In Vino Veritas: The 9 Most Wine-Obsessed Moments of 2016

After much contemplation, we are still having trouble thinking of a moment in which wine wasn’t winning, and this year has been no exception. The much talked about beverage is arguably the cool kid of boozy drinks. As if they’d been stored in a cellar until optimal maturation, the multitude of wine-inspired ideas that continually gushed forth in 2016 prove that nearly everyone and everything wants to be associated with wine.

Whether you’re a casual wine sipper or a supreme vino connoisseur who can recite

the rules of buying, storing and drinking wine

Finding one of the best wines on the planet on the shelves of Walmart probably sounded like a long shot until La Moneda Reserva, an award-winning $7 bottle of Malbec, recently made its way stateside, summoning wine lovers from all over the country to scour the aisles of one of the 500 stores that sold the limited bottles.

Even more proof that this is wine’s world and we’re just living in it, France opened La Cité du Vin, the country’s wine-themed amusement park that welcomed its first visitors on June 1. Located in Bordeaux, the facility offers tastings, wine workshops and tours and also sells wine from more than 80 countries.

If flights to Italy filled up at record speed in October, we suspect it might have had something to do with the country opening a free wine fountain that dispenses the lovely liquid to the public at no cost, 24 hours a day. Here’s to hoping the US gets on board with this idea soon.

We had our own ideas about how to celebrate the Cubs’ momentous World Series win, but Wine By Design made sure to bring the drinks to the party by creating a limited-edition Cubs World Series Championship sparkling wine.

Admittedly, boxed wine doesn’t sound super fancy, but that’s no reason to treat it any different than its bottled counterparts. It deserves to be stored in style, which brings us to The Well, a pretty yet highly functional container for boxed wine that’s currently crowdfunding.

Let’s face it: Some of us manage our holiday-induced stress a lot better when we have a glass of wine to calm our nerves. That makes us all the more appreciative of this well-timed wine advent calendar, which serves as one of the year’s most thoughtful gifts for wine lovers.

So, there comes a time when you just need to put the bottle down, like when you’ve had one glass too many or before you get into your workout – or so we thought. Fitness enthusiast April Storey created a wine workout that went viral because apparently wine lovers need a humorous approach to fitness that doesn’t force them to give their love of vino the cold shoulder.

Taking the lazy approach to handling your wine will cost you – $1500 to be exact. However, if you think your beloved beverage deserves the VIP treatment, this plum wine machine promises to do just that. The posh appliance opens, chills, preserves and dispenses your wine while you sit back and toast to your best days of 2016.

For wine-obsessed makeup junkies, Korean cosmetics company Labiotte recently released a line of wine-infused makeup, including balms, glosses and lipsticks in a variety of wine flavors complete with wine bottle-shaped containers.