Post your Xmas wine thoughts here!

Feel sure forumites will be opening some good bottles this festive season so let us know which wine/s hit the spot.
Usually on the big day I open a Loire sparkling Cab Franc to go with the ham so see no reason to change ..
Probably something from the Languedoc for mains...2005 Gravillas Carignan Lo Vielh. A Chinon lined up too, the `08 Noblaie Les Blancs Manteaux.

Usually on the big day I open a Loire sparkling Cab Franc to go with the ham so see no reason to change

Which wine? And where did that tradition come from? It doesn't seem like the most common wine!

Christmas Eve dinner of prime rib with Jaffelin Cremant de Bourgogne blanc de blancs brut and 2008 Domaine Charvin Chateunef-du-pape. Those who know of my plight ( I am the only wine lover in the family) will understand my selection. My husband thought the sparkler paired well with everything...works for me! The CdP was thinner than expected, but elegant and lovely in its own right. The nose was black berries while it played red and black berries with a tart finish on the palate. Everyone begged off dessert so the Graham's Port will have to wait for another day. All and all a lovely meal. The round of Trivial Pursuit after didn't suck either!


Cheers all!
JB

Usually on the big day I open a Loire sparkling Cab Franc to go with the ham so see no reason to change

Which wine? And where did that tradition come from? It doesn't seem like the most common wine!

Great traditions up here when it is minus 20 Rahsaan! Langlois-Chateau hits the spot with their Brut CF.

up here when it is minus 20 Rahsaan!

Intense. Sounds like it could be Glühwein weather.

But speaking of Northern France, we celebrated the 24th with some German friends and they opened a few bottles of perfectly nice and minerally 2011 Fevre Champs Royaux Chablis. Nothing grand but better than I was expecting from them, and went well with the trout. Afterwards, I opened a 2011 Clos Roche Blanche Pif and CRB was glorious as always. Tomorrow with my family I'll be bringing some Muscadet and lots of Beaujolais. And the holidays will fly by...

Clos Roche Blanche is a name I have never seen up here so I am very envious as I have heard so much about their wines.
Good to hear you are still in the Muscadet mood, I have a few bottles lying around here of course.

Christmas Day we're going to friends so we're drinking whatever they're serving, which will be Champagne (hopefully Ruinart) followed by a red and then a sweetie.

But I've been upping my wines this week starting Saturday and have so far enjoyed

Sparkling
•2005 Badischer Winzerkeller '48' - Pinot Blanc de Noirs Brut
•N.V. Jacquart Champagne Brut
•N.V. Caves St. Martin Crémant de Luxembourg

Reds
•2003 Jim Barry Shiraz The Lodge Hill
•2003 Kaapzicht Estate Pinotage Steytler
•2009 Loma Prieta Wines Pinotage Amorosa Vineyard
•2009 Beyerskloof Faith (Cape Blend)
•2012 Casa Vinicola Roxan Montepulciano d'Abruzzo


Stickies
•N.V. Campbells Muscat Rutherglen
•2009 Mount Pleasant Vidal Ice Wine

By chance, not design, 10 wines from 7 different countries plus two US States, and 6 of them acquired at the winery.

Clos Roche Blanche is a name I have never seen up here so I am very envious as I have heard so much about their wines.

Sorry to hear that!

I don't drink much CRB because there's too much other stuff going on and the cot/cabernets are not my core grapes, but whenever I do have a bottle it is not hard to see the glory.

2008 Tobin James, James Gang Reserve, Cabernet Franc with roasted goose with goose gravy, mashed potato stuffing, braised red cabbage, green beans almandine, and Christmas cookies.

2008 Tobin James, James Gang Reserve, Cabernet Franc with roasted goose with goose gravy, mashed potato stuffing, braised red cabbage, green beans almandine, and Christmas cookies.

Great Carl, another CF believer. I have a 09 Chinon from Noblaie ready to go here!

