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The Modest Cellar

October 6, 2020

INTRODUCTION + OUR PREFERENCES

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Hey y’all! Welcome to Modest Cellar! First of all, thank you for visiting our site – we are thrilled you are here! We hope you stick around and sign up for our weekly newsletters where we will recap our weekly top wines and gadgets!In our first blog post, we want to take some time to go a little bit deeper into who we are, how we ended up here and what our wine preferences are – a little deeper than our About Us section allows for!

We are two friends, Carina + Molly, who share a passion for all things wine! We are super excited to have you join us as we navigate the world of wines and share our favorites along the way! We met through our significant others and formed a friendship over the past years and developed that friendship significantly over quarantine. On a typical weekend, the four of us are together at least one night! So, Carina’s boyfriend, Jason, is super into wine, watches all the documentaries and reads all the books. Molly’s fiancé is our “photographer” when we need a photo of the two of us and we, on the other hand, enjoy sipping, trying multiple wines and eating, of course! Although wine has always been something we have enjoyed, recently, we have had the ability to dig a little deeper into the world of wine, explore new wineries, varieties and regions (from the comfort of our home). Currently, we are pursuing our WSET Level 1 Award. WSET is an acronym for Wine & Spirit Education Trust. In order to expound on our current knowledge, we look forward to completing a couple levels over the next year. So, that is how we ended up here and what we are pursuing – on to our personal bios! We will get Molly’s out of the way first and save the best for last! 😉
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Hey! Molly here! I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I studied Finance during my undergrad at LSU (GEAUX TIGERS) and completed my MBA at the University of Houston – Downtown, while working full time. By occupation, I am Tax Representative for a major Oil & Gas Company. I love my job and my coworkers and I am fortunate to work for a wonderful company! About seven years ago, my pug, Oliver, and I moved to Houston for my current job opportunity. Moving to Houston was a little intimidating at first given my childhood and college years were all spent in Baton Rouge. When I got to Houston, I reconnected with one of my best friends from high school and we began navigating the Houston bar and restaurant scene. It was a match made in heaven, she loves to eat good food and drink good wine as much as I do! About a year after moving here, I started to play around on Tinder (yes, this was pre-Bumble). While playing around on Tinder, I matched with Jordan. I could tell he was fun, enjoyed being the life of the party and had a great group of friends. I tried to meet up with him for probably six months while we were getting to know each other over text messages and he just was not interested, so I started dating someone else. While I was seeing someone else, Jordan continued to message me over that year asking, “you single yet?” Fortunately for Jordan, that relationship didn’t work out and in October of 2015, I was single again! So, we met up and the rest is history! The best part about Jordan, aside from his patience, great friends and meeting Carina, is that he will endure watching countless hours of Bravo with me, as long as I watch all the College Football with him on Saturdays, which is a no brainer! I love college football, traveling and eating + drinking my way through life! I have traveled to Southern Italy, all over Portugal, Ireland, and Turks & Caicos! I truly enjoyed the food + wine scenes in Portugal and Italy, and will do a post on these in detail later. We were planning to travel to the Northern half of Italy + Turks & Caicos this year, but 2020. Hopefully during the first half of 2021, we can explore the wonderful vineyards in California + Oregon! Now, on to my wine preferences! Oh, side note first, just because a type of wine may not be our favorite variety, we are going to do our best to share our favorites of every variety to accommodate everyone’s preferences! I am not going to say that my preferences change seasonally, but I am just more drawn to chilled wines during the spring and summer because it gets HOT in Houston. In the Spring/Summer, you can usually catch me drinking a Sauvignon Blanc, Rose or Champagne! In the Fall/Winter, you can usually catch me drinking a Pinot Noir, Malbec, or a good Red Blend. If I am feeling crazy, sometimes I will even throw tequila in the mix! With that being said, I usually gravitate to wine and I love all wines, I just am typically more drawn to those varieties! 

