Wine for the holidays

Even though it's late October, thoughts around casa Corkdork are turning to the holidays; partly because November also happens to be my father's birthday, partly because it's the time when we start considering "hey, what should we have with Thanksgiving dinner?"  There'll have to be at least 7 bottles purchased for gifting/celebrating this year -- two for Thanksgiving dinner, two for Christmas Eve, one for Dad's birthday, and two more for Christmas presents.  Oh, and something to ring in the new year with.

There's food to pair with, people's flavor preferences (and dislikes!) to work around, and gift-presentation thoughts to consider!  What is a wine afficianado to do?!

The current thinking is running something like this:

• For Thanksgiving, we traditionally have two bottles; a sparkling wine and a red with dinner.  For the bubbly, I have to say I love Cava, both for it's affordability (hey, they're all under $25 at my local wine store, and most are under $10, including my two favorites, Conde de Caralt and Rondel), and it's zesty flavor -- the perfect thing to start a meal with.
• For dinner, we traditionally have a Pinot Noir, and this year will probably be no different -- Pinot is versatile enough to work with the variety of foods on the table, and it's cranberry notes are a natural choice.  In the past, we've had Oregon and Russian River Pinot, but this year I think we may go for Burgundy, with the Chateau Chamirey Mercury Rouge 2005 (under $40) -- I got to try it twice this past weekend, once newly-opened and once with some air, and it's evolution was wonderful.  Newly-opened, it's fresh and fruity, but with some air, complexity is added, with earthiness and minerality underpinning the ripe fruit.
• My father loves reds and steak, so the natural thought there is a wine to go with steak.  He especially loves California Cabernet and Chateau Neuf du Pape, and those fit quite well in that milleu.  Since his birthday is in November, he'll get two bottles this season; probably one of each.  The current thinking is something from Martin Ray for the California Cab -- Dad's a big fan of their Stag's Leap and Diamond Mountain District cabs -- and a 2006 Chateau Neuf du Pape ('05 was a better year in the Southern Rhone, perfect for laying down for a couple years, but '06 is ready to drink young, and Dad doesn't hold onto wine long).  Another possibility would be a bottle from Von Strasser -- I know Dad's not had anything from them before, but they're excellent.  In all three cases, the presentation is part of the key -- the bottle looks good, as well as having good juice inside it.
• Not unlike with Thanksgiving, we start Christmas eve with bubbles, but generally Champagne.  Here, I'll look for a grower-maker wine -- it'll be a treat, pretty much regardless of what I pick.  Currently, I'm leaning towards a vintage 2000  Pertois-Moriset -- not as great of a year as 1996, but still quite good, and very tasty.
• Christmas Eve dinner traditionally consists of a roast of beef with lots of garlic and herbs.  I've got my eye on a very small-production Barolo (200 cases made, from a single vineyard), which will get a full decanting treatment, as we'll be drinking it young -- Barolo is notoriously long-lived.
  
• My fiancee loves Italian wines, and while a Barolo would make a great gift, she doesn't hold onto wine for more than a year, so a mature Brunello makes sense; there's lots of 2000's still out there, and even some '99's.  In fairness, since I'll likely be consuming the wine with her, it makes sense to pick out something I like too, and I love Brunello.
• Finally, to ring in the new year, something sweet (hopefully a harbinger of the year to come).  Demi-sec Champagne comes to mind -- it's much better for drinking on it's own than a brut -- and one of my favorite grower-makers has just the answer...  Franck Bonville's nonvintage Demi-sec (which they don't mention on their website -- hopefully it's not out of production!).

So, what can we learn from this list?  Well, for one, that I tend to spend about $40 on a bottle of wine for a gift (more or less, but everything averages out around $40 here).  Additionally, the perfect gift for one person may not be perfect for another -- while my fiancee might enjoy the Von Strasser or Martin Ray, she'll love a Brunello, and my father might like a Brunello, but he loves California Cab.  Additionally, it's not necessary to go to one of the major, spendy bottles for a gift (that's, of course, if you can find them -- there's not a lot of cult Brunello for sale in my area); a good gift of good wine, even if it's not from a "name brand" winery, will be appreciated -- and, may, in fact, be better (as the "name brand" wine charges a surcharge for the name!  To wit, I think the Von Strasser Sori Bricco cabernet is the equal of Diamond Creek's Red Rock Terrace, and it's half the price).  Finally, traditions are hard to break; we've had Champagne for probably 20 years for Christmas, and that's probably not going to change any time soon.  So go with it!

