zephyr Wine Bar.
