For kids, the holidays are about presents, sweets, and school break. But for adults, the season is a time of friends, family, and parties.
As you plan your holiday festivities and gift-giving, nothing elevates a celebration like a great bottle of wine. Whether you’re hosting the soiree or looking for the perfect hostess gift, we have four wines that pair perfectly with your holiday celebrations.
Palmer Champagne Rosé Solera
Champagne-Palmer.fr/en/ | Retail Price: $92
Nothing says celebration like Champagne; you'll celebrate in style with the Palmer Rosé Solera. The Palmer & Co. Maison in Reims is a boutique house founded by seven Champagne families in the 1940s to bring balanced, elegant bubbles to the table.
This rosé Champagne is a blend of Champagne’s three main grapes, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier, with a small solera, or blend of red wine, added. The result is bubbles with a perfume of black currants and strawberries. You’ll also get notes of vanilla and cinnamon and a delicate mousse. Its beautiful pink color is perfect for your holiday celebration as an aperitif or pairing with chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert.
Champagne Palmer Rosé Solera is available online from Family Wineries Direct (FamilyWineriesDirect.com), with shipping to Arizona.
2020 Otronia Chardonnay
Otronia.com | Retail Price: $99
Bodega Otronia is in Patagonia, the world’s southern grape-growing frontier. In Argentinian competitions, Winemaker Juan Pablo was named Winemaker of the Year and Young Winemaker of the Year. All of Otronia’s wines represent the extreme environment that birthed them.
The soil, perpetual wind, intense sunlight, and a cold, dry climate give the 2020 Otronia Chardonnay bristling acidity and intense aromatics of peach, pear, herbs, and flowers. Aging in French oak foudres (large wooden vats) for 18 to 20 months adds flavor, structure, body, and smoothness to the wine.
It’s a great pairing with a poached lobster New Year’s Eve celebration dinner or with oysters on your holiday buffet table.
You can find the 2020 Otronia Chardonnay online at d'Or to Door Wines Direct (DortoDoor.com).
2017 Bolla Amarone Della Valpolicella DOCG
GruppoItalianoVini.it | Retail Price: $60
Amarone comes from Verona, the land of Romeo and Juliet, so it’s the perfect bottle for a holiday meal with your sweetie. Amarone wines are powerful, rich, full-bodied red wines that get their impactful punch from the unique way they are made. Winemakers use the appassimento process, which involves drying the grapes for several months before pressing and fermentation. The wine then ages two to five years in barrels.
Bolla was the first to produce an Amarone in 1953. Today, the 2017 Amarone Della Valpolicella continues that tradition. Despite being seven years old, the wine benefits from decanting to smooth its tannins before serving with meat or heavy pasta dishes.
2017 Bolla Amarone Della Valpolicella DOCG is available online from Napa Cabs Online Wine Collection (NapaCabs.com).
Beaulieu Vineyard 2020 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
BVWines.com | Retail Price: $160
Georges de Latour wines were America’s first legendary wines. In the 1940s, the iconic California winemaker André Tchelistcheff made the wine, which was named to honor the founder of Beaulieu Vineyard. Since then, it’s become the brand’s flagship wine and the benchmark for all Rutherford Cabernets.
This cult Cabernet packs a punch with aromas of dark berries, black cherry, and black plum, along with floral and herbal notes. On the palate, the wine is intense, rich, balanced, and layered with flavors of dark chocolate and leather that linger. The signature Rutherford Dust tannins are pronounced. The wine would be a perfect accompaniment to a holiday dinner featuring filet mignon or rack of lamb.
Beaulieu Vineyard 2020 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon can be purchased online at Fine Wine & Good Spirits (FineWineandGoodSpirits.com).