French Wines for Holiday Presents
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The idea of giving wine for the Holidays seems new, yet it is really not. After all, from time to time we’ve all taken a bottle of wine to present to a hostess. The more thought you put into the present, bearing in mind the tastes of the recipient, the more successful the gift. That is as true with wines as with other presents. So choose carefully, and give the matter some thought. There is no reason not to give wine for Holiday presents. Unlike another sweater, you can be sure that a well-chosen wine present isn’t going to languish in a drawer. It will be drunk, with good thoughts about the donor if you’ve given the matter some consideration.
It is of course a jungle out there, in wine retail land. Good wines have continued to climb in price, some outrageously so. And as wine systems proliferate around scores and charts, something is often lost, and that something is individual preference and taste. So let’s try and suggest some wines for Christmas giving, at various prices. I promise, there won’t be a scorecard in sight!
Starting with the classic situation of a present for the hostess, try something out of the ordinary. For an elegant touch, I’d suggest a bottle of nonvintage French champagne. For around $28 a bottle, you have a rich selection, and who knows, you may be invited back for New Year’s Eve to enjoy the bottle! The choices run from Taittinger “La Francaise” on the light side, to the more substantial Pol Roger or Bollinger.
Do you have $100 to spend on your wine Christmas present? Here are two options. Wines by the case or half case say that you value the recipient. I keep hinting for a mixed case of Georges Duboeuf Domaines Beaujolais ($110). Just pick out the wines with your retailer. A dozen fine summer wines will be greatly appreciated when it’s barbecue season again. Or, for the same money, you might try just two superb bottles of wine, a red and a white. It is fun making these choices, particularly when you consider that top Bordeaux and Burgundy wines now can easily top $400 a bottle. How to find two superb wines for $100? I suggest two Burgundies. My choices would be a 2000 Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret Clos de Vougeot grand cru ($60), and a 2001 Domaine William Fevre Chablis Les Clos grand cru ($39). The Domaine William Fevre, always a leader in quality chablis, has in recent years altered its production method to deemphasize the use of oak barrels. The result is a leaner wine that better displays the qualities of the best chablis.
One traditional way to cushion yourself from wine price shock is to buy the wine as a future. Many wine retailers now offer this service. You buy the wine in advance, having read what is available about the vintage and the wine regions, and you take delivery a year or so later. By that time, if the vintage has lived up to its promise, it will probably cost much more than you paid for it,. Also, by giving a futures certificate, you give present pleasure and future anticipation, while saving the strain of lifting the case of wine yourself!
Any of the following wines from the futures list are good quality, at prices more reasonable than usual. The reason is that they follow the excellent 2000 crop, so suffer by the comparison. That does not mean that they are not fine wines. And when they arrive in a year or two, their retail prices will probably have risen. I have listed half-case prices, and full cases are proportionately somewhat less. Give three bottles each (one full case of 12 bottles) as a Christmas present, and when the futures order arrives, keep the other mixed case for your own enjoyment. My thought was that you could put together samples from each of the four main classified regions of the Medoc, and enjoy comparing them as the years passed. My candidates would be Chateau Calon Segur from St. Estephe ($156), Chateau Pontet Canet from Pauillac ($177), Chateau D’Issan from Margaux ($156), and Chateau Langoa Barton from St. Julien ($156). Each of these wines forms part of the 1855 Classification, and would be a solid basis for your taste comparisons when you take that overdue tasting trip to Bordeaux.
Why not mix your own case of red Burgundy or red Bordeaux? It’s quite a challenge to come up with good wines in today’s inflated market, but it can be done. Here are my suggestions. The Bordeaux costs $325 before taxes, and the Burgundy $464, and each contains wines from the major celebrated regions of the appellation. As a bonus, I have chosen only Bordeaux wines from the excellent 2000 vintage, and many Burgundy wines from the fine 1999 vintage. Your own retailer will not have every wine, of course. But that shouldn’t stop you from consulting him or her, saying that you want to buy a case of nice wine from a certain region, and specify your budget. The result will surely please the recipient as a thoughtful gift.
