2011 gift guide: A wine for everyone on your list(6)
For: The Tuscanophile who needs a reality check.
The plan: A Super Tuscan like they've never seen.
The details: It's only too easy to sneak Cabernet into Tuscan fare like Chianti. But the traditionally minded producer Montesecondo took the opposite approach - showing what Bordeaux grapes can do in Tuscan soil, unimpeded by the stylish winemaking that accompanies so much of the region's modern mind-set. Silvio Messana's biodynamically farmed Chianti estate includes plantings of Cabernet and Petit Verdot, which go into the 2009 Montesecondo Rosso del Rospo Toscana IGT ($25, 14%, Louis/Dressner Selections). Aged in steel tank, it shows beautiful loam and briar accents that radiate Chianti's calcareous terroir - through a different grape. A gorgeous reminder that Cab can still be a vehicle for great soils.
For: The Chardonnay partisan with wanderlust.
The plan: A sneaky little substitute of a grape.
The details: It's likely that said fan is just falling back on old habits, but it's also possible that the reason they like Chardonnay is a textural richness and not too much acidity. So basically, if you serve them Riesling, they'll balk. Here is where Pinot Blanc comes in - another white grape with genetic ties to Pinot Noir. California has a fine tradition of Pinot Blanc, and the 2010 Lioco Antle Vineyard Chalone Pinot Blanc ($23, 13.5%) dates back to a site planted by Chalone's Richard Graff in 1988. Chalone's Pinot Blanc (which lives on in the version made by Graff Family Vineyards) was famous in California wine circles for its long life, and this version with its precise pear and blanched-nut highlights follows a fine tradition.
For: The couple that discusses skin contact (the wine version) at the dinner table.
The plan: A pair of bottles from an equally wine-obsessed couple.
The details: Megan and Ryan Glaab, husband-and-wife and winemaking partners, decided to settle a difference of opinion on a parcel of Vermentino by crafting two wines. She wanted to depict the freshness of Italy's coastal versions of this grape; he wanted to pay tribute to Italian skin-fermented whites. The solution: partner wines that prove both were right. The 2010 Ryme Cellars His/Hers Las Brisas Vineyard Carneros Vermentino (each $32, 14.2%/13.8%) brilliantly show two sides of the grape: His is full of pine pitch and dried apricot; hers brims with sea salt and fresh guava. The results will have wine-obsessed couples arguing into the wee hours.
For: When you absolutely, positively need a surefire party hit.
The plan: Rely on the reliability of Cotes du Rhone.
The details: Though at times they can be less than compelling, at their best the reds of the southern Rhone offer some of what everyone likes in red wine: deep fruit, immediacy, nuance. Which brings us to the Grenache-focused 2009 Domaine des Escaravailles Les Sablieres Cotes du Rhone Rouge ($13, 14%, Jeff Welburn Selections/Wine Agencies), with its chestnut edge to dark strawberry, thyme and pepper. There's a ton of wine for the money, with a depth that makes it right to bring to just about any holiday fete.
For: Wine hounds who want a dose of summer in December.
The plan: A spice-filled red whose sunny disposition is still just right for prime rib.
The details: There's nothing wrong with big, rich wines for the season. But the 2010 La Clarine Farm Cedarville Sierra Foothills Mourvedre ($22, 14.2%) aromatically trends more toward the other solstice. With a stellar noseful of thyme and dried sage, it evokes walking through a dry Sierra field in the heat of June. Tart berry and balsam round it out, and yet for all its light steps it has plenty of weight to take on the season's dishes. The best of Mourvedre's sunnier side.
