What to Drink for Christmas, Part 1

Over the course of the next couple of days, we'll go over some recommendations for wines to accompany your Christmas dinner. Our wine team contributed to these recommendations, and can help you find them in the store. Of course, the suggestions apply to any time you're having these dishes.

Because family traditions see so many different meals at Christmas, we'll do our best to cover the most popular. If your choice isn't listed, please ask, and we'll be happy to help.

Ham

Today's recommendations will cover most traditional ham preparations.  An Oregon Pinot Noir is one nice choice. Something a bit spicy and berry-rich to play against the saltiness/sweetness of, say, a glazed ham. We recommend the A To Z Wineworks Pinot Noir.

The A to Z Pinot Noir invites with vibrant aromas of juicy berries, cherries, lavender and violets, evolving to clove, game, smoke and cherry tobacco. A succulent, focused attack has flavors of blue and red fruits, flowers and earth, then deepens with hints of mocha, gingerbread, green tea and cacao. A very tannic structure is balanced by perfect acidity, giving shape and elegance to the concentration of lush fruit. A beautiful, complex, forward wine results, walking a tightrope between richness and elegance. Built for midterm aging, the captivating A to Z Pinot Noir once again sets the standard for  Pinot Noir in Oregon. $15.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Another outstanding pairing for ham (and lamb as well) is  Le Galet Côtes-du-Rhône. Le Galet Côtes-du-Rhône is a traditional Syrah-Grenache blend, providing an accessible, early drinking style without being overly tannic.

On the nose, there is an abundance of black and red fruit, particularly blackberry and loganberry, with plenty of warm spice. The palate follows the same theme, with the soft and supple tannins blending nicely with the warm spice to produce a mouth-filling richness. The flavor is similar to the nose, with plenty of red and black berry fruit combining beautifully. This wine certainly delivers a lot at this price. And the price is only $9.96 in the  Bottle Club®.

If you prefer a white wine, consider the Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay, from California's Sonoma County.  The 2012 Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay from Sonoma County has superior lots of wine from vineyards in Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley and Carneros. This full-bodied Chardonnay boasts aromas of apple, citrus, pear and marshmallow perfectly balanced by flavors of quince, peach, lemon and hazelnut with lingering, creamy toasted oak notes. $23.99 in the Bottle Club®. This Chardonnay will also pair nicely with pork rib.

As we noted above, there will be additional installments this week. If you're having turkey as the main holiday meal, please look at our Thanksgiving blog posts for suggestions:
Red wine
White wine
Beer

Now we're kind of hungry. See you tomorrow.