December 2008 Wine Club Selections

Bubbles and Spice to Make the Holidays Nice Now that the holidays are upon us, and the weather has that bitter chill, our drinking preferences are shifting. A festive note is in the air, and for that we call for bubbly in place of still white wines. Any kind will do for celebrations big and small, but France and Italy are my favorite go-to's for a good, dry sparkler. And when it comes to reds, we're done with the light stuff for now. Rather, this time of year calls for something dark, spicy, rich...just the ticket for curling up next to a crackling fire or for sipping over a dinner of roasted meats and hearty casseroles. For that, we turn to dark California Cabernets and spicy blends with grapes like Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Cabernet Franc, and Tempranillo. This month is all about wines for celebrating, but it need not be "the big hurrah" to warrant one of these wines. Perhaps these are the reds you'll take to the big holiday meal with extended family, or the sparklers you'll toast with in the first minutes of the New Year. Or maybe they're the wines you'll open for a quieter celebration: the night you cut down the tree and need something to warm up with, or the first evening when your house is finally yours again after an extended visit. Whenever you choose to open them, we hope these bottles of bubbles and spice find you in good health and happiness.

Coste Petrai Prosecco NV Grape variety: Prosecco Region: Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, Italy Food pairing: Italian Cheese Board: Pecorino Romano, Ricotta Salata, and Burrata When it comes to celebrations, there's nothing like hearing the light "pop" of a bottle of bubbly. But let's face it; sometimes we want to celebrate without the French Champagne price tag. What we love about Prosecco is its versatility; it can serve as a graceful "welcome to our party" aperitif, an ingredient in festive brunch cocktails like mimosas or bellinis, or as a perfect bottle for two to pop when the rest of the family has finally left! You just can't open a bottle of Prosecco without feeling festive. This is one of our favorite Italian sparklers from the viticultural areas of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. The bubbles dance on the line between delicate and vivacious, with a creamy mouthfeel, floral aromas, and a little honeyed-pear and citrus on the palate. Not so sweet as an sparkling Moscato, but not quite so dry as Brut Cava or Champagne, Prosecco is a celebratory bubbly for anyone and everyone. 2005 Bodegas Enguera Angelical Grape variety: Syrah, Monastrell and Tempranillo Region: Valencia, Spain Food pairing: Jamon Serrano or Jamon Iberico (quality cured hams from Spain) When it comes time to find a delightfully spicy yet smooth Spanish red wine, this is exactly what we like to see. A small, budding producer working with a small, quality-minded importer to bring in exceptionally unique wines like Enguera Angelical. A blend of Syrah, Monastrell, and Tempranillo from the province of Valencia, this wine combines all the necessary elements to make a wine that has one foot in tradition and one foot in modernity. Tempranillo, the star grape of Rioja, lends tannic structure and strawberry aromas, while the Monastrell partners a dark spiciness and Syrah, native to France, walks the line between the two and adds both berry flavors and a hint of peppery spice. Altogether, the grapes form perfect harmony and superb complexity for a wine at this price level. It's dark, it's richly perfumed, it's spicy, and it's incredibly easy to drink with roasted meats, spicy tapas, or on its own, curled up with a blanket and a book, just as we'd all like to be at this time of year.

Lucien Albrecht Cremant d'Alsace Brut Rose NV Grape variety: Pinot Noir Region: Alsace, France Food pairing: Potato Latkes with Smoked Salmon, Crème Fraîche, and American Caviar Technically, this is not a white wine. I'm aware that in actuality, it's a dry sparkling rosé made by an Alsatian white wine producer who has a talent for turning the light red Pinot Noir grapes into an effervescently refreshing celebratory drink. So I hope you'll forgive me for technically sending you red grapes that drink like white this month. As a matter of fact, many sparkling wine drinkers are unaware that a good deal of Champagne and other pink or white-to-the-eye French Cremants are really made from a combination of red and white grapes. Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are among the most commonly used, often rounded out by Chardonnay. Only Blanc de Blancs are made entirely of white (usually Chardonnay) grapes. But the folks at Lucien Albrecht know that the delicate Pinot Noir grape lends itself to a beautifully creamy quaff with delicate strawberry flavors and a crisp, refreshing finish. 2004 Go Figure Cabernet Sauvignon Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon Region: Napa Valley, California Food pairing: Brisket with Caramelized Onions Thanks to Gary's great connections in wine country, this summer we unveiled his own GF line of wines. For the Go Figure series, we've begun sourcing wines crafted by the industry-leading winemakers who had a little extra left over from their own bottling. The result is stellar wine hand-selected by Gary and sold to our friends at a significantly lower price than at the winery itself. The first red Go Figure bottling HAD to be a Napa Cabernet that over-delivers on quality for the price. Though we like to keep a little mystery shrouding who made it, this wine hails from a very well-respected winery along the SILVERADO TRAIL. (Ahem.) Sourced from Cabernet vines in Stags Leap, Miller Ranch, and Mount George vineyards, this dark ruby wine exhibits a high-toned bouquet of black fruits, smoke, coffe and a hint of mocha. A very opulent mouthfeel gives way to intense flavors of dark cherries, ripe plums, kirsch and a dollop of Tahitian vanilla bean.

