Wines for a Festive Holiday

It’s true that the holidays can be crazy-making, but it’s also true that this time of year brings into focus the things that matter most: family, friends, and quality time spent with both. This holiday season, schedule some cozy evenings by the fire with your partner, plan a wine dinner to celebrate your friends, or grab a bottle of bubbly and toast your coworkers! In the interest of helping you focus on the holiday gatherings that make this season so special, we created a wine list to save you time and take the guesswork out of your shopping. Cheers!

Best Fireplace Wines

‘Tis the season for cozying up next to the fire with a glass of wine.

The key here is a wine (blend or single variety) that has a full body, smooth texture, and a nice balance of tannin and acidity (thus, making food optional).  

For the white wine lover (yes, white wines can by cozy, too!): Try a Chardonnay from the village of Meursault in Bourgogne (Burgundy). These are typically intense wines, made with the intent to create a dry, rich, round feel with nutty and buttery flavors that are easy to drink by the fireplace. If you can’t find Premier Crus in Meursault, look for Premier Crus of Charmes, Genevrières, or Perrières on the label.

The classic fireplace wine: If you’re a fan of dark fruit, black currant, full mouthfeel, and oak, go for a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Yes, many of the famous bottles can run well over $100, but a great way to save some dough is to ask your local bottle shop if they carry any “second label” wines from famous Napa wineries. These “second labels” are typically crafted to drink now instead of aging, and can range from $25 to $45.  

Off the beaten path: If you like full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon but not the associated prices, look for Mourvedre from Spain, France, or the USA. Mourvedre has the same dark fruit and herbaceous aromas, oak aging, and sometimes a gamey taste. If you are a fan of Cabernet Sauvignon but find the lower price point Cabs too fruit forward, look for a Mourvedre from the French region of Bandol.  

Best Wines for a Hanukkah or Christmas Dinner

Hanukkah:

For pairing with beef brisket: There are French and domestic options typically under $50 that use flash pasteurization but manage to avoid the “cooked” aromas and flavors of traditional mevushal wines. From Bordeaux, try the Barons de Rothschild Haut-Medoc Kosher/Mevushal. Another option is Hagafen Syrah or Merlot from Napa Valley. Making fewer than 8,000 cases of wine per year, this winery just off Napa’s Silverado Trail is one of few that specialize in fine Kosher wines.  

Christmas dinner:

With roast goose: Tired of turkey? Join millions of western Europeans in their delight of roast goose. Yes, goose has an intense (not gamey) flavor, and unlike most poultry, geese are not intensively-farmed. With a rich and fatty goose, think western European wines — a richer white like an off-dry riesling from the Mosel or chardonnay from Burgundy (Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet). If you prefer red, the classic pairing is Pinot Noir (Burgundy). However, with so many wines now becoming available from Gascony, ask your local bottle shop for some economically priced Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, or Cabernet Sauvignon from this southwest region of France where many geese are raised.

With prime rib: Prime rib is known for being tender and highly flavorful. Most restaurants know that US customers will instinctively reach for a big Napa Cabernet Sauvignon to go with this decadent meal. I’d suggest that you ask the sommelier or local bottle shop owner if they have a red blend with a high percentage of (or a single varietal of) Petite Sirah (not to be confused with Syrah). For example, Stags’ Leap Petite Sirah at Total Wine will run about $35, while Cabernet Sauvignon from the same winemaker starts at $50 and goes easily into the $100 and $200 space.

After-dinner wines: With so many sweets available this time of year, it’s great to opt out of heavy desserts and go for dessert in the glass. Like honey, the source of sugar in  sweet wines is natural. Many still sweet wines can be stored up to a month in the refrigerator with little impact on flavor. Check out October’s blog and Jolene’s visit to Chateau Doisy Daene.  Their Sauternes is available at some area Total Wine stores for under $25 for 375 mL… perfect for sharing with a small group or hoarding for yourself.

Best Holiday Party Wines

We’re big fans of shopping at your locally owned bottle shop to stock up for your holiday parties.  Most establishments offer a discount for six bottles of wines. Also, going for six different bottles means that you spread out the odds of your guests finding a wine they like (or you can just serve four and keep two for yourself!).

Take some time to describe to the bottle shop employee your guests’ preferences and the type of food you’ll be serving. Try sharing simple descriptors like the ones below:

“My guests are budget but frequent travelers, always trying new things.”

