Holiday Wines 2007

Christmas. Let’s begin with Christmas dinner. Here, Dickens meets Escoffier! You want plenty to serve, and good quality without breaking the budget. For starters, you might offer a real treat, a 2005 William Fevre Chablis “Les Champs Royaux” ($16.79). This wine is a careful blend of excellent Chablis vineyards, not first growth but well selected, for quality and value, as Fevre himself told us durng our visit to Chablis. Starting the dinner with a glass of real Chablis will set a flavorful tone for a memorable dinner.

      If you have game, or a traditional goose, a robust Rhone wine or a Chateauneuf du Pape would be a fine choice. We have had several years of fine vintages, including 1998, 2000 and 2001.  (Avoid 2002 in Chateauneuf – too much rain diluted the grapes.) The 2004 vintage is good, and the 2005 vintage is said to be exceptional. That means that if you look carefully, you may find sales on the earlier vintages, as wine dealers make room on their shelves for the 2005 vintage. These wines are rounded, with fresh berry flavors. They are festive, and informal at the same time. The 2005 vintage will taste fine in future years, and you can enjoy the earlier vintages right now.

      Why not spring for a magnum? This double bottle format is always festive, and your dinner guests will appreciate your generous hospitality. They are getting scarcer, but you may still find a magnum of 2000 Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape for $79.99, or you may wish to try a bottle of Bosquet des Papes’ prestige label 2000 Chante le Merle, which I think is delicious now, for $39.99. Meanwhile, lay down some 2005 Vieux Donjon for future enjoyment at $44.99. Try some white Chateauneuf du Pape as well, which not everyone has even tasted. It ages very well, and would be a compliment to your guests. The 2004 Font de Michelle white Chateauneuf du Pape retails for $31.99.

      Should you prefer a Rhone, the 2005 Saint Joseph Tunnel can be found at $25.90. And if you wish to serve a classic red Burgundy, I am afraid that these fine wines have now been discovered, with their prices rising accordingly. The good news is that fine producers are increasingly also bottling village appellations. They are good values given the care with which they are made. Try Jadot’s 2005 Nuits St. Georges ($35.99), or Rene Leclerc’s Gevrey Chambertin ($39.99). And do look for earlier vintages, that might be on sale.

      New Year’s Day. For New Year’s Day dinner, with the traditional roast beef,  you have quite a choice, but increasingly, an expensive choice. Going through the holiday season at retail rates for fine wine might just be the best reason for you to make a New Year’s Resolution. This is the year that you are going to start a wine cellar! The sooner you start, the more mature wines you will have to drink in the future. It certainly beats trying to buy mature wines, if they are available at all, a bottle at a time at very high prices.

      Let’s choose a fine Bordeaux, the traditional wine for roast beef. The prices also keep rising, but with care, you can find well regarded wines that will complement the dinner – and compliment your hostess! I’ve selected one wine from each of the major of the Medoc and the Graves. Just choose  wine from your favorite region, or try a new one for the holidays!

      In St. Estephe, you might have a 2000 Chateau Meyney for $32.99. This cru bourgeois is well made, and the grapes are raised on a scenic plateau overlooking the Gironde. I think the only reason that Chateau Meyney is not a classified wine is that the estate didn’t exist when the celebrated 1855 classification was made. In Pauillac, a relative bargain would be a bottle of 2004 Reserve Comtesse de Lalande, the second wine of Chateau Pichon Longuevlle, Comtesse de Lalande, for $35.99. From St. Julien, you might well chose a 2001 Chateau Leoville Poyferre for $44.99. (Or spring for a magnum of Chateau Calon Segur 2001 at $99. I know that is pricey, but finding a magnum of classified Bordeaux fom a good year for under $100 is an event.)

      For Margaux, Chateau Malescot St. Exupery, from the 2002 vintage, is $44.99. (This, by the way, is the wine that guests at a Capitol Hill garden party were enjoying when a robber appeared. According to the Washington Post account, the robber was so pleased when he was given a glass of this wine, that he decided not to rob the guests after all! Save on insurance by buying fine wine?) My own holiday dinner choice was from the Graves, a 2001 La Chapelle de la Mission, the second wine from the great Chateau La Mission Haut Brion, a good buy at $34.99.

 Let’s not forget the Sauternes. A little goes a long way, and we usually open a bottle for Thanksgiving to have with those three desserts. Then the bottle will often last through the holiday season. This year you can try a 2001 Raaud Promis for $31.99. The 2001 vintage is an exceptional one in the Sauternes region. Should you wish to just try Sauternes perhaps for the first time, a half bottle may be a better idea. A high point of your dinner would be a half bottle of 2003 Chateau Suduiraut at $32.49.  This is one of the finest Sauternes from a great estate, smooth and unctuous. It is often served at the Elysee Palace, at official state dinners in France. Try it with some mild cheeses and a tray of fruit, apples and grapes for example.

      For Christmas giving, wine is a thoughtful gift, and a distinctive one. This year, why not surprise some lucky someone with a gift basket of  five or six bottles of wine? Here are some suggestions, for $50, $100, and $250. You supply the basket, and tuck in a copy of my wine book, Shepard’s Guide to Mastering French Wines, for the gift that keeps on giving!

          $50 Christmas Wine Basket

          2005 Domaine Grand Veneur Cotes du Rhone rouge ($11); 2006 Muscadet La Quilla ($8); Haut Sociondo Cotes de Blaye 2005 ($10); William Fevre 2005 Chablis “Les Champs Royaux” ($17); Rose de Bourbon 2006 ($8). This gives you a robust red Rhone, a dry Loire Valley white wine, a quality introduction to Chablis, a reliable red wine and a refreshing rose wine from the Medoc region of Bordeaux.

          $100 Christmas Wine Basket

          2004 Hugel Gewurztraminer ($18); Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne NV ($27); 2005  Vaufuget Vouvray ($9);  2002 Doisy Vedrines half bottle ($17); 2003 Brunel Chateauneuf du Pape ($27). Here we have a fine Alsatian wine, a distinctive champagne for the holidays, a fine Chateauneuf du Pape,  a half bottle of savory Sauternes, and an enjoyable semisweet white wine from the Loire Valley.

          $250 Christmas Wine Basket

          2000 Bosquet des Papes Chante le Merle Vieilles Vignes ($40); 2003 half bottle Chateau Doisy Daene Sauternes ($25); 2001 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut Brion ($35); Taittinger Champagne Brut Millesime 1999 ($60); 2005 Savigny Les Beaune Girard Artur (Hospices de Beaune) ($40); 2004 Latour “Folatieres” Puligny Montrachet  ($50). For those wine fanciers who have been very, very  good. We know who we are!