Holiday Office Party

If you’re buying for the party, you don’t have to skimp on quality when buying in quantity for the office party. How about a Caposaldo Prosecco?

Or… If you’re each bringing a wine, go for the bubbles, because it’s so traditional, and this one is a great value.

Bubbles inspired everyone to spread the holiday cheer, and this traditional Prosecco is a great deal. This wine’s especially food friendly for all of those party finger foods. ($15)

 Gifting the Boss

As my friend Jeff Donegan just said, “Go big or go home.” He believes that it’s important to impress the boss with a bold statement. I always did, too, when I had a boss. He sees it as an investment in job security, and so did I; although the bosses that I took care of the most both added more than a few paragraphs in my story, “Bitch in a Pink Slip, or the Layers of my Tulle.”

Jeff’s recommendation: Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia. From a legendary estate, Sassicaia. Mario Rocchetta’s dream of creating a Bordeaux-style wine in Tuscany, saw the wines then only being enjoyed on the property. This rebel put Italian wine on the collector’s wine map and created the Super Tuscan category. A wine that could be cellared for decades. Just make sure that your boss is a connoisseur. This one would be a shame to waste, n’est ce pas? ($220)

Hanukkah (December 20-28, 2011)

I’ve got an annual list of wines that are produced by Jewish winemakers and producers, and it went live yesterday on Wine blog… Just see the post below this one. You have 52 wine brands from which to choose, if that’s your pleasure. It was called Wines of Jewish Origin to Toast the Season ~ Happy Hanukkah!

Christmas Eve Family Dinner or Christmas Day Celebrations

Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, and ugly shirts, sweaters, and ties (We’ve got an ugly popcorn shirt that circulates around my family. I wonder who will get it this year?)… American traditions call for America’s most popular native varieties: Zinfandel or Petite Sirah…

A St. Francis “Old Vines” Zinfandel would be yummy. Crafted from 50 to 100 year old vines, beautiful concentrated flavors of black cherry and pepper that can go head to head with dishes such as meat, goose, turkey, and all of those holiday sides. This dark red will also match that festive kinky popcorn shirt circulating in my family. ($23)

For the Petite Sirah, a Robert Biale Vineyards Royal Punisher. Think “Scrabble,” and you’ve got the letters for the parents of Petite Sirah: Syrah + Peloursin. Play with them until you come up with a name you can use on your bottle of wine. That’s exactly what marketing guru Dave Pramuk (one of the owners of Robert Biale) did, and he ingeniously came up with Royal Punisher. Talk about having it just “fit.” The wine is big and bold, and goes with the heartiest of dishes, most especially wild game. ($39)

Christmas Wine Fantasy

Definitely in the “once-in-a-lifetime” category, this is what you wish Santa brought you for Christmas ~ Taylor Fladgate Scion. Made in 1855, before Phylloxera destroyed most vineyards in Europe, this very old and rare port wine is your passport to time travel. Extremely limited quantity available (only two casks of it were found in 2010), you’ll never get to drink a wine this old and this good, which will only get better with age. ($3,200)

New Year’s Dinner Party

You’ve graduated from quantity to quality. It’s now time to break out the white Burgundy, aka the other Chardonnay. Anything Louis Jadot floats my boat… How about a Louis Jadot Meursault. You can either discover or rediscover Chardonnay ~ an adult version with this lovely Old World Chardonnay from the Côte de Beaune, where Burgundy’s most exquisite dry white wines are produced. Fragrant, ripe fruit on the nose and supple texture with notes of hazelnut and spice, this wine screams grown-up refinement, and it will pair perfectly with your sole meuniere, the mature palate pleaser. ($44)