“We’re serving many different appetizers and a carrot bundt cake from the local bakery.”

“Mom only drinks one brand of oaky Chardonnay and dad prefers bourbon.”

“My family will be visiting — essentially, a bunch of midwesterners who just want something that pairs with mom’s great lasagna!”

Chances are, while you’re talking, the bottle shop employee will be pulling wines in or out of a virtual basket in their head. The more you share about personalities, quirks, and what you are serving, the better a selection you will get. Also, if you plan the party well in advance, consider emailing your local bottle shop about the event and share your ideal price point so they can be scoping things out while you finalize the guest list. Bottle shops keep their eyes and ears open for unique wines distributors are carrying, so you might end up with a special wine that is not normally stocked!

Best Hostess Gift Wine

Bubbly at a value: At KnowWines, we’re currently loving a sparkling wine from a suprising location — New Mexico! The Domain St. Vincent, produced in New Mexico by a family with roots in the Champagne region of France, is an amazing bubbly. The store where we discovered this lovely wine is the brainchild of a Charlotte importer who works with Kansas City’s Doug Frost. Doug is one of less than five people who is both a Master Sommelier and Master of Wine. The store also has locations in Morrisville, Chapel Hill, and Wilmington. Even better, most of their bottles are under $25!

For rosé lovers: Steininger Cabernet Sauvignon Rose Sekt from Austria is $29 at the Wine Feed in Durham. This rosé for the rosé crowd is interesting for several reasons. First, Cabernet Sauvignon rosé is not a common wine (it’s from Austria, so a little off the beaten path for most US consumers). Second, it is crafted with traditional Methode Champenoise (Champagne-making method). Finally, this is a deliciously dry sparkling wine with a long finish and pleasant notes of yeast and plums.   

The sparkling splurge: If you’re ready to splurge on wine, the Champagne Krug Grande Cuvee (a mega-splurge at around $200) is the sparkling wine that both enthusiasts and wine professionals put on a pedestal.

Now that you’re good on wine, time to do some holiday shopping. Have a wine lover on your list? We know a few things they’ll love!

Enjoy the holidays, and enjoy these wines!

Cheers! 

six Steps to a great Wine Party

We’re in the business of wine tasting and wine education, and we believe that there’s no reason learning can’t be fun. Wine tastings should be relaxed, no-fuss affairs among friends (in other words, a party!). Love entertaining? Curious about wine? Great! Here are the steps to setting up an amazing event that will both impress your friends and teach them something, too.

How to Host a Wine Party

Decide what you want to know about wine and do the research:

• Are you planning an upcoming trip to a specific wine region, like Bordeaux or Napa Valley?

• Do you have a favorite grape variety you’d like to know more about, like Pinot Noir or Chardonnay?

• Are you curious about how wines differ from vintage to vintage?

• Do you want to explore wines similar to your go-to brand, but slightly different?

Now that you know what you want to learn, use online resources (like our blog!), wine books, or local experts to find the answers you’re looking for, along with the best wines to help share your findings with your friends. Remember, this is exploratory learning! You don’t have to have all the answers, just enough curiosity to keep asking good questions! If you feel nervous about doing the research on your own, hire a sommelier or wine expert to attend the party and help you run the wine tasting (your local wine shop can help you find someone!).

Select a general time frame for the event.

Hosting a tasting just for fun or to connect with friends is a wonderful idea, but you might also want to consider coordinating your tasting with a birthday, promotion, or holiday. Wine parties also make a fun and engaging gift for bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Use a scheduling tool.

Select a few specific dates and times for the event and present them to your potential guests to see which will work best. Yes, we understand it is difficult to get any group of adults together! Consider using Doodle, Evite, or Facebook Messenger to help everyone decide on a date more efficiently (and without a long chain of emails!).

Choose a location for your wine party.

We recommend a home dining room with a table that can provide a space at least 22” wide x 16” deep at each sitting area — you’ll want everyone to have room for a tasting grid, wine glass, and other sampling items. A simple white tablecloth (or no tablecloth!) is fine. If you don’t have a big table, KnowWines can create the extra space needed with portable folding tables that can be covered with a tablecloth.

Finalize your guest list.

Based on the results of your Doodle poll (or another invitation tool you may have used). We recommend four to eight participants because it is a intimate group size that can fit at one table and allow the space and time for conversation and questions.  An odd number of people is also perfectly fine.

Plan your food pairings.

