Find Me Where There’s Wine: Flight Night at Syracuse’s Sugar & Co.

I’m a sucker for wine. I won’t deny it. Growing up with 7 aunts who could easily polish off almost a whole case at most holidays made me this way. That being said, I know nothing about the actual art of wine tasting. Most tasting events/wine tours I’ve gone to have included acting like I know what I’m doing at the first vineyard and then- if we’re being truthful here- getting a little bit too tipsy to really even know what was going on. I’ve always wanted to learn… add that to the growing list behind learning to play the piano, learning Photoshop (yes, I own a blog and barely know how to function in Photoshop), and learning Italian… but somehow I’ve just never gotten around to it. Maybe someday 🤷🏼‍♀️

SO when I heard my coworker talking about this tiny little wine/sweets bar right down the street from our office that puts on monthly flight nights, I saw my golden opportunity. “This is it,” I told myself. I’m finally going to learn enough about wine that I can at least hold my own the next time I’m in a room with a bunch of wine snobs.

The event itself is called, simply, Flight Night, and it’s put on by Sugar & Co in downtown Syracuse.

My speciality is boxed wine, and/or cheap. So one can imagine when our wine conisseur for the night poured four “highly rated reds” into our glasses, saying, “you’re probably familiar with this brand as it is a very popular Portugese brand,” we just smilled and nodded our heads. Like we had any idea.

All the pretending to know more than I actually do aside, this is such a cool event. Put on bi-weekly on Tuesday evenings, Brett the wine guy gives you an individualized experience, presenting each of the wines to you and your party whether you’re seated at the bar or at one of the cozy little private tables. Flights range anywhere from 4-6 different wines, and you can try them all for only $10! Talk about a steal. Honestly, I was so impressed from start to finish- the environment, the service, the FOOD (we split the spinach dip, caprese and flourless chocolate cake which was to die for). Plus, Brett really knows his stuff. Liiiiiike…

DID YOU KNOW:

Malbec, translated loosely, means “bad mouth.” A wine originally coming from the French region, it was named this because the variety of grapes used in a Malbec do not always grow successfully in a rainy, wet climate- much like France often has. Because of this, Malbec makes a better Argentinan wine, which is why it is primarily grown there today. 

Look at me go, my wine knowledge is growing already.

In all seriousness, I didn’t even know Sugar & Co. existed much before a week ago, and it really is a hidden treasure in Syracuse. We straight up FEASTED, all for under $20 each. Plus we learned a little something new, which I am always all about. For all its worth, this city really is trying to grow and keep up with the times, I’ll give it that much credit at least. With places like Original Grain, Pastabilities, Empire and now this, we’re slowly getting there.

You can find Sugar & Co. @ 121 W. Fayette St., sandwiched between Original Grain and Clinton Street Pub. I’ve already got plans for next flight night, November 20th from 6-9 p.m.! I better see some of y’all there 😏

#sugarandco #downtownsyracuse #wineflight #winebar #foodieblog #winetasting