A new club from local somms Danielle Norris, Kyla Peal, and Marie Cheslik, Wine Gang is an extremely unpretentious entrée into the world of vino. They package two killer bottles a month around a theme (maybe it’s “Pisces Season” or “Chillable Reds”) and send a link to an exuberant, unpretentious YouTube video discussing their choices (in one, Norris describes a wine as good for “chugging, talking shit with friends, or dice games”). The club is an outgrowth of Slik Wines (slikwines.com), the platform they launched to offer virtual wine education while we were stuck at home. Here, Norris suggests three bottles for the dog days of August.

Antxiola 2020 Getariako Txakolina

“This very dry white wine is so fresh you’d slap its face if it had one. The traditional way of serving Txakoli is to pour it from a great height into a glass to ensure that, together with the bubbles, the whole range of fruity aromas is shown in the glass.”

Bichi 2019 “Pet Mex” Metodo Ancestral (Pet Nat), Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

“All of Bichi’s wines light a fuego en mi alma. The grapes are sourced from a 69-year-old vineyard near the Pacific Ocean. The result is a sparkling rosé that’s bursting with the three Fs I look for in a summer crusher: fresh, fruity, and funky.”

Constant Crush 2020

“Ltd+ Piquette,” Willamette Valley, Oregon “It has complex aromas of rich red fruits, green bell pepper, and Capri Sun, of all things. And yet it’s light bodied. Serve this cold. Let me say it again: Serve this wine cold.”