Okay, enough about me, on to Carina, who takes way better family vacations and had a way cooler childhood than me!
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Hi guys! This is Carina, the other half of the Modest Cellar!  I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University (WHOOP!) I now work in Human Resources for a Commercial Real Estate company that I absolutely love!  As Molly hinted to, I am not a native Houstonian, although it has been my home now for nearly 20 years.  I was actually born in Arendal, Norway and spent the first 10 years of my life cross country skiing, climbing trees, skipping rocks and enjoying all four seasons.  My Winter Olympic dreams were cut short when my family moved me to Pascagoula, Mississippi to conquer their own career goals.  Before you feel too bad for me, I was kidding about the Olympics.  Contrary to popular belief, Norwegians are not born with skis on their feet, and athletics have never been my strong suit.  However, the move from Norway to Pascagoula, MS flipped the script for me in every way.  Oh! And let’s not forget that I didn’t speak a word of English.  My mother had to chaperone me for the first month of school, I was picked last for the kick ball team at recess, and this formerly cool kid in Norway had a taste of her own medicine.  For the next two years, we shopped at Jerry Lee’s and Winn Dixie, and learned how to properly greet one another, the southern way.  Another career move for my parents relocated us to Houston, Texas, which was a much easier transition for me.  After college, I moved back to Houston where I eventually met Jason through mutual friends, as he does not have social media.  Unlike the rest of us scrolling through Instagram or watching Bravo, Jason prefers documentaries about food, wine, or World War I & II.  He is also the biggest Houston Rockets fan.  My favorite part about him and our relationship is how he encourages me to step out of my comfort zone and realize my potential.  My favorite part about him, however, is his dance moves and witty humor.  Also, an introduction of myself and Jason would not be complete without mentioning our pride and joy- our Goldendoodle, Franklin.  Don’t worry, you will see photos of this handsome fluffball as you follow along on our journey!  Anyway, enough about them and onto my love for wine.  I was raised by wine drinkers that love to travel.  Each destination was largely chosen based on the meal we would be having there.  We did not go to Paris to climb the Eiffel Tower or visit Notre Dame, we went to have Kir Royales and oysters at Le Procope.  Due to our love for food and wine, Provence became a favorite destination for my family.  They spent their entire summers there and I would visit as often as my entry-level vacation days would allow.  My interest and passion for wine really started here, wine tasting in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and the incredible local wineries and shops in Provence.  You can typically find me sipping a dry Cabernet Sauvignon, a Red Blend or a Pinot Noir.  I am also a fan of Sauvignon Blanc and Rose, but as Molly said, we are here to expand and explore them all.  We would love to share our passion, learnings, tips and favorites with y’all!

Posted In: Wines · Tagged: carina wine, molly and carina, molly the modest cellar, molly wine, the modest cellar

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About Us

We are Carina + Molly, two wine loving best friends! Follow our journey as we dive deeper into the world of wine and share our favorite wines, wine accessories, places and styles! We look forward to all the new opportunities and friendships along the way! Cheers!

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Anghiari

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Paris

We did a Champagne Tasting at a wine shop, @cavepetillance! It was great, every Champagne we tasted was delicious. Staff was very knowledgeable. Great selection!

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Como

Stayed @palazzoalbricciperegrini. Wow, what an amazing boutique hotel and their breakfast service was 5 stars! The chef at the hotel serves you breakfast to order on vintage china. I would definitely recommend staying here, service, food and hospitality were all top notch!

@dispensa63 in Bellagio was absolutely delicious! Some of the best onion soup I have ever had! 

Venice

If you know me, you know I love natural wine so when we made it to Venice, I walked as fast as I could to @vino__vero. Their staff was amazing and their cicchetti was to die for. Told the staff what I enjoy and they took it from there! Location in Lisbon, Portugal as well! 

@losteriadisantamarina was in my top three favorite restaurants of the trip. Their tasting menu was nothing short of amazing! Every dish hit the mark of excellent! The menu was also diverse, which I appreciated. We started with whipped codfish, then moved to a shrimp dish, then spaghetti chitarra with cuttlefish, then their mixed fried fish and finished with tiramisu. All of the dishes were local to Venice and their execution of each course was absolute perfection! 

