Have A Very Vino Christmas
Wednesday - December 09, 2005
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Del.icio.usWith Christmas just two weeks away, perhaps you are looking for gift suggestions that are actually available somewhere here in Hawaii for that wine drinker in your life. I certainly am. Here are my 12 days of Christmas to keep you merry and bright!
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a bottle of 2002 Joseph Phelps Insignia ($150). It is the Wine of the Year selected by Wine Spectator Magazine in its yearly Top 100, and it has always been one of my favorite California wines - absolutely delicious and decadent! It will impress anyone from the connoisseur to the CEO who’s hard to buy for.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me two bottles of 2003 Two Tone Farm Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($10). This is one of the best values for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon period, rich with ripe berry fruit, and there’s absolutely no hesitation for opening this bottle - it’s in screw cap, after all.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me three bottles of 2004 Drew Family Cellars Threesome Pinot Noir ($35). Pinot Noir is in, and this Pinot Noir is decadently rich with complexity and seduction and as smooth as silk, perfect for your Sideways junkies.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a Tasting Kit of four Riedel Vinum Wine Glasses ($100). These are the best wineglasses in the business and this tasting kit comes with one each for Cabernet or Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to cover all the favorite wines of your loved one. These glasses truly enhance each experience.
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me five bottles of 2001 Cain Cellars Cain Five ($75). A superb blend of the five Bordeaux grapes that is one of the most sought-after wines from Napa Valley and a real crowd-pleaser.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me six bottles of 2001 Merryvale Beckstoffer Cabernet Sauvignon Clone 6 ($75). If you like block-busting Cabernets from Napa Valley, you will love this wine; it’s weighty, viscous, rich and profound in flavor - a showstopper.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me seven bottles of 2001 Greenock Creek Seven Acres Shiraz ($60). Made from a small parcel of ancient vines, this wine is a mammoth mouthful of juicy, jammy, hedonistic fruit. It’s everything all other Shiraz want to grow up to be.
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me eight bottles of 1988 Leroy Vosne Romanee Premier Cru Les Beaux Monts ($280). 1988 was an excellent vintage for Burgundy, and Leroy is arguable the finest producer, hence the greatness to have a mature bottle of classic Burgundy.
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me nine bottles of 2003 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape ($50). 2003 was a tremendously warm and dry year for the Rhone Valley, all the growing conditions that Grenache (the main grape in Chateauneuf du Pape) loves. This is one of my favorites, awesome intensity and complexity altogether.
On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 10 bottles of 2003 Domaine Roulot Meursault Meix Chavaux ($65). This ethereal Chardonnay is one of the best of its kind with flowers, minerals and sweet fruit aromas that keep me coming back for more. It’s also very rare - there were only 10 cases of it for the entire state of Hawaii.
On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 11 bottles of 2003 Mueller Block 11 Syrah ($32) from Russian River Valley. This is a lovely and elegant Syrah that is styled more like Pinot Noir with tremendous class and elegance - lovely!
On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 12 bottles of 2002 Domaine de la Romanee Conti ($2,500). This is the hardest Burgundy to find and perhaps the highest expression of Pinot Noir, not to mention most expensive. Well, if you’re going to ask for something, aim high!
How’s that for the 12 days of Christmas? Oh, what a dream it would be if my true love really gave these to me. Well, at least I can dream.
Happy holidays and may all your dreams come true. Cheers!
Oh ... and a partridge in a pear tree!
Roberto Viernes is a master sommelier. E-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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