🎿🍷 Cortina 2026 Olympics: The Wine Survival Guide (Because Wine Is a Sport Too)

 🎿 ALPINE SKIING: The wine that goes down as fast as the skiers

The discipline: Humans hurtle down a mountain at 140 km/h. You're on your couch.

The wine you need: A dynamic Italian red - Like a Valpolicella or a Barbaresco

Why? Because you're watching the Olympics in Italy. Because alpine skiing is fast, intense, and makes you thirsty. And because a Barbaresco goes down as fast as an Austrian skier (but it's more enjoyable).

Perfect pairing: Men's downhill = Barbaresco (virile, powerful); Women's slalom = Piedmont (elegant, technical)

🏂 SNOWBOARD: The wine for those who pretend to understand the tricks

The discipline: Teenagers do spins in the air. You don't know what a "double cork 1440" is but you applaud when the commentator gets excited.

The wine you need: A fun and offbeat white - Like a white wine from the US!

Why? Because snowboarding is the least uptight sport at the Olympics. You need a wine that doesn't take itself seriously, fresh, punchy, a bit rock'n'roll.

Perfect pairing: Half-pipe = Chardonnay "The Hilt Santa Rita Hills Estate" (it spins in every direction)

⛸️ FIGURE SKATING: The wine to cry silently while watching couples dance

The discipline: People in sequins do pirouettes to "Schindler's List". You're going to cry. It's inevitable.

The wine you need: An elegant Champagne - Like a Blanc de Blancs

Why? Because figure skating is elegance incarnate. Sequins, dramatic music, failed triple axel that breaks your heart. You need bubbles, elegance, and a tissue.

Perfect pairing: Short program = Champagne (we stay sober); Free program = Magnum of Champagne (because it's going to be long and emotional)

🏒 ICE HOCKEY: The wine to survive 3 hours of fighting on skates

The discipline: Canadians hit a puck. Sometimes they hit each other. You don't understand the rules but it's violent and captivating.

The wine you need: A robust red that goes the distance - Like a Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Why? Because hockey is brutal, physical, and lasts for hours. You need a wine that packs a punch, has backbone, and doesn't back down.

Perfect pairing: Canada vs USA match = Châteauneuf 14.5% (you're going to need it)

🛷 BOBSLEIGH: The wine for the fastest 60 seconds of your evening

The discipline: Four guys in a tin can hurtle down an ice slide at 150 km/h. It's over before you understood what happened.

The wine you need: A sharp and fast white - Like a Sancerre

Why? Because bobsleigh is short, intense, and doesn't leave time to think. A Sancerre is the same: frank attack, cutting finish, and boom, it's already over.

Perfect pairing: 4-man bob = Sancerre (because you'll drink 4 glasses during qualifications)

🥌 CURLING: The wine to understand why it's a sport

The discipline: People sweep ice. Seriously. And it's at the Olympic Games.

The wine you need: A calm and contemplative white - Like a Chablis

Why? Because curling is slow. Very slow. So slow that you have time to dissect the aromas of your Chablis, send 3 texts, and wonder if it's really a sport.

Perfect pairing: Curling match = Chablis Premier Cru (you have 2 hours ahead of you, get something good)

🎿 CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: The wine for masochists who watch people suffer for 50 km

The discipline: Norwegians ski for hours. You fall asleep. It's normal.

The wine you need: A light red that you can sip for a long time - Like an IGP Pays d'Oc

Why? Because cross-country skiing is pure endurance. No thrills, just suffering over time. You need an easy-drinking wine that won't knock you out and goes the distance.

Perfect pairing: 50 km mass start = Domaine Woillemont 2024 Languedoc-Roussillon, IGP Pays d'OC (light, fresh, and you can drink it for 2 hours without guilt).

🎿 BIATHLON: The wine for those who love impossible sporting challenges

The discipline: You ski like crazy, then you have to shoot at targets. Miss = penalty lap. Sadistic but fascinating.

The wine you need: A precise and tense red - Like a Gevrey-Chambertin

Why? Because biathlon is a mix of endurance and surgical precision. You need a structured, concentrated wine that doesn't tremble.

Perfect pairing: Women's sprint = Gevrey-Chambertin (tense, elegant, deadly)

🏅 Conclusion: The Olympics are better with good wine

Let's be honest: you're going to spend 15 days on your couch watching sports you'll never practice.

Might as well do it with style.
Might as well do it with the right wines.
Might as well do it by ordering now (because next weekend, everyone will rush for the same bottles).

May the best wines win! 🍷🎿