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Sarah Phillips McCartan

@whatsarahdrinks

8.2K

followers

2156

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marketing / speaker / events 🍷
miami & beyond 🌍
owner @fiftyonenorthhq
founder @winetalksmiami
[email protected]

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Heat doesn’t have to mean heaviness. 🍇☀️ 2026 was the hottest vintage on record and yet our Saint Estèphe Cabernets and Merlots came in between 12,4 ans 13,4%vol. How ? Soils that could retail winter and Summer rain, some well-timed summer stores and plot by plot regenerative farming. Read full report on Substack https://substack.com/@julienbrustis/note/p-220069456?r=53rity&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action. #saintestephe #regenerativeagriculture #wine #bordeaux

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We all learned a lot from Monday’s great panelists about the current state of the Miami market — and what’s working for everyone!

Thank you:
* Daniel Allen - Sales Manager at Winebow Fine Wine and Spirits
* Chris Birnie-Visscher - South Florida & Puerto Rico Sales Manager at Vineyard Brands
* Jason Gaetan - Owner at The Grape Ape
* David Mokha - South East Director at Patz & Hall

And thank you to the great @amaraatparaiso team for having us!

Next event will be on Monday November 16th — venue TBC. Join our mailing list (link in bio) for updates!

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The History of South American Wine in 12 Bottles was a fantastic masterclass led by the extremely knowledgeable @amanda_wine of the @southamericawineguide . What a joy to discover new gems as well as revisiting classics. It’s a very exciting time as a wine professional and consumer to explore South American wines!! Thank you @whatsarahdrinks for the invitation!

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Seven cities. Six states. One final stop in Miami. 🍷 We had the pleasure of welcoming @whatsarahdrinks to Bunbury as this South American wine journey reached its grand finale. Buyers, restaurants, retailers, educators and media came together in our house to discover, taste and talk about the incredible diversity of South American wine. Seeing our rooms filled with conversation, curiosity and new discoveries is exactly the kind of experience we love creating at Bunbury. Sarah, thank you for trusting our team and for letting us be part of the journey. ❤️ @fiftyonenorthhq

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BUNBURY this week 🍷 After seven cities across six states, a journey celebrating South American wine across the U.S. made its final stop here in Miami — at Bunbury. We had the pleasure of welcoming @amanda_wine and @whatsarahdrinks into our house, together with @southamericawineguide and @fiftyonenorthhq , bringing Miami’s wine community together for an afternoon of incredible wines, stories, food and conversation. For the past 12 years, Argentine wine culture has been part of the story we’ve been building at Bunbury, which made hosting this experience especially meaningful to us. Amanda & Sarah — thank you for trusting our house and sharing this moment with our community. ❤️ From South America to Miami.

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THANK YOU MIAMI 🙌🌴

It was an honour to share so many wonderful South American wines with such a great group of sommeliers, retailers and media on Monday. We couldn’t have chosen a better city to conclude our whirlwind tour of the US — after a brilliant two weeks visiting DC, NYC, Boston, Chicago, Austin, and St Pete and meeting over 300 wine professionals along the way.

Thank you to our generous Miami hosts @bunburymiami & our brilliant team on the day @see_graygray @gracefulgrapes @emmaylaluna Lis and Amelie, and to @soyfedelucena for capturing it all on camera 🍷

If you missed us this year, or simply want to come back for another round of South American wine, please follow us and the links in our bios to sign up for announcements about the 2027 US tour, including new city stops...

Hasta la próxima!
Amanda & Sarah

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A spectacular afternoon celebrating the history, evolution, and incredible diversity of South American wine!

The final stop of The History of South American Wine: In 12 Bottles, beautifully put together by Sarah Phillips McCartan and presented by Master of Wine, Amanda Barnes, brought us through a remarkably thorough look at the people, places, grapes, and stories that have shaped the continent’s wine culture.

We were especially proud to see Catena and El Enemigo wines represented as part of that story.

Among an incredible group of producers from across South America, it was a great reminder of the role these brands we are proud to represent continues to play in the story of modern Argentine wine: deeply rooted in place and tradition, while helping push the country’s wine culture forward.