2005 Ridge York Creek Vineyard Zinfandel. 89% Zinfandel,11% Petite Sirah.
Eileen and I spent Christmas dinner alone after Christmas Eve family time at my sisters home in Howard County, Md.
A very nice, fruity, feminine zin with an attractive herbal/menthol/basil nose. Brambly fruit, blackberry and dark cherry palate with hints of licorice and sweet oak. Paired nicely with brined, "Chef Carey" high heat methode roasted turkey only with breast/cavity intact. Cavity was stuffed with onion, garlic and quartered clementines with all of the traditional sides...... wonderful!

Drew

Dinner 24th with my father's side of the family - E & E Black Pepper Sparkling Shiraz (unfortunately flat) and
Max Ferd Richter Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett 2011.
Lunch 25th with my wife's family - Sons of Eden Freya Riesling 2010 and Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot 2007.
Dinner 25th with my mother's side of the family - Max Ferd Richter Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett 2011 and Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spätlese 2007 with Cantonese food.

You have some young German rieslings there Jay. Have you had time to write down any thoughts?

The theme was Italian. We opened a 2006 Bertani Vino Nevare Valpoicella Classico along side a 2000 Bertani Amarone. Both wines were quite tasty but the Amarone carried the day by a wide margin.

You have some young German rieslings there Jay. Have you had time to write down any thoughts?

Hi Bob,

No notes on these, just enjoying them without analysis. Inexpensive stuff I got on sale and a hit with everyone at dinner. Hope to catch up with some note writing soon, though.

Jay

2010 Red Mare Napa Cabernet - Well structured and savory with hints of black fruit - still a bit shy though, even after 3+ hours in the decanter. A nice gift from my daughter's boyfriend. Good match with grilled bison ribeye.

2001 Ch. Langoa Barton and 2005 Ch. Lascombes with rib roast. The Langoa Barton didn't show as well as a bottle a week or two ago, but was still a decent example. The Lascombes was better than that--a nice tarry aroma (go figure) and an appealing bottle overall despite being quite young.

I cooked my first beef tenderloin Christmas day and it turned out beautifully. We followed the Cook's Illustrated recipe to the letter and it worked as advertised. Served with 2 bottles of the 2005 Le Cht de Camensac (Haut-Medoc), opened and decanted the night before since this wine seems to just be entering it's drinking window. Everything was delicious. And we brought some home with us and had tonight with a mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. It was the "bomb". Served with a Francois Gaunoux '09 Pommard 1st Cru, Les Grands Epenots. Double decanted with about 30 min. of air. Everything was even better this 2nd night. The mushroom sauce really framed the meat and the wine and if anything, the Burgundy was more appropriate with the tenderloin. Two really good ways to frame the Christmas feast.

I was staying at my sister's in Iowa (where it got to 10 below Fahrenheit.) My brother-in-law was in charge of the wines. We had 2012 Belle Glos Meomi Pinot Noir on Christmas Day and also earlier in the week. My sister decided not to fuss with a turkey and served beef tenderloin with twice-baked potatoes and green beans. We had a choice of apple crumb pie or chocolate pecan pie with or without vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce for dessert. I doubt that my sister will prepare turkey again. While Meomi P. N. is not my favorite from Belle Glos, I did enjoy it and thought it worked quite well with the beef tenderloin. We also had Seven Deadly Zin and another Mendocino Zin while I was there and the white wine drinkers had Chenin Blanc or Pinot Grigio.
Christmas Day was filled with frustrations as the robotic toys for my sister's grandchildren were difficult to assemble and refused to perform as advertised. After an exchange of the Air Hog remote-controlled helicopter the day after Christmas, it did work to some extent with the rotor blades chopping off one of my sister's plants in the family room and threatening her grandson's fingers. It takes 30 minutes of charging the battery for about 5-10 minutes of play. This year I gave presents requiring no batteries--books, a Lego game, and a decorating kit with two pairs of sunglasses. The brother and sister did enjoy the walkie talkie spy gear but were quickly bored with the robotic spider.
I'm looking forward to opening a special Pinot Noir for New Year's Day--a Williams Selyem from Allen Vineyard.

Although troubled with some sinus blockage I did open a lot of wine over the Christmas Holiday in NW Ohio.

2010 Hess Collection Chardonnay ---balanced pear fruit, slight tropical note, good acidity but not nearly as lush as hoped for.

