Tips for Cool Holiday Wine Gifts

Dinner

I was at dinner with friends at their home last Sunday. Music played through the window and large hand painted decorated pots lay aging in a side garden that offered up yellow tomatoes and herbs to our roast lamb. Both the patio and the house are as much art gallery as home.

Even the dark wooden gate, which occasionally grows heavy with cats and rain, was a handmade work of art that my friend built from his imagination—without drawings or specs. Amazing.

It wasn’t officially a Hanukkah dinner (no latkes—potato pancakes, or sufganiyot —jelly donuts— and nary the spin of a dreidel in sight) although candles were lit when it got dark because, you know, otherwise we couldn’t see. But, as it happened, it was on the first night of Hanukkah’s eight night celebration of lights.

The aforementioned gate climbing cats, wild, flower-eating deer and the call of at least one coyote was involved.

Through all of that I remained calm. I am not at one with Nature. I am at one with Hyatt hotels. Therefore I, for one, do not as a rule, challenge wildlife in general and coyotes in particular.

I’m better with plants than animals or people.

Plants have fewer opinions. And, they don’t give grades to wines.

The Wine

The wine at hand was a Hahn GSM (Paso Robles, California), 2019, 90 pts, Wine Enthusiast—a light red blend of other-than-usual grapes: Grenache (French Rose), Sirah (French Chateauneuf du Pape and Australia’s signature red wine) and Mouvedre (which is a French filler grape used to give body to wines that come in thinner than ideal).

I knew Nikki Hahn, who founded the winery, and his family. My brother had some significant influence on this blend and I spent several years involved with Paso Robles vineyards one way or the other for over 15 or 20 years so it wasn’t a random choice.

The aromas of wine bypass your conscious mind and go straight to the amygdala (the ancient reptilian part of your brain) where they evoke memories, just like smelling your grandma’s apple pie cooling in the window. In this case, they are memories of all the people involved with the winery that I worked with and against all those years.

Including, the smell of the earth in Paso Robles, the vineyards lounging lazily over the valley floor and the voices of a couple of people I should have hit with a rock.

Taste is not the only way to choose a wine. Taste is a requirement of course, but some wines offer up memories the way flowers offer up smells.

This particular wine is a lighter red with a little tannin —more or less the standard definition of a “drinkable” wine, meant for consumption sooner rather than later.

A perfect match for coyotes and cats.

Coyotes and cats matter because context matters to the taste of wine. Wine invites collaborative interweaving of our lives with all the other arts, including the social art. And, with each other.

Anybody who ever had a great little Pinot Grigio (white) in Tuscany and then has come back and had the same wine in Hayward (California) knows that differences do arise.

That said, on with the presents…

Hanukkah

Lotem Winery in the ancient Bible lands of Israel

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1055118-d7369831-Reviews-Lotem_Winery-Karmiel_Galilee_Region_Northern_District.html#/media-atf/7369831/310966368:p/?albumid=-160&type=0&category=-160

If you have holiday plans in Israel you’ll want to look for Lotem. It’s in a wine growing area that goes back to the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs which encompasses the area of the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee.

They play music to the wine during fermentation and aging. My brother Bill did some tasting events with the Napa Valley Symphony’s Conductor to demonstrate the effect music has on the taste of wine. (Mozart works better than Metallica). Other wineries all over the world are starting to realize the effect music has on the wine as it is developing as well.

“Kibbutz Lotem looking at Sahnin valley with its ancient olive trees. From the balcony you can see all the way from the sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights to the Lower Galilee…

[The winery] uses organic grapes from our vineyard in Kibbutz Zivon on the slopes of mount Meiron (altitude of 750 m) and special energetic processes like playing special music to the wine continuously throughout all the fermentation and aging process.”

Wine Country Holiday Events

Don’t overlook events as holiday gifts—some of them can be quite spectacular.

Judd’s Hill Annual Hanukkah Hootenanny (Sonoma, California)

“On the last day of Hanukkah, Judd’s Hill winery is hosting a lively celebration full of Jewish holiday delicacies—brisket sliders, latke, sufganiyot (traditional jelly donuts).

Dec 10, 12-2:30pm; $55 —from “13 Best Christmas Events and Holiday things to do in Wine Country.” https://www.timeout.com/napa/things-to-do/christmas-in-wine-country

Christmas: Ride the Santa Train in Napa Valley

The Santa Train (Napa Valley Wine Train)

“Sip hot cocoa and nibble freshly-baked cookies alongside a cast of singing characters (including Santa himself!) as the train winds its way through the valley on a mission to save Jolly the Bear at the North Pole.” —https://www.timeout.com, photograph: Courtesy Napa Valley Wine Train, $39-$69 for 75 min daily.

“The 13 Best Christmas and Holiday Events in Wine Country”

The wine town of Sonoma north of San Francisco lights up the whole square for the holidays. from “13 Best Christmas Events and Holiday things to do in Wine Country”, https://www.timeout.com/napa/things-to-do/christmas-in-wine-country

Celebrity Wine Sets (Wine and Tasting Video)

Mary J Blige has her own wine brand called “Sun Goddess”.

Cameron Diaz (movies)

Mary J Blige (music)

Jim Nantz (sports)

These sets are from www.wine.com. They stand out because they have tasting videos as part of the set including some that feature celebrities who own or have interests in particular wine labels. There are lots of other celebrity owned wineries or brands—these are just examples.

The celebrities in this set are the wines, www.wine.com

“Wine.com host Gwendolyn Osborn leads a conversation with the acclaimed winemakers from Joseph Phelps Vineyards, Duckhorn Vineyards, and Chimney Rock Winery as they taste Cabernet Sauvignon and discuss this premier wine growing region.” from wine.com

Cameron Diaz —Avaline

“Watch a tasting with Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power, the creators of Avaline! [Our] …wines are made with organic grapes, have less than 1g of sugar and are free of unwanted extras like colors and concentrates… “We also learn how to make Cameron’s *Perfect* Charcuterie Board.” from https://drinkavaline.com/

Baskets, wood cases and special packages

Three 90 Pt Wines in Baskets from wine.com, $119.99

https://www.wine.com/product/90-point-red-wine-trio-and-vintage-styled-gift-basket/527807

Wooden Boxes

Far Niente is the only winery in Napa Valley that makes a wine crate to store 12 bottles. All the rest store either 3 or 6 bottles.

For those who can afford it, 80% of wine in wooden cases comes from Bordeaux, France. Most are 12 bottle cases. The most expensive are sometimes 6 bottles.

There are lots of other ideas—crystal glasses, decanters, vineyard maps, travel events, river cruises in Burgundy (France) or Sonoma (California), Santa Claus coming down the Petaluma River on a barge--there’s no end to it.

I listed a few guidelines for buying wines in stores and restaurants in the last issue of “The Secret Life of Wine"# 45) that will improve your chances of success with individual bottles.

Holiday Lifestyle

Most people in the wine business are looking to live, as best they are able given their circumstances, what magazines like to call “wine country lifestyle” —a combination of food and art and travel without the stress of city life.

Some people are looking for the experience of the lifestyle of Victorian England menus (there’s Downtown Abbey Christmas menu on the internet if you’re interested), some for the farmyards of their real or imagined childhoods, and some for all day football on TV.

Lifestyle is important.

But, in a time of coyotes, fence climbing cats and backyard gardens, please remember that Life is more important than Life Style. And, it’s free.

Gratitude is always a good life choice for any season.

Have a great Holiday!

(Note: I am not associated with, nor do I make any money from any of these products.)