Vino Vinyasa?! Sweat & Sip With Rosé Champagne At This Virtual Yoga Class

“We’re going to run through that sequence again in case you want to polish off that bottle tonight.” Usually this is how I mentally coax myself out of child’s pose and back to another series of vinyasas. Tonight, it’s coming as a vocalized suggestion from Morgan Perry, a certified yoga instructor holding an Advanced Certification in Wine Education. It makes the next series of tree imitating and cat cowing an exercise in both fluidity and just desserts. Perry founded Vino Vinyasa in 2017 as a way to bring her expertise as an oenophile and wine publicist to her yoga students. While there is no sipping between flow sequences, there are facts about the wineries Perry chooses to feature in her classes. As our tension is released in stretches and poses Perry builds anticipation around the winery she’s featuring. After our group has emerged from Savansana, we rewardingly fill our glasses and join Morgan and a representative from the winery who helps guide in the tasting experience.

While in pre-COVID times, Perry’s teachers would host classes in NYC and LA. These days, Perry herself is hosting her Vino Vinyasa sessions in her home base of Austin. Her Zoom classes are bringing yoga and wine education to a broader audience, including this writer, who originally turned to Perry to learn more about Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé, a champagne I’ve long adored and wanted to feature in my oyster shucking salons for special celebrations.

I’m by no means a bubble bigot, however during past indoor dining larks, I recall scanning wine menus and frequently seeking out this particular expression of Billecart’s bubblies. On days when the city had put me through the wringer, a ½ bottle of the Brut Rosé with Union Square Café’s tater tots with crème fraîche and mountains of caviar was a modest splurge of comfort better than any therapist’s couch. In travels, spotting the Brut Rosé in a hotel’s minibar would mean getting polished for the evening was going to be more than simply pulling on a dress. Sold everywhere in Paris in its picnic-sized form, the petit Brut Rosé not only complemented dainty shrimp sandwiches but spared the afternoon from day drinking excess on the Seine. But why I wondered, was the Brut Rosé my constant crush? 

With my yoga mat rolled up, athleisurewear cast off, I slipped into a sundress and virtually joined Morgan and Clement Calleja, Billecart-Salmon’s US Regional Manager to discover that the exceptionally low sugar content of Billecart-Salmon’s Brut Rosé contributes to its clean, fresh floral characteristics. Because of this your palette doesn’t need to sift through layers of sweet to seek out its refined finish of wild strawberries and subtle raspberries. The grapes are comprised of 40% Chardonnay, sourced from the best Crus in the Champagne region and equal parts Pinot Noir from Reims and the Marne Valley along with Pinot Meunier from the southern slopes of Épernay. After the rosé is fermented in stainless steel casks, the threesome of grapes rest in-bottle for 36 months before all the fanfare of cork popping and coupe clinking.

Morgan is hosting another Billecart-Salmon yoga session on November 14th at noon, corresponding with this year’s virtual Champagne Week festivities. Jump on free shipping of the perfectly sized ½ bottle of the Brut Rosé until October 21. After that, you can join the virtual event for $25 and pick up a full-sized bottle at Astor Wines. With a few more sequences of warrior poses, you may just polish it off.

[Photos courtesy Morgan Perry]