“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:10-12)

Merry Christmas!

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2007 Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico from the Chianti Classico region of Italy.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Castello di Gabbiano, located in Tuscany, Italy, sits atop a hilly estate among the vineyards. The Castello dates back to 1124 when construction began. The original owners, the Bardis, sold it to the Soderini family in 1408. The current owners, the Arcaini family, purchased Castello di Gabbiano in 1981 and have completely restored it. All Castello di Gabbiano wines feature a distinctive Cavaliere (a knight on horseback bearing a winged helmet, standard, and shield) on their labels.

“The 2007 Chianti Classico DOCG is a lovely complex wine – ruby red in color with hints of dark cherry on the nose. The palate is fresh with flavors of plum, violets and juicy cherries which are supported by fine and supple tannins that round out the mouthfeel. The finish is persistent and shows characteristic fresh acidity.” –Giancarlo Roman, winemaker

2007 Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico (Chianti Classico DOCG, Italy): Predominately Sangiovese. Medium-deep ruby red in color. Very aromatic with strawberry, raspberry, cherry, and spice coming through on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity, smooth tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $11.99; Available elsewhere, $11 to $14

More than any other time of year, this is the season for bubbly. There are just so many opportunities to enjoy sparkling wines during the holidays. Whether you are looking for an aperitif to enjoy before Christmas dinner, celebrating your team’s big win in a bowl game, or ringing in the New Year, a good bubbly hits the spot.

Right now, your local grocery stores, wine shops, and liquor stores all have prominent displays of sparkling wines to enjoy for the many upcoming celebrations. However, the terminology used on sparkling wines can be confusing. For example, you might see a bottle labeled Extra Dry and wrongfully assume that the sparkling wine was literally extra dry, drier than what would normally be considered dry. But in fact, Extra Dry is actually sweeter than Brut (the dry standard for sparkling wines).

So, here’s a list of traditional sparkling wine terms to understand before you head to the store this holiday season:

• Brut nature, sans dosage — no sugar added
• Extra brut — extremely dry (less than 0.6 percent sugar)
• Brut — dry, the most common style (less than 1.5 percent sugar)
• Extra dry, extra sec — off-dry (1.2-2.0 percent sugar)
• Sec — slightly sweet (1.7-3.5 percent sugar)
• Demi-sec — sweet (3.5-5.0 percent sugar)
• Doux — very sweet (more than 5.0 percent sugar)

For specific suggestions of sparkling wines to try, check out these recent posts:
Tasting Group: Champagne
Wine Tasting Dinner: Sparkling Wine for the Holidays

Cheers!

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is saignée.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Saignée is a French term meaning ‘bled’ for a winemaking technique which results in a rosé wine made by running off, or ‘bleeding’, a certain amount of free-fun juice from just-crushed dark-skinned grapes after a short, prefermentation maceration. The aim of this may be primarily to produce a lightly pink wine, or to increase the proportion of phenolics and flavor compounds to juice, thereby effecting a form of concentration of the red wine which results from fermentation of the rest of the juice with the skins. The second operation has often been undertaken by ambitious producers of both red bordeaux and red burgundy.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Saignée is a French word that means “bleeding the vats” during the red winemaking process in which some juice is removed from the must to concentrate the remaining wine. That free-run juice can be used to produce a rosé wine.

Washington State Cabernet Sauvignons are among the best in the world, and they are much better values (higher QPR) than most Cabs in other wine regions of the world. Recently, we had what turned out to be a Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon showdown in one of our double blind private tasting dinners featuring the 2007 Skylite Cellars Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Zero One Vintners The Wild Sky Cabernet Sauvignon. They are both from the highly acclaimed 2007 vintage which I personally believe may ultimately be considered the best ever in Washington State. The 2007 growing season in Washington State enjoyed near perfect conditions. Hot summer weather segued into cool but dry weather in September and October which allowed the grapes to be harvested under ideal conditions. We had not previously tasted either of these wines, but both were excellent and paired well with our mid-week comfort food meal of pot roast, carrots, sweet potatoes, and green beans. For a more complete description of how we set up these private tastings, please refer to How We Taste.

Skylite Cellars, founded in 2003 by Tom and Cheryl Hodgins, is located in Walla Walla, Washington. Robert Smasne serves as winemaker. In 2000, prior to founding Skylite, the Hodgins and some of their friends invested in Ash Hollow Vineyard. We had the pleasure to visit Skylite Cellars during the Wine Bloggers Conference last summer.