Image from slideshows.health.com.

Ranging through the Rhône

The Rhône is a darling of critics, with wines available in basically all price points, from under-$10 for Côtes du Rhône through "that wine is how much?" for the best from Châteauneuf du Pape.

Essentially, the Rhône is split into two regions, the northern Rhône, which runs between Vienne in the extreme north, to Valence in the south.  The dominant grape here is Syrah, although there are some white grapes grown here, primarily Viognier, with some Marsanne and Rousanne.  This area has the unusual distinction of being a place where red and white may be blended -- by way of example, the wines of the Côte-Rôtie generally has 5% Viognier blended into the Syrah, although they may be anywhere from 0% to 20% Viognier.  

These tend to be comparatively fruit-forward wines, lighter in style than comparable Shiraz from Australia, with lower alcohol levels.  There is often a pronounced earthy note to the wine as well, something you often don't find in the New World counterparts to these wines.

In the southern Rhône, by contrast, many grapes are grown -- primarily Grenache, with Syrah and Mouvedre, although a number of other grapes are allowed.  In Châteauneuf du Pape, for example, 13 grapes are allowed, and of those 13, 2 have both red and black varieties, allowing for up to 15 types of base wine!  As a bit of trivia, one producer, Château Beaucastel, uses all 13 varieties in their wines.

Good bets for places to get fine wine in the southern Rhône include the aforementioned Châteauneuf du Pape (where you do pay for the privilege of drinking well-known wine, but it's well-known for a reason), as well as Vacquyras (known for powerful wines), Gigondas, and indeed, the Côtes du Rhône (very accessible for new drinkers, the wines from here tend to be softer than their higher-priced cousins).

So why drink Rhône?  Especially with the summer coming up, Rhône wines offer great pairings with traditional cuisine.  Steaks on the grill with potato salad and cream corn?  A Vacquyras should be perfect with that!  Picnicing with sandwiches?  Côtes du Rhône works well!

Map from Wikipedia, created by Lofo7

Taking the bull by the horns

Full disclosure: This wine was tasted at a free tasting with the importer, and I chose to purchase the bottle shown in the picture for later consumption at home.

Toro is a relatively new region in Spanish wine; the DO (Denominacion de Origin) was created in 1987 with only a handful of wineries.  In the last 20 years, though, a number of producers have moved into the area, increasing the number to about 40.  The primary grape here is Tinto de Toro, which is the local name for Tempranillo.  Stylistically, the wines tend to be more New World in style than their brethren from other Spanish DO's, such as Rioja.

An example would be T Toro, of which I've just recently tried the 2006.  According to the importer, the wine comes from 50+ year old Tempranillo vines grown in a sandy soil.  Interestingly enough, the vines are all ungrafted vinefera, as the sandy soil helps to prevent phylloxera.  The wine is bottled under Stelvin, rather than cork, another indication of the progressiveness of the Toro winemakers.

The wine is an opaque purple, with a thin ruby rim.  A swirl and sniff shows the New World character of the wine immediately; there's a ton of fruit to smell, mainly blackberry and cherry.  Some spice notes, kind of like baking cinnamon.  Sipping shows lots of explosive, jammy fruit.  Lots of flavor here, with the spice moderated -- indeed, almost completely covered -- by the berries.  The wine feels a bit top heavy, with too much going on in the forepalate and not much at the end.  That being said, the finish is rather long, about 45 seconds of blackberry jam.  89 points.

Good example of an everyday wine -- it cost me $9 to buy a bottle -- that would pair off quite well with a number of meals.  Off the top of my head, I can think of gourmet burgers (especially with sauteed sweet onions), pork chops with apple sauce, and my father's pork tenderloin in honey Jack Daniels marinade all as being good pairings.