Holiday Wines to Gift (or Keep) This Season
Christmas week has come at last! Everyone is tying up loose ends, picking up last minute gifts, and planning the holiday feast. If choosing outstanding holiday wines is on your to-do list, I’ve got some recommendations I think you’re going to love with food pairings to boot.
The best gifts tell a story
In this article, I’ll tell you what I know about the people and places behind the bottles and why I think they are special and worth sharing. Perhaps their stories will remind you of someone in your life who would appreciate them, too.
The list is all about international flavors in classic styles that pair with favorite holiday dishes and are sure to impress even your pickiest relatives. If your family isn’t super into wine, give yourself permission to save wines like these for a mellow night with someone special after the holiday madness subsides.
Our global adventure begins with a remarkable English bubbly followed by a pair of unexpected whites. We move into reds with classics from Italy, France, and Napa Valley. As always, the wines I’ve selected are sustainably produced by dedicated people in remarkable locations.
If you feed your memory bank by sharing tables with people you love, then a wine splurge is a worthy investment for you. Wine is about exchanging energy, culture, history, food, and so on. If is touches you, treat yourself and share it with those around you.
Don’t forget to treat yourself this holiday
The wines in this lineup are more expensive than what I usually suggest. I want to address this because, 1) I know that a lot of money goes into the holiday season, and 2) I fully believe you can get outstanding wines for less than $25 a bottle for daily enjoyment.
When you consider the price of wine, it’s important to understand what you’re paying for. The process of growing the grapes and producing the wines on this list is labor intensive and expensive to do and the pricing reflects that. There are many cases in the wine world where a bottle is expensive because of the packaging or brand name. I don’t encourage you to buy such wines. I think your dollars are better spent on the juice, not an etched bottle that weighs ten pounds empty.
Think about it this way: we don’t react the same way to a $70 bottle in a restaurant. In a retail shop, it’s a splurge. If you’re dining at home this holiday, bring that restaurant mentality to your own table. You’re worth it.
Need some less pricey rec’s? Check out my post 8 Wines To Try This Fall from The Wine Ship’s sister company, Real Estate Somm! All wines are holiday-ready and you’ll find both steals and splurges .
So, have you been naughty or nice in 2022? Is it a lump of coal or a glass of something far better you’ve earned this year? I hope it’s the latter because you don’t want to miss a single one of these beautiful wines.
Holiday Wines to Keep (or Gift) This Season
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Gusbourne Brut Reserve 2018 | Kent, England | $65 +/-
As our planet grows increasingly warm, regions unsuitable for grape growing in the past see new opportunities to produce remarkable wines. Among these is Kent, England where we find Gusbourne Estate.
Located southeast of London, the area is a short distance across the English Channel from Calais, France. The chalk limestone soils that make up the coastline of the famed White Cliffs of Dover have much in common with the terroir of Champagne.
Gusbourne was named for John de Goosebourne, who owned the property back in 1410. In 2004, the winery’s founder, Dr. Andrew Weeber, planted the first vines with a mission to produce sparkling wines to rival the finest of Champagne.
Today, the winery produces wines made exclusively from the classic Champagne varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier using the méthode traditionnelle. All the wines are vintage-specific and are made from grapes grown on the estate. The vines are primarily clones from Burgundy, France and were selected for their intensity of flavor and suitability for the estate’s warm maritime microclimate.
From vineyard to winery, the fruit is treated with the care essential to making low intervention wines. After hand-picking the grapes, the juice is pressed gently in whole bunches and fermented at cold temperatures in stainless steel, French oak barrel, or a combination of both. In the cellar, the bottles are stacked by hand for at least 24 months of aging on the fine lees, or dead yeast cells. After disgorgement, they are aged in bottle for additional time.
Learn more about Gusbourne here
The 2018 Brut wine has a bright golden hue with red fruit aromas and the notes of brioche and pastry we demand from any bottle we put up against Champagne. In the blend, Chardonnay acts as the structural backbone, Pinot Noir provides body and depth, and Pinot Meunier adds subtle floral and berry fruit flavors.
Holiday Food Pairing: Deviled Eggs Topped with Lobster and Caviar
Left Coast Cellars Estate White Pinot Noir 2019 | Willamette Valley, Oregon | $25 +/-
Most wine lovers have tasted a classic Pinot Noir from France or Oregon, but have you tried a white Pinot Noir?! Whether you know it or not, there’s a good chance you’ve had a white wine from black grapes, or blanc de noir, already. In fact, the previous wine from Gusbourne is exactly that.
Without diving into a winemaking lesson, I’ll note that the juice inside most wine grapes is clear. The color in rosé, red, and orange wines comes from the juice spending time in contact with the grape skins. When a white wine is made from black grapes like Pinot Noir, the juice is pressed immediately after harvesting to prevent the color from bleeding into the liquid.
