Christmas gift guide 2022: 10 wines to gift and celebrate with this holiday season
When you come to a Christmas party with a bottle of wine, there is sometimes uncertainty as to whether or not to open it immediately. Here’s a list of recommended bottles – spanning the spectrum of taste, hue and price range – that you can open and enjoy right away, or keep in the cellar a little longer.
Give and drink responsibly.
The 2012 vintage was bottled as a tribute to the intense conditions that resulted in an exceptional wine. From freezing spring hailstorms to fiery summer heatwaves, the making of 2012 was nothing short of extreme, and you’ll experience that vibrant life right in your glass.
While most consumers who drink rosé will be familiar with Whispering Angel, don’t overlook other rosés produced by Chateau d’Eclans. Among the latest releases to drink now or save for a warm day next year, Rock Angel 2021 is an elegant rosé with the minerality of a Sancerre but its own energetic appeal. This is available by the bottle, but you should also be able to find it at many top-notch restaurants, hotels, and resorts across the country, including Boucherie, Tao, Scarpetta, and Daniel Boulud’s restaurants in New York City.
If you want a bottle of rosé that will make you feel like one of the guests on an episode of Below Deck: Mediterranean, and at a great price, then this is it. Manufactured by Domaines Ott, which was founded in 1896 and has been producing prestige rosé wines since 1912, the By.Ott label is currently one of the best deals on rosé wines for the quality at a price accessible to all. This goes back to the vine, as the cuvées come from select vineyards in the Côtes de Provence, selected to ensure the wine is characterized by fruit and freshness with added finesse and complexity. The 2020 vintage is a blend of 60% Grenache, 28% Cinsault, 8% Syrah and 4% Mourvèdre grapes, resulting in a beautiful and bright wine with a pretty peachy hue, with aromas of white peach and vanilla.
This rosé is truly representative of a new generation of winemaking, right down to the winemaker herself. Rose Gold is a Provençal rosé made in France, but the company is headquartered in Texas with founder and CEO Casey Barber. After practicing as a family nurse, Barber put her career on hold to become a mother and raise her three children. During this time she traveled to the south of France and was so inspired by the trip that she started her own transatlantic wine business.
Made from a blend of Grenache and Cinsault grown on vines just 50 miles northwest of St Tropez, the grapes that go into Rose Gold’s wine benefit from the cool winds that blow off the sea mornings and evenings and ripen by the Mediterranean sun in the afternoon. All this allows an intense flavor to develop, resulting in a crisp, dry wine with aromas of stone fruit and dried apricots.
The bottle alone serves as a beautiful centerpiece that you can keep after you’ve consumed the contents. Valdo, the oldest winery producing Prosecco in Valdobbiadene in Italy’s Veneto region, commissioned Italian designer Fabrizio Sclavi to create the exterior, which aims to represent a reconnection with a natural (and unspoilt) world. That alone is a conversation starter for oenophiles, art critics and anyone who loves Italy. The wine itself is a blend of two native Italian grape varieties: Glera, a white grape variety used to make Prosecco, and Nerello Mascalese, a red grape variety typical of warmer climates like Sicily. The result of this unusual combination is a delicate but fresh sparkling rosé with notes of blackberries and cherries.
With summer only a distant memory, many wine lovers are switching their favorite wines to the cool months ahead. La Crema produces some of the best value for money wines in Northern California, with footprints in Sonoma and Monterey Bay. These chard are crisp enough to cool you down, yet are textured and complex. The 2019 vintage in particular presents itself with balanced acidity, with autumn-friendly notes of baked apple, brioche and Asian pear.
Frizzante is usually thought of only as a summer wine, but this Italian sparkling wine is ideal for meals any time of the year. (And if your dining room is overheating with too many people, you’ll want a chilled glass of vino anyway.) And with a low ABV of 7.5%, it’s smooth enough to sip on longer, too. With its lightness and shine, L’Occhiolino goes well with salted meats and cheeses, grilled meats, oily fish, spicy dishes and even southern-style grills and spicy foods. The wine is best served chilled in a white wine glass to best appreciate its aromas and flavor profile.
This is a bottle that will get guests talking for many reasons. First, it’s a chilled red blend (55% Syrah and 45% Zinfandel) with bubbles, and you don’t see that often (except maybe on this wine list), and it could be a crowd favorite considering how many boxes that ticks. Second, it’s a low-alcohol drink (7.8% versus traditional wines, which range between 11% and 14%), and not only have lower-alcohol drinks been trending for a number of years, they’re also better suited to parties. where patrons tend to drink longer, so a drink with a lower alcohol content is a more conscious choice.
With aromas of plums, dried cherries and crushed black pepper, this wine is like a warm hug on a chilly night. Look for additional notes of soft oak, slightly reminiscent of cigar boxes and hints of spicy Madagascar vanilla. But the palate is much brighter with flavors of berry jam, dried figs and subtle hints of spice. A perfect festive red for winter.
Presenting grapes grown for wines from individual vineyards, Benovia specializes in Chardonnay, Zinfandel, and Pinot Noir wines from the Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, and Sonoma Mountain. The winery notably has several Pinot Noirs to choose from at the moment, but this fruity bottle also gives back: $10 from every purchase is donated to the Gary Sinise Foundation, which supports defenders, veterans, first responders, and their families. In addition, the Anderson Family Foundation will donate an additional $5 to the Gary Sinise Foundation for every bottle sold.
This 2018 Russian River Valley Special Selection Pinot Noir is the first Special Selection from Bricoleur Vineyards. With notes of red currant, lavender and dark, dry cherry on the nose, this ruby red wine has a lingering finish with flavors of strawberry, cherry cola and hints of peppercorn. And it’s ready to drink now, but will continue to mature gracefully for years to come.
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