Holiday Wine Round Up
It’s a new year and time for a new wine round up of those sampled over the holidays. This time I tried 18 wines in the $10 to $125 range from California, Chile, Italy and Spain. Half of them made my list, which excluded some high priced samples:
Whites:
Italy
NV Mionetto Brut Prosecco – the quintessential, easy to drink brunch wine. Priced at $14, this sparkling wine had notes of green apple, pear, citrus and peach.
2012 Rocca Sveva Soave Classico ($17) – I liked this wine, but I think it needs to be paired with Italian food. I got lots of tropical fruit, melon, apple and floral notes.
Spain
2012 Franco Espanolas Royal White Rioja ($10) – lots of lemon curd, citrus and green apple. This was a nice aperitif wine that begged for shellfish.
Reds:
California
2011 90+ Cellars Pinot Noir ($16) – a very drinkable wine with black cherry, strawberry, vanilla and earth. This is a wine club that sources wines from around the world delivered at an “everyday wine” price point.
2010 Wolfgang Puck Red Wine Blend ($14.99) – when a master chef puts his name on a bottle of wine, you know it will be very food friendly. You taste the berry in the Merlot, followed by the black fruit in the Cabernet, and then finish with the spice of the Zinfandel. I’d pair this with beef tenderloin.
Holiday Wine Round Up
Chile
2009 Viña Concha y Toro Don Melchor ($125) – this lived up to its billing as Chile’s first ultra-premium wine. Cassis, berry, tobacco and chocolate notes are showcased in this very well balanced special occasion wine.
Spain:
2009 Franco Espanolas Rioja Bordon Crianza ($13) – a great value wine with notes of cherry, herb, wood, spice and chocolate.
2007 Franco Espanolas Rioja Bordon Crianza ($15) – notes of cherry, rosemary, basil, and tomato plant – this made me crave a margarita pizza.
I’m also going to give a special shout out to one wine that blew me away from the Guarachi Family. Guarachi, which was previously unknown to me, sources small parcel lots from top vineyards in Napa and Sonoma and makes Cabernet and Pinot Noir. The winery was launched by Alex Guarachi, a native of Chile and importer of South American wines. The winery just purchased Sun Chase Vineyard in Sonoma and if this wine is any indication of what is to come, I’m beyond excited.
2011 Guarachi Family Wines Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast ($65) – this was full of red berries, cherry, floral, earth and cherry cola. I loved this wine.
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