11 Wines To Try If You're Bored with the Same Old Varietals

You've ditched your morning joe for cortados and a Chemex. Your ribeye is dry-aged. Even that pot of legumes is heirloom. So when it comes to the wine aisle, why are you still defaulting to the same bottle of Chard? Go ahead, pour outside your comfort zone with these alluring, alt varietals.

If you drink Champagne…

Try: Pet Nat

Bottle: Channing Daughters Bianco Pétillant Naturel, $27

Pair with: a toast! 

Like Champagne minus the pomp and pageantry. Cava with some hipster cred. This naturally sparkling wine, colloquially known as "pét-nat" (pétillant naturel), has become the most sought-after patio pounder. Unfiltered, lower in alcohol, and made with an ancestral technique that predates the Champagne method, dewy bottles of pét-nat are perfect both as aperitif and celebratory toast. Crafted from all manner of red and white grapes, it has the potential to usurp anything from Lambrusco to a vinho verde.

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—Chris Hughes

We're Crushing on Orange Wine (It's the New Rosé)

While rosé continues to dominate the sipping scene, these autumn-hued wines are stealing the show. Discover why we love orange wine, plus four bottles to try now.

Channing Daughters Meditazione

(Long Island, New York; $40 buy here)
New York winemaker James Christopher Tracy has made Gatsby country (at least Channing Daughters’ research vineyard in the North Fork) a must-visit for serious oenophiles.  That can be credited to Tracy’s ways with bold, adventurous blends like his Meditazione, inspired by Italy’s so-called vino da meditazione, or meditation wine. This co-fermented and barrel-aged mix of pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, and chardonnay (with Tocai Friulano, Muscat Ottonel and Pinot Bianco also added in) offers notes of baked apples, pears, and dried herbs.

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—Chris Hughes