2010 Landmark Grand Detour Pinot Noir---Lots of dark fruit and potential, needs time with ham for Christmas dinner

2010 La Mitre CdP---nice complex young Rhone with dusty cherry and tree bark, enjoyable now but will age a bit. Unknown producer to me and made by a co-operative I think. Quite inexpensive.

2008 Kesselstatt RK qba---excellent QPRr at $4.25 with nice apple fruit, good acidity and %10.5 abv

2000 Eugen Muller Forster Kirchenstuck Riesling Auslese in 500ml---my WOTW (wine of the week) med. straw color with apricot nose and big flavor of same, this wine tastes like it has 2.5-3% RS but has great balance, medium-long finish and is just a wonderful sipper. Great acidity and flots of crystals. Luci and I shared this bottle between us covertly. I have one more. YAHOO!!

1999 Bruder Dr. Becker Scheurebe Auslese---sweeter than the Muller , maybe 7-8 %R.S. again with apricot fruit but very short slightly metalic finish. I have one more and wish it was the Muller. Drink up immediately.

2010 Valley of the Moon Pinot Blanc--- not familiar with this producer but for $5.00 on discount table in Fort Wayne, why not? I'll tell you why not. This wine had some medium-intense pear fruit but the acids were very sharp to the point of shrillness. I'll avoid this producer in the future

2002 Ballentine Cab. Franc from Napa Valley--much liked at the dinner table with medium-smooth tannins, good acidity, no vegetativeness and nice cherry/plum fruit. very good now but will coast for 4-5 more years easy.

I also bought some older German 750's and 500 ml.'s while shopping in Fort Wayne, including:

Theo Minges 2001 Scheurebe Aus. Fleminger Vogelsprung for $7.00 in 500 ml.
Jacoby-Mathy 2002 Riesling Aus* Kinheimer Rosenberg for $16.80 /750 ml.
Sprietzer 2003 Oestricher Lenchen Rheingau Riesling Kab. for $13.60 /750
Kerpen 2004 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kab. for $14.00/750

The Becker and Muller were $13.30 and $13.15 respectively. I was a Happy Camper!!

2010 Valley of the Moon Pinot Blanc--- not familiar with this producer but for $5.00 on discount table in Fort Wayne, why not? I'll tell you why not. This wine had some medium-intense pear fruit but the acids were very sharp to the point of shrillness. I'll avoid this producer in the future

I visited their winery (for reasons that are now lost to me) back when I moved out to CA in 2001. Just seeing the operation and its cheeseyness was enough to make me avoid them for the rest of my life.

Hi Bob,

These were our Christmas wines.

Our first wine was Argyle Black Brut 2006. 100% pinot noir and it is definitely the darkest pinot-based sparkler I have ever had. Great cherry nose with a nice light bubble train in the flute. Gorgeous black cherry fruit on the midpalate with tantalizing acidity and just enough smooth tannins to balance it out. Great finish. Great balance. I had this wine about 2 years ago and the fruit has matured from mostly tart cherries and red raspberries to mostly dark bing cherries and a hint of blackberry. Great starter wine for Christmas dinner.

We had two main dishes because we had 6 for dinner, our three boys (all in their 20s) and my mother. Roasted duck with a cherry reduction sauce and 1/2 a roasted turkey.

Wine match: 2003 Citation pinot noir from the Willamette Valley. Somewhat shy earthy cherry nose. Midpalate was mushrooms and light cherry/raspberry. Nice medium long finish. Had some significant tannins and acidity that made it a good food wine. It went especially well with the cherry reduction sauce (savory as it was made with duck fat) on duck breast. It also went well with the cranberry conserve.

Second wine: The crowd requested a sipper to finish off the meal and I pulled a 2011 Loring pinot noir Russian River Valley cuvee. Great expressive nose of red fruit especially cherries with some dark fruit notes in the background. Midpalate was just lucious red fruit (mostly cherries and strawberries) with smooth tannins and balancing acidity. It was topped off with a long fruity finish that faded into earthy cherry bliss. This was a great sipper and big hit with the younger crowd.

Your Christmas dinner and wines sound attractive, Tom. Like you, my sister had three sons (now in their late 30's or early to mid 40's) but only two of them made it to Iowa for Christmas this year.