2005 Les Copains James Berry Vineyard Blend Grape Variety: Grenache, Mourvedre Region: Paso Robles, California Food pairing: Cassoulet I always wonder why I don't hear wine lovers, particularly those who are die-hard Cab fanatics, talk about Grenache and Mourvedre more. True, they don't have the same widespread recognition and caché as Cali Cab. But when it's time to curl up next to a fire with a spicy, rich red wine, I just can't think of anything better than a Grenache-Mourvedre blend. Often, Grenache and Mourvedre can become so ripe and jammy that they grow, well, a little syrupy and flabby. But the grapes for this 50/50 blend are expertly grown on limestone soils that inhibit potassium absorption into the fruit which raises the pH in the finished wine. This allows for ripe flavors but keeps the wine from becoming too sappy by lending sound acidity. It's the same kind of soil profile found in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, where balanced spicy blends are king. The final result is a bottle full of pure raspberry flavors from the Grenache and cigar box and leather nuances from the Mourvedre. Beat that, Cali Cab! 2006 Chiarello Family Vineyards Bambino Cabernet Sauvignon Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon Region: Napa Valley, California Food pairing: Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola on Toast Points You may know Michael Chiarello as the entertaining guru from the Food Network and PBS, or from his Napa Style store and catalog, or from his many cookbooks and entertaining books. (He's a kinda busy guy.) But we know him as the guy who started a great vineyard project at just the right time, and enlisted talented winemaker Thomas Brown (also of Schraeder, Nicolson Ranch, and Outpost) to craft some of the most elegantly styled and food-friendly Cabernets and Zinfandels available at this price level. His Bambino Cabernet is available through very few outlets outside his own tasting room, but we managed to get some for our club members and best customers. A beautifully crafted Cabernet from a single vineyard on the Chiarello estate, it carries just-ripened black fruits and wild raspberries, a lightly spicy clove and celery seed aroma, and a lovely caramel finish.

2005 Hewitt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon Region: Rutherford, Napa Valley, California Food pairing: Braised Short Ribs over Polenta Winemaker Tom Rinaldi has more creativity coursing through his veins than he knows what to do with. A US Navy air crewman turned veterinarian/glider pilot, he finally realized that his true passion was winemaking, particularly Cabernet and Merlot. After stints at Freemark Abbey, Rutherford Hill and Round Hill, he helped found Duckhorn winery and made wine there for two decades, to the acclaim of wine critics. But after helping that winery become so well-established, he was itching to start from scratch all over again. The owners of the Hewitt Vineyard came along at just the right time. The real selling point of this job was the chance to work with (Cabernet) fruit from Hewitt Vineyard. Look, I've been given a blank canvas, the greatest paint box in the world to work with, and the artistic freedom to put my experience to good use. What could be more fun? Oh, I don't know. Drinking this intense, deep cherry, clove and cedar-spiced wine, perhaps? (94 Wine Spectator) GF Grand Finale "Grand Garage" Page Cellars MV Grape Variety: Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec Region: Napa Valley, California Food pairing: Standing Rib Roast, or on its own It's always been Gary's belief that the wine business is not just about moving volume. It's about enjoying life, enjoying wine, and enjoying the company of friends. Otherwise, we might as well be selling carburetors. After 30 years in the wine business, Gary decided he'd like to begin to share the same camaraderie he's developed with the winemakers he's met along the way with his other friends, our most loyal customers. Thus, the GF Private Label project was born with the philosophy that there's always an extra barrel or two available for a friend. For the flagship Grand Finale series, we've begun sourcing single barrels of ultra-premium wine as a "thank you" to our very best customers. We've worked directly with the winemakers to craft these wines, traveled extensively to check up on them as they develop into truly one-of-a-kind bottlings. You will not, cannot, find these wines anywhere else. They're just for us. And as such, we think they're a fitting Grand Finale to any special occasion. We were thrilled to work on our very first Grand Finale bottling with Garage-Winemaker-Extraordinaire Bryan Page. The aptly-named "Grand Garage" is an adaptation of a wine that Page made for the Premiere Napa Valley Auction 2007, which he titled "Touts Dans Le Garage," (everything in the garage). Inspired by Bordeaux's Right Bank, the blend is roughly 60% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot and 10% Malbec. And in a truly Californian devil-may-care style, Page chose to use the best barrels of each varietal from 2003-2006. A multi-vintage blend? Oh yes. And wait until you taste how it turned out. Individually selected lots were cold-fermented and aged in New French oak for an average of 20 months. The wine carries bold, deep garnet hue, brooding dark fruits, leading to a complex, concentrated palate. Balanced flavors and acidity. In Page's words, "the wine recognizes its lineage to Bordeaux but pays homage to Napa where it was created." In our words, France has never seen a concoction like this!