It's Time to Order Wine for the Next Food & Wine Classic At Home

We're at it again, with another Food & Wine Classic At Home, on May 1 at 5 p.m. ET. This time around, the whole event is free. Don't worry about buying plane tickets to Colorado, festival tickets, and everything else you'd have to do for our non-pandemic, IRL version of the event. For our virtual version, all you have to do is register online.

The Classic At Home drinks programming is outstanding. Instead of concentrating solely on wine like last time, we'll have cocktail demos, too (and, of course, plenty of great chef demos). For executive wine editor Ray Isle's seminar, "Wines for a Healthy Planet," we've once again teamed up with wine.com so that if you want to taste along, you can have the wines sent directly to your home. They're all affordable, excellent bottles. So, first register for the event here, then order the wines here.

What does "Wines for a Better Planet" mean? In this seminar, Isle will take you through all the baffling terms that get thrown around about environmentally friendly wines: organic, sustainability, biodynamic, you name it. Does sulfur really cause wine headaches? Do organically farmed grapes taste different? What is "natural" wine, anyway? Get those answers, while tasting these three superb wines:

2019 Elk Cove Pinot Gris

Elk Cove, under the winemaking direction of Adam Campbell, has become one of Oregon's premier wineries, making sublime single-vineyard Pinot Noirs and also this peachy, crisp Pinot Gris. It's a perfect, sustainably-made summer white.

2018 M. Chapoutier La Combe Pilate Viognier

Chapoutier is one of the greatest Rhône Valley producers, whose top Hermitages sell for hundreds of dollars. This luscious Viognier, from a single hillside vineyard, comes from biodynamically farmed vines and is a dead ringer for a Condrieu that would cost three times the price.

2018 Paul Dolan Organically Grown Cabernet Sauvignon

This substantial Cabernet comes from organically farmed vineyards in Mendocino County. Full of rich black currant fruit and a spicy hint of oak, it will definitely change your mind about what an organically grown wine can offer (or just confirm what you knew before, which is: delicious and environmentally friendly).

Our second drinks seminar, from bartender extraordinaire Alba Huerta, is called "Three Cheers for Juleps." Is there any better springtime—and, of course, Derby Day—drink? Huerta, proprietor of the Houston, Texas, cocktail destination Julep and author of Julep: Southern Cocktails Refashioned, will lead seminar attendees through three julep variations: classic, sparkling, and spiced. You might want to pick up a bottle of good bourbon to mix along with her. And the best news? Post time for the Kentucky Derby is 6:57, right after the Classic At Home ends. Best. Day. Ever.