Artisan Wines for Holiday Celebrations

Sparkling: Hand Over the Bubbles

Two fabulous sparklings that are well-made and obtainable hail from Laetitia in Arroyo Grande. The Laetitia Brut Cuvee, made of pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot blanc from Arroyo Grande, is firmly in the camp of “Champagne,” with tiny bubbles creating a moussant that is really seductive. Hard to even believe this isn’t “real Champagne.” Fabulous mousse-underpinned texture with flavors of Gravenstein apples, Bartlett pears and gooseberries are highlighted with white figs and a lovely touch of lemon sorbet. Just $25 per bottle. The 2009 Laetitia Sparkling Rosé ($30), dazzles with its lovely aromas of a spring day in the hills of Aromas or Carmel Valley. It’s redolent of a strawberry or two that has amply flavored the whipped cream to top a righteously pure angel food cake covered with local berries, fresh from the fields. This is seriously yummy wine, worth plunking down three Hamiltons to add some class to your holiday table. Bonus: Laetitia is offering a Holiday Sampler, just $134.30 plus tax. Includes 2009 Laetitia Brut Rosé, 2012 NADIA sauvignon blanc, 2012 Laetitia Estate pinot noir, 2012 Laetitia Estate chardonnay, 2011 NADIA Trio & 2012 Laetitia Clone 459 pinot noir.

Chardonnay: Hail the Queen

If you must have at least one chardonnay, get your hands on some 2010 Boekenoogen chardonnay from the Santa Lucia Highlands ($40), lush, creamy, linen-textured and filled with summer fruit flavors, like a peach and pear cobbler. Divine! Another stunner is the 2011 McIntyre Block K1 chardonnay ($36), from the Santa Lucia Highlands, and you’ll surely please the richer Chard-loving crowd. This is heady, buxom stuff, with a creamy rich texture. Divine with butternut squash, mashed cauliflower and truffled mashed potatoes and fennel.

Another option is the 2011 Pelerin Sierra Mar chardonnay ($42), also from the Santa Lucia Highlands, from a vineyard farmed by Gary Franscioni. This simply sings with a glissande of lemon-lime, crisp pear and oozing minerality. Divine with crab, shrimp or salmon appetizers, or just sip on it own.

Want something at a budget price? Go for the Guglielmo TRE Chardonnay ($10), a sure crowd-pleaser, with its baked apple aromas and toasted almond and hazelnut finish. This will be as swell with turkey and dressing as it will be with pumpkin pie.

Intriguing & Sassy Whites

For those in the ABC camp, there’s the 2012 Concannon Assemblage Blanc ($22), from Livermore, a lovely blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon will carry the day beautifully. It dares to pair with everything and is over all a crowd pleaser for its balance, verve and clean finish. Tre Gatti’s 2012 viognier ($20), from the San Antonio Valley of Monterey, is lovely, with lithe lime blossoms and jasmine perfume, just ripe Bartlett pear and a perfect finish.

Lean, crisp and totally food friendly, the Holman Ranch 2011 pinot gris ($20), is a svelte, clean, citrus and honey-edged white from Carmel Valley that handles anything savory. Delightful!

The 2011 Scheid gewurztraminer ($16), is a masterful white to pair with Thanksgiving cuisine. Vibrant aromas of gingered peaches and orange blossoms lead to spicy flavors of pears lightly poached in lemon rind with cinnamon sticks. The texture is quite lush and the finish long and lingering.

Ever had vermentino? If you like wines crisp and dry, this white, which hails from Sardinia, is masterfully grown and made by Mark Chesebro in Arroyo Seco. The 2012 Chesebro vermentino, Cedar Lane Vineyard ($18), will have everyone asking for another glass of this light-bodied wine that delivers tons of flavor.