Zero One Vintners is owned by Atlas Drinks, LLC, and its wines are produced at Wahluke Wine Company, a custom crush facility in Mattawa, Washington, by winemaker Gordy Hill. The Wild Sky Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is named for a wilderness area in Washington State, and Zero One Vintners donates a portion of the Wild Sky proceeds to Leave No Trace, an educational non-profit organization dedicated to the responsible enjoyment of the environment.

Not only did both wines receive a Quality rating of 4 stars (out of 5), but they also received a QPR rating of 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5). I would encourage you to try either of these wines (if you can get your hands on them) as they are excellent examples of the quality of Walla Walla Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

2007 Skylite Cellars Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Walla Walla Valley, Washington): 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark, inky purple. Very aromatic with black fruits, licorice, and oak notes on the nose. Blackberry and black currant come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and smooth tannins. Well-balanced and complex with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $32

2007 Zero One Vintners The Wild Sky Cabernet Sauvignon (Walla Walla Valley, Washington): 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot. Deep, dark purplish red. Very aromatic with black fruits, spice, and vegetal aromas that lead to black fruits, spice, coffee, and chocolate flavors. Full-bodied with lively acidity and chewy tannins. Well-balanced and complex with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Garagiste (Seattle, Washington), $24.91

Bob Blumer who hosts the shows The Surreal Gourmet and Glutton for Punishment on the Food Network is the author of this fun, attractive, and informative cookbook, Glutton for Pleasure: Signature Recipes, Epic Stories, and Surreal Etiquette. In many ways, both the book and the author are over the top but in very interesting and fun ways. He has set a number of Guinness World records including flipping 559 pancakes in one hour at the 2008 Calgary Stampede, making the largest bowl of salsa at the 26th Annual Tomato Fest in Jacksonville, Texas, and making the most pizzas in one hour at the 14th Annual Corso Italia Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

This book contains some of Bob’s signature recipes including ones that have never appeared in print. Presentation is a huge factor in practically every recipe. Some examples include: meatloaf surprise presented as a cake (two layers of meatloaf and the “icing” is mashed potatoes decorated with cherry tomatoes and broccoli florets), salad prepared in a flower pot topped with edible flowers, faux fries which are actually slices of pound cake presented in a French fry container, coconut shrimp lollypops sticking out of a wedge of watermelon, and the list goes on and on. The pictures that accompany the recipes are fantastic! I love seeing what the dish should look like.

“The first taste is with the eyes.” –attributed to Sophocles

Along with the recipes, Blumer offers numerous tips from what is needed in the kitchen to a reminder to always warm the plates before serving. Since we at Wine Peeps are big advocates of blind tastings, I especially like the fact that in his “Wine 1.0” section of the book he also recommends tasting wine blind.

While I have not yet prepared any of the recipes in the book, they appear to be not only fun but also easy to make. I have already selected several that I definitely want to try. The “Rings of Fire” recipe (onion rings) especially caught my eye since one type of onion he recommends using is the Walla Walla onion for which those of us in Washington State have a special affinity.

If you are still looking for a fun Christmas gift for someone who loves to cook and enjoys experimenting with new ideas in the kitchen, this book would be perfect.

Bon Appétit!

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2009 Clean Slate Riesling from the Mosel region of Germany.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Clean Slate is the product of a partnership between Moselland of Bernkastel-Kues, Germany, and Winebow, a top U.S. importer, distributor, and developer of wines from around the world. Moselland is the largest vineyard owner in the Mosel region of Germany and is one of Germany’s top exporters of Riesling.

“The fresh, balanced taste of Clean Slate is achieved by carefully selecting grapes from vineyards throughout the Mosel. The steep blue slopes of the Lower Mosel give the wine its minerality while the Middle Mosel provides a hint of spice to complement the characteristic fresh peach flavors of the Upper Mosel.” –Manuel Brixius, Winemaker

2009 Clean Slate Riesling (Mosel, Germany): Pale, greenish straw yellow in color. Very aromatic with white peach and minerality on the nose. Lemon, lime, and more peach come through on the palate. Slightly off-dry and medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long finish. Residual Sugar: 2.6%
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $10; Available elsewhere, $7 to $12

As I’ve said many times before, I absolutely love sparkling wine but do not drink it often enough. However this time of year, I make sure to celebrate with friends and family and enjoy some sparkling wine. We’ve made it a tradition to feature sparkling wine in our December wine tasting dinner. Each December, we select six sparkling wines to blind taste to help us, and hopefully you as well, choose an excellent sparkling wine to enjoy as an aperitif at a holiday party, to take to relatives on Christmas, or to pop on New Year’s Eve.