This family-owned and operated winery, founded in 2003, is a pioneer of this style of still wines in Oregon. Located just 37 miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Van Duzer AVA of the Willamette Valley, Left Coast Cellars continues to be a trailblazer in style and sustainability. The majority of their electrical needs are met by solar panels and the winery and vineyards are LIVE and Salmon Safe certified.
For an off-the-beaten-path bottle that is more than just a conversation starter, you’ve got to try this wine!
Composed of Pinot Noir with a touch of Pinot Meunier and Pinot Blanc, you’ll notice the slightest copper hue. It is remarkably complex with notes of bright citrus, pear, apricot, and pineapple. The fruit is crushed at extremely cold temperatures from minimal color extraction then fermented in stainless steel and aged in contact with its lees for 6 months, a process that adds body and complexity.
Read more about this wine here
I served this for a crowd this past weekend and the reaction all around was one of surprise and delight. People want to try it because it’s familiar, yet different. They loved it because it’s, well, delicious.
Holiday Food Pairing: Duck Confit Tartlets with Caramelized Red Onion, Balsamic, and Orange
Raúl Pérez Atalier ‘A Cruz das Ánimas’ 2021 | Rías Baixas, Spain | $35 +/-
If you enjoy Spanish wines but haven’t tasted one made by Raúl Pérez, you’re missing out. Known for his production of rich reds made from the Mencia grape in his native region of Bierzo, the Atalier project is an offshoot collaboration between Pérez and winemaker Rodri Méndez.
Crafted from 100% ungrafted old-vine Albariño, this is an opportunity to taste a rare style of wine made by a living legend in the industry. At Raúl’s behest, the grapes are harvested later than neighboring vineyards which allows the acids to soften, mitigating the need for malolactic conversion during the winemaking process.
‘A Cruz das Ánimas’, meaning the crossroads of souls, is a harmony of acid and saline notes typical in Albariño from this northwest coastal region of Spain. The wine offers rich, layered fruit flavors that are outstanding when paired with dishes from the sea or hard Spanish cheeses like Manchego.
The wine ferments in large, neutral French oak foudres which allow a bit of oxidation resulting in a soft, round texture to balance the racing acidity.
Learn more about the Albariño grape here
Holiday Food Pairing: “Almejas al Vino Blanco” Clams in White Wine
Vietti Barolo Castiglione 2017 | Piemonte, Italy | $65 +/-
Ahhhh, Nebbiolo. A grape variety I’m so fond of it’s hard to express in writing. As we transition into my red wine selections, this is where we begin. While it’s not to be mistaken for a light bodied red like Pinot Noir, this is the lightest of the three wines I’ve chosen for you.
Nebbiolo has characteristics that equate to the proverbial “fountain of youth” when we talk about wine: acid and tannin. The prevalence of both in the grape makes these some of the most age-worthy wines on earth.
The word “nebbia” means fog in Italian. The grapes are grown mid-slope in hillside vineyards where the fog settles in Piemonte, which translates to “the foot of the mountain” in northwestern Italy.
The Barolo region itself consists of five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village. The subregion the wine comes from can give you a hint about the style. Generally speaking, the wines from La Morra and Barolo are a bit easier going and more approachable early on.
Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba are typically more intense and brooding, requiring time in bottle to soften the intense tannin and acidity. Castiglione Falletto tends to fall in the middle and the style depends on the specific area within the region the fruit comes from.
The Vietti winery has roots tracing back to the 19th century. The family’s patriarch, Mario Vietti, made the first wines under the family name in 1919 and is credited with transitioning the family farm to a grape growing site and wine production facility. Since then, Vietti became one of the first in the region to export wine to the US market.
The family history is colorful with several characters following in Mario’s footsteps, trailblazing and introducing the world to the great wines of this very special part of the world.
This wine is made from fruit sourced from ten vineyard sites, each selected for its own unique characteristics. Each of the single vineyards are vinified and aged separately to maintain their uniqueness and then carefully blended to achieve the finished style.
After fermentation, the wine is aged for 30 months in French oak casks. Delicate nose of dried roses and violets, red cherry, baking spice, dried basil, and leather spring from the glass. The tannins are already integrated as I tasted it this past weekend (December 2022) but you could most definitely lay this vintage down for a few years and have it be well worth the wait.
Read more about this wine here
Holiday Food Pairing: Barolo-Braised Beef with Fall Veggies, Herbs, and Porcini
Château de Saint Cosme Gigondas 2017 | Rhône Valley, France | $65 +/-
The Southern Rhône region of Gigondas is known for its intense red and rosé wines based on the Grenache grape variety. You may have experienced wines from the neighboring region, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which produces similarly bold styles of red blends.