You’ll want to have simple, palate-cleansing crackers for your tasting, but you can provide as little or as much additional food as you like. Find out which foods pair best with the wines you’re serving (ask an expert or do a simple Google search) and prepare them in advance, if possible.

How to Prepare Your Home for a Wine Tasting Party

So, you’ve planned the party and are expecting a handful of friends to arrive later that day to learn about wine with you. Here are a few tips for day-of party preparation:  

Set the Table

Set up your table with enough glasses for all your attendees to taste each wine. You should also have a spit bucket, napkins, a pitcher of water with water glasses, plates for your food pairings, and of course, the wine and food. Depending on your guests, you could add some fun wine glass charms to lighten up the mood!

Be Mindful of Aromas

Don’t light any strong candles or wear heavy perfume the day of the tasting. This could interfere with properly tasting and smelling the wine.

Relax

… and enjoy learning with your friends!

Want to offer your guests a memento of the evening? Check out our favorite gifts for wine lovers.

Cheers!

The Wine Tasting Grid

You can download a wine grid from global organizations like WSET or buy one like this from www.winefolly.com

If you’re ready to get intimate with wine, to really experience its complexity and find the vocabulary with which to express that complexity, a wine grid is essential. A grid like the one we use at KnowWines is a visual guide for understanding the wine in your glass. This is a professional wine taster’s tool, but it’s also a tool that can make understanding great wine a more accessible task for any wine consumer.

Why a wine grid?

In today’s society, taste and smell - perhaps because they require more time and attention - are underutilized. Instead, we tend to focus on the senses that offer more immediate gratification, like the visuals of a popular new film or YouTube video, the touch of our slick smartphones, or the sound of new music and ringtones. In contrast, aroma and taste are slightly more complex senses, and thus, it may be harder for some people to articulate their experiences with them. Professional wine tasters, however, are well-versed in these senses, and that’s because they’ve taught themselves to experience wine differently than most wine consumers and can anticipate what a wine tastes like.  They utilize a tasting grid as a road map, which is a classification system to identify and make associations between wines and their characteristics. By tasting different types of wine, paying close attention to their qualities, and comparing those qualities on the grid, they build a framework and knowledge for understanding the nuances of great wine. It’s also a great idea to enter your tasting notes in a personalized journal while you’re tasting wines, as a reference for future wine purchases.

Would you like some mushroom with that Malbec?

Here’s a sampling of the vocabulary you’ll find a wine tasting grid:

A wine with a “microbial” aroma might have notes of mushroom, sourdough, or butter.

Qualities of aged wine might include hints of leather, tobacco, dried fruit, or coffee.

Wine with a strong floral nose may have hints of elderflower, honeysuckle, rose, or lavender.

A wine with vegetal qualities may encompass sun-dried tomato, grass, or bell pepper.

How exactly does the wine grid work?

The grid breaks the wine down into parts: the wine’s visual qualities, it’s aroma (or “nose”), and it’s structure. For those of us who fall short of words when trying to describe wines (and let’s face it, most of us do), a grid provides the necessary vocabulary. For example, when describing a wine’s visual qualities, you may consider its clarity (is it clear, hazy, murky, or bubbly?) and its color (is a red wine more ruby or more purple?).  Next, you’ll consider the wine’s aroma. Here, the grid offers a poetic array of taste and aroma descriptors, from spice (thyme? mint? eucalyptus?) to oak (vanilla? cigar box?) to citrus (marmalade or grapefruit?). Then, you’ll consider the wine’s structure. This is a bit more advanced, but it’s a category of wine knowledge made more accessible by the grid. In this category, you’ll consider the wine’s level of sweetness (is it bone dry or very sweet?) and it’s level of tannin (does it contain more wood or more grape?). Over time, your combined understanding of these elements in wine will help you to more easily identify the region a wine comes from and how it was made. And, most importantly, the grid helps you understand which wines you love and where to find them.

Will a wine grid work for me?

Once you learn how to use it, absolutely! This grid incorporates the key concepts of tasting grids and is an approachable tool for novices and enthusiasts alike. Tasting grids take the mystery out of wine lingo by offering step-by-step documentation of your sensory experience to share with others in lively discussion. So, not only do you get to share your experiences with others, you’ll also end up with a record of what you tasted that can guide your future wine-buying efforts. With time, you’ll be able to review wines - from Syrahs to Cabs - with confidence. Then, you can recommend your favorites to friends!

Cheers!