We stayed an extra day in Venice to try @alle_testiere. I am so glad we did. This restaurant was absolutely delicious. I’m still dreaming about the razor clams! Watch Stanley Tucci’s Venice episode to learn more about this amazing restaurant!

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https://liketk.it/3Z6Nv
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Tastings are by appointment only so be sure to call ahead. In my opinion, this is a must do when in Jackson, WY! 

We bought a couple bottles to go to enjoy later. The Chardonnay and Rosé were my favorite!

The winery has a great history/story so be sure to check out their website and Instagram to learn more!

Cheers! 🥂
As we enter into our favorite time of the year, we As we enter into our favorite time of the year, we wanted to share a new seasonal recipe with you all along with two delicious white wine pairings from our favorite wine regions, Germany and Bordeaux! 

As you may know, food is at the heart of European culture and what we love about that is that no meal is complete without a perfectly paired glass of wine. Whether you prefer a fruit forward and crisp white like the 2020 Eva Fricke Riesling Trocken or one that is bright, balanced and refreshing like the 2020 Haut-Rian Bordeaux Blanc Sec, both will be perfect companions for your culinary journey.
 
For additional information, head on over to our blog (link in bio).

#clinkdifferentpartner #bordeauxwines #germanwine 

must be 21+ to consume.
We love learning about viticulture with @clinkdiff We love learning about viticulture with @clinkdifferent and are excited to share the stories of two winemakers in Bordeaux and Germany and how they are bringing new perspectives to these historical regions. When we are personally searching for new wines to try, some of the key items we focus on are the regions in which the wines are made, and the estate’s dedication to sustainability, which is how we landed on tasting the 2020 Gunderloch Jean-Baptiste Riesling Kabinett and the 2020 Claire Villars-Lurton Haut-Médoc Cérès Red Bordeaux Blend. 
For additional information, head on over to our blog (link in bio).
Must be 21+ to consume. 

#clinkdifferentpartner #bordeauxwines #germanwine

The content of this promotion campaign represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission and the European Research Executive Agency (REA) do not accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Giveaway closed! Winner selected and notified via Giveaway closed! Winner selected and notified via DM!

GIVEAWAY!!!! See instructions below to enter to win a one quarter subscription to @postinowinecafe Wine Cult, @postinowinecult.

Each quarter members receive 4 delicious bottles of handpicked wines complete with educational and mind-expanding content!

Being a Member has perks, monthly hookups, discounts off their Bottle Collection to-go, members-only offers through their Postino Wine Cult app, and more.

As a Member, you’ll also get exclusive invites to one-of-a-kind events, Wine Cult merch, access to limited small batch wines, and a litany of other fun things they come up with!

To enter, simply:
(1) FOLLOW us @themodestcellar, @postinowinecafe & @postinowinecult. 
(2) LIKE and SAVE this post. 
(3) COMMENT tagging as many friends as you want. Each comment is an entry!

Giveaway closes Friday, August 12th at 7PM CST. Winner will be notified via DM Sunday, August 14th. Giveaway is in no way affiliated with Instagram. 

Giveaway open to Texas, Arizona, and Colorado residents only. Winner will pick up the prize at their nearest Postino location. Must be 21+ to enter.
This reel highlights some of the fascinating simil This reel highlights some of the fascinating similarities between two European wine regions, Bordeaux and Germany. Why Bordeaux and Germany? These two @clinkdifferent regions may appear dramatically different, yet they share many unifying qualities and fascinating parallels! For more fun facts, head over to our blog (link in bio) to learn more about these two wonderful regions. Must be 21+ to consume.
 
The content of this promotion campaign represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission and the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA) do not accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
 
#clinkdifferentpartner #bordeauxwine #germanwine
Looking for the perfect refreshing summer sip?! Tr Looking for the perfect refreshing summer sip?! Trader Joe’s has plenty of amazing bottles under $20. This reel highlights some of our favorites! Cheers!

#traderjoes #traderjoesfinds #traderjoeshaul #wine #rosé #roséallday #sauvignonblanc #chardonnay #pinotgrigio #vinhoverde #winelover #winewinewine #wineoclock #cheers #refreshing #summer

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