Congratulations to Sarah, Amanda, and everyone involved in bringing such a thoughtful program to Miami and across the US. Phenomenal tasting and an even better story to tell. 🇦🇷🍷

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An absolute privilege to learn from @amanda_wine today at an amazing event by @whatsarahdrinks ✨ always elated to see the brilliant @flipflopsomm1

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So our 2009 Red Burgundy horizontal is in the books, which embraced 37 Grand & Premier Cru wines (with one village) from excellent producers. Here are some thoughts;

(1) O9 is a very good vintage defined by the ripeness & purity of the fruit;

(2) Words like opulent, plush, & glossy seem to be way the group characterized the wines of this solar year. The style is precocious & accessible.

(3) While the best will last for decades, the wines are now well within their drinking window-- in fact, only the Rousseau Clos de Beze was shut down upon opening;

(4) But here is the tradeoff, in many instances we wished for a bit more acid to balance the fruit.There was structure, and the wines certainly weren't flabby, but to be truly outstanding most needed more zip.

(4) My conclusion is that the 2009 vintage is a delicious fruit-forward one. I am looking forward to enjoying them for some time. But it is a very good, NOT outstanding, vintage.

(5) The wines of the night were the DRC RSV, the Domaine Sylvain Cathiard Aux Reignots, the Domaine Jacques- Frederic Mugnier Musigny & the @maisonjosephdrouhin Musigny. The Domaine Armand Rousseau Clos de Beze had tons of potential, but was a bit tightly wound, while the Rousseau CSJ was beautiful. The Anne Gros Richebourg & Echezeaux both showed great. As did the the @domaine_brunoclair CSJ & Cazetiers (Query: is there any better value in Burgundy than Bruno Clair?). And the one village wine in the mix, a Leroy Nuit St Georges lieu- dit was stunning.

Great tasting where we celebrated @whatsarahdrinks passing her Master of Wine Practical Exam & her birthday. Thanks again to @debbielipoff for planning everything. Cheers,

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Fantastic masterclass w/ @amanda_wine on “The History of South American Wine - In 12 Bottles” held @braserochicago . Such an immense subject that Amanda presented in a very understandable way, & poured some very delicious wines. Starting with the Criolla family, @carasur.barreal Criilla Chica 2023, the first vines to be planted in Peru & Bolivia in 1500s. The 1850s were described as a time of a huge influx of European immigrants to South America, the 1990s as pushing boundaries and quality focused over quantity. Then followed the Bordeaux influence & today the Chateau versus Cru concept. Wine highlights for me, were the @migueltorrescl Cordillera Chardonnay 2025 where folks at my table commented this makes for a value alternative to Chablis. There was a great #travelingbytheglass moment in Amanda describing Limari, the influence of the Camanchaca sea fog and the wild beaches in the north of Chile. Tasting the @bodegafamiliadeicas Atlantic Sur Albarino 2025 was another #tbtg moment to Uruguay, talking about the Atlantic coastal climate of Uruguay and the factoid that there are about 3 cows to 1 person in the country. The wine was straw colored, super crisp, a saline, grippy finish. Their tannat Atlantico Sur wine was available to taste at the end of the talk. It was a #winelucky moment, to taste the @vik_wine Stonevik 2024, Cachapoal Valley in Chile. 74% Cab. Franc, 21% CS, 5% Carmenere. Super small production, amphora, very little intervention, they even use the yeast from harvested wild flowers to ferment. the wine. Each wine we tasted was chosen with intention. @zuccardivalledeuco Finca Los Membrillos to highlight Semillon. @susanabalbowines Signature White blend 2025 to talk about Torrontes. @elenemigowines Bonarda 2023. Nicolas @catenazapata 2021 with a discussion of malbec and its journey in Argentina. @closapalta 2022 68% carmenere, 22% CS, 10 % Mer. @vinicolaguaspari Vista do Cha Syrah 2020 from Brazil. @bodegagarzon 45% tannat, 35% PV, 20% CF. Finally @chevaldesandes_official 57% CS, 40% Mal, 3% PV, Los Compuertas, Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza Argentina. Fortunately I have Amanda’s book, @southamericawineguide as my “ go to” source for all things SA wine!!!

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Burgundy in my veins and Chicago in my heart! 🩸♥️
Thank you for your generosity @lipoffcory & @debbielipoff
🍷
#grandcru #winetasting #grateful ul

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Thank you Boston!

Another great session on the history of South American wine in 12 bottles, and a pleasure to be back @commonwealthwineschool on Harvard Square 🙌

A chance to geek out and taste great wines from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil 🌎🍷

Next stop, Chicago 😎

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