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Question: What about a special wine treat for the holidays?

Answer: So many choices. Not going to give you a limited product list. A special treat is to create or continue your own holiday wine traditions. Some personal ideas we use include starting main holiday meals with some festive bubbles. We go for one of our favourite Champagnes which really works well (including the celebration for the arrival of the New Year) but there are now lots of less expensive sparkling alternatives. More of an issue is what glass are you going to use? Consider the possibilities of using as an aperitif throughout this time an alternate choice from among those sweeter wines that have been gathering dust in your storage space – Riesling, Sauternes, Aussie “stickies”, Icewine from Canada, Vin Santo, South Africa Chenin Blanc late harvest and many more. We usually stick to Burgundy serving both white (chardonnay) and red (pinot noir) with the big bird and diverse meal accoutrements but make your own choice. We also like to open a bottle to salute the progress of our local BC wine industry – usually opting for a top pinot noir. Consider doing the same toasting one of your local wine hero producers. Where there is often more time available for family and close friends to spend together it is appropriate to look forward to a traditional digestif. We open and decant a bottle of vintage port (fortunate to have old bottles of fantastic 1966 from both Fonseca & Graham) and provide a small pour of it in a bigger glass to savour and linger over. If there is any left we pour it into a smaller bottle that should keep OK in the frig over the next few days. A safer probably better choice might be a tawny port – say 20 year, older Madeira or the like. Some might prefer a stronger Brandy (Cognac or Armagnac) or fruit styled Eaux de vie. Find what you enjoy. Have fun and cherish your own holiday tradition wine treats!

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Question: You are usually quite positive and helpful on these questions Sid. I wonder if there is a fad, ritual, or trend on the current wine scene that you dislike?

Answer: I hadn’t thought of that one. Sure there are quite a few including these:

1. Sitting near someone at a wine tasting or dinner who is wearing a prominent perfume or has some other strong scent trail.

2. The hype for “natural” wines (including “orange”) is admirable in concept but quite difficult to perfectly achieve with too many of them not delicious enough with some even undrinkable.

3. Really dislike the sabering of sparkling wine (especially Champagne). This is my #1 pet peeve by far! Can be fun & festive I guess but is over-done and dangerous. Not only do you explode the wonderful contents and lose precious bubbles but subject by-standers to injury. I have seen too many people (including the saber holder) cut by flying glass shards including this year to a spectator near me in the 5^th row while watching it being done as part of a celebration on a stage. In any event always know what you are doing and carefully saber towards an empty space or wall away from people and at least cover the bottle over with a towel or use other safety precautions.

What are your dislikes?

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Question: What Champagne should I buy?

Answer: Somewhat surprised by so many enquiries asking which Champagne should I buy for the holiday season. Your scribe expected more interest shown in so many other “bubbles” choice out there from Cava, Prosecco, England’s Sparkling, to underrated British Columbia. Yes go ahead and celebrate with luxury Champagne again for the end of 2019 and ushering in 2020. Big brands still dominate but growers are making some headway. The monopoly of British Columbia Liquor Distribution has several non-vintage blends on sale till month end with a $5 discount including vibrant Piper-Heidsieck Cuvee Brut $59.99, drier Pierre Paillard Les Parcelles Bouzy Grand Cru $62.99, lively Taittinger Brut $64.99, consistent Louis Roederer Brut Premier $68.99, and rich Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve $68.99. My first pick is to order from Marquis Wine Cellars in Vancouver for the newly arrived outstanding vintage 2012 Paul Bara Grand Millesime Bouzy Grand Cru disgorged 05/19 for $86.86 less a 10% discount for 6 bottles or more – plus they have some other Grower Champagnes.

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Question: Want to buy some Champagne and white & red Burgundy for holiday gifts – and for myself. Would you please guide me to the best vintages to put away for cellaring?

Answer: Lucky you and your friends. Generally all Champagnes including non-vintage or multi-vintage together with a wider selection of growers are pretty reliable these days. The hot new vintage is 2012. Look for those as they are released. However you can’t go wrong with searching for any remaining 2008s. A classic structured year of remarkable balanced acidity plus power to provide outstanding complexity with further cellaring. Burgundy are becoming more and more expensive with a limited supply. As you know the producer can be as important or more so than the vintage. For whites though I would concentrate on impressive 2017 & treasures from 2014 – truly a wonderful collectible in Chablis too! For reds I would definitely focus on 2015 and save some budget by being patient to jump on the 2018 top crus coming down the pipeline. Check your valuable IWFS Vintage Card Chart too.

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Question: How can I find a special bottle of older wine I want to purchase that is not available at my liquor store?

Answer: Don’t know where you live but this is a common problem for wine purchasers everywhere around the world. Government liquor stores only carry a limited number of wine listings. Your local wine shop will probably be better in assisting you to locate that treasure you want or put you in touch with the wine agent who acts for the appropriate producer. Lots of larger wine shops have an extensive inventory of wines you can search on their site. Many of the auction houses (including Acker Merrall, Christie’s, Hart Davis Hart, Sotheby’s, Zachys among others) are worth monitoring for top wines coming up for sale. In Ontario check out Waddingtons.ca. However do your own searching on line too. Your scribe still uses wine-searcher.com to check possible locations and especially ball park wine values. Also check out lots of others including winezap.com, wineaccess.com and irongatewine.com. This last one is an Ontario company of President Warren F. Porter & Megan McDonald Sales & Acquisitions Specialist who this week held a Vancouver reception opening 1976 Krug Collection in Magnum plus other collectibles and have an impressive rare wine inventory on their website. Good luck. Enjoy your investigation.

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