Bombs away for great Christmas dinner wine
S. Maria la Palma Cannonau ‘Le Bombarde’ 2009
As we gather with family and friends over the Christmas season and prepare for the big meal this weekend, I wanted to share a wine that is not just ideal for Christmas dinner, but tremendously versatile, a great value and one of my default comfort wines.
Cannonau is a clone of the Grenache grape and is believed to have been brought to Sardinia during the island’s period of Spanish domination between the 12th and 18th centuries. The first known reference to a wine with a name resembling Cannonau dates to the early 1600s and concerns a Sardinian wine sent to King Filippo of Spain.
The wine is somewhat misleading as it may initially come across as light, when, in fact, it has a tremendous amount of flavour and a firm, yet elegant underlying structure. But it is important to distinguish between weight and flavour. Weight is something you feel, while flavour is something you taste. It is possible to have a wine that feels light on the palate, yet has wonderful penetrating flavours. Conversely, there are wines that feel heavy in your mouth, but really don’t have a lot of flavour. Often weight, particularly in inexpensive wines, comes from excessive use of oak to mask inferior quality grapes and poor winemaking. And too often, we equate weight with quality.
This is a great example of an inexpensive wine that has character far beyond its modest price. Delicious to drink on its own, it will pair with anything on your Christmas table. It is not just one of the best values coming from Italy, this is, unquestionably, one of the best wine values in the world. Merry Christmas!
Tasting notes: Expressive aromas of juicy raspberry, crushed floral notes, licorice, clove, and other exotic spice with penetrating flavours of plum, cherry, spice, earth and leather and a silky lingering, vibrant finish. This isn’t a heavy wine, but it has tons of flavour and a misleading underlying structure. The perfect example of a sophisticated, easy-drinking wine that doesn’t have to be in-your-face to be great.
Food pairings: Turkey, ham, lamb, salmon and just about anything else.
S. Maria la Palma Cannonau ‘Le Bombarde’ 2009
Sardinia, Italy
$17.99, CSPC: 703944