Well, here we are at year end and I have once again let the wine pile up, so let’s consider this one hell of a holiday celebration. This quarter (for the record, not by myself), I hosted a Halloween party, brought wine to the neighborhood holiday party, was the guest speaker at a Women Who Wine Executive Group, brought wine to numerous neighborhood parties as well as co-hosted a gathering with the Southern Methodist University MBA wine club. All in all, we went through about 95 wines and today I’m writing about my “special shout outs,” the crème de la crème – my 12 A list choices. The other 28 good ones will follow next week, but I thought a 40-wine line-up would give you, my readers, a blog hangover.
2009 Ferrari Perle Champagne – elegant, rich and beyond good. I tasted brioche, apple, citrus, stone fruit, almonds and French toast. This is made with Chardonnay grapes and is the personification of what makes Champagne, well, Champagne.
NV Champagne Bruno Paillard Premier Cuvee –this was a delicious compilation of more than 35 of 320 crus of Champagne. It was a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. I tasted lime, grapefruit, cassis, white stone fruits, raspberry with plum, almond and toasted bread.
2015 Gundlach Bundschu Gewürztraminer – A Gewürztraminer from Sonoma? Yes, you should. This delightfully dry wine that Jacob Gundlach brought from his homeland in Alsace. There are beautiful floral notes and minerality. I also love the fact that the winery pairs this hip hop music – a perfect match to old school Run DMC.
2015 Naissance Sauvignon Blanc – The Galerie collection was named Naissance, which is French for birth or beginning, to blend Old World and New World wines. You get an elegant blend of peach and tropical fruits, lemon zest, apple and great minerality. Such a great expression of Sauvignon Blanc.
2014 Byron La Encantada Vineyard Pinot Noir – this is a big, ripe, rich pinot with notes of blackberry, black cherry, flowers and terroir. It is complex and muscular, like my husband.
2014 Byron Pinot Noir Nielson Vineyard – I tasted blackberry, earth, herbs, spice and flowers. This was very elegant and aromatic.
2014 Byron Monument Pinot Noir – this is the blend of the best vineyard blocks. This was my favorite of the pinots with a pure elegance and notes of deep cherry, berry, licorice, Asian spice and floral notes.
2013 Flora Springs Holiday Kisses Red Blend – from the cool etched Mistletoe themed bottle to the great wine inside, this limited-edition Cabernet Sauvignon blended Napa wine, was a true gift. It had notes of blackberry, blueberry, chocolate, mocha, plum, vanilla and Christmas spice. A fantastic holiday themed gift both on the inside and out.
2012 Pleinair Napa Cabernet Sauvignon – this Galerie wine is named after the outdoor French painting method. I tasted blackberry, spice, flowers, Heath bar and mocha. It was silky and elegant – easy to drink today or would be even better with some bottle age.
2012 Cesari Amarone della Valpolicella – this was a big, traditional raisined Amarone that needed more time to open, but was clearly the crowd favorite of the tasting (and therefore did not have the time it needed to develop). I tasted red fruit, cherry and spice. For being so young, it was still elegant.
NV Proprietary Red CA Locations by Dave Phinney, which represents a blend of the best wines by region across the globe. This California blend is aromatic, flavorful and nuanced. I tasted black cherry, raspberry, cigar, blackberry pie, tobacco and black tea. It’s getting the least expensive wines of a well-known winemaker at a fraction of the price of his other wines.
NV Proprietary Red OR Locations by Dave Phinney – this was a blend of great grapes from Oregon. This was Thanksgiving in a glass with cherry, cranberry, pomegranate, floral notes and spices. This was such a lovely wine!
