As
Valentine’s Day quickly approaches, I have been thinking about love and all the
different types of love there are in the world.
Obviously, this holiday centers on romantic love, or eros, but there are
many other types of love to celebrate.
There is agape love, or unconditional love, usually applied to parents’
love for their children. Another
important type of love is philia love, or brotherly love seen in
friendships. I am not sure what category
of love my affection for wine would fall under, but as I reminisced about the
wines I have truly adored drinking this year, I realized that each one was
somehow related to a person for which I care deeply. Coincidence?
I think not. Here are the wines I
have truly enjoyed this past year and the special people I love who shared the
wines with me.
Vueve
Clicquot Brut: Purchased in a split,
this was the bottle my husband and I enjoyed last year on Valentine’s Day. We were actually staying in a hotel; however,
not in a romantic endeavor for the lover’s holiday, but because we were on a
two-day road trip for our son’s basketball team. We tucked away two bottles of wine to enjoy
when we were finished watching basketball, and this Clicquot was one of
them. Acidic and yeasty with lots of
orange citrus on the palate, we toasted each other, our children, and our love
of twenty-five years.
King Estate
Pinot Noir 2006: After our bubbly toast,
we moved on to one of my favorite grapes from one of my favorite regions, a
Pinot Noir from Oregon. I love the
paradox of the delicate wine with a robust flavor. Light bodied but filled with black and red
fruits, a hint of eucalyptus mint, and perfect acid, the aromas seemed to last
forever, and so did the finish. We drank
a glass of this by itself, but it would be a wonderful food-pairing wine for
multiple foods. Always better in great
stemware, my spouse and I routinely carry stemless Riedel glasses on our
travels for moments just like this.
GH Mumm
Champagne: I love sparkling wines for
all occasions, true Champagnes included.
However, special occasions scream for a quality Champagne, and this
event was one such time: our daughter’s college
graduation. As very young parents, the
culmination of twenty-two years of dreams for our child was very special…for
child and parents. I didn’t take any formal tasting notes on this wine; I just
watched as the server uncorked the bottle and poured the beautiful bubbles into
flutes. Then I enjoyed every last sip,
toasting the graduate, her BFF and fellow graduate, our family, and her friends. An extraordinary moment, it was commemorated
with a lovely glass of bubbles.
Le Cigare
Volant 2009: The next special wine
relates to our youngest child, a senior in high school. My hubby and I have spent years following our
son’s sports career and have enjoyed every second of it. In November, this athlete played in his last
football game, a tough loss in the state semi-finals. Though he wasn’t involved in the drinking of
the Bonny Doon bottle, his father and I poured ourselves a glass when we
returned home from the game. We sipped
together, mourning the loss in our own way, which was really about mourning the
passing of time on our parenting. For a GSM
(Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre) blend, it was robust without being overpowering,
fruity without being sweet, and tannic without being bitter. A balanced wine, we enjoyed it when we sipped
before purchasing from the tasting room outside of Santa Cruz and enjoyed it again
after this parenting moment.
Cartograph
Mariah Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012: I’ve
already stated that Pinot Noir is my personal favorite grape…especially when
made into special wines. This summer, my
family visited Cartograph Winery in Healdsburg, California, including meeting
winemakers Alan and Serena. I joined the
wine club after tasting their amazing wines and seeing some grapes were sourced
from Mariah Vineyards, spelled just like my only sister’s name. I opened this bottle to pair with the annual
murder mystery dinner a group of friends and I have made our New Year’s
tradition. Strawberry and cherry with
earth and a bright chokecherry color, it was the perfect pairing for a slightly
spicy jambalaya as main course. It was
an even better pairing with wonderful friends with whom I love to spend time!
Williams
Selyem Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir 2011:
Another winery my family visited this summer, the facility is
awe-inspiring, to say the least. I
bought several bottles, some to cellar and some to enjoy on special occasions. My forty-first birthday seemed like a good
enough reason to break out this bottle, sourced from the also prestigious
Hirsch Vineyard in northern Sonoma, an
absolutely beautiful wine in color, smell, and flavor. It was another wine I merely enjoyed, instead
of formally evaluating, while eating a steak and shrimp supper with my husband
and son, basking in the blessings that aging has given me.
Williams
Selyem Heintz Vineyard Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2010: I wish I could claim ownership of this
William Selyem wine, but I actually stumbled upon this by accident. A friend of mine was given it from her
father-in-law and almost gave it to her child’s teacher as a Christmas gift. I selfishly told her to save it for herself,
me, and a Chardonnay-loving friend. We
opened it to relish a sip on a random day while we enjoyed each other’s company, three
girls giggling and laughing over a glass of vino! Just a hint of butter on both the nose and the
palate, this wine was packed with fruit flavor and perfect acid. Truly, the best California chard I have
experienced, made even better by the company shared while sipping it.
Dr.
Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling 2013: A fairly simple bottle of dry Riesling, I
grew an emotional attachment to this wine region when I visited after the death
of my father. I enjoyed the area and the visit to this important and beautiful Finger Lakes winery. After making the bottles of wine I brought
home and got from a short-term wine club last over a year, I was so surprised
to find this wine at a small-town liquor store in Wyoming (read about that
lucky break here); I have returned to that store on several occasions to
keep a bottle on hand. I have
a great appreciation for the Riesling grape, especially quality, dry
Rieslings. This reasonably priced wine
smells of fruit and flowers, with a hint of stone. On the palate it is a perfect representation
of the flavor of a Riesling, just without the sugar that often overpowers these
nuances in American examples.
Though it is
incredibly difficult to categorize my feelings for wine, it was not challenging
to choose my favorite wines of the past year.
They were all outstanding wines, but they were all also paired with
great people—special people—at significant places during important
occasions. Being with the people I love
while drinking these wines made the wines that much more extraordinary, that
much more meaningful. I loved these
wines, each in unique and different ways, for both the wines themselves and
those sharing with me. That is love…of
children, of spouses, of friends, of memories…of wine.
