WBW #64 Winter Holidays, Colds and Port

The holidays are here! They are everywhere! Pick a day, and most likely, you will find that that day has been selected by someone to mark a passing, celebrate an event, or give acknowledgment to some estranged group of under-appreciated people, animals, or food. The following list demonstrates some of the lesser known, and even odd, holidays in December.

• December 1: World AIDS Awareness Day
• December 2: National Fritters Day
• December 4: Wear Brown Shoes Day
• December 7: National Cotton Candy Day
• December 8: National Brownie Day
• December 10: Human Rights Day
• December 12: Poinsettia Day
• December 13: Ice Cream Day
• December 13: Violin Day
• December 15: National Lemon Cupcake Day
• December 16: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
• December 17: National Maple Syrup Day
• December 19: Oatmeal Muffin Day
• December 21: Humbug Day
• December 24: National Eggnog Day
• December 27: National Fruitcake Day

This month, for Wine Blogging Wednesday, wine bloggers were asked by El Jefe of Twisted Oak Winery to write about the following:

"Pick any winter holiday or observance EXCEPT Hanukkah, Christmas Day, Kwanzaa, or New Years Day or Eve, and choose a wine to celebrate it! For purposes of this WBW, the holiday date chosen must be between December 7, 2009 and January 7, 2010. You may also pair a food with your chosen holiday and wine, but that is optional."

I chose, early on, that I would celebrate the Winter Solstice because I am more of a Pagan at heart. The shortest day of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere, it marks the official beginning of winter. The celebration doesn't only mark the beginning of winter, it also reminds us that days will, henceforth, be getting longer. We are already looking forward to that first day of spring!

Unfortunately, as my bad luck would have it, three days before the 21st, I came down with a cold or a sinus infection. Drinking wine was not high on my list. I was hoping for a quick recovery, but as I type this two days later I am still not 100%. When the day did finally arrive, I decided that I HAD to celebrate with something, and that it should resemble cough medicine with codeine. This was something I had as a child, and my parents should have enrolled me in the Betty Ford Clinic after every bout with a cold. I do recall loving the stuff.

So, what to have to toast the earth's furthest axial tilt away from the sun? Port. Yes, cough medicine from Portugal would do just fine. Big and bold so I could smell and taste it. Its sugars might even soothe my throat.

I picked up a bottle of 1999 Warre's Late Bottled Vintage Port, $29.99 retail. It was delicious! Dark fruited and spicy, it had some sharp tannic acid up front but went down smooth. I didn't take any notes and I didn't evaluate the wine. I just enjoyed it with my girlfriend near our little balsam fir decked out for the holidays and retired early.

Maybe next year I will celebrate the 13th by eating ice cream while playing the violin, although Chocolate Covered Anything Day sounds too good to miss. Cheers!

Wine term of the day: Late Bottled Vintage Port or LBV. These are Ports that are from a single vintage and are bottled four to six years after the harvest year. They can be bottled filtered or unfiltered, and they are usually ready to drink when the winery releases them, three to five years after the bottling date. Vintage Port is usually bottled after spending two to three years in wood and can take decades to mature.

A Mercifully Short Thanksgiving Wine Recap

It has been a week since Thanksgiving, yet there is still a little turkey lurking, along with some stuffing, in the fridge. Over twenty people, but as usual, there was way too much food. There was a turkey and a ham. The sides included stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, roasted squash, and things, probably because of the food coma I suffered, that I can't remember. The desserts, well, there were copious types and amounts. It doesn't matter how many people come to Thanksgiving dinner, there always seems to be leftovers. I think I actually like the turkey sandwiches on day two better than the actual meal.

We did an away dinner and I was in charge of the wine. For the last couple of years I had chosen to drink all American for Thanksgiving. This year I did the same, except for the one request for Prosecco. While I didn't take notes while drinking the wines, (I thought that would be a social faux pas) I do have a pretty good memory and some basic thoughts about what we had. All of these are current vintages and can be found fairly easily.

NV Nino Franco "Rustico" Prosecco - Dryer than most Proseccos out there. Nice fruit, soft bubbles and a touch nutty. Good. $15

2003 Wesport Rivers Brut RJR Sparkling Wine, MA, USA - I have had this two or three times over the last year and a half and I remember it more fondly than it showed on Thanksgiving. Some toasty notes, fruit seemed a bit oxidized, fat bubbles. Fair. $24

2007 Neyers Chardonnay, Carneros District - This was my second favorite of the day. Lemony and slightly understated for a California wine. Bright acidity but balanced. Nice long finish. Very Good. $34

2007 Ramey Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast - Super rich fruit, lemony and slightly tropical. The acidity seemed to be playing in its own band, not well integrated. Big mouth feel. Might just be too young. Very Good-. $40

2007 Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel, Sonoma County -Beautifully ripe, clean fruit. Red berries, mouth-filling and luscious. A crowd pleaser. Very Good-. $26

2006 Copain Harrison Clarke Syrah, Santa Ynez Valley -This was my favorite. It did start out a bit nervous, a touch of spritz, which blew off. Dark concentrated fruits that stayed light on their feet. No dried fruits. Palate coating richness. A bit of game, great acidity and a super long finish. Very Good+. Except for the initial spritz, I might have given this an Excellent. $42

Still River Winery Apfel Eis, MA - Nice amount of sweetness. Not cloying, yet held up to all the desserts. Apples and honey coat the whole mouth. Good+. $24 (half bottle)