This Time of Year Splurge On Your Friends

I put together a small holiday gathering inviting some close friends who also enjoy good wine. It's that time of year when splurging on your friends is the thing to do; especially those who you know will appreciate the splurge. On the table, I had pasta with homemade tomato sauce sprinkled with Julienne zucchini and yellow squash; homemade bread baked with fresh rosemary and sweet marjoram; homemade cheese straws; homemade cookies – the only thing not homemade were the French cheeses on the cheese platter and the chocolate covered potato chips from Neiman Marcus (these are fantastic!). I wanted to showcase the care I had taken with the fresh ingredients and the time I had put into making most of the food myself. How to do that? With wines that are remarkable on their own as well as with the given menu. I offered my guests two wines: the white was the Haan Viognier from Australia (about $25) and the Bokisch Graciano from Lodi in California (about $32). Besides the price points – something we always look at – these wines are special because of the care the wine makers took with them and the limited quantities available.

Viognier is a rarity in Australia with Haan as one of the first to plant Viognier on the Barossa floor. The wine has a concentrated straw color with rich tropical fruits. On first taste, you get a mouth full of apricots and pears and a medium-bodied weightiness that makes it a perfect pair for cheese straws and a platter brimming with a variety of creamy and aged cheeses. Although I am not 100% sure of the production quantity, suffice it to that Haan has only nine acres planted to Viognier.

The weather in our part of Florida had finally turned cool and everyone was looking forward to a warming, bitey red. Bokisch Vineyards produces organically grown wines and specializes in Spanish grape varietals working with Graciano, Tempranillo, Garnacha and Albariño. The Bokisch Graciano was a hit! This wine was inky dark and robust. We did have to decant and let it aerate for about an hour. The aromas of dark fruit and spice were intense even after decanting. As the night wore on and the wine continued to aerate, it only got better. The earthy richness was followed by smooth tannins and a lingering finish. It was evident in the glass and on the palate that the wine had some wood aging – 16 months in French oak barrels, 40% new, to be precise. There’s a small percentage of Tempranillo but the wine is definitely a fine example of what Graciano has to offer in the New World. With only 248 cases produced, I thought it was definitely a splurge to share this particular wine with my friends for the holiday season.