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The Best Holiday Wines — Your Complete Guide to Festive Drinking: Underrated and Unexpected Picks

BY // 11.18.18

This is your Holiday Wine Guide 2018, a small and subjective roster (seven in total, a mere drop in the proverbial bucket in the wine universe) that should please a variety of tastes. I left out some great wines, bottles that would likely have a more narrow appeal, but what follows is a tidy team of approachable and delicious creations I’d be happy to celebrate with.

Here’s a great way to begin any party.

We begin with some bubbles, and I’ve got two for this year, starting with Mumm Brut Prestige, a blend of 45 percent Chardonnay, 45 percent Pinot Noir, and 10 percent Pinot Gris/Pinot Meunier from the Napa Valley-based house. Hand-harvested fruit is primarily fermented in stainless steel — a small percentage is fermented in French oak.

Pair this creamy, toasty brut (there are also apple and citrus notes, as well as spice) with your party hors d’oeuvres and you’ll be off to a great evening. Look for the Mumm for around $24.

Next, we travel to Italy — Piedmont’s Alta Lange region, to be exact — for the 2010 Brut “Zero” from Enrico Serafino, a winery founded in 1878 in the town of Canale d’Alba. It’s an elegant “Metodo  Classico” that’s well worth the $52 suggested retail price. I served this as an apéritif, and it was a hit, but would create a perfect meal of soft-scrambled eggs and caviar and pour this sparkling with it over and over again.

The acidity here is marvelous, and you’ll relish the finish, which is bracing and long. It’s 85 percent Pinot Nero and 15 percent Chardonnay.

This Sauvignon will brighten your holiday table.

On to a pair of white selections. We’ll begin with the 2017 Russiz Superiore Sauvignon Collio DOC, a 100-percent Sauvignon wine that pleased me immensely when I tasted it earlier this month. It will, when paired with a roast chicken or turkey (or guinea hen or pheasant), elevate the browned and crisp skin in a way that should make the palates of you and your guests very happy. Crisp, fine structure, lively citrus, for around $25.

Then we come back stateside, to a Chardonnay that makes butter-poached shrimp or lobster taste even better than they always do. It’s the Los Carneros Chardonnay from Mi Sueño Winery — the 2016 — a Burgundian-style Chardonnay that was produced by a winery with a touching and inspirational backstory. How about a an immigrant from Mexico who got his start in America working as a dishwasher at Auberge du Soleil, one who goes on to stints with Warren Winiarski (Stag’s Leap) and Paul Hobbs, and who then, with his wife, founds a winery in his adopted homeland.

Serve his Chardonnay ($42 SRP) this holiday season, and celebrate the multifarious wonder of America.

A winery with a uniquely American story.

To the final courses, now, and a trio of reds, starting with the 2013 Montebello Toscana IGT from Badia a Coltibuono. If your groaning board will include venison, roast beef, or grilled steak, this wine is a fine choice to pair with those foods.

How’s this for a blend: Mammolo, Ciliegiolo, Pugnitello, Colorino, Sanforte, Malvasia Nera, Canaiolo, Fogliatonda, and Sangiovese? Each varietal is fermented separately using indigenous yeast, then aged in barrels and combined in cask, finishing with a minimum of six months in the bottle. The result? An elegant and age-worthy wine that’s drinking superbly now, one with a deep ruby-red color and aromas of ripe cherry and leather. The tastes of dark cherry and chocolate will please. It’s available for around $60.

A Merlot from Ehlers Estate is our next holiday wine, from St. Helena AVA. Put simply, this is a superb wine whose structure will impress you and your guests. The tannins are supple in this 2015, and I’d happily cellar this one for another five years, but opening it now is in no way a bad decision. Dark berries, plum, a slight touch of clove.

Sausage on your menu? Then taste this Merlot with it. It’s about $55.

To round out the reds, the 2016 Lagrein from Alois Lageder, one of my go-to Alto Adige wineries. This is a wine for daily drinking, but its quality makes it more than suitable for holiday gatherings. Lagrein is related to Syrah, and the peppery notes here are evident. Lagrein produces wines with abundant tannins, and this one is no exception, but the minerality is notable, and I’d recommend pairing this with beef or game. You can find it for around $25.

From Alto Adige, to your holiday table.

There are, as I wrote above, many other holiday-worthy wines out there, and while I stand firmly behind these seven selections, your palate and taste should dictate what you serve to your guests. Have a wonderful season, and let me know what you’re drinking.

Want more wine time? Check out PaperCity’s libation library:

A Zinfandel for Daily Drinking
A Wine Family’s Excellent Adventure
Four Brothers and Some Great Young Wines
Your Endless Crush Rosé
Enrique Varela Loves Malbec
This Geologist Knows His Italian
A Chardonnay For Your Mother (and You)
Don’t Dismiss the Peat
Distinctive Whisky Enters a New Era
A Whisky Legend Visits Houston
A Rare Cask, Indeed
Austin Whisky, Strange Name
Here’s Your Texas Rum Goddess
A ZaZa Wine Guy Loves Great Service
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life

Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

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