Holiday Wines
It’s a Time to Celebrate!
Honestly, every day should be a time for celebration! Why not treat the advent of each day as something to raise a toast to? This writer’s motto is: Champagne is the beverage that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And even in between!
But we are talking about the Holiday Season are we not? The time when massive amounts of adult beverages are consumed, mostly in the name of celebrations, but also because: Why not? The New Year is right around the corner, and certain objectives of the abstemious kind will be in the offing. However, in the meantime indulge and enjoy! Once January 1st rolls around, you can look back and say: Wasn’t that fun? And then proudly proclaim that you’re not drinking for 30 or so days… a fun promise that few can withstand.
And the fun at this time of the year generally involves Champagne, or sparkling wine. But of course, there are many other options available, and it’s all based upon what you’re eating, where you are, whom you’re with, or simply, what you most enjoy. If we are discussing bubbly - that deliciously hedonistic, tongue-tingling, inhibition-loosening, effervescent and most indulgent beverage, then choose wisely.
As we all know, Champagne can only come from that specific corner just north-east of Paris. The Champenois are notorious (and rightfully so) guardians of the Champagne name. The amount of effort that goes into most Champagnes is pretty mind-boggling. Some houses still continue the tradition of hand riddling, where workers go through the cellars, hand turning each bottle and angling them slightly more upward every day until the bottle is almost vertical and the neck is filled with sediment. Then they dip that neck into iced water to freeze the sediment, uncork the bottle and as soon as the sediment is expelled, they top up the bottle with clear fresh bubble and then cork it, cage it, foil it, and get it ready to be shipped to the ultimate destination – your mouth!
Most people are familiar with the standard Champagnes – Veuve Cliquot, Moet et Chandon, Dom Pérignon, etc etc. But consider a Grower Champagne – essentially just grapes from that property, and nowhere else. The larger houses generally bring in juice from dozens if not hundreds of sources in the Champagne region, but Grower houses harvest their own grapes, and there is quite a marked difference between vintages. There are close to 16,000 vineyard holdings in the region, and only about 16% of this is Grower owned. The larger houses blend juice from so many places, and they know that the public is used to a certain flavor profile, so very often, even if it’s from a specific year, the master wine makers will craft a wine that has similar taste profiles from the past.
Some selections worth considering: Selosses, Pierre Peters, Gosset-Brabant, Geoffroy, André Jacquart and Pierre Bertrand.
It’s also winter time, and ergo colder in most places, which means out come the ports and Madeiras, and also Sherries for those cocktail parties. Sherry is a delightful beverage, and absolutely ideal as an aperitif, cleaning the palate before you indulge in that monster Christmas dinner. Sadly, Sherry does not get the recognition it deserves, but there are some fabulous offerings out there. If you’re choosing a dry Sherry, try the three typical styles ranging from dry to richer: Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso. My personal choices would be:
Valdespino Fino
Barbadillo Reliquia Amontillado
Osborne Solera Amontillado
Fernando de Castillo Singular Oloroso
The process of making Sherry is quite unique – I won’t go deep into it, but some Soleras can have wine in them that go back decades. It’s basically a pyramid system where wine trickles down from the top barrel to the bottom barrels, a kind of fractional process that allows for aging and the creation of truly great wines.
Madeira my dear! Four different styles, Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey, in order of lightest to sweetest, Madeira is a lush pre- or post-dinner beverage from the Madeira Islands just off the coast of North Africa. The wine is similar to Sherry or port in that it is fortified with a little brandy (Grappa), but Madeira wines are heated several times in the barrels to replicate the process that occurred during shipping when, as the boats passed through the tropics, the barrels would heat up and cool down numerous times, giving the wines a unique rich flavor. This process also allows for some Madeiras to age for decades and even centuries.
Look for the following producers for outstanding Madeiras:
Broadbent Selections
Justino’s
HM Borges
Blandy’s
Port! The Douro region of Spain is utterly gorgeous, and so are the wines! Port is the quintessential after-dinner drink (well so is brandy/Cognac, but we’re getting to that), and is also a fortified wine. As in Sherry and Madeira, the addition of a small amount of fortified wine toward the end of the fermentation process kills the active yeast cells and stops fermentation. There are white and red ports, with over 100 different grape varietals grown in the region. The ports most people know are: White, Ruby, Tawny, LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) and Vintage, though there are others styles that are harder to find.
Enjoy the White Port or even a Tawny before dinner. Tawny has been aged in oak barrels, and generally has a nutty flavor, not unlike a richer Amontillado Sherry sometimes. For this writer, there is very little finer that a classic Vintage Port, hopefully something going back at least 30+ years. The richness, complexity and suppleness come from the still-present and slow decomposition of grape solids in the bottle. This sediment or lees, is not at all pleasant to drink, so whenever you’re in the presence of such a wine, make sure it’s upright for a good long time before serving, and either decant it very slowly, or pour it as if you were in ultra-slow motion.
Personal favorites in the Port arena are:
Croft
Dow
Delaforce
Quinta Do Noval
Cognac – like Champagne or Port or Madeira, can only come from the place of origin. Cognac is just north of Bordeaux, the western-most wine making region in France. Its uniqueness and heavy price come from the fact that it’s nearly always aged much longer in oak barrels than say Tequila or most Scotch. It’s a double distillation process that the Dutch wine merchants a couple of centuries ago utilized to ship wine back. The oak barrels gave the distilled spirit vanilla, nutty, earthy, caramel essences. There is only one grape varietal used in Cognac – Ugni Blanc.
Don’t mind the price! It’s about the quality and savoring the deliciousness. A bottle can last you for ages. Plus it’s a rare commodity. Savor a little bit at a time, and never mix great Cognac with ice or other additives such as ginger ale or hot water and lemon – save that for the cheap stuff! Cupping the snifter in your palm gently warms the Cognac, and allows for those beautiful aromatics to waft into your nostrils. Personally, I can enjoy a single small glass of Cognac or Armagnac for well over an hour, just inhaling the knowledge and skills of a master blender.
Armagnac, located south and east of Bordeaux is regarded as the first region to create distilled spirits - back in the 1300’s. Unlike Cognac, the distillation process is continual. There are also different soil and climactic differences between the two regions, with Armagnac making slightly lower alcohol level spirits.
We all know Rémy-Martin, Courvoisier, Hennessy, yet there are many smaller producers who manifest truly lush and exquisite Armagnacs and Cognacs. Some of my favorites are:
Ferrand
Bisquit
Frapin
Delord
And there you have it – a brief overview of what this writer might (will) be indulging in over the Holidays. As I always extol – drink what you like, but always, always be willing to expand your drinking horizons!
Happy Holidays from us at Carmel Wine and Wandering Tours, and may 2024 be a banner year for adult beverage exploration!