In Gigondas, red wines must consist of 50 to 100% Grenache with Syrah and Mourvèdre making up most of the remaining balance. This combination, known in shorthand as “GSM” blends, is a style synonymous with this region of France.
Wine has been made at Saint Cosme since Roman times and the estate is considered a benchmark of Gigondas. The winery has been managed by the Barruol family since 1570 and was one of the first in the region to adopt organic farming practices in the 1970s. In 2019, the vineyards and winery converted to biodynamic practices, furthering their commitment to sustainable viticulture.
This wine is made from 60-year-old vines that produce small, concentrated berries. In the glass, it’s a dark garnet color with a robust, earthy aroma and notes of black fruit, toasted wood, pepper, and smoke. The blend is 70% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, 14% Syrah, and 1% Cinsault.
Holiday Food Pairing: Bottom Round Roast with Green Peppercorn Red Wine Sauce
Robert Sinskey Vineyards ‘POV’ Red Wine 2015 | Napa Valley, California | $55 +/-
I confess, big wines from Napa aren’t really my jam. That said, I can certainly appreciate how remarkable the region is. Napa Valley is home to more diversity in microclimates and soil types than just about any other growing region of its size on earth. Real estate in Napa is beyond expensive and the cost of doing business in the valley is reflected in the price of the wines with the average bottle of Napa Cab fetching around $150.
If you’re like me and you appreciate the balance and finesse of old world wines, this one may become a new favorite for you, too.
Robert Sinskey Vineyards is a second-generation, family-owned, certified organic winery located just off the Silverado Trail. The award-winning tasting room offers a flight that’s actually reasonable at $65.00 per person – I’ll definitely be making a stop next time I’m in Napa!
Note: if that’s still too pricey for your blood, check out our Santa Barbara travel guide! Tastings there are more reasonably priced and the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and other wines are world class.
Sinskey takes organics and sustainability to the next level with practices they refer to as a “whole farm” approach. Based on the philosophies of biodynamic farming, the goal is to create biodiversity throughout the property by planting companion crops and supporting livestock and natural pollinators. The vineyards are also CCOF Certified.
Read more about their unique philosophy here
The 2015 vintage was made with fruit from RSV’s Vandal, Three Amigos, and OSR vineyards in Carneros, which straddles the border of Napa and Sonoma. This cool-climate region, famous for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, appears to be equally well-suited to stellar Bordeaux varieties.
In the winery, the aim is to leave the wines as pure as possible. Having taken such care in the vineyard, they focus on elegance and finesse. The 2015 is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon harvested in small, concentrated clusters for depth of flavor and intensity.
After fermentation, the wine rested for 19 months in 30% new French oak barrels before being blended and laid to rest in bottle for another two to three years before release.
The ‘15 is jam packed with flavor in the way I expect from Napa but with a softness brought on by the years in bottle and a well-maintained acidity thanks to the cool growing conditions and expert vineyard management.
In the glass, it’s inky dark with black and blue fruit aromas matched with earthen notes reminiscent of old world wines. The palate brings more dark fruit with flavors of plum, black cherry, spice, and dried herbs. Time has softened the tannins to a velvety texture and the finish is long lasting.
The blend changes each year as does the label photography. Every year, Sinskey captures three photographs on the property and a case consists of all three, each on four bottles. Although it’s a little late to order for holiday gifts this year, I’d say this is a case to keep in mind for a wine lover in your life.
Holiday Food Pairing: New York Strip Steak with Pomegranate, Cranberry, Balsamic, and Rosemary
A word on vintages
Some styles of wine are more impacted by vintage variation than others. The wines in this lineup are specialized, vintage-specific items that are expressive of time and place. I like to think of the bottles like a time capsule, each capturing the essence of the year. For many large-production commercial wines, consistency is extremely important to their brand. A person who loves Meiomi expects it to taste the same every time they drink it whether it’s from 2016 or 2020.
The wines on this list are alive. They change and evolve with time. It’s possible, even likely, that you won’t find the exact vintages I’ve noted here. Don’t panic! Do a little research or drop a comment below and I’ll help you determine if the wine is ready to uncork this year! If it’s not, I fully encourage you to pick up these bottles and cellar them for years to come. Tools like CellarTracker can help you navigate vintages and I’m always here and happy to help you out, too!
Happy Holidays!
I wish you all health, love, happiness, and outstanding wine this holiday season. Thank you for being a part of The Wine Ship story in 2022 and I look forward to serving you in 2023!
Cheers, Montana Rae and The Wine Ship Cru
