Are Bubbles the Great Equalizer?
What a wild Saturday night taught me about the future of wine.
I showed up late to my own party.
I know, I know…
But Arden had the honor of cooking before the Timbers match, so I drove straight from Providence Park to McMinnville, and arrived just as Dose was hitting its stride. I felt guilty knowing my seven (incredible) partners had done the heavy lifting of setting everything up while I was still slinging empanadas in the stadium. But in hindsight, there was a selfish silver lining: I got to experience Dose the way other guests did.
I arrived to find Anna Sweet’s badass mama running the door… somehow making a security jacket look like high fashion while handing out our beautiful custom wine glasses (no, they weren’t Zaltos, but yes, they were dead ringers). Before I’d even made it through the entrance, Ron Acierto—former sommelier at Ōkta—was greeting everyone with caviar bumps because apparently that’s how Dose rolls.
Meanwhile, Dan Gibson from Visit McMinnville had the excellent idea to order a bunch of bubble guns, so there were literally and figuratively bubbles in the air all night long. Drae Slapz—who might just be Oregon’s best-kept secret as our one and only WSET 2-certified DJ—had the music bumping, and the crowd was dancing in a way I can safely say I’ve never seen at a wine event before.
And pardon my French, but people were f*cking loving it.
I had to do a double take. Was this really wine country?
Legendary Tony Soter was casually pouring magnums of vintage bubbles for anyone who wandered by. Nearby Luisa Ponzi, Grant Coulter, Andy Lytle, and other of Oregon’s most celebrated winemakers standing shoulder to shoulder with sommeliers from New York and Napa, chefs, wine writers, hospitality folks, longtime collectors, first-time wine drinkers, and plenty of people who had simply come because someone told them, “This is going to be fun.”
Everywhere I looked, people were enthusiastically pouring bottles for one another with huge smiles on their faces. Nobody was concerned with who was important or who had a “right” to the fancy stuff. They were just excited to share what was in their glass with their new comrades in wine.
(And yes, at one point, a $100 bottle of bubbles ended up being poured over a twerking tushy while the crowd absolutely lost its mind. It was epic).
Standing there with an ear-to-ear grin plastered across my face, I realized: I had never seen a wine crowd quite like this before.
For a long time now, I’ve felt like the wine world asks people to choose between two very different universes.
On one end are the classic wine events: thousand-dollar entry fees, grand tastings, white tablecloths, hushed rooms, polished decanters, sommelier pins, and wines that somehow feel more like museum pieces than something you’re actually supposed to enjoy. They’re beautiful experiences, but they’re often accessible only to a fairly narrow slice of the wine world and can feel very intimidating if you don’t know the language or can’t afford the price tag.
On the other end are the natural wine fairs: funky labels, glue-glou, and an undeniably fun energy that has made wine feel younger and fresher. But that world has gradually become its own kind of club. The wines are often intentionally funky, and if you’re not 28, wearing vintage Carhartt, and ready to debate the merits of volatile acidity in pét-nat, it can sometimes feel like you’re crashing someone else’s party. In trying to reject one version of exclusivity, we’ve accidentally created another.
But Dose somehow refused to pick a side.
The wines were world-class. The atmosphere was anything but intimidating. And the crowd was undefinable. All demographics, all having a damn good time.
Normally, I hesitate to bring my non-wine friends to wine events because I’m afraid they’ll feel alienated, wonder what everyone is talking about, and count down the minutes until we can leave. But one of my favorite parts of Dose was realizing that a large portion of the crowd weren’t wine people at all.
The three friends I brought work in sports, development, and the arts. They don’t spend their weekends debating dosage levels or arguing about disgorgement dates. And yet they were just as much the life of the party as the winemakers themselves—laughing with strangers, popping bottles and making memories.
That’s when it hit me: Maybe bubbles are the great equalizer.
Think about it. Champagne has a place on the table with royalty, Michelin stars, and James Bond. But it’s also sprayed around NBA locker rooms after championships, popped in Vegas nightclubs, poured at weddings, birthdays, New Year’s Eve parties, and backyard celebrations. Somehow, sparkling wine manages to feel both elegant and joyful at exactly the same time.
Maybe that’s why Dose worked. Not because everyone suddenly became interested in sparkling wine…. But because everyone already understands celebration.
Nearly 300 bottles of Oregon sparkling wine found new homes in just four hours—that’s roughly one bottle popped every 55 seconds. And not one of them stayed solely in its purchaser’s glass.
Someone would open a magnum of 2011 Analemma Blanc de Noirs and immediately pour it around. Someone else was pouring a 2015 Ponzi Extended Triage Brut Rosé for their new friends. I myself popped a bottle of Missoula Flood Blanc de Blancs and I probably had three ounces before I emptied it into the glasses of the surrounding crowd. And yet, my glass somehow stayed full all night… not because I was chasing pours, but because someone was always walking up saying, “You have to try this.”
For a few hours on Saturday night, I got to see a wine industry built on generosity instead of gatekeeping, curiosity instead of intimidation, and sharing instead of showing off. Maybe that’s what made Dose feel so different. It wasn’t really about sparkling wine. It was about creating a space where legendary winemakers, first-time wine drinkers, collectors, somms and anyone who simply love a good party all felt like they belonged at the same table—er alleyway.
And perhaps my favorite part of the whole event was getting to build it alongside seven extraordinary women who believed Oregon wine deserved this party. Six weeks ago, us girls sat down around a table with an idea. And somehow, we pulled off something that genuinely exceeded all of our expectations.
There’s a lot of doom and gloom in the wine industry right now. But Dose affirmed something I’ve been hoping was true: the future of wine is whatever we choose to make it.
Wine doesn’t have to chase trends, lean into exclusivity, or spend all its energy wondering how to attract new audiences. If this weekend taught me anything, it’s that the key might be much simpler than that: more creativity, more open-mindedness, and a willingness to invite everyone to the party.
If that’s the future of wine, pour me another glass.
P.S. A reminder that our virtual wine tasting on Greece is this coming Thursday, August 6th at 6pm. Become a paid subscriber ($10/month or $100/year) to get access to the live tasting as well as the replay.
P.P.S. To see the full gallery of DOSE images, shot by BFA, click here.