best wine to give as a gift 2015
Looking for the perfect wine to give as a gift this year? When it comes to wine, one (bottle) size fits all, doubles of the same wine are just fine, and it's easy for the recipient to re-gift.Ideally you know the person's taste preferences: full-bodied or light, dry or sweet, New World or Old World? However, if you don't have any of that information, here are 10 great no-fail gift wines that you can give. Wolf Blass Sparkling Wine Gold Label 2011Adelaide Hills, South Australia, AustraliaThe Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes for this Australian sparkling wine were sourced from the cool climate of the Adelaide Hills. Aromas of green apple, lemon zest and stonefruit on the nose and palate. Pair with fried chicken. Drink: 2013‐2017 Benjamin Bridge Sparkling Reserve Brut 2009This east coast bubbly was aged for three years on its lees, adding richness and creaminess to the wine, and was disgorged in August 2014 using the Méthode Classique. This wine will cellar well, but I challenge you to wait.
Pair with fresh seafood, from Nova Scotia, of course. Food pairings: stuffed roast turkey, battered seafood. Drink: 2013‐2018 Cave Spring Estate Bottled Chardonnay 2012Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A., CanadaA fresh and mouth-filling Niagara Chardonnay that is not heavy, but rather, completely balanced. The 2012 vintage of this Chardonnay from Cave Spring has great depth and persistence of flavours such as green apple and fresh peach. Chardonnay food pairings: planked salmon. Drink: 2013‐2018Featherstone Black Sheep Riesling 2013Niagara Peninsula, Ontario V.Q.A., CanadaThis is one of my favourite Niagara Rieslings: delightful every vintage. The 2013 vintage is no exceptional with lovely bright notes of lime blossom, lemon zest and flint. Pair with fresh seafood and vegetarian dishes. Drink: 2013‐2018Remy Pannier Rosé D'anjou 2013Bone-dry, delicate rose with aromas of tine wild field strawberries, the kind that melt deliciously in your hand from the warmth of your palm.
Perfect aperitif served slightly chilled or for a treat, pair it with smoked salmon. Alcohol: 10% Sweetness: Dry 750 ml Drink: 2013‐2015 Yalumba Barossa Patchwork Shiraz 2011A generous, full-bodied, supple red with attractive aromas of black plum, blackberries and black raspberries. Incredible concentration and depth. Great for dinner parties. Shiraz food pairings: steak, lamb, pork, cheese, chicken.91/100 Drink: 2013‐2020 Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Rufina 2010A dry, full-bodied, mouth-watering Italian red wine from the heart of Tuscany. Aromas of tart cherry, earth and sun-dried tomatoes. Made from the iconic Sangiovese grape, this wine is a perfect pairing for pasta in tomato sauce or pizza. Drink: 2013‐2018 RavensWood Old Vine Zinfandel 2011Sonoma County, California, United StatesSavoury, meaty, juicy and mouth-watering. A surprisingly great Californian Zinfandel that borrows some Cab-like majesty, elegance and complexity. Ravenswood is your go-to Zin. Pair with inviting me over to dinner please.
Think homemade apple bite with a pleasing and refreshing bite. Pair with fruit cobbler. Ice Cider food pairings: nuts, blue-veined cheese. 375 ml (half bottle)Skip to main content Food & Wine looked to some of the world’s best wineries for terrific deals that are in stores now. Affordable Wine Country Hotels Rules for Great Wine and Food Pairings YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKEThere is a wine bar in New York City that everyone is talking about, and that wine bar is Aldo Sohm Wine Bar. From the master sommelier at Le Bernardin, this spot has become a midtown favorite of ours (and simply a survival go-to). With the holidays here at last, we realized that history is cyclical (as they say) and the inevitable is going to happen: lots and lots of gift-giving. While last week the guys gave us ten great wines to bring to a dinner party, this week they proved red wine can actually be the perfect holiday gift. Here are ten great ones to give as presents… 1. For a great value gift under $20:
Domaine Faillenc Saint Marie, Corbieres, France, $15 Domaine du Grapillon d’Or 1806 Vacqueyras, France, $19 2. For the wine lover who has tried everything: Francois Ganevat, Jura, France, $75 Vinkara, Kalesik Karasi, Turkey, $15 Quinta do Casal Branco, Ribatejo, Portugal, $5 3. For an impressive gift between $50-$100 Antica Terra, Botanica, Pinot Noir, Oregon, $75 Branaire Ducru, Saint Julien, Bordeaux, France 2008, $76 Christophe Mignon’s Blanc de Noir Champagne, $56 is white in color, but made from %100 Pinot Munier and it’s fabulous! Also check out the best wine glasses or best red wines for a dinner party. Get the latest from The New Potato straight to your inbox!The Latest in Wine 101 12 Days of Wine Gifts, Day 4 Holiday Gifts: Great Wine Books Great Wine (and Food) Bookstore: Rabelais Books A New Wine Must-Read Lettie Teague Book Release Party © Yale University Press F&W's picks for the five most notable wine books published this year.
