Name of the brand: Vindulge
Your Name: Mary Cressler and Sean Martin
Age: 43 and 46 respectively
Location: Portland, OR
When and why did you start the business?
Mary started Vindulge as a wine blog in 2009 as she took notes studying to be a sommelier through the court of master sommeliers. As part of the blogging journey she added recipes with Sean and wine pairings based on the food we enjoyed cooking – barbecue, grilling, and comfort foods in 2014. Since then we’ve continued to refine how we write and offer tips, tricks, and experiences for people who love great food, great wine, and great backyard cooking experiences. We launched our first cookbook Fire + Wine in March 2020 and it’s now in our second edition. We are full time content creators so it’s all about finding ways to explore food and wine and share that with our community.
BBQ can have different meanings to different people; what does it mean to you?
For us it’s about community. Even with the various styles of live fire cooking from around the world the universal truth is that we are gathered together as family and friends enjoying the food and experience.
From your experience, what tips could you offer?
The biggest tip is to experiment and be comfortable with the flavors and textures you like. Don’t worry about rules. If you like fall off the bone ribs, then cook them the way you like them. There are a lot of opinions in barbecue on the “right way” and don’t worry so much about that. Also don’t use lighter fluid. 😊
What would you say your best seller is and why?
Right now we have two products – our cookbook and our online wine market and club. While the cookbook does well, we are excited about how the wine club connects people to wineries from around the world that really focus on great growing and winemaking practices and delivering those wines across the US to those who don’t have access to them.
What is your favorite recipe using one of your products (If you have any?)
Our favorite recipe is definitely smoked short ribs in a wine braise. I used to be a vegetarian and after eating an amazing Kobe short rib dish at a restaurant it became the dish that encouraged me to become an omnivore.
What are your future goals?
Our plans are to open a cooking demo facility at our home and farm in Oregon as well as host trips around the world in wine and food regions that are on brand for us and invite people to experience the amazing food and wine community.
In what way could BMC members benefit from our partnership?
We hope the BMC community find ways to explore outdoor cooking in unique ways and if you are into wine explore the awesome wines we curate that are perfect matches for outdoor cooking.
WE OFFER 10% OFF ALL OUR WINES TO BMC MEMBERS!