These sparkling wines were all produced in the United States (three from California, two from Washington, and one from Oregon). All six wines were Brut (or dry, the most common style). Most important, as far as we are concerned, is that five out of the six wines earned QPR ratings of 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5), and all six sell for less than $25.

All of these sparkling wines paired nicely with Mom’s dinner menu which included roasted red pepper tomato soup, shrimp Louie salad, broiled lobster tails, steamed asparagus, buttered pasta with parmesan reggiano cheese, and strawberry-raspberry shortcake for dessert.

I encourage you to pick up a bottle of any of these six sparklers to enjoy this holiday season. And if you don’t see your favorite sparkling wine on this list, let us know in the comments as we’d like to try it.

From 1st to last in the group consensus rankings:

2006 Argyle Brut Sparkling Wine (Willamette Valley, Oregon): Pale, straw yellow. Small, fast bead of bubbles. Very aromatic with aromas of lemon, lime, and passion fruit. More citrus fruits and tropical fruits come through on the palate along with some yeasty notes. Dry and medium-bodied with crisp acidity. Well-balanced and flavorful with a long finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $19.99; Available elsewhere, $18 to $31

NV Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut (Columbia Valley, Washington): Pale, straw yellow. Small, fairly fast bead of bubbles. Moderately aromatic with citrus and yeasty notes on the nose. A lot of citrus fruits, especially lemon and lime, come through on the palate. Dry, medium-bodied and tart with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $8.99; Available elsewhere, $7 to $12

2006 Domaine Carneros Brut Cuvée (Carneros, Napa Valley, California): Pale, straw yellow. Small, fast bead of bubbles. Nice nose with floral, pear, and apple aromas. Bright and fresh on the palate with more floral and apple notes. Dry and medium-bodied with crisp acidity. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $21.99; Available elsewhere, $19 to $32

NV Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut (North Coast, California): Pale, straw yellow with a faint amber tint. Medium, fairly fast bead of bubbles. Nose is a bit tight at first. Then pear, straw, and yeasty aromas and flavors come through. Dry, medium-bodied and crisp with a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $19.79; Available elsewhere, $17 to $26

NV Chandon Brut Classic (California): Pale, straw yellow. Small, fast bead of bubbles. Moderately aromatic with straw and apple aromas that lead to more apple, straw, and pear flavors. Dry, medium-bodied and crisp with a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $13.99; Available elsewhere, $13 to $16

NV Mountain Dome Cuvée Forté (Washington State): Pale, greenish straw yellow. Small, fast bead of bubbles. Aromatic with nutty, yeasty, and straw aromas on the nose. More straw, nutty, and yeasty flavors as well as lemon come through on the palate. Dry, medium-bodied and crisp with a long finish.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Full Pull Wines (Seattle, Washington), $24.62; Available elsewhere, $33

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is élevage.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Élevage is a French word that describes an important aspect of winemaking but has no direct equivalent in English. Élevage means literally ‘rearing’, ‘breeding’, or ‘raising’ and is commonly applied to livestock, or humans as in bien élevé for ‘well brought up’. When applied to wines, it means the series of cellar operations that take place between fermentation and bottling, suggesting that the winemaker’s role is rather like that of a loving parent who guides, disciplines, and civilizes the raw young wine that emerges from the fermentation vessel. The word élevage implies that all this effort is worth it, and is therefore normally applied only above a certain level of wine quality.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Élevage is a French word that describes a wine’s maturation, usually in barrel, during the winemaking process.

Last month, I had the pleasure to participate as a non-voting judge during the Wine Press Northwest Platinum Judging. Wine Press Northwest is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the wine, wineries, winemakers, vineyards, and restaurants in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. The Platinum Judging, now in its 11th year, features the best-of-the-best from the Northwest. To enter the Platinum Judging, a wine must have won a gold medal in one of 30 competitions that Wine Press Northwest tracks. This year’s competition included 538 wines, and each wine was evaluated under single-blind peer-group conditions.

While my ratings did not factor into the final decision of the other judges, I tasted all of the wines along with them, made my own notes, and observed the process for the Platinum Judging. I was very impressed by the organization and integrity of the competition.

The Winter issue of Wine Press Northwest should be on shelves now. For results of the Platinum Judging, pick up a copy today. Also, with this issue, Wine Press Northwest is launching a new column reserved for bloggers, which will rotate to different bloggers around the Northwest. I am honored to be the inaugural blogger columnist. Be sure to check out my article on the value of blind tasting.