September 2026: What's Up @ Wine Stop

Looks like our summer heat waves are finally starting to fade and give way to perfect wine days.

So we searched the calendar for the perfect days in September to think wine—Wine Stop wine, of course.

Let’s start.

September Is California Wine Month

Once again, all of September is California Wine Month.

When Álvaro opened Wine Stop, his original vision was to feature hand-selected imports from small wineries around the world. But what’s a rule without an exception?

And what an exception: Sixteen 600, a tiny Sonoma winery named after the house number where it all began.

We are proud to sell their top-quality organic wines at all three Wine Stop stores. There’s a Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon, a seriously sophisticated Zinfandel, and a white Rhône blend—and all three have found loyal followings among our customers.

More recently, Sixteen 600 introduced a second label at around $25 that may be one of the best California values in the store. In fact, we have trouble keeping the rosé and red in stock.

Send your friends to Wine Stop to discover artisan wines made in Sonoma at outstanding values.

Here’s to Sonoma. Here’s to California Wine Month.

September 4: Happy 245th Birthday, Los Angeles

Tomorrow, Los Angeles celebrates its 245th birthday.

That sounds like another perfectly good reason to open Sixteen 600’s Zinfandel—a wine made from the grape that became one of the great signatures of California wine.

But September 4 gives you another option.

It’s also Chianti Day.

If you’re in the mood to discover Sangiovese, tomorrow is the day. We recommend our 2023 Chianti Superiore DOCG from Siena. Only 6,642 bottles were made.

It is also a wonderful example of what we mean when we say a wine is driven by Place. Sangiovese grows in many places, but the taste of Tuscan Sangiovese can’t simply be duplicated somewhere else. Clone, soil, altitude, weather, farming and local tradition all contribute to what ends up in your glass.

So what will it be for L.A.’s birthday?

California Zinfandel or Tuscan Sangiovese?

There is no wrong answer.

September 6: A Book + A Bottle

September 6 is National Read a Book Day.

Now there’s a pairing we can get behind.

A good book + a good bottle of wine.

It’s a classic combination, right up there with oysters and a bone-dry white or sparkling wine. Find a comfortable chair, put the phone somewhere else, open a bottle and disappear for an hour or two.

What are you currently reading? And which Wine Stop wine pairs with it?

September 9: Happy Birthday, California

Another birthday is coming up.

California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850, which means California turns 176 this year.

A celebration like that might justify a little splurge.

How about Sixteen 600’s 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon from the CharMar Vineyard in Sonoma Valley?

Open it. Decant it. Give it 30 minutes.

Then notice how the aromas gradually begin to escape the glass and permeate the surrounding air.

Consider it the wine’s invitation to sit down, stop doing whatever else you were doing, and celebrate life for a moment.

September 17: Drink Better Thursday

Of course, you don’t actually need a national holiday to open a good bottle of wine.

You can also let us do the opening.

Our next Drink Better Thursday tasting is September 17 at Wine Stop DTLA.

Come taste with us, discover something new, meet some fellow wine drinkers and spend an evening doing exactly what September seems increasingly designed for:

Drink Better.

September 18: Grenache Day

Every year, we look forward to Grenache Day.

When the first Wine Stop opened in October 2016, Grenache was already one of the varieties we were proud to champion.

Ten years later, we’re still at it.

Our 2019 Prohibida from D.O. Toro, Spain is organic and made entirely from old-vine Grenache. It is a red that delivers on many levels: complex, graceful, elegant and interesting enough to hold your attention from the first glass to the last.

But Grenache Day doesn’t have to mean red.

Garnacha Blanca is a natural white mutation of red Garnacha. Same grape family, completely different expression.

So if red isn’t what you’re craving, celebrate with our Garnacha Blanca from D.O. Montsant—available exclusively at Wine Stop.

Grenache red or Grenache white?

That’s the question.

We’ll happily take either.

And we predict that another 10 or 15 years from now, Grenache will no longer feel like a stranger to most American wine drinkers.

Why wait?

Discover what Grenache is all about before everyone else does.

September 22: Fall Begins

Then comes September 22.

At 5:05 PM here in Los Angeles, summer officially gives way to fall.

Yes, we know. This is L.A. It may still be 82 degrees outside.

But something begins to change.

The evenings get a little shorter. Dinner moves back indoors occasionally. The grill starts sharing space with the oven. And the wines we reach for begin to change, too.

Maybe the crisp white stays in the refrigerator and the Cabernet, Syrah, Tempranillo or Grenache comes out instead.

New season. New wines to discover.

We can toast to that.

September 26: Wine Under the Harvest Moon

And then September gives us one final beautiful excuse.

September 26 is the Harvest Moon.

That name alone sounds like it belongs in a wine shop.

Harvest has shaped wine for thousands of years. For growers and winemakers, everything eventually comes down to that moment when a year of weather, soil, farming decisions, patience—and sometimes luck—finally becomes fruit ready to pick.

So on September 26, open something good.

Have dinner outside if the weather cooperates. Look up. Pour another glass.

No tasting scores required.

Meanwhile, Somewhere Between Europe and Los Angeles...

Some of you have been waiting for several of our European wines to return.

So have we.

Our shipment from Germany and Austria—which was originally supposed to be on our shelves by now—has been delayed by continuing international logistics problems.

The latest schedule has it arriving in New York on October 2.

At last.

Cross your fingers.

That shipment includes our long-awaited Mosel Pinot Noir, more Zweigelt, more Blaufränkisch, and a new one for Wine Stop: Blauburger.

Our French and Spanish refrigerated containers are also running behind schedule.

We could complain.

Instead, we’ll remain optimistic and hope that at least one of them manages to reach Los Angeles before the holiday season begins.

Wine teaches patience anyway.

Apparently importing it does, too.

And Then Wine Stop Turns 10

September is also the final full month before something pretty remarkable happens.

Wine Stop turns 10 in October.

The first Wine Stop opened in October 2016.

Ten years of opening bottles.

Ten years of tasting thousands of wines.

Ten years of saying no to a lot of them.

Ten years of discovering tiny wineries, forgotten grapes, great values and bottles we couldn’t wait to put in front of our customers.

And ten years of the same idea:

Drink Better.

We’ll have much more to say about that next month.

So, What Are You Celebrating?

California Wine Month.
Los Angeles’ birthday.
Chianti Day.
Read a Book Day.
California’s birthday.
Drink Better Thursday.
Grenache Day.
The first day of fall.
The Harvest Moon.

And if none of those work, make up your own reason.

If you couldn’t think of a day to open a Wine Stop bottle when you started reading this, we hope we’ve given you plenty.

Stop.

Relax.

Put the phone down.

Share a bottle with friends or family—or enjoy a quiet glass by yourself.

Sometimes the occasion is simply finding the time to have a wine moment.

We think September gives you plenty of them.

See you at Wine Stop.