A highly intriguing “goes well with everything” wine is the 2012 Hahn Chef’s Table Blanc Noir ($30), made from pinot noir that has been bled off with no skin contact. It has a barely perceptible hint of blush, but you’d have a hard time guessing it is juice from a red wine grape! The texture is fantastic, like peach skins, the flavors bright and cheery, and it’s a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

RECOMMENDED REDS

Perhaps my new favorite red wine, La Rochelle’s 2012 pinot meunier ($38), from the Russian River Valley, just won a Gold medal at the Salinas Valley Wine Competition. It’s exciting, delicious and will dazzle your friends with its sizzling flavors. Aromas of fresh picked raspberries and roses are absolutely alluring, and the flavors are like a spring day, filled with alpine strawberries and hints of cremini mushrooms. The acidity is kite-flying breezy and you will fall in love with its ginger and cinnamon zing. Perfect for Thanksgiving!

Pinot Noir Selections
In the “does everything you need a pinot to do” category, the juicy, well-structured 2011 Wrath San Saba pinot noir ($49), from the Monterey AVA, is fantastic. Enough depth to fool even people who think they don’t like pinot, and more than enough class to impress tough-to-please pinot fans.

If your guests include serious pinotphiles, set them down with a big-bowled glass of the 2010 Big Basin Vineyards Lester Family pinot ($44), from the Corralitos area of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and they’ll be in pinot heaven. It has great red fruits, rhubarb, forest floor and intriguing spice, and layer upon layer of palate fascination, like rummaging through an old trunk filled with treasures in somebody’s attic.

Do you or one of your guests have a more Burgundian palate and tend to like older pinots, ones that have a bit of bottle bouquet on them? I’d have to recommend the 2006 McIntyre Estate pinot noir, now with seven years of bottle age, and drinking perfectly to pair with turkey and the trimmings. It’s the one you want with the chestnut, sage and sausage stuffing! It’s two for $69 right now.

Lip-smacking alternatives to pinot include counoise, carignane and cinsault. Try the 2011 Onesta cinsault from Lodi ($26.10), the 2009 Guglielmo Estate carignane ($20), from the Santa Clara Valley, or the 2010 Sarah’s Vineyard Cadenza ($25), a blend of counoise, carignane and syrah, from old Santa Clara Valley vineyards.

Other Reds: Heavy Duty

Lovers of well-muscled masculine style Bordeaux wines will gravitate to the 2009 Comanche Cellars cabernet franc ($26), an outstandingly built alternative to cabernet sauvignon. From a warm climate, the San Antonio Valley of Monterey, it’s sunny in disposition, with scents of a warm saddle in the summer sun and wafts of Cuban cigar. Densely satisfying and richly layered, it’s well-endowed with flavors of ripe mission fig bars and warm cherry pie, just out of the oven.

Another solid Bordeaux blend is the 2007 Puma Road Pedregal Cache ($35), under the Puma Road/Ray Franscioni label. From the emerging Paicines region of San Benito county, it’s dusty, leathery, cedary and briary, with firm tannins and a grippy finish.

How about a merlot? There’s nothing quite like a well-made merlot, and the 2009 Burrell School estate merlot ($30) from the Santa Cruz Mountains is mighty fetching, with its peppy wild black cherry and chocolate. I also love the 2010 Joyce Vineyards Pedregal merlot ($24), from that same Paicines vineyard where Cache is sourced: stout, well-muscled, amply leathery, with incense and cherry jam flavors.

Want a seriously big-boned syrah? Morgan’s 2011 Double L vineyard syrah ($42), from an organically farmed vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands bench, packs blackberry jam, pepper, wholesome fig bars and rich plum-filled coffee cake with a walnut streusel topping into one richly textured beverage. Prefer your syrah with a little bottle bouquet? Mark Chesebro’s been saving this one up, just for you. The 2007 Chesebro La Montagne Sauvage ($21), is a powerfully elegant field blend of syrah, grenache and mourvedre from the hills of Carmel Valley. At $21, it’s sure to please those who love grip, with grace.

For those who crave red wine with the texture of dark chocolate ganache, there’s the 2010 Twisted Roots petite sirah ($25), from a vineyard in Lodi.