Each year, wine publishing sees a slew of new entries, intended for readers of varied wine backgrounds and interests. This year was no different. But what it did produce that's unusual is not one but two epic rereleases of iconic wine reference books—one from Britain’s grande dame of wine writing, Jancis Robinson, and the other from America’s “Missionary of the Vine," Karen MacNeil. The former published the fourth edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine more than 20 years after the original; the latter, a fresh second edition of The Wine Bible, updated from when the title first hit shelves in 2001. Both got serious makeovers to acknowledge winemaking techniques that weren't widely practiced until recent years—like fermenting in cement eggs (as opposed to more conventional tanks). They also expand upon sections about regions and grape varieties that have grown in both notoriety and availability. Additional highlights include Kelli A. White’s Napa Valley Then & Now, Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle's A Natural History of Wine, and a sleuth-like account of one of the California wine industry’s most costly crimes.
Here, five giftable wine books of 2015: A concise reference to the world of wine that's both easy-to-absorb and engaging. Although the bulk of the book is dedicated to encyclopedic entries organized by country and region, it somehow comes across as personal—a feat of voice on MacNeil's part that carried over from the first edition. Her pages are filled with “cheat sheets” about classifications and notes on what to look for in stemware, but she also gets into serious detail on the styles and production methods of Sherry and the French terms to know in Burgundian winemaking. The Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding “Companion” is a little bit of a misnomer here, since the only place it’s likely to accompany you is from the shelf to the desk (it weighs in at over 6 pounds), but this book is the most relevant text for folks in the trade—or for anyone else seeking a complete account of wine topics. It also manages to feel more contemporary than the Bible despite its scholarly, matter-of-fact tone (Robinson, for instance, mentions Vittoria and the recently famous wines of Occhipinti and their amphorae-aged brethren at COS in her Sicily entry, whereas MacNeil skips the local frapatto grape altogether).
It’s worth gifting, even to someone who already has a previous edition, as this one is a stately and serviceable guide. For the Crime Novel Junkie Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California by Frances Dinkelspiel Dinkelspiel’s narrative centers on a case of arson at what had been one of the state’s most secure wine storage facilities, following a group of premier Napa winemakers as they learn of the incident and assess the damages (and their losses). The author also interweaves details on the federal prosecution of the infamous wine counterfeiter Rudi Kurniawan, takes readers back in California history to the origin of her own family legacy bottles that were lost in the fire, and gets face to face with the man convicted. For the California Collector Napa Valley Then & Now by Kelli A. White The sheer mass of White’s book might intimidate a casual reader; it’s over twice the size of Robinson’s impressive volume.
Inspired by years on the floor at PRESS Restaurant in St. Helena (many of its tasting notes were drawn up in that very cellar), this book is among the most detailed chronicles of the region’s producers to date—from the storied first-generation estates to avant-garde operations like Abe Schoener’s Scholium Project. White lines her pages with beautiful photographs that provide an insider’s look at everything from vineyard work to blending sessions. For the Science Geek A Natural History of Wine by Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle Unlike many exploratory books of its kind, written by wine industry pros dabbling in science, A Natural History is authored by two science guys (a molecular biologist and an anthropologist) who just happen to love wine. The two American Museum of Natural History colleagues take readers on a journey that starts at the world’s oldest winery, goes deep inside the beverage to the molecular level and explains the phenomenon of drunkenness, busting myths along the way.