Here are some suggestions for a mixed case of Bordeaux: Chateau Poujeaux from Moulis en Medoc ($23); Chateau Carbonnieux red ($25) and white ($21) from the Graves; Chateau Prieure Lichine from Margaux ($36); Chateau Haut Marbuzet from St. Estephe ($35); Clos du Marquis, the second wine of Chateau Leoville Las Cases from St. Julien ($33); Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse from Pauillac ($28); Chateau Grand Corbin D’Espagne from St. Emilion ($28); Chateau Potensac from the Medoc ($18); Chateau La Croix de Gay from Pomerol ($36): Chateau Canon from Canon Fronsac (($17); and Chateau Cantemerle fom the Haut-Medoc ($27).
My mixed case of red Burgundy might include the following: 1999 Gevrey-Chambertin “Estournelles St. Jacques” Louis Jadot ($50); 1999 Nuits St. Georges “Chenes Cartaux” Henri Gouges ($40); 1999 Nuits St. Georges “Clos de la Marechale” Faiveley ($40); 2001 Nuits St. Georges “Vielles Vignes” Bertrand…
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The idea of giving wine for the Holidays seems new, yet it is really not. After all, from time to time we’ve all taken a bottle of wine to present to a hostess. The more thought you put into the present, bearing in mind the tastes of the recipient, the more successful the gift. That is as true with wines as with other presents. So choose carefully, and give the matter some thought. There is no reason not to give wine for Holiday presents. Unlike another sweater, you can be sure that a well-chosen wine present isn’t going to languish in a drawer. It will be drunk, with good thoughts about the donor if you’ve given the matter some consideration.
It is of course a jungle out there, in wine retail land. Good wines have continued to climb in price, some outrageously so. And as wine systems proliferate around scores and charts, something is often lost, and that something is individual preference and taste. So let’s try and suggest some wines for Christmas giving, at various prices. I promise, there won’t be a scorecard in sight!
Starting with the classic situation of a present for the hostess, try something out of the ordinary. For an elegant touch, I’d suggest a bottle of nonvintage French champagne. For around $28 a bottle, you have a rich selection, and who knows, you may be invited back for New Year’s Eve to enjoy the bottle! The choices run from Taittinger “La Francaise” on the light side, to the more substantial Pol Roger or Bollinger.
Do you have $100 to spend on your wine Christmas present? Here are two options. Wines by the case or half case say that you value the recipient. I keep hinting for a mixed case of Georges Duboeuf Domaines Beaujolais ($110). Just pick out the wines with your retailer. A dozen fine summer wines will be greatly appreciated when it’s barbecue season again. Or, for the same money, you might try just two superb bottles of wine, a red and a white. It is fun making these choices, particularly when you consider that top Bordeaux and Burgundy wines now can easily top $400 a bottle. How to find two superb wines for $100? I suggest two Burgundies. My choices would be a 2000 Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret Clos de Vougeot grand cru ($60), and a 2001 Domaine William Fevre Chablis Les Clos grand cru ($39). The Domaine William Fevre, always a leader in quality chablis, has in recent years altered its production method to deemphasize the use of oak barrels. The result is a leaner wine that better displays the qualities of the best chablis.
One traditional way to cushion yourself from wine price shock is to buy the wine as a future. Many wine retailers now offer this service. You buy the wine in advance, having read what is available about the vintage and the wine regions, and you take delivery a year or so later. By that time, if the vintage has lived up to its promise, it will probably cost much more than you paid for it,. Also, by giving a futures certificate, you give present pleasure and future anticipation, while saving the strain of lifting the case of wine yourself!
Any of the following wines from the futures list are good quality, at prices more reasonable than usual. The reason is that they follow the excellent 2000 crop, so suffer by the comparison. That does not mean that they are not fine wines. And when they arrive in a year or two, their retail prices will probably have risen. I have listed half-case prices, and full cases are proportionately somewhat less. Give three bottles each (one full case of 12 bottles) as a Christmas present, and when the futures order arrives, keep the other mixed case for your own enjoyment. My thought was that you could put together samples from each of the four main classified regions of the Medoc, and enjoy comparing them as the years passed. My candidates would be Chateau Calon Segur from St. Estephe ($156), Chateau Pontet Canet from Pauillac ($177), Chateau D’Issan from Margaux ($156), and Chateau Langoa Barton from St. Julien ($156). Each of these wines forms part of the 1855 Classification, and would be a solid basis for your taste comparisons when you take that overdue tasting trip to Bordeaux.
