'Tis the season to toast to our good fortune with the ones we love. We stopped at Sukie's Wine Shop to check in with Sukie Honeycutt, Owner-Wine Director, for what to pour this holiday season. Cheers, dear readers!
Toasting to the New Year with bubbles
Schramsberg Brut Rose NV $38
This renowned Napa winery makes a killer Rose sparkler. It is dry and complex, with red berry fruit flavors. Great as an aperitif, but also works with food.
Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV $58
This is one of the only Champagnes whose price has not rocketed since Covid and supply chain issues. It has always been my favorite Champagne, due to its consistency year after year. Produced from a blend of different vintages, it is dry and elegant.
Other people prefer a dry white wine to hail the New Year
It is acknowledged by people in the know that the best California Chards are now coming from the Sonoma Coast. Several wineries produce Chards from Gap’s Crown grapes, but this is the best of the lot. It is rich and vibrant, with great minerality and the distinct flavor of green apples.
Les Heritiers du Comte Lafon Vire Clesses 2019 $44
When a customer asks me for a recommendation on a super white, I take them to the White Burgundy section. So many choices! I am a fan of any white from Comte Lafon. His high-end wines are super pricey, but his wines from the Maconnais region are more reasonable. This wine is rich and full-bodied, has citrus flavors and finishes on the dry side.
Then there are people who are inclined to select a red wine to salute the New Year
Bergstrom Cumberland Reserve Pinot Noir 2019 $52
Josh Bergstrom is a wine genius – every wine he produces is fantastic. He focuses on Pinot Noir, though he also makes two remarkable Chards. This Willamette Valley Pinot is his workhorse. It is produced from the five best barrels of his estate-farmed vineyards. When I taste it, I think of violets and roses. It has attractive spice and minerality.
Orin Swift Abstract 2019 $42
This red is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Petite Sirah. It is loaded with dark fruit flavors, like plum and boysenberry, Its quirky label, a collage of portraits of famous people, took three years to compile and three weeks to create. Dave Phinney, its winemaker, just appeared on the cover of The Wine Spectator. Yes, he’s famous, but I’ve met him, and he’s a really good guy – down to earth and super friendly.
If you’re celebrating NYE with friends and choose to share a precious gem
A magnum of Antinori Guado al Tasso 2018 $332
Piero Antinori was the first winemaker to defy the wine laws for Tuscan wines when he produced his first vintage of Tignanello in 1971. He has continued down this path of defiance with Guado al Tasso, a blend of Cab, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. This wine is awesome, with rich, intense flavors of tobacco, leather, chocolate and black olives. I could only get one magnum for my shop, and it’s waiting for someone to scoop it up!
Sukie's Wine Shop
4280 Gulf Shore Blvd N, Naples