Why not mix your own case of red Burgundy or red Bordeaux? It’s quite a challenge to come up with good wines in today’s inflated market, but it can be done. Here are my suggestions. The Bordeaux costs $325 before taxes, and the Burgundy $464, and each contains wines from the major celebrated regions of the appellation. As a bonus, I have chosen only Bordeaux wines from the excellent 2000 vintage, and many Burgundy wines from the fine 1999 vintage. Your own retailer will not have every wine, of course. But that shouldn’t stop you from consulting him or her, saying that you want to buy a case of nice wine from a certain region, and specify your budget. The result will surely please the recipient as a thoughtful gift.
Here are some suggestions for a mixed case of Bordeaux: Chateau Poujeaux from Moulis en Medoc ($23); Chateau Carbonnieux red ($25) and white ($21) from the Graves; Chateau Prieure Lichine from Margaux ($36); Chateau Haut Marbuzet from St. Estephe ($35); Clos du Marquis, the second wine of Chateau Leoville Las Cases from St. Julien ($33); Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse from Pauillac ($28); Chateau Grand Corbin D’Espagne from St. Emilion ($28); Chateau Potensac from the Medoc ($18); Chateau La Croix de Gay from Pomerol ($36): Chateau Canon from Canon Fronsac (($17); and Chateau Cantemerle fom the Haut-Medoc ($27).
My mixed case of red Burgundy might include the following: 1999 Gevrey-Chambertin “Estournelles St. Jacques” Louis Jadot ($50); 1999 Nuits St. Georges “Chenes Cartaux” Henri Gouges ($40); 1999 Nuits St. Georges “Clos de la Marechale” Faiveley ($40); 2001 Nuits St. Georges “Vielles Vignes” Bertrand Ambrose ($35); 2000 Nuits St. Georges “Rue des Chaux” Bertrand Ambrose ($40); 2000 Chambolle-Musigny “Ier Cru” Jean Jacques Confuron ($40); 1999 Echezeaux Mongeard-Mugneret ($49); 1998 Vosne-Romanee Jadot ($30); 2001 Vougeot “Les Cras” Bertrand Ambrose ($45); 2001 Morey-St. Denis Lechenaut ($35); 1999 Santenay Muzard “Tavannes” ($25), and a 1999 Volnay Potel “Vieilles Vignes” ($35).
This year, why not surprise some lucky someone with a gift basket of half a dozen bottles of wine? Here are some suggestions, for $50, $125, and $250. You supply the basket.
$50 Christmas Wine Basket
2002 Muscadet La Quilla ($7); 2002 Lafond Tavel rose ($10); 2002 Adam Pinot Blanc ($9); 2001 Moncoutour Vouvray ($10); 1999 Clos la Coutale Cahors ($11); 2000 Chateau Campuget Costieres de Nimes ($6). This wine six-pack offers great variety and value. It includes a flavorful Loire Valley white, a good rose from a celebrated producer, a quality Alsatian white wine, a Loire Valley Vouvray, a hearty red Cahors, and a country wine from the area of Nimes, just right to go with beef stew on a cold winter evening.
$125 Christmas White Wine Basket
2000 Hugel Gewurztraminer ($17); 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieux Donjon white ($22); 2001 Chateau Carbonnieux white ($21); 1998 Chateau Doisy Vedrines half bottle ($17); 2001 William Fevre “Fourchaume” Chablis ($25), and a nonvintage Piper-Heidsieck brut champagne ($24). These are all of excellent quality, representing different wine regions of France: Alsace, Chateauneuf du Pape, Bordeaux, Sauternes, Chablis, and Champagne.
$250 Christmas Wine Basket
1999 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape ($40); 1998 Chateau Doisy Vedrines Sauternes ($30); 1999 Chateau Pontet Canet Pauillac ($30); Taittinger Champagne Brut Millesime 1996 ($50); 1999 Jadot “Estournelles St. Jacques” Gevrey Chambertin ($50); 2000 Bouchard Meursault premier cru “Les Genevrieres” ($50). For those wine fanciers who have been very, very good. We know who we are.
Merry Christmas to all!
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Bill Shepard is Bonjour Paris’s wine editor, and the author of Shepard’s Guide to Mastering French Wines: Taste Is for Wine: Points Are for Ping Pong.
Bill Shepard is Bonjour Paris’s wine editor, and the author of Shepard’s Guide to Mastering French Wines: Taste Is for Wine: Points Are for Ping Pong.
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